I just started collecting originals, I used to buy lots of pirated ones. The 4 most common reasons for buying orig are: Packaging, Audio-Video Quality, Intellectual Property Rights, and "Re-Sale" Value. For me, the most significant is the last one ("re-sale"). Let's tackle them one by one:
1. Packaging - No doubt packaging is a lot better with original DVDs, but...would you pay additional 500-800 pesos just for packaging?... Let's move on.
2. Audio-Video Quality - Yup, there IS A difference. it actually depends on what set-up you have. If you have surround sound and widescreen TV, you can see the difference... But then, some pirated DVD5s are very close copies of the original, especially the MCD copies of shorter films (less than 100 minutes). Furthermore, if you get a pDVD9, mataas din ang bitrate and almost no difference with the original. So this reasoning wasn't enough to convince me.
3. Intellectual property rights - Much has been said about this, but ask yourself "Have you ever photocopied a page from any book in your life?" If you haven't then you deserve an award. If you have, then let's stop being so self-righteous and admit that we are all guilty of piracy in one form or another. As long as people think practical, we cannot stop this. As Morpheus would say, "Welcome to the real world."
4. "Re-Sale" Value - Well, this is what finally convinced me. After logging in to this site, I realized that DVDs are just like comicbooks or NBA trading cards. They are collector's items and can be re-sold. If you get tired of watching or if you need some fast cash, you can always sell them at 100 or 200 pesos less than the price you bought it. Some DVDs can even be sold at a much higher price (e.g. Ultimate Jordan). And if you get to buy a second hand DVD at a bargain, you can even sell it slightly higher after watching it once. He-he. Unfortunately, yung pirated, di mo pwede ibenta.