bluray or hddvd

[zixxer]

I already have an xbox 360, should I get the hddvd player, or wait until bluray comes down in price, or neither? (I have a 42 inch hd plasma, so I would probably see a difference, right?)

 

[Unheard]

HD-DVD ftw

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Engadget had an article recently stating that HD-DVD might be winning because of Sony's problems.

I personally will wait till the war is over.

 

[sswingle]

OMG I was waiting for someone to ask this and make a poll. Its never been asked before!

 

[Shawn]

HD-DVD, no question.

 

[BRObedoza]

since you've already got the xbox360, might as well go with the hd-dvd player

 

[Shadowknight]

HD-DVD has a bigger picture quality. BR has a bigger storage capacity, but no one's using it for the movies so far. Anyway, a stand-alone player for HD-DVD is $500, for BR it's $1,000. You have a 360, so you can just spend $175 on the add-on, which is also supposed to be compatible with the PC. Hook it up to the PC by USB and just use PowerDVD (or whatever).

 

[Pacemaker]

I would wait myself, but if you are going to do it I would go with HD-DVD. Blueray is hinged on the success of the playstation 3 as unless there is a large base with Blueray players distributors other than Sony are going to stay away from Blueray. My guess is that if the playstation 3 wins the next gen wars then Blueray will end up the standard. If not then HD-DVD will win the day.

 

[PricklyPete]

From the limited reading that I have done from reviews and other people's anecdotal stories...HD-DVD is better. Visibly watching both of them...seems that they are about equal...I couldn't tell the differences from the demo's I've seen.

One thing I've already noticed is user confusion. I've had a number of people mention to me that there were new "HD" DVDs and that they might pick up some movie in the format. They were under the impression that they could just pop it into a DVD player and be good to go. Obviously these were not tech-savy users, but that is true about most adult users.

 

[CravenTacos]

the way technology is moving and the length of time these 2 techs have been around feuding, I'm betting on neither. by the time they get the DRM figured out, formalize the licensing, and mass produce the players, something better will be available.

 

[Rob9874]

Is BR backwards compatible? HD DVD is, and if BR isn't, I think that would be a big deciding factor. No one wants to have to replace all their DVDs...maybe just their favorites.

 

[cloude27]

I just got the HD-DVD player last night for my 360. King Kong looks awsome on my 42" rear projection.

 

[bennylong]

WHich format will the adult industry support? That's which format I will go with. So far, I haven't seen too many Adult HD DVD or Blu Ray so there's no reason for me to make a purchase

 

[Darthvoy]

Blue Ray movie cost 29.99 and HD DVD 19.99 at the local traget. If that is what the prices are going to be, then HD DVD will be my choice.

 

[sonoma1993]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
Blue Ray movie cost 29.99 and HD DVD 19.99 at the local traget. If that is what the prices are going to be, then HD DVD will be my choice.

the local target by my girlfriend house has both hd-dvd and blue-ray for $19.99

the prices of hd-dvd and blue-ray at my local best buy are pretty much the same price.

 

[BunLengthHotDog]

I was in the same situation, here are my thoughts on the issue.

There are major players on both sides of the argument:

HD-DVD : Microsoft, Toshiba, HP (who recently came over to HD-DVD by virtue of beginning to offer an HD-DVD drive on their PC's for $100.00 extra, LG etc
HD-DVD Studios : Paramount, Warner Bro's, Universal, Weinstien, Studio Canal

Blu-Ray : Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Samsung
Blu-Ray Studios : Sony Pictures (including MGM/Columbia TriStar), Disney (including Touchstone, Miramax), Fox, Paramount, Warner, Lions Gate

Blu-Ray's list looks a bit more stacked to be honest, but there are a few issues that are still being worked out in the BR camp, some of which are making the studios seriously consider (Disney is the BIG rumor right now) HD-DVD...the biggest being saturation. The big "suprise" coming out of the PS3 launch is the very low attachment rate of movies to PS3's. There have also been some complaints about Blu-Rays video quality, which is mostly being blamed on the fact that they are still using MPEG2 compression vs VC-1 which is what HD-DVD uses. Audio is pretty much even however, with both formats supporting Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, DTS-ES. Price for the players beyond 360 and PS3 is also a concern, with HD-DVD being a bit cheaper to purchase than Blu-Ray as well.

After seriously considering the factors, I went ahead and purchased the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 with the simple mindset that if HD-DVD wins out...cool. However, if Blu-Ray wins out...it will take at least a few years to do so, at that point the PS3 will be readily available and much cheaper than it is now. If Blu-Ray wins out, I will pick up a PS3 along the way...but why deny yourself HD-DVD now especially since it can be had for @ $200.00 bucks. I think the play MS made with releasing the drive seperate was quite a savvy move. The drive will have a 100% attachment rate for HD-DVD movies, thats all its for....I think Sony made a mistake in not making PS3 with Blu-Ray optional (the disc space is NOT needed at this point)...it forces consumers to subsidize a format that most appear to not really be too interested in. Check out Amazon.com for sales numbers, HD-DVD has a nice head-start.

I also think Nintendo is stealing a bit of Sony's thunder with the Wii. Alot of folks are happy with the 360 and are picking up the Wii as a suplemental console instead of splurging on the PS3. It's trully weird to walk into Best Buy et all and see PS3's sitting on their pallets for hours without anyone batting so much as an eye at them, and it being next to impossible to locate a Wii for retail price. The line I was in over the weekend (still didnt get my Wii) was primarily there for Wii, there were PS3's left over after the initial rush at opening, but Wii's were gone in minutes. Perhaps the tides have turned to the little guys this round.....we shall see.

Cliffs : Get HD-DVD now, if Blu-Ray beats it out it will take a few years to do so, at that point PS3 will be widely available and cheaper. Studios will go with whichever format will get them sales, alliances and friendships be damned.

 

[dethman]

i bought a hd dvd drive for my xbox and don't regret it for a second.

 

[mrrman]

good writeup BunLengthHotDog...I bought the Toshiba HD player for $363....so if the format wars are won by BlueRay or even a dual player...I personally dont care as I didnt pay alot for my player...I hope that HD wins this or even if a good quality dual layer player comes out then thats even better. I heard that Samsung currently is developing this.

 

[tboo]

I have both & each has its advantages. HD-DVD is the PQ winner hands down. BD is the SQ winner hands down.

 

[Koing]

I'll get a PS3 for games and buy the odd BR disc 😛. You won't find me buying either player separately until a lot later down the line.

Koing

 

[sonoma1993]

the current hd-dvd players hda1 and hda2, from Toshiba currenly doesnt support 1080p. From what I read on the internet, I cant remember where though. Toshiba was working on a hd-dvd player that support hdmi 1.3 and 1080p. But it was going to cost about $1000. I think that model is called hd-xa2

I currently have the hda1 hd-dvd player. Wish I would have waited some, and got the hda2 hd-dvd player. Since it has a slimmer design and faster startup/loading times.

found a link

toshiba 2nd generation hd-dvd players

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Continuing to lead the evolution in high definition DVD, Toshiba introduces new HD DVD models and adds new features including 1080p output capability The new high end Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player is designed to output 1920 x 1080p, the highest HD signal currently available, via High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI(TM)) 1.3. HDMI version 1.3 is the most current, major enhancement of the HDMI specification, which adds support for Deep Color technology. The HD-XA2 also incorporates a 297MHz / 12 bit Video DAC with high-quality, 4x oversampling for increased bandwidth for true playback of an HD picture to a video source. The HD-XA2 comes with a picture setting function allowing customers to optimize picture quality with user adjustable settings for color, contrast, brightness, edge enhancement and block noise, among others. The new HD-XA2 HD DVD player's 1080p output capability complements Toshiba's new Cinema Series(R) Pro LCD TVs, which provide true HD 1080p input capability via HDMI.

Expected Pricing and Expected Availability:
HD-A2 ($499.99, October 2006); HD-XA2 ($999.99, December 2006)