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Should I start an HD-DVD Collection or Bluray?

L

leglez

Platinum Member
I have an HDMI Xbox 360, and I am about to get a PS3. So which format is looking like its gonna when right now? I don't want to buy some of both. I would rather just start a bluray collection. But if HD-DVD is better I will purchase an HD-DVD drive for the 360.

Thank you for participating in the forums, but this topic closely parallels the discussion in progress here.

-Schadenfroh
 
What's wrong with buying from both? It's not like whichever format loses will become unusable. I'd say if you have the ability to buy either, then don't limit yourself. If something you like is available on both formats, then you can buy whichever format you're partial to. That's what I do. In my own experience, I MUCH MUCH prefer HDDVD... having had players for both formats for over a year now, and no prior biases beforehand, my collection has ended up with 4 HDDVD's for every Blu Ray (I think I'm at like 50 to 13 or something like that). but there's very strong opinions backing both sides. bottom line for me is, if you can play both formats... don't worry about who's going to win. What does it really matter? If HD ends up winning... you can still watch the Blu-Rays, and vice versa. You're in an enviable position compared to those who can only play one format.

If you plan to sit out and determine which one is "better", good luck with that. They're both fantastic and people love one side or the other for various reasons but there is absolutely ZERO conclusive proof that one is better than the other... only opinions. Each format has pros and cons but nothing that tips the scales IMO. Whichever one wins, isn't going to win because it's better... but only because of studio allegiances and marketing efforts. Meanwhile, there's lots of movies out there that you could otherwise be enjoying NOW, if you weren't waiting for the war to be decided. Just my .02 on that.
 
Just keep in mind that the 360 player is in no way comparable to the PS3, so if you're planning on getting the PS3 anyway, most of your dual-format purchases should be Blu.
 
I would go with whatever is in your price range. If you are already buying a PS3, than you will already have that player. You could opt for the HD-DVD AO or get a stand alone HD-DVD player also if you wish. They are generally cheaper than BR players (at least the AO and lower end toshiba players like the A3).

It looks like BR may end up winning the format war. However, you have to remember that there still are going to be HD-DVD exclusive titles for at least the next year. Furthermore, you may not see BR copies of the (current) HD-DVD exclusives until well after those studios go BR (it's not like they all magically pop out on day 1).

I currently have an xbox 360 and a Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player that I paid $99 for. For that price, I would buy it again (even after this warner decision). I will likely also be buying a PS3 in the relatively near future to use for both BR and gaming. I'm not going to ditch my current HD-DVD collection just because warner switches or HD-DVD loses the format war. It's not like the discs self destruct if BR wins...

Edit: safe bet would be to go BR (especially because the PS3 is a very price efficient purchase if you are going to use it for both gaming and BR).
 
Starting now I would only buy Blurays unless you get a fantastic price on the HD-DVD version ... the only exceptions would be if you really want a movie thats not available on BD -or- if the only BD version is one of the early mpeg2-encoded disks with sub-standard video quality.

Much as it pains me to say it (despite the fact that I have both types of HD players) I think its all over but the shouting & the war has gone to BD.
 
You're not going to see Universal or Paramount on Blu Ray for a while, so you could still get those, but everything else, I'd probably go with Blu Ray, unless you can get a cheap bargain on Warner movies in HD-DVD.



 
If you have the HD player then buy the movies you can only get in HD in that format.

Otherwise I would go towards Blu-ray.

My HD DVD should last me a good 10 years so I see no harm in buying movies for it while I can.
When Blu-ray gets a $100 player on the market then I'll make the switch.
 
With Warners recent move to Blu-ray exclusive I would go with Blu-ray over HD DVD. HD DVD is dying unless something major happens.

You will be missing Universal and Parmount/Dreamworks titles with Blu-ray only. However if HD DVD is really dead they should show up on Blu-ray eventually.
 
Originally posted by: mlm
Just keep in mind that the 360 player is in no way comparable to the PS3, so if you're planning on getting the PS3 anyway, most of your dual-format purchases should be Blu.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I now believe HD-DVD is going the way of the dodo, as well, but both the 360 HD-DVD player and PS3 each play HD media movies as well as any other HD media players on the market for their respective formats.

On what basis are you saying they're "in no way comparable"?
 
Originally posted by: ranmaniac
You're not going to see Universal or Paramount on Blu Ray for a while, so you could still get those, but everything else, I'd probably go with Blu Ray, unless you can get a cheap bargain on Warner movies in HD-DVD.
Click to expand...
Exactly. No one's going to win the format war except for dual-format players if Universal and Paramount stick to their guns about sticking with HD-DVD. There's no way I'm going to cut 33% of the movies I want from my library if I can just pay another hundred bucks for a dual-format player.
 
there will be plenty of cheap HD DVDs to be had over the coming year. It would have to justify own-ability for a format that will be dead after 2 years. best bet, imo, would be to rent from here-on-out if you already have an HD DVD player.

Also, it seems that Paramount orchestrated an opt-out clause in their exclusive deal with HD DVD--meaning we could see BDs from them much sooner than expected.
Bear in mind that anything currently exclusive to HD DVD will be popping up on BD soon (end of year, maybe?)
 
I currently have the HDDVD player for the Xbox360 with maybe a dozen movies or so. Will this influence my buying decision when it comes to buying movies? I don't know yet. It'll probably depend on what HDDVD decides to do over the next few days. The HDDVD group canceled their press conference over Warner's decision, so it'll be interesting to hear what they have to say.

Now that Warner has switched over, I wonder when MS will release a blu-ray attachment to the Xbox360? I'd rather get something like that for right now since my entertainment center is getting a little crowded and I'm out of HDMI inputs.
 
Buy whatever is in your price range and which format suites your needs. HD-DVD will have legs through 08 and possibly longer. By the time HD-DVD truely dies it will be at least 2-3 years from now. And it isnt like once HD-DVD is dead the discs become unuseable overnight. There will probably be combo players for years to come if your player dies. I saw an effing VCR\DVD combo at BB yesterday for 50 bucks. VHS has been dead for a long time and they still produce hardware capable of playing it.

 
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