Thinking of going HD-DVD this holiday

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jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
If I had an xbox360 I'd definitely go for the hd-dvd add on but I don't so the cheaper alternative would be a standalone unit. I already have a 50" Sony SXRD with a basic 5.1 surround sound system so I'm ready to go. I did hear the news that the 2nd gen units are being delayed but should be available before Christmas.
 
R

Reckoner

Lifer
Jun 11, 2004
10,851
1
81
get the 1st gen toshiba hd-dvd player. Slower loading time, but you get the analog outs for TrueHD sound
 
ScottFern

ScottFern

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
3,629
2
76
Toshiba HD-A1 > *

Well maybe not every other dvd player but its an awesome HD-DVD player. :p
 
J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
K

Kwaipie

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2005
1,326
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0
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
 
Z

Zaitsevs

Senior member
Oct 31, 2005
822
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0
Originally posted by: Turin39789
premature



thread needs pole
Click to expand...

pole? for what? to dance on?


reply: I think it's still too premature honestly OP, I'd wait for a little while to see how the format war turns out.
 
A

arod

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2000
4,236
0
76
i have a 360 so im getting the hd-dvd addon but at this point i dont see hd-dvd going away for a long time (even though bluray has more hardware/software support). The sales figures are very much in hd-dvd's camp and if it stays much longer like this the bluray exclusive makers will start going format neutral (which will spur even more people to think seriously at hd-dvd).
 
J

j00fek

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2005
8,099
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ill be waiting till the end of 07 when we really know who is on top. there isnt enough releases to compare at the moment
 
P

pookguy88

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2001
1,426
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76
does the 360 hd-dvd player (attached with the 360) output 1080p? assuming you have a 1080p display
 
KLin

KLin

Lifer
Feb 29, 2000
30,765
957
126
Originally posted by: pookguy88
does the 360 hd-dvd player (attached with the 360) output 1080p? assuming you have a 1080p display
Click to expand...

Microsoft released an update to the 360 that added 1080p support, only over a VGA cable though. The component connection only does 1080i tops.
 
C

Cerebus451

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2000
1,425
0
76
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
 
J

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
Originally posted by: Cerebus451
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
Click to expand...

I've read a few reviews of the 1st gen units but can you give me your input on it as well?
 
KLin

KLin

Lifer
Feb 29, 2000
30,765
957
126
Originally posted by: Cerebus451
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
Click to expand...


Thanks for pointing out the mis-information. :thumbsup:
 
Shawn

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
Originally posted by: Cerebus451
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
Click to expand...

I'm sure we'll see it on HD-DVD once blu-ray fails. :thumbsup:
 
C

Cerebus451

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2000
1,425
0
76
Originally posted by: jtvang125
Originally posted by: Cerebus451
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
Click to expand...

I've read a few reviews of the 1st gen units but can you give me your input on it as well?
Click to expand...
My biggest problem with the unit is that it required a ton of patience. With the release firmware, everything seemed to take forever. It took quite a while to boot up, it would take quite a while to spool up a disc to start playing. The very first movie I watched (Apollo 13) locked up the player about halfway in. I hit stop, but the machine didn't respond. I hit the open/close button and nothing. I hit the open/close button again, and nothing. I waiting a while, and eventually the display went to "Opening". After what seemed like forever it finally spit the disc out, and then immediately acknowledged the second hit on the open/close button and sucked the disc back in. Several moments later it had spooled up the disc and was ready to play again. Once I finally got the thing to give me the disc back I checked it and there were no obvious fingerprints or scratches on the disc. I put it back in, fastforwarded to where I left off, and it played fine from there. It has only locked up one other time, and that was near the end in Aeon Flux.

There have been at least 2 firmware updates since the release. The unit has an ethernet connector on the back. Just plug it into your router, then you can go into the setup menus and have it check for/download firmware updates. The update process does seem to take quite a while. The current firmware I have on the machine is much much better. It takes a lot less time to power up, it takes less time to load a disc, and is much more responsive to requests to stop playback and/or eject the disc. I also have had no problems with sluggish playback/lockups from disc read errors since the last update.

I don't watch a ton of movies on the machine. I've only watched a couple of regular DVDs on it and I own about 10 HD-DVDs now. I was very impressed with U-571. The dark underwater scenes look flawless. There is no color gradation at all, even around the depth charge blasts. Apollo 13 looked great as well. Those are the only 2 movies I own that I have seen in other formats. Aeon Flux and Serenity look great. I think Syriana looked good as well, though I didn't care for the movie itself. I bought the M:I trilogy, though I've only watched M:I III so far. I also picked up V for Vendetta, though I haven't watched it yet.

I'm not disappointed with my purchase. It was frustrating to use at first, but I have had no problems recently. The catalog has expanded greatly (enough so that BB now has a separate section for the titles instead of the upper right corner of one shelf), but is still rather limited.

EDIT: Just wanted to add my setup. I have a Hitachi 50" LCD RPTV and a decent 5.1 sound setup.
 
C

Cerebus451

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2000
1,425
0
76
Originally posted by: Shawn
Originally posted by: Cerebus451
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
I have just over 900 DVDs and a full HDTV home theater. I read reviews voraciously for both hardware and software. The two reasons I have for taking a wait and see stance are:
Software titles poorly mastered - This is apparently hit or miss, The Fifth Element is a standard DVD for reviewers to check hardware for sharpness and color. The HD-DVD version of this title is actually worse than the standard DVD. It seems like the studios are just shoving out HD versions of their titles to get something on the shelf.
Hardware choices extremely limited - There are very few actual players out there, you'll be paying to beta test their product. Samsung has already had one unannounced recall on one of their players. I'd guess that we are 6-12 months from hybrid players with good featuresets being widely available.
Click to expand...
Just so we are on the same page here, there is no HD-DVD version of The Fifth Element and likely there never will be, seeing as how the movie is a Sony Pictures release. The BD version of the disc has been used as an example of issues with Blu-ray. I'm not aware of any HD-DVD titles that suffer from this (though I only know that the HD-DVD titles I do own all look nice, but my 1st gen Toshiba player is a bit finicky).
Click to expand...

I'm sure we'll see it on HD-DVD once blu-ray fails. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I'm hoping that will be the case, since I'd own it if it were on HD-DVD, but I can also see Sony playing the spoiled child and refusing to release their catalog on HD-DVD no matter how bad Blu-ray flops.
 
R

randay

Lifer
May 30, 2006
11,018
216
106
premature, i would go with hddvd for movies at the moment but i have a hunch bluray will win in the end. i would wait.
 
Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
35,204
2,353
126
Q

QurazyQuisp

Platinum Member
Feb 5, 2003
2,554
0
76
I would wait... There have been several companies claiming they've made a chip that'll do both formats, as well as some companies that have developed a two laser drive that'll read both. People are predicting that there will be a dual format player Q2 of 07... For about the same price as an HD-DVD Player.
 
HeroOfPellinor

HeroOfPellinor

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
11,272
1
0
Believe me, I'm excited about HD-DVD, but I'll be waiting a bit longer. Give the hardware more time to mature, let the number and quality of the titles start to increase, and let prices steadily fall.
 
P

Pocatello

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,754
2
76
I'm waiting for the Chinese to start cranking out these things next year. Maybe they go down to $100 by this time next year, with more HD-DVD titles. In second thought, if they release Peter King's LOTR on HD-DVD soon.
 
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