Just ordered the new Samsung BD-P1200!

[ADWyatt]

Today (March 10) I ordered the BD-P1200 from OneCall, which has just listed the pre-order ad for the unit. With that, of course, I ordered a top-rate jacketed HDMI cable. The salesman told me the estimated arrival date would be April 18. For those who are interested in ordering the player, you might check the various internet sites, and determine how many units might be available in the first shipment.

I didn't get a discount on the player, having to pay the full $799.99. And yes, I'm aware that with Sony's summer BD player releases, the Sammy will undoubtedly come down in price. But I'm tired of waiting to get a BD player. I've got six BD titles already in my library (I bought Casino Royale, Babel and Happy Feet for a total price of $49.95), and I'm chomping at the bit.

My second HDMI input on my Sony 60A2000 is being used by my HD-DVD player, and I will admit the it displays superb quality on pristine prints. I will continue to use the player for Universal titles and to play standard-def DVD movies. But on shared titles I'm going with BD. When you're outselling the competition 2 to 1, and have the supberb quality of today's Blu-ray, that only makes good sense.

In the meantime, while I'm waiting maybe I can play more Solitaire on the computer.

[DTMoney84]

The Sammy BD-P1200 will most likely do a better job of upconverting your standard DVD's once you get it. I would use that over the HDUD player.

[Maximus]

Which HD DVD player do you have, if it is not the XA2, then the Samsung will be the best bet for DVD upconversion as it has the HQV chip. Also the Samsung comes with 7.1 analogue outputs, so there is another bonus.

[ADWyatt]

I have the original A1 HD-DVD player. Yes, quite likely the Sammy will do a better job of upconverting standard DVDs than the Tosh, but I have to admit being a little nervous about using the BD player for standard DVDs. Clearly, there's going to be a wealth of BD titles in the future (hi-def DVDs are already accounting for eight per cent of sales in the home video market), and so the Sammy's going to get plenty of use. It might make better sense to use the Tosh for regular DVDs, which would ease the wear-and-tear on the BD-P1200. Besides, with nothing to play, Toshy's feelings would probably get hurt, and he's been good to me over the past half-year.

One of the two reasons that I decided not to buy a PS3 for movies is for the very reason that games and movies would put a long-term strain on what is really just a plastic game machine. (The second reason is that it's too loud.) And so you see my reason for leaning toward the Tosh for regular DVD movies.