Please don't hurt me!

[Kayne314]

Okay. Here goes.

I know I'm not going to be popular here, but I'm hoping to appeal to your better nature before someone rips my head off.

I'm really curious about Blu-Ray, and I want to talk to someone that actually owns a stand alone player, not a PS3.(I don't want a PS3. I don't like the looks of the PS3. I want a stand alone player.)
If that's not enough reason to hate me, then you'll really flip over this one...
I already own an HD DVD player and I love it.(Toshiba A20)

The reason for my post is that I have enough love to go around. I'm tired of missing out on 50% of the titles I want. Therefore I'm looking to get myself a Blu-Ray player so I can enjoy both formats, and ride it out until there is a winner, and I can get all my titles on the superior format.( or if there is no winner at least I wont miss out on anything.)

I LOVE HD movies. In fact, I think I'm addicted. My HD DVD player merely whetted my appetite for more titles. Ratattoullie and Cars will be MUST own titles. So, now I deeply desire a Blu-Ray Player too.

My questions are as follows:

1) How are the load times? Do the load times differ from player to player? From full off, to playing the movie how long should it take?

2) Have you had ANY compatibility issues with a certain brand of player or movie title? Are there fixes?(ie. firmware updates that have helped.)

3) Price is an issue for me, so how much should I be setting aside to get the best player out there? (Meaning the best player for the dollar.)

4) If anyone else out there has both formats, how have you found navigating through the menus of each? How do the special features on the disks compare?

I would like to make the best purchase possible, and be an educated consumer when it comes time to buy my Blu-Ray player. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Please don't think of me as being in the HD DVD camp, or confuse me with HD DVD fanboys. I just LOVE High Definition movie's picture and sound quality. I don't want to miss out on what either has to offer.

P.S.
Sorry to the PS3 users out there. No offense toward your player or you. I just REALLY don't like the way it looks. I'm not a fan of any gaming console. They all look like ugly bricks to me.