At A CrossRoads - What To Do?

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by dakota81

Retailers know the sales will not come until there is one format remaining, because the majority of people are playing the waiting game. Retailers also are turning towards the blu. I'd be genuinely surprised if Wal*Mart goes through and introduces the rumored cheap hd-dvd players.

In little over a week, Pirates of the Caribbean will be released, and word from those with early copies are saying this is simply the most amazing picture quality of any movie on either format - it really shows what hd content can do with the extra space blu-ray offers.

If I were a betting man, I'd put the odds at 80:20 that blu-ray wins out entirely this holiday season.

But that's just my opinion.

Just to let you know, a few weeks ago both WM and Fuh-Yuan (the purported maker of the cheap players) said that the rumor was false. If I remember correctly, WM's spokesman said it was, "completely false." Search the forums here and you'll find the proper news links. WM has said that they'll put in stores the new $600 Sony standalone when it's out.

Also, Clyon, I agree completely with your words on HD downloading. It already takes enough time for a movie, even if you live in a city. HD on average has something like 6x the information (not dead sure on that number), so the only way it would be viable is to buy the fastest, and therefore most expensive, broadband service you can get, and most people won't do that. The only way HD downloading could be hinted to be viable is if DSL did not exist in cities, as I've not seen any DSL speeds that can match the fastest cable modem speeds. If anyone's seen matching speeds (and not just any speed, I mean the fastest DSL matches the fastest cable speed) let me know. I say that because most people I know who do not do online gaming tend to get DSL because it's cheaper. This even applies to friends I've got who share one line between five people, so you can imagine the bottlenecks there. I'll stop here, but I could go on forever about this; I used to live in the country, and we just got broadband about a year ago, DSL.