Thoughts from someone who just returned an HD DVD player

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

Probably not, then again richteer didn't give you a diatribe, now did he? He basically said that while HD-DVD players may seem cheap, how cheap are they really if they end up being essentially useless? A "cheap" $299 spent is $299 wasted if they lose the war anytime soon.

Your condemnation of his post is unjustified.

No offense truly meant mate

The OP returned the HD DVD player and provided sound reasoning why. So I don't think he's that oblivious to the situation.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

No offense truly meant mate

The OP returned the HD DVD player and provided sound reasoning why. So I don't think he's that oblivious to the situation.

Agree you meant no offense but "diatribe" is a strong word and I don't feel richteer gave a diatribe.

Also you've again misread or misinterpreted things even in this small comment. I never ever claimed the OP was "oblivious" to anything. He made a decision that works for him and that's good.

Bottom line every customer is different. For me I think it's often silly when people get into these waiting games. If someone truly doesn't care, then they can wait forever until Hi-Def players and content are so cheap they just become the de facto replacement for DVD. For those comsumers the entire war is meaningless. However if you know that you really want HD content then what is your time worth? Everyone answers this for themsleves.

I often have this time-value argument w/ my wife who wishes we had waited to get the PS3 after this $100 price drop. Given that my son & I have played games or watched literally 1000's of hours of PS3 time then WTF do I care about $100? In fact, I could have overpaid by $300 and still it would have been worth it. It all depends on usage and how much you want something. A $60 game is expensive until you realize you've played it over 100 houyrs when it essentially becomes "free" entertainment.

[hmurchison]

Sorry.

Although I quote peoples posts I often don't intend every portion of my following commentary to be atributable to that person. I do see the confusion that it causes.

I totally agree with not waiting. I'm so glad I finally pulled the trigger and bought a HDTV and HD player. I've enjoyed it so much. Each person has to find their own justification and value for this stuff but I sincerely want everyone to enjoy movies and music.

You never know what a seemingly innocuous experience in life will become a cherished memory. I've been a victim of the desire to wait....wait ...wait myself. No longer.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

Agree you meant no offense but "diatribe" is a strong word and I don't feel richteer gave a diatribe.

Many thanks for the support!

FWIW, I do try to be objective (though I also tend to be blunt with my opinions). I have no vested interest in either format (I have yet to purchase a HD player of either format), and I have no axe to grind with Sony or Toshiba (Microsoft, OTOH, is a completely different story!).

I am just a geek who loves movies and wants the best technology to win. So many times in the past, the lessor of two (or more) technologies wins for some reason or other, but in the next-gen video format, the best tech has a very good chance of winning (and let's be honest, Blu-ray's tech specs are indesputably superior to HD DVD's in every respect).

As I've said before, if this war continues on for too much longer, neither format will flourish, and both will wither and die. And then we'll all lose. :-( The SACD vs DVD-A war is pretty much the same situation as we have here. The result? Neither gained mass acceptance, so everyone is still stuck with 16-bit 24 KHz CD audio (well, everyone but us vinyl lovers, but I digress). It would be a real shame if the same thing happened to HD video...

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by richteer

Many thanks for the support!

(Microsoft, OTOH, is a completely different story!).

(and let's be honest, Blu-ray's tech specs are indesputably superior to HD DVD's in every respect).
.

Mac user or Linux?

Well I'd say that Blu-ray is not the undisputed champ yet. As a geek I cannot forgive the lack of ethernet ports on ANY player. I think the Profile 1.1 or whatever they're called players can finally "honestly" make that statement as they will match HD DVD functionality in persitent storage and audio/video decoders.

Bandwidth and Storage will remain Blu-ray strongholds for the foreseeable future IMO.

[Iceman_II]

Am I the only one here who has noticed how relatively "civil" this discussion is as compared to how a similar discussion would fare over on that "other" board?

BD fanbois here? I am thinking not.

[GoldenRedux]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Mac user or Linux?

Well I'd say that Blu-ray is not the undisputed champ yet. As a geek I cannot forgive the lack of ethernet ports on ANY player.

This statement is completely false. The first generation Pioneer has an ethernet port. The second generation Samsung P1200 has an ethernet port, and of course the PS3 has an ethernet port.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by GoldenRedux

This statement is completely false. The first generation Pioneer has an ethernet port. The second generation Samsung P1200 has an ethernet port, and of course the PS3 has an ethernet port.

Sorry..miscommunication again. I mean put'em on every player. The PS3 and the Pioneer support BD Live but I heard the P1200 ethernet port is only for firmware updates at this time. Hopefully that changes.

Networking is imporant to me.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Mac user or Linux?

Neither: Solaris. :-)

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Well I'd say that Blu-ray is not the undisputed champ yet. As a geek I cannot forgive the lack of ethernet ports on ANY player. I think the Profile 1.1 or whatever they're called players can finally "honestly" make that statement as they will match HD DVD functionality in persitent storage and audio/video decoders.

Undisputed champ, perhaps not quite yet. But from a purely tech-spec point of view, there's no contest: greater disc capacity and audio/video bandwidth, scratch-resistant coatings on the discs, etc. Ironically, when Profile 1.1 players become available, the PIP feature that some HD DVD fanboys go on about so much will not only be available on Blu-ray, but will actually be better because it'll be a separate 1080p stream (rather than 480i/p). Not that I care about PIP. I enjoy making of featurettes and the like as much as the next guy, but when I'm watching a movie, that's all I want to do.

[reiella]

Originally Posted by richteer

Neither: Solaris. :-)



Undisputed champ, perhaps not quite yet. But from a purely tech-spec point of view, there's no contest: greater disc capacity and audio/video bandwidth, scratch-resistant coatings on the discs, etc. Ironically, when Profile 1.1 players become available, the PIP feature that some HD DVD fanboys go on about so much will not only be available on Blu-ray, but will actually be better because it'll be a separate 1080p stream (rather than 480i/p). Not that I care about PIP. I enjoy making of featurettes and the like as much as the next guy, but when I'm watching a movie, that's all I want to do.

Hmm, they are applying the scratch to the burnable disks? I had thought those were for the video discs only.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

No offense truly meant mate

None taken! Coming from Usenet, one tends to develop a fairly thick skin. :-)