Thoughts from someone who just returned an HD DVD player

[chadunc]

I dont want to get booed here, but I was in your boat as well. I debated and debated but finally bought the LG Super Blu Player. That way, I didnt have to make a choice. Plus, I am way too impatient for this "war" to be over. I am a movie fan #1. I do support Blu-Ray over HD. Any titles that I have bought or ordered that both companies had, I always went with Blu and will continue too. I do think Blu Ray is going to beat HD out. But, I just could not be limited in my selections of movies. How long would I have had to wait for Smokin Aces to come out on Blu? Maybe 6 weeks? 6 months? 6 years? I wasnt willing to wait for some titles. So, they do make a player that plays both, and more are going to come out that do that as well.

[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 chadunc

I dont want to get booed here, but I was in your boat as well. I debated and debated but finally bought the LG Super Blu Player. That way, I didnt have to make a choice. Plus, I am way too impatient for this "war" to be over. I am a movie fan #1. I do support Blu-Ray over HD. Any titles that I have bought or ordered that both companies had, I always went with Blu and will continue too. I do think Blu Ray is going to beat HD out. But, I just could not be limited in my selections of movies. How long would I have had to wait for Smokin Aces to come out on Blu? Maybe 6 weeks? 6 months? 6 years? I wasnt willing to wait for some titles. So, they do make a player that plays both, and more are going to come out that do that as well.

Understandable. I'm going to be in the same boat. I don't see how HD DVD cam survive without studio defections which don't look like they are going to happen and I'm NOT taking a loss and selling my movies. A Universal player is going to be something that I'm keen on and quite honestly I'd love to pick eBay or Craigslist clean of good HD DVD titles that people are bailing on.

I'm not waiting any longer than I have to.

[bthuring]

"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."


Don't know how to do the quote thing, but wanted to comment on the above post. I understand the time/value rational thing, but for me it doesn't apply in this situation.

Don't know how to do the quote thing, but wanted to comment on the above post. I understand the time/value rational thing, but for me it doesn't apply in this situation.

In your PS3 analogy your not talking about a console (or software) that's going to be extinct any time soon and I won't have been able to benfit from those 1000's of hours of entertainment. In the high def player category one of these formats (probably HD DVD) is going to be extinct soon. Not only is it a hardware issue, but I wouldn't want to purchase my movies and be stuck with useless movies due to the format war. I understand that those movies technically would not be useless as I could still watch them on the outdated player, but I'm only going to have one high def player hooked up to my HDTV and it will be the format winner.

[bthuring]

It's interesting when I realize I have three TV's. Both are identical Sony rear end projection LCD's except one is a 50" and one is 42". In our bedroom I have an 36" old Toshiba tube behemoth and my laptop is a Toshiba. The Toshiba laptop replaced an old Sony Vaio laptop. Very strange things afoot.

[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.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

[QUOTE=bthuring;132130 ...but I'm only going to have one high def player hooked up to my HDTV and it will be the format winner.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but it's pretty clear which format that will be. I understand you and others holding off, but I'm pretty confident I've chosen well. For me, what for a winner is a moot point.

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by Ender

How will that work when the PS3 doesn't have any kind of a/v input? A USB adapter of some sort?

This was read at a reliable PS3 site earlier this year. If I remember right it was from some industry type (not some poster). Any cable connection guesses are just that.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by bthuring

"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."


Don't know how to do the quote thing, but wanted to comment on the above post. I understand the time/value rational thing, but for me it doesn't apply in this situation.

Don't know how to do the quote thing, but wanted to comment on the above post. I understand the time/value rational thing, but for me it doesn't apply in this situation.

In your PS3 analogy your not talking about a console (or software) that's going to be extinct any time soon and I won't have been able to benfit from those 1000's of hours of entertainment. In the high def player category one of these formats (probably HD DVD) is going to be extinct soon. Not only is it a hardware issue, but I wouldn't want to purchase my movies and be stuck with useless movies due to the format war. I understand that those movies technically would not be useless as I could still watch them on the outdated player, but I'm only going to have one high def player hooked up to my HDTV and it will be the format winner.

You've captured my feelings on this exactly. While I DO feel somewhat envious of the folks who are getting these fantastic Blu-ray deals now, I would not trade the past six months living in Blu-ray (and also PS3 heaven in the case of my son who also uses it for games) heaven for many times the current savings. So, after thinking of this time, my envy goes away and I feel good for the current buyers; because I know what a good thing they are coming into. So tell your wife you won the discussion.

[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.

[GTP]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

Getting a little silly there I think but you are directionally right. Many of those things didn't happen for DVD until the last couple of years, prices certainly weren't that low in the first 5 years and yet it gained mass adoption. These things all happen on various scales at the same time, but blu-ray will pick up serious steam long before you see players under $100. New titles can be had on Amazon for $19.99 right now in many cases.

Maybe if your speaking to the choir its silly yes...but try telling average consumers that 200.00 is cheap enough with two formats, 30% hdtv saturation and 20-35.00 media its silly.

The average consumer is gauging the HD prices off what they now spend for dvd.
Just talk to a few of them and you will find its not so silly.

I may spend 2k on a future BD player as I have more than once for dvd...but that has absolutely nothing to do with average consumers adopting HD optical.