HD-DVD user looking at new Samsung? Opinions please.

[Maximus]

I think the G2 Samsung will be a good buy, it has the HQV video processor, so Sigma must be using their equivalent to the Silicon Optix Reon used in the XA2. It will output 1080p24 so if you have an XBR/SXRD TV that will be useful. It also has 7.1 analogue outputs which means they will be readying advanced audio codec support (DTS-HDMA/DD-TrueHD). It also has a Ethernet port, so BD-Live is a possibility, and it incorporates the new wireless format 802.11n, which is incredibly fast so will be able to transmit HD content over an 802.11n enabled wireless home-network. At $799 MSRP it is a very good deal.

Ed: it uses the same Silicon Optix Reon-VX chip as the XA2, so they are most definitely even in every sense other than price. Toshiba obviously thought that they could get away with $999 because they were using this chip to power it, but Samsung have shown that the so called more expensive tech of Blu-ray can use the same chip and still be cheaper. Cool.