HD-DVD and Blu-ray owner

[Blu Falcon]

Just keep the player and continue to watch the movies you've got. Hell, buy more titles if you can find them cheap enough. It's not going to suddenly become "standard def" just because the format is dead. There are still plenty of people out there with their collections of Laserdiscs, Betamax tapes, vinyl records, and 8 tracks. Go get yourself a back up player at a discounted price and enjoy your HD DVD titles until the next big revolution in home entertainment becames available in the future. At that point your HD DVD player will be considered a novel piece of format war history from days long past, and would make quite the conversation piece at your future cocktail parties.

[smv25]

Originally Posted by Tabesis

So what are the plans going to be for those who have HD-DVD movies?? Does anyone know??

It's gonna look real nice right next to your betamax.

[PuzZLeR]

To the original poster:

I do find your concern valid about the long-term viability of your HD-DvD wares, but expecting some sort of salvage value/trade-in/rebate/etc is, sorry to say, absolutely ridiculous. You can look into it, but don't expect it. There was no "insurance" with your purchase. It doesn't work that way. Just write it off in your head as an extra expense you paid to enjoy the HD quality sooner. A few years from now it won't matter.

Now that I got that out of the way, here's what I would do if I were you.

Short run:
Very simple, do nothing much for a while. Just keep your HD-DvD player in good condition and enjoy your HD-DvD discs as normal.

A year or so from now:
BD equivalents of your HD-DvD discs will be available, and disc prices will drop after being more mass-produced - a direct result of the format war being over. Replace the HD-DvD discs one-by-one as your budget, or any advertised discont sale, permits. If you had the budget to buy two competing units of HD-disc-tech at super-high prices then I can't see how this would be a problem for you.

Long run (even if your HD-DvD player is finished):
Now you can probably replace anything HD-DvD you still have in BD format real cheap. If however an HD-DvD title you have never makes it to BD (although unlikely), by then the technology will be such that you can create a BD equivalent of your remaining HD-DvDs via affordable software to play on your BD player. Simple as that.

Then you can go on to eBaY and sell off anything remaining you still have in HD-DvD to hardcore collectors who will drool over this rare stuff from a "few years back" - and in some cases will still purchase it even if you announce it may not be functional anymore. There's some payback for you win-win style.

Problem solved. Or at least, that's what I would do.

[Grisle]

Buying early is a risk...if it wasn't everyone would have just gotten in and then expected an exchange program if the format the chose lost. You can't expect to see too many programs like that, but I think there may actually be a few of them out there...sort of turn in your HD DVD player and save $?...I think I've seen that somewhere.

[Blu Falcon]

Originally Posted by PuzZLeR

To the original poster:

I do find your concern valid about the long-term viability of your HD-DvD wares, but expecting some sort of salvage value/trade-in/rebate/etc is, sorry to say, absolutely ridiculous. You can look into it, but don't expect it. There was no "insurance" with your purchase. It doesn't work that way. Just write it off in your head as an extra expense you paid to enjoy the HD quality sooner. A few years from now it won't matter.

Now that I got that out of the way, here's what I would do if I were you.

Short run:
Very simple, do nothing much for a while. Just keep your HD-DvD player in good condition and enjoy your HD-DvD discs as normal.

A year or so from now:
BD equivalents of your HD-DvD discs will be available, and disc prices will drop after being more mass-produced - a direct result of the format war being over. Replace the HD-DvD discs one-by-one as your budget, or any advertised discont sale, permits. If you had the budget to buy two competing units of HD-disc-tech at super-high prices then I can't see how this would be a problem for you.

Long run (even if your HD-DvD player is finished):
Now you can probably replace anything HD-DvD you still have in BD format real cheap. If however an HD-DvD title you have never makes it to BD (although unlikely), by then the technology will be such that you can create a BD equivalent of your remaining HD-DvDs via affordable software to play on your BD player. Simple as that.

Then you can go on to eBaY and sell off anything remaining you still have in HD-DvD to hardcore collectors who will drool over this rare stuff from a "few years back" - and in some cases will still purchase it even if you announce it may not be functional anymore. There's some payback for you win-win style.

Problem solved. Or at least, that's what I would do.

Sound advice. +1

[firestar120]

Originally Posted by Tabesis

I have a few questions, and please lets not try to make this a bash session.

I do own both formats, and I do know that HD-DVD is going to be like yesterdays Beta Max players or Divx players. I would like to know if there are going to be any plans to for trade ins once everyone gets on board with Blu Ray??

I bought both formats for only 1 reason, I like watching movies, and I could not watch some of my favorite movies on just 1 format, cause Transformers, Heroes, Battlestar Gallactica and a few others was on HD, where Cars, Spider-man, Die Hard and others was on a different format. I really did not care who was going to win lose draw in the format wars, cause I was getting the HD out of both instead of the old DVD's that looked crappy on my Plasma TV.

I want to know if future blu-ray players are going to allow me to watch my HD-DVD movies I own now or are there going to be a trade in thing when a certain movie comes out on Blu-Ray why would I want to buy it again. In that retrospec, I would not mind paying a few extra to get it on Blu-Ray if I could return my HD-DVD for a small trade in fee. What I do not want to see happen, look my HD-DVD player no longer works and now I cannot watch all the movies I have on HD-DVD, I would be in a pickle.

Yes the format war is over, and I seen post where people say screw the HD-DVD people, but unlike some, I supported both, not just 1, I have 1 Blu-Ray for each 1 HD-DVD movie I own. I spent my money to buy the movies I liked, and did not care which format they was on, as long as I enjoyed them. So I do not think the HD-DVD people should be left holding the shaft being it was the Format War that punished us all in the 1st place, hard to choose sides when I liked movies from both sides.

So what are the plans going to be for those who have HD-DVD movies?? Does anyone know??

Welcome to the forum! Hope you have fun here!

I would recommend a combo player if you have the money. If not, just buy a BD player and put it next to the HD player. If a trade-in ever happens, you could either trade them in for BDs and sell all your HD DVDs and your HD player, or you could keep them and let them gain value. When the next big thing comes out, you could sell both and get the money for, let's just say, holographic versatile disc (HVD). Hope this helps you!

[robgmun]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

Plans for those who picked up Hd players?
None.
Choices made, consequences taken.
EVERYONE knew going in that there would be one winner and placed their bets accordingly.
When the rumors came of a Warner switch, that was the best sign to sell yet like others you chose not to and lets admit it the reason was because you were not sure.
"But what if hd wins????"
When it really happened, there was another chance to unload the hd stuff but again the choice was made not to.
When Walmart switched, when Netflix switched, when Best Buy announced their choice still nothing was done on your part.
So sorry...

Harsh, but oh so very true. At every bit of sign coming in the last 12 months they just called it FUD and stuck there fingers in there ears LA LA LA! Especially the brits, they just wouldn't see it coming. Now you should see the chest beating and whaling going on in the UK forums. Thinking Toshiba owes them compensation or something. I just couldn't fathom why they didn't do there research properly. It reminds me of that bit in Austin Powers where that Hentchman got run over by the steamroller.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Tabesis

I have a few questions, and please lets not try to make this a bash session.

I do own both formats, and I do know that HD-DVD is going to be like yesterdays Beta Max players or Divx players. I would like to know if there are going to be any plans to for trade ins once everyone gets on board with Blu Ray??

ISo what are the plans going to be for those who have HD-DVD movies?? Does anyone know??

Why not enjoy both? Although this forum is used primarily by blu-ray purists (and unfortunately the fanatics), if your interest is high-definition video, I don't see why you can't take advantage of both formats, especially since the demise of HD-DVD. I was originally an exclusive blu-ray owner, but picked up an HD-DVD player for cheap and now am enjoying high-definition movies for far less than I have spent on blu-rays. For example, Amazon had a sale on all Universal HD DVD movies yesterday for $11.95 - the normal prices for most of the movies have come down to about $15 at many web sites and a business was selling the HD version of Planet Earth for $25. I have seen some new HD movies as low as $10. It is going to be a long time before you see that kind of pricing on blu-ray, and as you pointed out, a long time before you see alot of the titles available on HD for blu-ray. If you are worried about the player, you can pick up a new D3 as a spare at Costco with HDMI cable and free movies for $79. You are going to have to act quickly, because it is anticipated that the players will pretty much be gone in the next two months and many places are dumping the movies. As far the quality issue, an inspection of the threads at AVS forum should convince you that the quality of blu-ray players is certainly no better than Toshiba HD players. And 1080P on HD looks just as good as 1080P on blu, at least on my Sony 70" XBR2. If and when blu-ray movies finally become reasonably priced, you will be in a position to take advantage of that. Since the "format war" is over, hopefully the blu-ray community can focus its energy on pricing.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by blu-backer

nice video clip

[skrill]

I am keeping both my HD players and probably looking to get another BR player (when the 3rd gen players come out).

I also bet that there will continue to be companies like LG (hopefully Oppo) that will make players that cover both formats.

Although HD DVD is technically dead -- think that someone will want to tap into the market be at least licensing HD DVD tech and putting it in their players for the hundreds of thousands of folks that have/want/own HD DVD media.