Home audio & video forum: Poll: Which factor would make you upgrade to a Blu-ray or HD DVD player?

I simply want huge storage capacity for my everyday files. 4 Gb DVDs are toooo small. A 40 Gb disc will let me back-up everything. Well, almost everything. And even greater storage would be even better.

Well. I got a free HD-DVD add-on for my Xbox 360 at a gaming expo. I have the copy of King Kong as well as the Planet Earth series. They both look amazing.

It is kind of a toss up of who will win the format war. Disney has the contract with Blu-Ray and the porn industry has adopted HD-DVD. If blu-ray wins, i guess i'll wait around for a dual format player.

Seems like half the folks sitting on the HD player fence agree with me that the SOLE PURCHASE they REALLY CARE ENOUGH ABOUT to purchase an HD player for is "Planet Earth." But SERIOUSLY, ANYONE who's seen that show on Discovery HD and likes ANY KIND OF NATURE, WILDLIFE OUR OUTDOOR SCENERY VIDEO would be literally frothing at the mouth to have a copy of THAT in high definition...

Truthfully, when and if I DO get a HD player, I'll likely get THAT and a few more titles worth the HD resolution and watching again (maybe Matrix Trilogy, other fantasy, sci-fi adventures -- things with lots of great special effects video and that I ALSO enjoy watching over and over again). Truthfully, though, there's not MUCH that fits that category... Who has TIME to watch all that pre-recorded content if you also watch live TV?
Jeff

DVD machine prices dropped dramatically very fast. I doubt there is a whole lot of advanced, expensive parts that the new machines have. Rather than follow the VCR model of very slow price reductions, and very slow selling of these un-perfected contraptions, I think today's marketers go for broke quickly--almost entirely due to the "China" factor. It's similar to what Henry Ford did with automobiles. Personally...my current TV (Toshiba) and my VCR/DVD machine (Toshiba) work just fine. Only those who look at TV very closely will notice a BIG difference. It reminds me of the early "Stereo Hi-Fi" days. As new electronics advanced an audiophile would be horrified his $400 receiver "only" went as high as 16,500 Hz on the high-end...when for "only" $1400 he could get one that went to 18,000. Only a DOG could possibly hear a difference. Technological perfection sometimes has no relationship to wise buying decisions. One caveat...if you like great toys and have some cash--go for it, it's a fun experience. I bought a Bose 901 system in 1970...for $700 (in 1970 dollars!) when my friends thought I was mad. BUT--in that case...the improvement in sound was dramatic, and still is.

Look fellas,

I'm not supporting Blu-Rsy just because I have one.
Sure, I won't want to have to buy a new one, but you know what? When the first dvd players came out, they all sucked bad, and we paid huge for them.

If HDD wins, I'll happily buy one and just the Blu-Ray.
I just want whats best for us as a consumer.

I don't know about you guys, but it seems in my neck of the woods, I can find Blu-Ray movies more easily and frequently than HDD, and the bigger storage makes sense.

When I watch Casino Royal on Blu-Ray on my Samsung 1080 Peasy LCD, the thing rocks. I was always one of those guys who made fun of the techies. "Oh you can tell the difference" "I'm not wasting my money"
But after watching Blu-Ray movies on 1080P in the basement, and then watching regular SD on the tv in the bedroom, it hurts my eyes!

Anyhoo, I'm not here to get in a virtual bash fest with HDD owners, I mean heck, if HDD wins this thing, then I'll be one myself.

I suppose we all will find out soon enough.
Remember, it's us the consumers that pay the initial price for all this madness. The manufactururs sure dont make it easy.

Regards :))

Regardless of the format, they need to be backwards compatible with standard DVD format (I've not read to much, but I'm assuming they are). The last thing I want to do is drop a couple of thousand dollars to replace the hundred plus DVD movies in my library. Once assured of campatibility it boils down to cost. Who will give me the biggest bang for my buck! Why can't a player play both formats? Are they that different?

Not true, DVD Playback is mandatory in every HD DVD Player, unlike BluRay which hopes to obsolete DVD eventually and leave all those consumers hanging their current DVDS like Christmas ornaments.
HD DVD players have dropped in price, so there's no risk at all in buying one now.

I've owned the HD-DVD player for months now, I've seen Blue-Ray playbacks... No contest what so ever.. $$$, Quality, Sound, just as good unless you're among that 1% that we all know.

Sony should remember why they lost the Betamax/VHS war - price! There's no doubt that the picture quality of the Blu-ray is better than the HD-DVD (just as was the case in the Betamax/VHS shootout), but consumers buy on price, not picture quality. SONY!!! Are you listening??? I'll buy after the marketplace decides on the format. I was burned with a Betamax when the marketplace went with VHS - that's not going to happen again!

I lean toward Blu-ray over HD DVD because there is only one major movie studio not releasing on Blu-ray: Universal. Meanwhile, Blu-ray has five exclusive studios: Disney, Fox, MGM, Lionsgate and Sony. Three remaining majors Warner, Paramount, and DreamWorks support both formats, and New Line has indicated it will likely do the same.

There are rumors Universal will go "format neutral" and support both formats by this time next year. That would mean every major studio releasing on Blu-ray. If that happened, I think Blu-ray would be declared the winner.

I won't be upgrading till the DVD I am using now will no longer work. I am tired of upgrades that really do not enhance my life, but rather just are one more thing to make it more difficult. Give me reasonable system I can learn and leave it alone.

For instance, I would be happy to have the GUI of Windows 3.1. Fine make it backwards compatible and working faster and better, but don't make me have to learn it over and over. I have Windows XP now and don't want to get into VISTA till I have to.

Blu-Ray is in my opinion, better than HD DVD, but this is because it is larger. While Blu-Ray takes 25GB on a single layer, HDDVD take 15GB. The more memory it can take, the more DVD Titles, the clearer your music and audio/video is and everything's better, eventually.
I know that blu-Ray can take multiple layers, so that eventually in a single disc you can have a Hard Disc comparable memory size, which is optical and therefore less prone to damage. I don't know exactly what HD DVD can take, so I can't really comment, and what I say is from my little knowledge, but nevertheless, the war is good because the prices will be lowered, and then all one has to do is to purchase a blu ray and HD DVD compatible player or writer, and can choose what to do at that particular time - whatever feels best.

I've been a BR fan for a while until I realized this: BR movies are in MPG2 and HD-DVD is in VC1.

Also HD-DVD is cheaper to produce, so for a consumer as myself, I would prefer to spend less money to buy blank disks.

And quoting a friend who is an industry expert on this stuff, "Blu-ray disks waste 20$ of the areal space on the disk surface, so you are getting a lot less usable space than possible."

Thanks.

HD-DVD for me now.

I have over 500 DVD's have spent way too much on current movies and have stopped purchasing more. If I want I can rent or download movies so I don't need a HD or Blue-ray player. They all cost too much anyway. I wish to keep more money in my pocket instead of supporting Communist China.

Bottom line is I'm not getting enough back to justify the cost. Never once have I watched a regular DVD movie and wished it was higher res. Never.

If the players hit $100 AND the movies as are available for $9.99 AND my old player dies, I'll think about it. But, it won't do a thing for my current collection of DVDs and I'm not going to re-buy them.

The only way I'll buy one now is if it comes standard on my XBOX. Otherwise, not a chance.