owners of HD-DVD, what to do?

[mike c]

hey guys!

so we have HD-DVD players and let's assume HD-DVD is as good as dead ...

Do we stop buying HD-DVD movies?

If we stop buying movies, that pretty much makes our HD-DVD players expensive upscalers.

If we DON'T stop buying, what if one day no more manufacturers support HD-DVD, no more players are out there, we get a lot of HD DVD coasters!

on a side note:
the DVD players today play both DVD-A/SACD ... maybe one day multi-format players will survive to keep people with HD DVD discs happy? :)

[gus6464]

hey guys!

so we have HD-DVD players and let's assume HD-DVD is as good as dead ...

Do we stop buying HD-DVD movies?

If we stop buying movies, that pretty much makes our HD-DVD players expensive upscalers.

If we DON'T stop buying, what if one day no more manufacturers support HD-DVD, no more players are out there, we get a lot of HD DVD coasters!

on a side note:
the DVD players today play both DVD-A/SACD ... maybe one day multi-format players will survive to keep people with HD DVD discs happy? :)

I am contemplating that myself and seriously thinking of putting up my A3 along with with all the movies I got with it plus my old receiver on craigslist.

[Bluesmoke]

I'm selling my HD DVDs. I know I'm just going to end up buying them again on Blu-ray. I'm not keeping my 360 add on for a few movies. I didn't get too invested in either formats. I have about 4 HD DVDs and 8 Blu-rays.

[kenhoeve]

my XA2 is a fantastic component, especially for CD's and standard dvd. i could care less. adding a $100 BR player at some point is really no big deal.

[Nomo]

I'm not one to own a great deal of movies so I don't see being stuck with many movies I can't watch.
For right now I plan to continue using my A2 for both SD and HD-DVDs as it does a pretty good job of up scaling to my 1080i TV.
If and when the time comes that it's obsolete, considering I only have $100 invested in it, I won't be crying in my beer.

[mike c]

I'm not one to own a great deal of movies so I don't see being stuck with many movies I can't watch.
For right now I plan to continue using my A2 for both SD and HD-DVDs as it does a pretty good job of up scaling to my 1080i TV.
If and when the time comes that it's obsolete, considering I only have $100 invested in it, I won't be crying in my beer.

but will you buy new HD DVD discs?

[acacia987]

i wouldn't consider my A2 an expensive upscaler(got it for $130 plus 10 free hd-dvd's). as for buying dvds, i was never planning on buying hd-dvds. That to me seems like putting all your eggs in one basket(that goes for buying blue-ray movies as well at this point). i use netflix to rent all my movies.

[stratman]

Hey Mike,

Why don't you consider renting your HD DVDs at this point? Don't throw good money after bad.

[GlocksRock]

I never bought any HD DVD discs, I didn't want to invest in discs until the format war was over. I bought the HD-A2 from Wal-Mart for $99 and sold my Oppo to pretty much break even. I've just been renting HD DVD's and Blu Rays from Blockbuster, and getting my 5 free discs from the rebates on both players (still waiting on my HD DVDs) I won't feel too bad about HD DVD going away since I really didn't have to pay anything out of pocket to get the player, and the A2 does a better job of upconverting than my Oppo on my DLP tv, plus I get to use HDMI instead of DVD-HDMI + toslink, and I get easier firmware updates since I have it connected via ethernet. I won't buy any HD DVDs since I would rather the format just go away altogether, and let the people count their losses, as that's the risk you take in being an early adopter in the midst of a format war. Should Blu Ray have won, I wouldn't be complaining, since at the worst I would be stuck with a PS3 that I can play games on.

[Nomo]

but will you buy new HD DVD discs?

I was a bit leary of the future of the format in the first place. The only disc I was even slightly considering buying up was U571. That was a couple weeks ago, before the bottom fell out for HD-DVD.
Now it's almost completely out of the question.

I do feel for the people who invested in the higher end players, as they have more to lose by the format failing.

For me, $100 is not a small amount of cash. But I've wasted more money on worse things in the past. But let's not talk about my two ex-wives.;)

[Emusica]

we get a lot of HD DVD coasters!



Expensive coasters, especially since they will still work. No need to trash 'em.:D

[Martiad3]

All that I know is that even if HD-DVD is dead, it's not like my player is suddenly going to stop working tomorrow. It's a well built machine, that doesn't get abused, so I should be able to use it for years to come. By the time it does break down for good, I'll have gotten my money's worth out of it.

[The Dukester]

I'll keep buying them. I prefer it over Sony and BD. It doesn't look good for HD DVD over the long haul, but I won't buy BD until I have to. I may hold off buying discs I don't really want unless they have a fire sale near the end, but will buy none the less. I have a new A2 that I will probably keep just in case I need an extra. I bought a combo player (that I may return if they don't update with firmware:() that I am using for both right now. I think they will continue to put out combo players for a couple of years at least. Toshiba may even give in a year or two from now and release combo players. It would make good customer relations sense for them to cover both formats for awhile even if they concede, IMO.

[mike c]

Hey Mike,

Why don't you consider renting your HD DVDs at this point? Don't throw good money after bad.

we don't have high def rentals here :(


I do feel for the people who invested in the higher end players, as they have more to lose by the format failing.

For me, $100 is not a small amount of cash. But I've wasted more money on worse things in the past. But let's not talk about my two ex-wives.;)

ouch. i bought the A35 for 400+ USD plus shipping to the Philippines :(

[crashkelly]

I am a little miffed about the whole deal as I spent between $600CDN and $700CDN last month on HD-DVD. Bought a Toshiba HD-30 for $300, the Ultimate Matrix Trilogy, Blade Runner briefcase, plus a whole lot of other HD-DVD movies for my family for Christmas.

To me I went all out. I waited and waited on the fence but as soon as I went one way, it looks like the format war went the other.

Now truly, I have a great player to watch some great movies (picture and audio quality wise) for years (knock on wood) to come.

I will more than likely keep buying movies as I have alreadfy invested in the player and if the format dies (although I personally think it is far from over) there will be some great clear out deals on stock that still exists.

I am not anti Blu-Ray by any means, I will be getting a PS3 at the end of the month (something I knew I would get last year but just did not know exactly when) for games and movies, but when I did my research it pointed me to HD-DVD as the "better" format (no flames please) as it was "finished" in terms of the standard. I knew that the player I was choosing would be updateable over the internet and that I would already have the extended web content.

As I said, I am a little miffed, but still very happy with the purchases I made. They just could have at least let me pay it off on my credit card before the fomat "died". :rolleyes:

I know that it is hard to support a fomat that most say is going to go away in very short order, but in my opinion, everyone running away from the format will be exactly the reason that it dies, it will become a victim of its own demise. If you want the format to survive, gain ground, or even come out the winner (as remotely possible as that may seem right now), stand up and say that buy not running away from it. Sure at the end of the day and if HD-DVD does die, you may be out a few more bucks on some movies, but so what, it is only money (and that is coming from someone who does not have a whole lot of it) and at least you can know that you supported the format regardless of if you only own an HD-DVD player or if you have both (Blu-ray and HD-DVD).

Hmmm... where did that come from. Sorry for the rant, but I guess all the stories of the death of HD-DVD are getting to me. At my last check, this morning and please correct me if I am wrong, Paramount and Universal are still fully in the HD-DVD camp and will be releasing movies. At this point saying HD-DVD is dead like saying a person with a heart rate of 20bp/m is gone and just walking away from them. Okay, not the best analogy, but I think you get what I mean.

Probably worth saying again that I am not an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray fanboy, nor do I despise Blu-Ray, I just think HD-DVD is worth trying to save.

Just my 5 cents (would have been 2 cents but I did go on for a bit)
Cheers all
Michael

[funked up]

I picked up the HD-A3 not even two weeks ago when I bought my tv. Only spent 99 buckks on it. The blu-ray player would of cost $200 more, figure i'll be able to pick one up at that price down the road, and then i'll have a HD-DVD and a blu-ray. Right now i'm only going to rent movies. But plan on trying to pick up some old favorites durring some good sales when HD-DVD finally dies. I'm gonna wait for blu-ray players to drop in price and then i'll pick one up or maybe get it for christmass next year, sure there will be some good sales then. Eventually the HD player will become comepletely useless, then it will go back into the box and in storage, who knows maybe it will be worth something in twenty years.

[j_garcia]

For me, I will only be buying used or very cheap on some kind of sale (fire sale) becasuse at this point I don't want to invest a lot in a movie collection on this format, nor had I intended to. I will REALLY have to want it and it will have to be exclusive for me to buy it on HD DVD. A lot of people are putting their entire HD DVD collections up for sale cheap, so there are already deals to be had.

I see it going the way of LD. It will be around for a while and after it dies out, there will be a market for good players because at some point there will still be a lot of media in collectors hands and not a lot of players.

[spacedteddybear]

For me, I will only be buying used or very cheap on some kind of sale (fire sale) becasuse at this point I don't want to invest a lot in a movie collection on this format, nor had I intended to. I will REALLY have to want it and it will have to be exclusive for me to buy it on HD DVD. A lot of people are putting their entire HD DVD collections up for sale cheap, so there are already deals to be had.


No kidding. I just saw a XA2 along with 45+ hddvd's sold for $600 on craigslist.

[mtrycrafts]

but will you buy new HD DVD discs?

Yes,:D if they are what I want and especially if the price is right.

I will wait and see what happens.

[Buckeye_Nut]

I bought a BD and HD player back in December. Luckily for me I was still inside the 30 day window, and the HD player went back to the store for a full refund.

Interestingly..... BB even took back the cabling without any packaging. I basically handed them a wad of cable, and they accepted the return without even blinking.


The Blu-ray player stays:cool:

[fmw]

I just bought the Bourne Ultimatum on HD-DVD yesterday and I haven't bought a Blu-Ray release since Spiderman 3. I don't buy that many movies but I buy a few from time to time. I mostly rent and watch HD movies from satellite. I expect HD-DVD releases will be noticeably less expensive in the next few months unless Toshiba figures out how to get through this pretty quickly. I'm sure I'll take advantage of that.

I'm not going to do anything about the WB announcement. I'm just going to go along as I always have. The HD-DVD player cost me $180 - about the same as weekly grocery bill or 4 tanks of gasoline. I'm not going to spend any time worrying about it at all.

[funked up]

I bought my HD-A3 on the 1st of the year. Got a great deal on it. It was on sale for $199 and they(Sears) knocked another $100 of it when I bought my panny plasma. So the question is should I bother returning the HD-A3 and buy a Sony blu-ray? The blu-ray isn't on sale right now and goes for $399. I think they would still give me the hundred off, so it would only be $299. Def not a great deal like the HD-A3. So in your opinion should take the HD-A3 back now, or just keep it and wait for a sale to pick up the Blu-Ray. I'm leaning towards keeping it, but just wanted to see what people think?

[GlocksRock]

I would dump the A3 and get a blu ray player.

[Tomorrow]

What a bunch of gloom and doom! :eek: As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over". This is a marathon contest, not a sprint.

There is a substantial investment and mighty deep pockets behind HD-DVD. While it's getting late in the game, and the red team is behind....the game is still being played. The final score is not in. It is my belief that running out now and finding a deal and purchasing a BDP is potentially more costly than those of us that have already invested in HD-DVD.

As Conan O'Brien would say, "Eeeeasy, my babies." Let all the cards fall into place, first. ;)

[patnshan]

I'm not getting rid of anything and I don't see why anyone would. Your player will not suddenly stop working and your HD DVD's will not dissolve. The movies already made plus those from the remaining formats will still be available. The rentals are still available and likely will be for quite some time. Will the movies suddenly lose resolution or sound quality???? Geez, you people are nuts IMHO.

I wouldn't buy a new HD DVD player now, but think it's quite irrational for people to be selling the stuff they already have:confused::confused:

Pat

[GlocksRock]

In Funked Up's case, it's still early enough for him to return the player for a full refund, so why not do that... there are so many more movies out on blu ray than HD DVD, it would only make sense to have blu ray over HD DVD as of now, especially with so few studios actuall releasing movies on HD DVD. If you have the money to have a player for each format, then by all means have two players, or a univeral one, but if you are to only have one, they I would strongly suggetst blu ray, even though the war isn't compeltely over... I still see HD DVD as mortally wounded.

[The Dukester]

I would keep the A3 and wait for a deal on a BD player, if you can hold out that long. It also depends on what features you want, also. If you want all lossless audio options and 1080p, then take it back and get a full featured BD or combo player. Supposedly Samsung will have firmware out to fix their combo player in May to handle all the audio options.

[ParadigmDawg]

Let's all get together at fmw's house and smash them along with his 605. It will be a fun time and we can even burn a couple of them if anyone wants to.

[Buckeye_Nut]

I wouldn't buy a new HD DVD player now, but think it's quite irrational for people to be selling the stuff they already have:confused::confused:

Pat

You bring up a good point....being: you would NOT buy one now. I think it depends on how long ago someone bought their player. If they've owned it long enough to eliminate a return/refund possiblity...yes, by all means....keep it. Enjoy it to the fullest!!


For those who just bought one recently and can still return it for a full refund....then yes....I'd recommend dumping it.

[cjschrot]

I also bought in the last month, and I'm keeping mine. It does a good job of upconversion (1/2 of my collection) and I'd rather play Transformers, King Kong, Bourne, etc. than buy them on Blu down the road. Picture is still great and everything works so I still feel like it was a good deal.

[GlocksRock]

I think I heard that microsoft has cancelled the announcement of the XBOX 360 Ultimate, with built in HD DVD drive after hearing about Warner Bros. going blu exclusive... that is saying a lot right there that even MS doens't have much faith in the format anymore.

[j_garcia]

Let's all get together at fmw's house and smash them along with his 605. It will be a fun time and we can even burn a couple of them if anyone wants to.

I'm in! Who's bringing the beer?

[patnshan]

In Funked Up's case, it's still early enough for him to return the player for a full refund, so why not do that... there are so many more movies out on blu ray than HD DVD, it would only make sense to have blu ray over HD DVD as of now, especially with so few studios actuall releasing movies on HD DVD. If you have the money to have a player for each format, then by all means have two players, or a univeral one, but if you are to only have one, they I would strongly suggetst blu ray, even though the war isn't compeltely over... I still see HD DVD as mortally wounded.


Agree totally, I'm talking about the fire sales on Ebay as irrational. Now, if I could return it, I would. Although, maybe not as I really do love transformers:D

Pat

[jcPanny]

Even if HD-DVD gives up, it doesn't mean that BluRay has "won" the format war. The BluRay players are going to have to drop to much less than the current $400+ price range to reach any type of critical mass. With potentially less competition, I don't see any incentive for them to drop their prices. The could end up as a nich format like SACD and DVD-A.

Case and point: My parents puchased a Harry Boxed set for my sister for Christmas in the HD-DVD format. Mom did not know what HD-DVD was or that it would not play in the current DVD player. These are the people you are trying to convince to buy a $400 BluRay player.

[funked up]

Yesterday I had my HD-A3 in the box and ready to return. As I was heading out the door when I realized something. This only cost $99 dollars. And if I wait for a sale on a blu-ray player, i'm sure i'll be able to find one for $299. That way I'll have both players for what a just a blu-ray player would cost me right now. I immediately turned around went back inside and enjoyed a movie on my HD player. I've been racking my brain about this since I first bought this player a couple weeks ago, heard about the eventually death of HD-DVD just a couple days after I bought it. Now I just gotta wait for a good sale somewhere on the blu-ray player.

[stratman]

BD player prices will tumble just wait and see, come end of spring early summer you're going to get good deals. Man I hate being right all the time!....:p