Saying that BD 1.0 players are obsolete is completely incorrect.
I don't know
who wrote that. I did write that the millions of PS3 owners that bought their players for movies are now limited in their playback of movies, and will continue to be with new releases...unless they lose the lawsuit.
I recently bought a new receiver which decodes all the lossless audio formats. Neither of my current players could decode DTS-MA or send it out via bitstream. So I purchased the Panasonic player so it could send the audio out via bitstream. (Which I must say the Panasonic is a racehorse in comparison when loading movies.) Last time I looked only one of the Toshiba players could actually output bitstream for external decoding. As a matter of fact it seems as if it is a moot point... Most movies I have watched on HD DVD are only Dolby Digital Plus. Or if they are DTS-MA the Toshiba players only send out the DTS core signal either decoded or via Bitstream.
This may be all fine and true, but that's only looking forward. What about those of us without HDMI? Do we have to scrap our receivers to get DD+ and True? Not with HD. HD passes DD+ and True via analog. There is no BD player that passes DD+ and True via analog. I hate conspicuous consumption and the throw away mentality. HD was, and is at the forefront allowing passthrough via analog. That makes them consumer conscious.
Lets now discuss video output. How many HD DVD players can output 1080p? Last time I checked EVERY BD player does this. HD DVD reserves this feature for their "top o' the line" players, which until recently was the same price as most BD players.
Well, the flagship A35 does it, and it is selling for a paltry $224.00 The XA2 has also done it for years, and those can be had refurbed for about $250.00
I guess the point I am trying to make is that both formats were effectively rushed out of the gates lacking features.
Perhaps.
As far as firmware updates go, I've also read that the A35 must do so out of the box, which is not so different than BD players.. Which most have to have an update due to changes in HDCP used by the Movie Studios.
I don't know what you're implying, but I've read many buyers getting the A35 with 1.3 fw installed (out of the box), and it works flawlessly.
For the record, I started out on the HD DVD bandwagon, however it did not take long for me to go Blu. For my tastes BD had much more to offer when it came to movie selection.
And so it goes. I've heard HD saying the converse. Perhaps real fanatics need the best of both worlds.