Blu-Ray Disc or HD-DVD - What will you buy?

[Emusica]

I read an interesting article that predicts HT PC's will win by default. Everyone will just get their terabyte hard drives and dowload HD content onto their machines. I, personally, will sit this one out and see what develops. ( I do want a PS3 though )

 

[mtrycrafts]

So, there is a format war brewing and while a number of sites have put up questions on this, I don't think we have here yet.

I don't want to get into a debate on which is really better, but want to just get some responses for what people are buying and why.

I may respond later - thanks.

Wait until there is a dual/universal player at a reasonable price. I don't need to be the first on the block

 

[davo]

format transition

If the first HD DVD players are going to be $400 - $500, I highly doubt the Blu-ray players will be $1800. Possibly the flagship Denons and Elites, but not entry level. They'll lose the war before it even starts.

If a PS3 will play Blu-ray movies, and you can pick them up for $399, then I'm sure you'll see players hoovering around that price soon after the release. People won't rent these 1080i movies if they can't afford 1080i players.

I'm anxious to see what Netflix and Blockbuster do as far as rentals go. You'll have three formats to rent movies, and that will definitely affect how blockbuster pushes different formats. My guess is one will win out over the other sooner than you think. My vote is for Blu-ray, and I'll probably pick up a player by the end of the year if they drop down to the $300 range, and the rentals are $5.99 or less.


If they make the mistake of pricing these rentals and players much higher, people may choose to go pay per view in HD, as cable and satellite boxes have the technology right now to take a big bite out of the market. Speculation of course.

BR disks can have normal dvd content and br content on the same disk. Apparently the "blue" layer is transparent to the red laser, and it can still be dual layered. I'm not sure if HD-DVD can do it but I wouldn't be suprised. I agree that the PS3 coming out with the Blue-ray player in it is a smart move by Sony, (Microsoft- you idiots!) even if it comes out a bit later than X-box.

 

[hifiman]

I'm not going to get burned again

I've been through the early adopter thing too many times with MD, DCC, DAT, DVD-A, and SACD. The last two really left a sour taste in my mouth because these formats were crippled before they hit the shelves. I'm not upgrading to either of the new high def DVD formats until I see the shelves loaded with the discs at Walmart, which is going to be tough since I rarely go to Walmart.

 

[claudermilk]

For HT, I'm sitting this one out. I will almost certainly end up in the Blu-Ray camp as sooner or later my PS2 will need updating to the PS3, but I'm in no hurry for that. When it does happen, that's where any Blu-Ray movies & end up getting will likely be played from.

 

[shokhead]

I'll skip this one and by the time the next war comes along,i'll need an upgrade anyway.

 

[CitronBull]

hd dvd or blu ray

My solution would be xbox 360 and PS3 when it comes out. Next purchase is a LCD or DLP with 1080p to get the maximum video capability.

 

[naisphoo]

Well obviously Blue Ray and the ps3. It will be out soon. Walt Mart's website has posted some info about the ps3 so I think it will be out sooner than everyone thought.

 

[gellor]

Wow, the Cars trailer in 1080P looks amazing. Too bad it didn't all fit on my PC monitor. Is there any way to save the quicktime files from the Apple website? You can save them from the Divx site.

Quicktime Pro. You can save AND watch them in fullscreen mode.

 

[Hi Ho]

I don't have Quicktime installed, I have Quicktime Alternative installed and those files play beautifully in Windows Media Player Classic. Those are some amazing videos.

Quicktime's insistance on running resource eating processes in the background when it is not in use leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The same goes for RealPlayer. That's why there's RealAlternative.

 

[W_Harding]

I clicked Both. What I ment by that was that I will buy a universal player when the price drops to less than $200.

 

[doomguardian]

If the first HD DVD players are going to be $400 - $500, I highly doubt the Blu-ray players will be $1800. Possibly the flagship Denons and Elites, but not entry level. They'll lose the war before it even starts.

If a PS3 will play Blu-ray movies, and you can pick them up for $399, then I'm sure you'll see players hoovering around that price soon after the release. People won't rent these 1080i movies if they can't afford 1080i players.

I'm anxious to see what Netflix and Blockbuster do as far as rentals go. You'll have three formats to rent movies, and that will definitely affect how blockbuster pushes different formats. My guess is one will win out over the other sooner than you think. My vote is for Blu-ray, and I'll probably pick up a player by the end of the year if they drop down to the $300 range, and the rentals are $5.99 or less.

If they make the mistake of pricing these rentals and players much higher, people may choose to go pay per view in HD, as cable and satellite boxes have the technology right now to take a big bite out of the market. Speculation of course.

The PS3 is losing 150$ on each system sold, the games on the PS3 will make up for Sony's loss in money. And the PS3 isn't a Blu-Ray player, it has a Blu-Ray drive. Much different.

 

[doomguardian]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will deliver The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil Apocalypse (ooh!), RoboCop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT and XXX. Both Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai will be released on on 50 GB, dual-layer discs in the summer.

 

[Jedi2016]

The PS3 is losing 150$ on each system sold, the games on the PS3 will make up for Sony's loss in money. And the PS3 isn't a Blu-Ray player, it has a Blu-Ray drive. Much different.

Actually, it IS a Blu-Ray player. They've been quite clear on that since they first announced it.. PS3 can play BD movies. That makes it a "Blu-Ray Player" as far as I'm concerned, unless you have a different definition of "player" than I do.

 

[claudermilk]

How can they be losing money on the PS3? It isn't even on the market yet--unless I've totally missed the big news story. Sounds like the internet rumour mill at work again.

 

[BMXTRIX]

IF POSSIBLE: Please try not to post to much in the way of FAQs about the technologies within this post. - To often there is misinformation presented about technologies within posts which tends to bias some responses. ie: PS3 pricing has not been officially announced, so it is all speculation. Exact details of PS3/Blu-Ray playback are not in place either, but is expected - hence, it is on the list.

I'm not a moderator, but did start the post just to get a feel for what people were looking into and their opinion on why they wanted it. If this post is around in a couple of weeks I may do a long blurb at the end.

Thanks so far for all the great responses!

 

[DDigitalguy06]

WoW!
Neither - Sitting it out so far have most votes. it look's like blue ray or hd dvd is gonna fail. May I ask u all a question? ok here it is,Why do u like poor quality picture? for I like high quality and High quality sound! but it's getting better. I think i'll go with hd-dvd but not sure yet. It will bring your movie to life and 3d look. I say go and get a hd-dvd.