I take the HD-DVD plunge
It took me a long time to leap off the end of the high definition DVD player diving board, but I finally did it. Up until now, I was wary of making a purchase since it’s so completely up in the air as far as who will win the race: BluRay or HD-DVD.
I ended up choosing HD_DVD for four reasons:
- I had run out of patience in waiting to buy either kind
- The prices were coming down
- I sold my Xbox 360 for more than I paid for the HD-DVD player
- I like a lot of the titles out on HD-DVD
- Smoking deal on Amazon.com
I’m sure some of you will gasp at me selling my 360, but I honestly never play it. I got a good price since it’s still in awesome condition.
The main reason I decided to purchase it now is the deal Amazon.com has going on. If you purchase one of the Toshiba HD-DVD players, you get 5 free movies along with it, plus 5 more later:
- 300 and Bourne Identity come in the box
- You choose 3 more titles from a list of pretty good stuff: Serenity, Batman Begins, Knocked Up, The Shining, Bourne Supremacy, Children of Men and others.
- Once you receive the player, you send in a rebate for 5 more free HD-DVDs.
I mean, that’s 10 DVDs at an average price of $20, or $200 in savings. And the player I purchased was only $224, which is pretty dang good.
Also, as a side note, Engadget HD also mentioned a big deal at Walmart tomorrow morning, 12 free HD-DVDs and this same Toshiba A3 player for $298.
Granted, Amazon is $224 for 10 free, so I still think that is a better deal, but at Walmart, you walk away with 7 right from the get-go, while Amazon is just 5.
A bonus for this player is that it still upconverts regular DVDs like my old player, so regular movies will be fine. Normal DVDs still looks great on an HD television anyways, so you lose nothing there if the flick you want to see is only in BluRay. Just get the normal version and enjoy it!
One of the big titles I like on HD-DVD is the Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 set. That alone makes me lean towards that direction. I’ve been wanting to re-watch them from the beginning anyways, so snagging the HD versions of it will be awesome.
Because I know you are dying for me to tell you, I picked the following three DVDs to go along with 300 and Bourne Identity:
- Serenity - Firefly was one of my all-time favorite TV shows, and I love the movie
- Batman Begins - the best Batman flick ever
- Pride and Prejudice - to bribe my wife to let me buy this thing (plus Keira Knightley in HD should be allllright)
So there you have it. I don’t know if it was the wisest decision, I’m just hoping my purchase is the one that tips the scales into the HD-DVD direction.
I also am dying for the Lord of the Rings to finally come out in HD, as I hear it will likely be this format when it does.
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Comments
Thanks for being the guinea pig, Mike!
Seriously though, I know it’s a little scary wondering if you chose the correct format but I had to choose one right now, I would choose HD-DVD. I’m hoping that with HD-DVD being ahead of BluRay in terms of lowering the price of the players, more normal consumers will start buying HD-DVD players, especially during this Christmas season. Whichever format wins a considerable market share early on may be the one to win out in the end.
On a technological end, I keep hearing that HD-DVD does it better in regards to compression and other things. So I hope the ‘better’ technology is the one that survives.
The Cap’ says dont delay go return it and get Blue-Ray (hope I dont rhyme all the time). From a tech end I hear the exact opposite. First off, go to this link and scroll down a bit to see who is all behind the Blue-Ray process….
http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/19/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-state-of-the-s-union-s-division/
Blue-ray discs are fingerprint and smudge resistant, dont you hate renting DVD’s for them to be greasy from the last person like they tried to lick the disc? If you go to blockbuster, you can only rent Blue-Ray and regular DVD’s from them (and this would match your previous blog why you are using blockbuster online vs Netflix…yes the Capn remembers all).
From a backing standpoint: HD-DVD has to throw down the price gauntlet as they arent getting the edge they need with all the major companies on board the Blue-Ray train. HD-DVD is Microsoft, everyone else is Blue-ray. Need I say Vista?
From a tech standpoint: This is pretty simple. Your disk can hold more, the less you have to compress, thus the better picture quality. Hands down Blue-Ray, no double sided disks needed here.
From a game standpoint: Look we all know if you had an Xbox 360 you should of sold it anyways to go get the better platform PS3 anyways. That way you can play more and better games, at a better resolution and have a Blue-ray all in one.
Need more input?
check this link……
http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=149
HD-DVD has to lower the price, its slowly losing the war (based on all the above). Consumers are buying more Blue-Rays, more studios back it. The only thing HD-DVD has going for it currently is price, which it cant sustain.
The Capn applauds you for making a choice, but to quote the knight out of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade “He (you) chose unwisely”…..
So says the Capn!
Wow Cap’n, that’s a load to chew on there 
1. Blockbuster stocks HD-DVDs, in fact, I just added BSG Season 1 HD-DVD to my queue to test it.
2. I’m pretty sure there is something like 8 of 13 movie studios producing HD-DVDs, not BluRay…but I could be wrong.
Anyways, it’s a choice, cost me a bit of money, but there are a ton of people buying up HD-DVD players right now and sales are going nuts on it.
The bottom line is, one of them will win, it’s only $200 and I will still be able to watch the movies I buy anytime I want, even if I have to get a BluRay player down the road.
And if I do, I’m sure it will be on the cheap anyways.
Nice input though!
Well… according to this, blockbuster may still do online HD-DVD, and in their orginal 250 store locations but not nationwide stores. Not sure how they could offer HD-DVD in mass online, if they are promoting Blue-Ray, so again, we’ll see how long they can sustain it.
@ Adrian, thanks man…and I’m probably not going to be the only guinea pig, Scott is probably doing it as well.
I agree with you though, these massive sales going on will only help HD-DVD get the market share. BluRay says they have 2 million players out there, but like 1.7 million of those are PS3, while HD-DVD has something like 750,000 players, some being Xbox players…
So to me, it’s kind of even really…I dunno.
And there are some serious titles on HD-DVD, like Transformers, BSG, etc.
Plus… Blu-ray is a dumb name! I mean, it will never last with a name like that. Consider: Beta and 8 tracks - both dumb names.
I’m with you Mikey as a guinea pig. For $200 it’s worth the risk, plus with the 10 free movies, it’s a can’t miss.
If in 2 years Blu-ray wins out, no big deal, I’ll make the switch and be happy. I’ve already bought 4-5 dvd players over the years, some for more than I spent on the HD version so if I get a couple of years out of this set-up I still win.
Mine shipped today with Bourne Identity, Top Gun, and Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightly in HD, ‘nuf said). I’ll report back with my findings.
Scott’s last blog post..Getting your resume to the top of the stack
I didn’t realize HD DVD prices had gone down that much. Maybe they’ll win out in the format war before I go back home in nine months. I’ve been pushing for HD DVD since its release and have bought the combo DVD/HD DVD discs whenever I get a chance to prepare for eventually getting a player.
By the way, those are great choices for your free movies.
I also tend to agree with Jina. HD DVD has a more familiar name to the average consumer. Most people are like, “What’s a blu-ray?” Most know what HD stands for now. They know what DVD means.
Justin Tadlock’s last blog post..Showcasing great uses of my themes
Well most might think Blu-Ray is something that stings you in the ocean, but then agian, most people might think Iraq has weapons of mass destruction too. And why is that? Because not surprisngly, the linked article is written like the news is reported, and its amazing how people will believe what is reported without doing a little research themselves.
The author lists a number of major errors in his reporting, but noone will do research to validate what he put. They will beleive his total bias on the format issues. He said Blu ray disks are not compatible with all players, totally untrue. He said there are no consistent Blu-ray formats between players…. totally not true. He does mention… “while there’s no requirement for 1080p video like in Blu-ray, there is a consistent requirement of internet connectivity, dual-tuner playback and local storage, which disc makers are now using for funâ€â€Â?and usefulâ€â€Â?interactivity.”
Uuummm yeah everyone is using that internet connectivity on their HD-DVD disk… nice requirement…but are you missing the requirement is for the highest definition on Blu-ray (1080p) and not on HD-DVD??? The simple fact that capacity alone is the deciding factor, HD-DVD has HALF the capacity of Blu-Ray…half. The author goes on to say HD-DVD included the HD version and original DVD version on their disks….LOL why? Blu-Ray could chose to do this, and they could choose to do this all on the same sided disk, so you dont have to get up out of your chair and flip it over and see a lesser quality version, but on the disks the auther listed, they choose not to do this, well lets face it, becuase having the DVD version is irrelvent for like a billion reasons (mainly you havea HD version so the 480 wont be watched).
The author is pretty much whacked. He talks about most enthusiasts can not name major companies behind Blu-Ray, besides that being conveinent, so most enthusiasts can name more companies on HD-DVD (see link of names I provided yesterday)??? He talks priacy issues and capability, but he never mentions how hackable a HD-DVD is, the ease of actually copying a HD-DVD disk over today, where you cant with Blu-Ray.
As one commentor to the article said; “Also in his disk comparison he fails to mention that the extras on HD DVD are good old fashioned Standard Definition while on the Blu-Ray disc they are in 1080 HD. This is directly due to technical advantages of the Blu-ray format and thus a big deal.
So on HD DVD you can get some online feature and the “in movie experience” while on Blu-ray you get, you know, *actual high definition*. ”
Any explanation you first read, or see is submitted to you as an individual as fact, if you dont do the reasearch yourself, you will choose to believe how you first heard something, regardless if it is accurate, or has more facts than what was reported….
Wow, maybe I should introduce my brother to this post who shares a similar fervor as the Cap’n, except it’s for HD DVD. Nah, we’ll keep it friendly around here
I know that we can keep pointing out the technical details on both fronts. But we can go to forums for that. All I know is Mike made the affordable choice to go HD DVD. Scott appears to be going that direction. If I had the inclination to choose a player right now, the HD DVD price tag is a no brainer for me. I’m just curious to see if other consumers will be influenced by the prices. A lot of movies are coming in both formats, and if one comes around that isn’t available in my format, oh well.
Adrian, bring your brother into the mix!!!!
@ Cap’n, that author also wrote the same type of column for Blu Ray as well, did you read that?
Secondly, people try to talk about how much Blu Ray holds, but I don’t give a crap about all that, I just want to see the movie in HD! What else are they going to stuff on there? Web applications and games?
I just want the movie, some commentaries and a few special features. That’s it.
I thought it was all friendly?? Your brother?!? LOL… you go get your brother, I’ll get my neighbors grandma, that should even it up a bit. He probably liked the Queen too….
Some people ride bicycles instead of Porche’s because they are cheaper too…
I got to side with the Cap’n on this one. Blu-Ray definitely has a bigger piece of the market in sales even though they are more expensive. I believe they have been out-selling the competition 2:1 and sometimes even 3:1 in the US. Outside the US they are winning the format war by a huge margin (75% in Europe, 95% in Australia). So even with the larger Blu-Ray price tag, they are still selling more units than HD-DVD.
Along with that you have a director whose Dreamworks company is exclusively only releasing content on HD-DVD, however, the director’s own movies have an exception clause where they are committed solely to releasing his title on Blu-Ray (see Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
Is Blu-Ray more expensive (both players and movies)? Absolutely!
Is Blu-Ray a better product? Absolutely!
Are consumers a bit more savvy about their purchases and willing to plunk down hard, earned cash for a superior product? It sure looks that way from all the sales figures for 2007.
The Ape loves Blu!
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..A Living Apologetic
Well, I am all for one of them winning sometime…yeah, I bought into the HD-DVD side, but if BluRay wins in a year or two, i’ll just get a new DVD player.
I’ve had 3-4 DVD players in the past 4 years, a couple broke on me, etc.
Not too worried about spending money on a BluRay player someday if it happens.
[...] I ordered my new HD-DVD player last week, (a Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD-DVD Player), taking a chance on a product that could go the way of [...]
In an effort to restore balance to the High-Def universe, the Trousered Ape’s wife bought him a Blu-Ray player last night and it rocks.
I’m thinking my Blu-Ray player can beat up your HD DVD player.
Shawn
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..A Living Apologetic
Nice! But I’ll just continue to upconvert until Universal comes to their senses.
Shawn
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..A Living Apologetic
Funny thing is, I watched Saw III last night on my new player and it looked pretty dang good even upconverted, so no worries.
Someday this will all end and we can enjoy it all. What will be even funnier is when they both lose because you watch any HD movie over satellite on demand anyways.
Right now, I can download stuff from DTV, like episodes of shows, and movies, in Non-HD anytime I want. Soon when they have HD movies, who knows what is going to happen.
The DVDs are fun with the extras of course, but if all i want to do is watch the movie, then on demand would rock.
True - we watched a bit of POTC: COTBP from the SD DVD in the blu-ray to see how the upconvert looked and then swapped it out with the actual Blu-ray disc. The SD upconverted looked really, really good - but the actual blu-ray version blew it out of the water (no pun intended).
Regardless of the format - the upconvert is pretty solid.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..A Living Apologetic
[...] than likely Blu-Ray will win the war coming up here soon, ruin my new HD-DVD player and then I’ll have an open house for all of you guys to check out the electronics museum I [...]
The only reason I ask (and I had to run and go look it up), but yesterday, this was the most current news: http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/DreamWorks/Paramount/CES_2008/Paramount/DreamWorks:__Still_Supporting_HD_DVD_%5BUPDATED%5D/1345
I’m pretty sure Capn is right, I heard it today from two other places about Paramount.
Was thinking of posting about it, but I’m so tired of it all
Wow - that would be huge news if it turns out to be true. Crazy that it would fall in such a quick succession if this is all true. But the good news would be that I might actually be able to see the Bourne movies in blu within a year or two I would imagine.
I think everyone was so tired of the stalemate that once Warner caved, then everyone just followed along so that the death could be quick.
And along with the Bourne, would be awesome if Lord of the Rings would get out on Blu-Ray by next Christmas, since I skipped my marathon this year.
Warner caved - funny man…
Yes - New Line needs to definitely step it up this year and put out the extended versions of LOTR on Blu-ray.
Ugh, it hurts coming back and looking at these posts. I totally thought that HD DVD was going to be the one too.
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look forward to hearing your feedback on the HD DVD player.