HD-DVD or Blue ray:When do I jump in? (1 Viewer)

[Glenn Overholt]

As long as you are upgrading piece by piece, start on better speakers, and then save your $$$ for an HDMI receiver and whatever model (BD/HD) player wins the war.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Unless you're going to buy a ton of software right off the bat, you could probably go with either of these two options and not lose out.

1) The PS3 would still have pretty good resale value even if BD didn't survive as a video format. If they were to hypothetically stop manufacturing BDs, you could still ebay your PS3 and get most of what you paid for out of it. In the meantime, you'd own a terrific BD player. Personally, I don't see BD going away. I think the worst case scenario for BD would be that both formats would survive and combo players becoming the norm. That's the only scenario I would see HD-DVD surviving. But that's just speculation on my part.

2) You could look around and get a good deal on a Toshiba A2. It wouldn't be so bad if you picked one up for under $400 and got some good use out of it, even if HD-DVD goes away at some point. The A2 is an outstanding upscaling DVD player, so it wouldn't become a boat anchor if HD-DVD goes away.

For someone who is unsure, I wouldn't advise spending $800-1200 on one of the higher priced standalones on either format. If you are that worried about the format war, that's a lot of money to gamble.

 

[Richard Travale]

This is what I did.
I got a great deal on the Toshiba HD-A1 and then got a good deal on the PS3. Now I'm enjoying both HD DVD and Bu-Ray and it cost me less than a Grand(CAD)

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Blu-Ray baby!!! All it will take is for Univeral to go neutral or switch sides and it's game over for HD-DVD.

You want to jump in with a player that either fully decodes DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD audio or one with an HDMI 1.3 output (or both if advanced mode discs get made that won't allow raw bitstreams to be sent to an outboard decoder).

We shall see what the new Samsung and 2nd generation players have in store for us. They'll be out this summer or early fall (the Samsung is first up in March some time). The Panasonic will be getting a firmware update for internal DTS MA and TrueHD decoding soon.

If you go the PS3 route, you must remember that you will absolutely need a new HDMI receiver or pre-amp (good luck with the latter!) that accepts 7.1 PCM bitstreams and hopefully 1080p pass through.

Dan

 

[Alf S]

Wait it out...on a 40" set using a decent SD DVD Player, you'll be fine for quite while..AND you'll save a lot of $$$ in the long run.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Don't wait too long, though. The PQ and AQ blow the doors off DVD! Especially, if you have a decent HDTV and sound system. Is the LCD TV by any chance 1080p resolution (with inputs that accept 1080p)? Hopefully so.

The PS3 is $499 for the 20 GB version. Samsung's new player will street fairly low if you wait on a sale. Sony's 2nd generation player will be $599 retail and much less on the street.

You'll definitely want to get a new HDMI 1.3 receiver (Denon and others will be out late spring/summer/early fall) to take advantage of the much better audio of Blu-ray discs, and probably they'll have better HDMI compatibility.

 

[Alf S]

...and add what?...another $1000-1500 to your investment just to HEAR hi-def DVD properly?

 

[RAF]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. To me the difference in sound quality of uncompressed audio found on most HD (both formats) DVDs is at least as great a level of improvement as the improvement in the picture. We are talking about much higher bitrates which will sound far superior to the SD audio counterparts if your audio equipment is up to the task. If you are listening to your HD discs via the TV speakers then I agree. But if you want the full effect of the HD Video and Audio experience you owe it to yourself to consider having equipment that can handle the lossless codecs. Once you hear it you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[Dave H]

Sound advice.

 

[Tim Glover]

Have to agree...hopefully the end of this year things will be clearer but I have this feeling it will just be more muddled.

While I am an early adopter for HD DVD, I find the format war to be already bumming me out and making me a bit cynical. What was at first a shot in the arm for me in regards to home movie watching...has turned into a pissing contest.

Both sides stating some BS and fanboys get caught up in it too. Makes people (even me) get defensive and even irrational.

I say hold out if you can and see what takes shape. Plus, players will be better and cheaper in about 9-12 months.

 

[Neil Joseph]

You have just about every opinion here.

1- Get some demos of both formats. If you like and feel you want now, then go to step 2
2- Decide whether you can part with a few hundred dollars. If yes then proceed to step 3
3- Make a list of movies you like so you can decide which format would make a little more sense, for you
4- If you make it this far then you can ask for advice on specific models

Good luck

 

[Chris S]

Well said Neil.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

And of course step

5- Get a Blu-ray player!

 

[brap]

The wait for me is different. I'm a huge fan of SACD and DVD-AUDIO. SACD makes me pull more BD knowing that if HD-DVD wins the other companies are not going to support a Sony proprietory format. I'm holding off for a player that can play HD and these audio formats. The PS3 has a SACD player, but I connect my player to the receiver using 6 channel high quality cables. An output that the PS3 lacks.

 

[PeterTHX]

Well, SACD digitally thru HDMI is pretty damn amazing.

 

[brap]

True, but I lack the equipment to utilize it. This again leads to the cost factor. I don't think I can justify replacing everything. My receiver is only 4 years old. Yes, lacking in inputs, there's still life in her yet!

 

[JediFonger]

if you *do* plan to jump in, do your research on how it will fit into *your* life. you're not buying these things to impress anyone here @HTF nor AVS or wherever you lounge (ok maybe a lil'). so as with many others, i echo the same sentiments, try before you buy.

we can only help you so far by telling you our own experiences/testimony with getting into HD.

i haven't had a dedicated "TV"/living room for 7+years. every room i have are all HTPC's and watch delayed recordings of any media. it's rare to tune into anything live except news, but we mostly stream that from internet anyway.

so, for ME, plugging XB360's external USB HD DVD right into my HTPC was an easy decision. this is made "painfully" easier by the $40 coupon circuit city was running a few months ago. i think the grand total came to around $145 or somn with tax and i had HD DVD player! . out of the box, King Kong was in it. i bought Casablanca and the rest i can netflix (if i choose to). i jumped in with minimal loss. if the war is over today and BluRay wins, i'll only have lost $150ish+cost of the 2 movies.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

To add a little something new to this thread....

I just read today in Home Media Retail magazine that
HD-DVD and BLU-RAY players will be making dramatic
price drops in the next few months to the point where both players
will be between $300-$500 to purchase. I'll post the exact details
later on this afternoon when I have the actual story to reference.

 

[Jim_K]

Details would be nice Ron. If I can get the AX2 for under $500 in the near future I will go format neutral.

 

[Mark Booth]

Umm... HD-DVD players are ALREADY below the $300 price point! The Toshiba HD-A2 is $299.99 at Amazon right now. And, if you want the very best, one of the best SD-DVD upconverting players available -the Toshiba HD-XA2- has been selling for under $600 for weeks.

Mark