Stopping DVD purchases or upgrading dvd library to High Def. (1 Viewer)

[Ted Todorov]

I hope you're right about there being a winner, but I'm not so sure. Look at the music mess:
DVD-A & SACD are in a death spiral (fewer and fewer titles are being released/announced than were a year ago). And far from withdrawing one of the two formats and concentrating on the other, the music industry is introducing a THIRD format -- the CD/DVD flipper.

I can picture HD-DVD and Blu-ray fighting on long past the bitter end, when consumers have lost all interest.

I hope I'm wrong.

Ted

 

[rich_d]

DVD-a and SACD are so small it doesn't matter who gives up or not. If one of the formats never existed it would not have mattered much.

The CD/DVD is not a third format merely using multiple existing and popular formats. Big difference.

 

[Mark Lx]

I've yet to replace a working VHS with a DVD, so I doubt I'll replace a functioning DVD with anything that isn't dirt cheap. If anything, DVDs (especially TV sets) seem to be getting less expensive. A selling point for me will be when they offer something (films/shows/concerts that is, not extras) that isn't available in the current format. That's the main reason I got a DVD player. Another 5 years, there will be slim pickins of classic stuff unreleased on DVD (hopefully).

 

[peter m. wilson]

Hi,
I'm sorry, but what you just said is seemingly vuage but actually meaningless.

Peter M.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Pat Frank's (post #301) two cents, should make sense too us all!
Were still getting EE on SD-DVD in 2005. D-VHS titles are released with EE. Does anyone in their right mind think EE's going away completely with HD-DVD this year & BluRay in 2006?

Glad the awareness has risen on this thread since last year. Six months CAN make a difference!

 

[RaymondSteiner]

For myself, i will hold on all re-releases, but i will continue to buy ... Maybe the TV on DVD, Smallville for example, will wait quite a bit (i dream in Blu-ray, but surely on HD-DVD)

 

[Joe Szott]

Chad: if you can wait a few months, I'm sure that HDTV w/tuner will drop another $400. They'll be giving these things away at supermarkets for every $100 spent at the rate they are dropping in price.

I too, am HDMI-less. I'll wait it out, no reason to cry over spilled milk when the milk isn't even poured to the glass yet

 

[Chris]

Except, of course, that he gets to pay listing fees on something $4k, which is about $40? So, funny afterall. Just maybe not funny in the way he thought it would be.

 

[Robert Holloway]

I have consistently purchased about 100-150 DVD's a year since the format launch. However, I just realized that I have not purchased one disc in 2006.

I've decided to stop buying and use Netflix on standard DVDs and wait for the launch and resolution of the format war on the HD versions.

I just cannot face buying a disc this year and then seeing the HD version coem out in less than six months.

Am I the only one?

Rob

 

[Sean Bryan]

You're not the only one.

I'll buy very few "must have's" that I don't mind double-dipping on. That's it.

 

[Dale MA]

A lot of people such as myself will not be buying into any of the Hi-Def formats for a long, long time -- so it makes sense to pick-up the titles that I want as I go along.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Personally, I have no interest in Hi-Def until they sort out the format war. I refuse to buy into format war.

Quite honestly, I'm happy with SD DVD, and I watch mainly older films that have a softer image and frequently have imperfectons, so HD doesn't buy me all that much. Plus, I purchased a new HD TV two years ago, and it doesn't have HDMI. I'll be damned if I'm going to buy a new TV already.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I think that I am finding myself somewhere in-between completely stopping standard DVD purchasing and continuing on as though nothing has changed. While I cannot say that these changes to my buying habits are completely related to a HD DVD format being on the horizon, I think it would be foolish to tell myself it isn't at least partially factoring into the equation.

During this transition period, I think the purchases that are most likely to suffer are blind buys and new releases that I am lukewarm on. These I am most likely to either borrow or use Netflix for.

Like Sean said, the 'must haves' that I don't mind double-dipping on, I will buy. I also imagine that I will continue to buy catalog titles that I feel will not be released on a HD format anytime soon.

Again, while an HD DVD format is partially driving this, changing tastes, an increasing backlog of DVDs, and other factors are in play as well.

 

[Jerry R Colvin]

I drastically cut back on buying DVDs when I joined Netflix last summer, and also got my digital cable HD PVR at around the same time. So now it's mostly just very good bargains like $5 movies and a few classic TV shows that probably won't benefit from HD... although I will be adding Lady & the Tramp to my DVD collection....

 

[Jason_V]

Not at all. I will continue to get whatever movie/show I want when it comes out as I have done in the past. Like Eric, I have no interest in HD anything until everything gets sorted out. Remember the early days of DVD? Movies thrown across two sides of a disc, no extras, poor quality? The studio's all think we're gullible enough to buy into the next big thing the minute they snap their fingers.

When I upgrade to a new player and new TV (by 2009, definately) then I'll think about seeing what's out there and double-dipping on the things that have benefitted.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

With me, it's still "business as usual" with SD-DVD.

Since my family has pretty much quit going to the movies (except for huge blockbusters like Revenge of the Sith or King Kong), I have no problem shelling out the $17-$20 dollar asking price for new features on DVD.

And catalog titles are no problem as well since it'll probably be years before they migrate to an HD optical format. Just last week we purchased the new Breakfast at Tiffany's catalog title and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. And that movie deserves to be up on the shelf so we can enjoy it anytime we want to. When (if?) I purchase a Blu-ray deck, I'll still be able to enjoy that same disc on the new deck *plus* the Blu-ray deck will also provide a digital path and upconversion to any new HD display device that I may purchase in the future. So ... I feel like my SD-DVD purchase is *already* "future-proofed".

And that's just movies-on-DVD. If we're talking about TV-on-DVD then it's not even worthy of discussion: With most TV series, about the only thing Blu-ray will bring to the table is a savings in shelf space. And that's when (or if) the series ever start to show up on the format.

So ... NO!! I haven't modified my DVD purchasing habits one iota. And I don't intend to until Blu-ray (or whatever) is firmly entrenched as the next format.

 

[Richard M S]

I am wondering about the format changes as well, however for the most part I have not stopped buying DVDs, but I have been more selective in my choices. Therefore, I focus on DVDs that enhance my collection of classic films, which basically means I buy most titles by Criterion or Warners or the Fox Film Noir and Studio Classics line.

But whether it is a format change or a new version, multiple versions of the same film can be really frustrating. I always end up with duplicates. Every once in a while my reluctance pays off. Since I had Jezebal on laser disc and VHS, I never bought the original Warners DVD. Now that a new restored edition will be part of the upcoming economically-priced box set.

 

[Craig W]

I have a collection of about 550 built since the format launched in 1997. I think last Christmas was the last major addition to my SD collection.

I am starting to hold off for HD for purchases and am relying more on rental right now. With that being said though I don't plan on buying any HD titles until the format war is over.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Gentlemen, since this discussion involves the forthcoming HD-format optical discs, you should be having it here in the area devoted to such discussion. Hence, the thread's relocation. Carry on.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Glad to see the civil tone of this thread. Before, when this was brought up, the thread starter was beaten down with negative comments inferring they were cheap, stupid, and not a fan of film.
It has been over a year for me now, of not purchasing titles I would like to own on HD disc.
Hope my patience pays off!