ppltd
Senior HTF Member
I agree that judging anything in the first months can be problematic, but it does tend to show the seriousness of the manufacturers and studios. In this, HD had it's act togeether with quality releases, whereas BD is still struggling. Whether this was through releasing a product well before it should have been, poor quality control, or problems with the format doesn't matter. First impressions when you have a competing product out is vital, and has done BD serious damage with the early adopter group.
Many of us were sold on BD well before the release of product from either camp, but have been moved into the HD camp because of delivery of the promises made.
While I am lucky enough to own both systems, the Samsung has not even come close to what we expected from this new technology. I will continue to give BD the benefit of the doubt, but they have a long way to go to prove the format.
BTW, I find it difficult to even comment on any product released by Phillips, a company that has not been known for quality. I would rather compare the new Panasonic or Pioneer to the gen 2 Toshiba to get a more like for like hardware comparison. I had some time to play with the pre-release demo Pioneer at my Local Best Buy, and it looks like a fine piece of hardware, but on viewing the early release of Fifth Element, while certainly looking better than on the Samsung, it still looked pretty bad.