So... it seems like there are lots of HD DVD buyers in the end (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

The about face doesn't surprise me. The need for instant gratification is powerful. A lot of the same people who bought HD-DVD players will probably buy a BD player as well...........well, except for Rob-HD.......who should probably be calling himself Rob-HD-DVD, since I suspect he is an industry plant.

As for the low end PS3 not having an HDMI connector. I think that was a dumb move on Sony's part. They should have dropped the hard drive on that model, just like XBOX 360 did. Of course, the upside is that the PS3 does at least come with an HDMI connector......none of the XBOX models has that. It blows me away that people think a device specifically designed to play games and movies should be sold at or below the cost of a cut-rate box that only plays movies......WOW!

 

[TravisR]

Yeah but when there's a new toy on the market, most of those same people will rush out to buy a Blu Ray player too.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

With all the BD fans posting to knock HD DVD on this thread?
That makes a lot of sense! ;-)

Peace, Love, & Uni's!!!

 

[Robert Harris]

Whether Rob_HD is an industry plant or not, I believe his information is probably accurate.

RAH

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Actually, he has made several inaccurate statements always with his pro-HD DVD slant, and when it is pointed out to him or asked to cite his sources to back his statements up he conveniently ignores them and moves on to the next HD thread.

 

[Walter Kittel]

You're right, one can only wonder about the return rate; since no one has cited what the actual return number or percentage might happen to be.

- Walter.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Nils, I hope we can all look forward to this same level of intolerance for hyperbole if you ever get a chance to report on the performance of one (or more) of the Bd players.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

There did seem to be much more Blu Ray support (by post count and passion) than HD support on the forum, and I was also slightly surprised by the number of threads and posts about HD-DVD since the launch. But on further reflection, I don't think we can read too much into this. Right now HD-DVD is the only game in town, so in terms of hi-def DVD content it is really all there is to talk about. Even if only 30 people here bought HD-DVD players and discs that's still enough to generate plenty of traffic with just those people talking about their players and the few titles that are available. I'm not saying that HD isn't doing well, I'm saying that you simply can't judge based on the pre-HD-release Blu Ray threads vs. the post release HD-DVD threads. The number of threads/post quite literally tell us nothing about the future of either format. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

Regards,

Joe

(Who doesn't have a dog in this fight and is more than happy to let you rich guys pay through the nose for the buggy first generation machines and settle this format war before he pays 1/4 of what you did for a better player in a couple of years. )

 

[Walter Kittel]

The other side of that coin is that those of who do pay are enjoying deliriously gorgeous 1080 imagery NOW. IMHO, life is too short to wait.

- Walter.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

My HDTV is 720p and far too new to replace. SD DVD upscaled to 720p probably looks almost as good on it as 1080i or even 1080p will downscaled to 720p from my viewing distance with a 56" screen. And I'm certainly in no hurry to start replacing my hundreds of DVDs. Life is too short to put off all the other things I'd have to sacrifice to pay for a 1080p HD rig right now - including a new receiver. No thanks. I'm content to wait. At some point I'm sure I will add a hi-def playrer of one stripe or the other, and start buying hi-def discs going forward. Finally I'll upgrade my living room HD equipment and move the other stuff into the bedroom. But I don't feel a burning need to do that now or to be the first on the block with this stuff. I have my HD-DVR and lots of HD content from cable, and a ton of DVDs that are all looking better than they've ever looked. (Even the old non-anamorphic ones.)

It is true that those who pay early also get to enjoy the new toys longer, and that this is compensation. (That was my justification when I bought my first widescreen - analog - CRT-RPTV, my laserdisc player and my first - $500 - DVD player.) But this time I don't think the book is worth the candle, so I'll catch up with you guys later. After the dust has settled and the war is over.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Randy Korstick]

Well lets see if we were living on a small island in the Pacific those numbers might be important but in the U.S. those #'s don't mean anything. Neither format will be winning anything until they at least go over a million players sold. And that will be just the beginning.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

IMO,they had better sell 10 times that amount before the end of the year!
By the way...
Rob, are you a plant?!?!?!?! ;-)

 

[Stan Rozenfeld]

Joe,

When I got the hd-a1, my main concern was that I had a 720p DLP TV that I was not going to replace for another two-three years. I decided that if I didn't see a big difference between upscaled sd dvd and downscaled hd dvd, I was going to return the player.

As it turned out, the difference was not slight. It was profound. Even my wife, who is not a videophile, told me to keep the player.

Stan

 

[Dave Moritz]

I originally was sticking with Blu-ray only and had for a short time changed my mind. Yes the picture is very nice on the HD-DVD and I really liked how good Apollo 13 looked at my local retailer. There are some good titles out so far but the problems with the player are to many to deal with. The more I hear how many problems exsist with Toshiba's HD-DVD player. The less I want to go out and buy one! I have gotten to the point where I have decided not to buy HD-DVD and stick with my original plan to buy a more exspensive Blu-ray HD player.

And I would think that even though there might be more people willing to buy HD-DVD than people thought. HD-DVD players are still hard to find and most local retailers have done such a piss poor job at setting them up. That IMHO many consumers see HD-DVD and leave thinking, so what. A local BB has Toshiba's HD-DVD player hooked up to a 40" Sony near the front door of the store. They used component video and the sound is only coming out of two speakers. No attempt has been made to correct the messed up display. They are now using a SD-DVD of Star Wars 3 to demo the HD-DVD player. This type of demo or should I say this poor excuse for HD-DVD demos are most likely going on more than people think. And if you cant find a retailer that actually has a HD-DVD player in stock, how can you buy one?

At this rate Sony just may pull out a victory after all?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

You know Stan, that's really not what I needed to hear right now. I'm going to pretend you didn't post it.


So you're assuming that the first Blu Ray players won't have any problems? Am I the only one here who remembers when DVD was introduced? The assorted player problems? The titles that would play in certain brands (or on certain specific models) but not others? The joy of returning some players multiple times until you got a good one? Did Sony and Toshiba slip everybody Roofies while I wasn't looking, so the last 9 years are a blank?

The one thing I wouldn't be saying at this point is, "I think I'll pass on HD-DVD and wait for Blu-Ray because those players will all be perfect."

Joe