BLU RAY OR HD DVD?? (1 Viewer)

What made you decide on the format you chose?
Titles? The players and what they offered? Price?
I'm considering jumping into high def and am currently leaning towards blu-ray but wanted to hear from others why they picked the format they chose. Also does anyone have the LG combo player? I'm well aware of all its shortcomings but wanted to know from anyone who has it if they're happy with it. I only mentioned the LG because since I'm leaning towards blu ray anyway and some of their players are as expensive as this unit, the LG would allow me to have a blu ray player and be able to at least view some of the hd titles I like.

Well, my decision was made last August when $1000 could get you either a BD player or an HD-DVD player and twenty or so movies, and the HD-DVD exclusive titles that were actually coming out were much more appealing than BD's. I think those factors are still in play, though not to the same extent they were last year. I later got a BD player, but it doesn't get nearly as much use as the Toshiba.

And I'd avoid the combos until one actually handles all the HD DVD functions. The IME/U-Control stuff is fun to have, and since you can get two players and a switch for the same price anyway...

I am new to the game DAN, at least as far as hi def. I bought the Toshiba A2 HD player when it went cheap. $300 was a great price. To good a price i guess, as the thing didnt work. I am sure a firmware upgrade would have done the trick, but i took it back. i really wasnt happy with the build of the A2. Regular DVDs looked wonderful on it, but it would play HD movies without locking up. I love my old Sony 7700 DVD player. It was a second generation player, and it still works like a champ at 8 or 9 years old, and is built like a brick **** house. Now knock on wood. Anyway i have been eyeing the Sony BDP-1 ( i think its called), its built like a champ too. I only own 2 Blu-Ray discs, but boy do they look great. Most important to me my regular DVDs look wonderful as well!
This week i was trying my crap DVD 18 of Adam-12. I found out it went bad over the last 2 years. I thought id try it on the new Sony Blu Ray player. Guess what, the BD player played it without a hitch. While my other 3 DVD players, including my old Sony wont play it all the way through.

I bought my first player in April of '06, when HD-DVD was introduced. I bought an HD-A1 because it was priced the same as what I paid for my first dvd player back in '98 and it had been announced that it would play 1080i via component for HD DVD titles and I didn't have HDMI at the time.

I now have a PS3 and HDA2, best of both worlds.

The Sony BDP-S1 is built like a tank and is about as responsive. I work in a Sears electronics dept and we gave up on that POS after the first week. It takes longer to boot up and load than even the Gen-1 Toshibas and flat refused to boot up at all on many occasions. Other standalones should be better but the PS3 is slick, fast, and excellent upconverting player after the 1.8 update, and the only currently available BD player that stands a chance of being able to do the advanced Java stuff that mimics what HD-DVD's been able to do for almost a year.

I guess like i had a bad Tosh, you guys had a bad Sony. Mine is just as fast, or slow to load as the Toshiba A2 was for me...no different. I have only had it for 2 weeks. I wouldnt call it a POS, and i didnt call the A2 one. Clearly i just had a bad player. Id buy an HD player if some besides Toshiba made it. Id like less plastic, and more style. For me, style is just as important as how it works. Some guys love cars, i love electronics.

What are some of the best titles you guys own for either format?
Player wise I was thinking of the Samsung if I go blu-ray and the Toshiba A2 if I go hd-dvd.
From the exisiting titles on Blu ray I'd want Casino Royale, the Pirates movies and Rocky Balboa. On HD I'd want Batman Begins, The Matrix trilogy,(I see that Batman and The Matrix are suppose to come out for blu ray) The Thing and the Mummy films.
Both formats also have Superman the movie, 2, Returns, Sleepy Hollow and Lethal Weapon 1and 2.

I have the Toshiba HD-A20 HD-DVD player.I love this thing! I haven't had a lick of trouble out of it and I've had it for over a month.It gets about a good 4 hours a day of use Between Me and My girlfriend.The machine is just incredible.As far as selection of titles,that concerned Me too,until I found HD DVD international.That is a thread here.It may surprise You to know that Bluray exclusives like GHOSTRIDER and FANTASTIC FOUR are soon to be making the list of HDDVD imports.They have the english audio 5.1,etc.Many who have the Bluray version of T2 say that the HDDVD import blows it away.As far as price,Don't go with the cheapest.You may end up cheating Yourself in the long run.The A2 Toshiba has out has had a mixed bag of reviews.It also happens to be the least expensive player right now.The XA2 gets rave reviews,It's also the top of the line with a price to match.I'm in the middle with My A20.It's been a good investment so far.Another plus is Toshibas upscaler in their players is about the best out there IMHO.Your existing dvds will look like never before and believe Me,I don't make this statement lightly!

The XA2 is actually the one I meant to write. It seems that alot of you guys have gone with hd-dvd or at least that was the first one you got into. My problem with hd dvd is that with the exception of about 4 movies everything they have that I want is out (M:I III,Superman Returns,Lethal Weapon2, Sleepy Hollow)or coming out(Batman Begins, Matrix trilogy) for blu-ray where as the blu-ray titles I like(Casino Royale,Pirates of the C) seem to be exclusive to that format.

Well,if You're going for title selection available NOW,then perhaps Bluray,if they have the titles You want is the way to go.There's absolutely nothing wrong with Bluray.It is a good format.It's going to be a gamble at this stage of the format war whether You pick HDDVD or Bluray.We don't even know for sure if these formats will be around in 5 years.I believe They will,but,who knows.I see HDDVD on the upswing right now.Bluray has more titles,but other than a few,they don't have any great exclusive releases for My money.Also,as I mentioned HDDVD imports offer alot of Bluray exclusive movies on HDDVD.It seems other countries have decided on HDDVD,but,that doesn't mean that much in North America just yet.Rember,anything can happen.I spent alot of time researching and looking at trends before I made My purchase.I feel HDDVD was best for Me.Regardless,You're going to have to weigh all the pros and cons to decide if You want either of these players first.Good Luck.

Dan,

For what it's worth - I recently purchased the A2 from Toshiba and am completely in love with it - haven't had a single issue with SD or HD. My reason for choosing it may be helpful to you:

My wife and I were in desperate need of a new DVD Player. We'd had a Pioneer Elite Plasma for 4 years and for whatever reason - never got around to upgrading to an upconverting DVD player. When it was clear we were heading for a format war, I decided to steer clear and just go with the Oppo. But again, we never got around to making the purchase.

We decided to hold off on any purchase until this coming Holiday season. We figured by then, there might be some kind of closure to the format war or at least, a direction - and maybe we'd splurge on one or the other at that point.

Fast forward a couple weeks and the A2 went down to $300. SOLD. We said the hell with this format war and waiting further for something that may never happen. The A2 was rated as an incredible upconverting player (which it is! SD discs have never looked better in our house.) and we'd also be able to get into HD-DVD as well.

We aren't invested in this format war in any way. We don't care if HD-DVD loses the war because if that's the case, we haven't lost out like so many seem to think - in fact we'd have had time with an HD optical format instead of just sitting on the sidelines. If HD-DVD loses, we'll purchase a Bluray player (and it will be much cheaper at that point). And that Bluray player will have a spot on the equipment rack right next to the HD-DVD player. There will be absolutely no reason to re-purchase any of the software we already have for HD-DVD because the quality of the formats is so similar. It's really win-win for us cause it's not like the HD-DVD player is going to stop working just because Bluray has won the war! Hell, my laserdisc player still works!

So with all that in mind, I would suggest figuring out what is most important to you. You simply can't go wrong with the A2 - it's so cheap at this point that the worst case scenario is you have an incredible upconverting DVD player (Casino Royale and Pirates SD look AMAZING) and the ability to jump into an HD optical format. And if at some point in the future Bluray happens to win, well - get a Bluray player and sit it right next to the HD-DVD player. They will be good friends!

By the way, I would imagine Bluray will find it's way to the $300-$400 price point around November. So technically if you could hold out, you'd be able to get the A2 right now and a Bluray at the holidays for less than just purchasing a Bluray right now! Hell, if I didn't need a new subwoofer, I'd probably be adding a Bluray player come the holidays myself.

I hope this was helpful.

Cheers,

Jason

Dan,

One last thing. Like you mentioned, software is king. Plain and simple. So - if you happen to make your decision TODAY - you are going to want to speed on over to Deep Discount DVD. Their 20% off sale ends today, I believe. I did well over there. If you go with HD-DVD you'll be able to get the Matrix Collection and Planet Earth for $50 each! Also they have King Kong for like $21 after savings and whole bunch for $15, like Batman Begins, Casablanca, Goodfellas - actually just about any of the Warners.

They have another 20% sale in the fall too though. So don't feel like you have to rush into anything.

It's too bad the Amazon deal is done. A bunch of the guys talked about it when I had just gotten into HD-DVD. Apparently if you bought your HD player from them, they gave you 10% off any software for the ENTIRE year! Sweet deal, if you were fortunate enough to get it. Alas, I was not. But Tim and Cees have been doing well! Damn you guys!

Cheers,

Jason

I have a xbox 360 with the HDDVD add-on drive and my roomate has a ps3. I guess you can say I enjoy the best of both worlds and I like it like that because with only one of the 2 formats there would be plenty of movies that I would not be able to enjoy. As far as picture quality, I find both are amazing and any differences are pretty subtle, certainly not enough for me not to enjoy one format over the other.

You also got the deal when you ordered 3 HD (HD DVD and/or BD) releases at once during a certain period last year. Yes, it's a very nice deal indeed, especially for someone overseas, who cannot dig into bins to find some bargains (not that you'll find HD DVD or BD bargains in bins already, I suppose, but you get my drift).

The price of the HD-A2 on Amazon is down again to $286, If you're interested, you should also look into Robert Zohn's offers (of VE - look at post #47 of this thread). Or, better, contact him!


Cees

I bought my Toshiba HD-A1 a year ago and really enjoy the
benefits of the HD-DVD format. The superior picture and audio
quality is the best reason to upgrade to these new HD formats.

Haven't gone Blu-Ray yet, mainly due to the fact that I'm still
not entirely sold on the title selection. However, as soon as
Samsung and LG release their new combi entries this Summer
I am going to start purchasing Blu-Ray product.

Really, for the moment, this format war has caused me to stop
buying product altogether. I suppose once I own a combi player
I'll feel a little more comfortable buying titles from both formats.

Choice: HD DVD
Deciding factors: Price and my general hatred for Sony and it's products.

Both formats here, the Toshiba HD-A1 and Samsung BD-P1000. As long as Universal is HD DVD exclusively, I want both. If Universal was neutral, I would definitely only have Blu-ray. Both formats are great, with a very limited software selection that greatly favors Blu-ray in my opinion and Blu-ray is the better and the more expensive of the two.

Chris

Buy both and choose HD. Should cost you ~$800 to do it right.

Ok, problem. I decided to go blu ray and bought the Samsung BDP 1200. Now my current tv only supports 1080i. I have a Mitsubishi 46807. It doesn't have an hdmi input either. So I just hooked it up and on the menu screen the player has where you can select the display mode it's only letting me go to 480p?! What gives? Everytime I set it for 1080i or 720p the screen goes blank, I know I can't get 1080p w/ my tv but I thought it could support 1080i through the component outputs. I'm planning on buying a new set when I move to my new house at the end of the summer, am I gonna be watching 480p until then??

It plays my regular dvds fine but when I popped in Casino Royale blu ray, 480p was all it would allow.
I know that the tv supports 1080i because the cable box is a high def box hooked up via component outputs and I'm able to see all of the hd channels in 1080i.

Have you loaded the latest firmware? That might just help. There ware a couple of things the latest download fixed. That might be one of them.

Dan

I don't expect to see a new combo from LG before fall, at the earliest. We are a dealer for LG, and even my regional rep hasn't heard a peep about a new model. We did get a memo a few days ago, however, that the current BH100 will drop $200 in August (new MSRP $999).