High Definition DVD: What is Holding You Back? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Moritz]

Am now going to wait and put off Blu-ray until VC-1 discs are out. I will also put off Blu-ray which was going to be my first purchase and buy HD-DVD first instead.

 

[Clinton McClure]

1. No titles I'm interested in. I'm contemplating a HD-DVD player but there are no movies released thus far which have really set my barn on fire. Give me Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings and I'm ready to sign on.

2. If copy-protection is turned on next year, then I could not watch HD content. My HDTV does not have HDMI inputs and I'm not in the market to upgrade for at least two years.

3. Price of HD-DVD does not bother me. I remember paying a bit over $1000 for a Toshiba SD-5109 which still works flawlessly to this day.

4. Price of Blu-Ray does bother me because of all the problems with chips and possibly bad software. In all my years of buying electronics, I've never seen a company so plauged with problems as Sony. IMHO, the only two things they did well were TVs and the 1st gen. Playstation. I've bought two Sony dvd players which I had to return because of poor build quality and three PS2s which all died within the year of purchase because of poor build quality. Throw in their CD copy protection which would cause CDs to become unplayable on 75% of CD players, the rootkit debacle and the early suggestions that PS3 games should only be playable in the first PS3 in which they are played, and I'm turning the other way and running from Sony and their Mad Hatter managment.

 

[Marvin]

I waited until the second generation of players to buy into DVD back in '98. That was to wait until the prices came down and they got the initial bugs out. And that was without any format war and I didn't already have a huge inventory of VHS (and no LD) titles.

So I would have waited on HD DVD even without a format war. But I probably won't buy a second generation player if there's no resolution to the format war in sight. It's not just because I'm afraid I'd buy into a format that won't survive; what would be almost as bad would be if both formats survive. Then I'd need to wait for a universal player, or buy 2 players, or just have my choice of DVDs limited based on the format I bought.

 

[MarioMon]

What's holding me back? Let's say that for the past 2 years I waited and waited for the promise of HD and what do I see today, two formats, that sound great on paper and promises, but which have been delivered with incomplete and buggy hardware! Blu-ray, for which I had the most hope, appears to be a total failure with Sony delaying upon delays, with 2x the price of the competing format, and with blu-ray titles showing up with inferior image quality! Just unacceptable given the technology that exists today. After seeing how blu-ray has been butchered, I began swaying to HD-DVD but now we hear that the Toshiba hardware is also plagued with a buggy and faulty player. Btw, WTF is up with the Toshiba player only outputting 1080i instead of 1080p? I've decided to stick with SD DVD for the next couple of years. At least it works!

 

[Cees Alons]

???
People who downloaded the firmware fix all praise the player highly.


Cees

 

[Adam_R]

I agree with all of your points, but the single biggest thing keeping me from buying is the lack of any "killer" titles.

There's not 1 movie out now on HD-DVD or BluRay that I MUST have in HD.

 

[mwagner1]

Hello...

First, I am excited about killer HD movies...however, I will wait until we have at least a 2nd or 3rd generation unit....also, I want to see who wins the format war unless companies plan on releasing units that have dual transports for both formats..

Finally, I want to see MANY more titles available before I get a unit....

I will likely see what is available at the end of the 1st Quarter of 2007 and then take the plunge....

Cheers,

MW

 

[Dave Moritz]

I will have my HD-DVD player in 3 weeks! While I can not say that the HD title line up is assume. There are some good movies in that line up. Thats not to say it could not have been better. And I would rather buy the titles that I currently do not have in dvd on a HD format. Instead of buying them on dvd, only to turn around and repurchase them in HD later. I now taking a wait and see approach will Blu-ray. If Sony's player is not bug ridden and is a actually a really good player. I may end up buying the Sony Blu-ray player in December? If the HD-DVD format does well and ends up as the dominant hd format. I plan on upgrading the Toshiba HD-DVD player with a better model. If not and Blu-ray ends up as the dominant format and is using VC-1 encoded discs. Well then Blu-ray will then be my main format of choice in my HT. IMHO even with weak HD titles it is more than worth it to get into HD. I to want to see better titles in HD as that get me to buy alot more HD titles instead of a small number of titles. I cant wait to see what titles become available between the end of the year and the end of the 1st quarter of 2007. I do not own a upconverting dvd player so the Toshiba player is a win win deal. If more people supported HD I feel that better titles would come out sooner. As it would be in the studios best interest to bring more top notch titles.

 

[russdog]

I will be more than happy to buy one when I see one box that will play both of the 2 formats, has 2nd-gen (or later) software, gets great reviews for performance and costs less than $500 (and hopefully around $250 street price). I figure that's a year away, maybe 2 at the most. (By then Netflix will probably have some software in it's catalog.) Until I see a box like that, I'm waiting.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Sigh. I still remember the days when version 1.1 was considered safe. Now, it's version 2.0...

 

[George_W_K]

I'm not sure where I posted in here, but I have to eat my words as I bought the Toshiba yesterday. I was able to fix the washing machine so I figured I could upgrade the HT a little more.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I to have had to eat my words as I was only going to buy Blu-ray only. But I will own an HD-DVD player on September 1st. I even own 7 HD-DVD titles allready and I hope to have 9 disc's on the day I bring the player home. Even with player problems and there not being a really great release list of HD titles. I honestly feel that HD is worth the investment and brings a level of picture quality that has never before been available.

Oh by the way George, " Nice HT you have there"!

 

[Jeff Adams]

Not buying anything right now. Simply put. Format war. It's VHS VS Beta all over again. There will be only one victor and I am waiting to see who it is. If I had to choose one over the other though, I would go Blu-ray.

 

[edJohn]

Will stay on the fence probably till the end of the year. Went down the wrong road as far as the masses were concerned with VHS/ BETA.

 

[Vader]

The way I see it, it is more like "SACD vs DVD-A", in that both formats will likely be around for quite some time (unless Sony keeps screwing the proverbial pooch like they have been). I was also in the "Blu-Ray has it tied up….HD-DVD-should-just-admit-defeat-and-crawl-back-under-the-rock-it-came-from" camp, and have eaten several healthy servings of crow (I have leftovers, and I'm sure Ron has a delivery or two ready in case I didn't come around). If a unified format were to emerge, it most likely won't be for several years, and in the meantime I will be alongside many others here enjoying HD (and I will still have the player and the HD-DVD titles). I do not intend on stopping all SD purchases, in the same way that, while SACD is vastly superior, I still have a healthy CD library (and still listen to them). Depending on the title, double-dipping is a fact of life for me, and the Tosh will be upgraded in several years, anyway (1080p, anyone?). To be able to watch movies in HD until then is more than worth the $500 the Tosh will cost me. Besides, I don't want the "gnashing of teeth" that would come when "The Lord of the Rings" is released next Spring (yea, yea, I can hope…). IMHO, those films alone justify my HT, and all of the effort I have put into it….

 

[MarkHastings]

But all one really needs to buy is an SACD player since you can play DVD-A's in your DVD player. With HD vs. BluR, you have to purchase both players.

 

[Vader]

Fair enough. Down the road, I may end up doing just that (assuming that Sony gets their act together, AND starts putting stuff out superior to the HD-DVD counterpart). But I don't see that happening for some time, and I know very well that the Tosh will be upgraded eventually anyway. So, the worst case scenario is that I simply am buying a fantastic placeholder, and even if HD-DVD were to lose, no-one is going to show up at my door and take my HD-DVD titles (so no double-dipping there)....

 

[Bill Crosthwait]

I am waiting to see who the victor is in this format war. Hopfully we will know who wins by next year....

 

[DanielKellmii]

I am waiting to see which one actually wins.

Although, this may turn out differently than Beta Vs. VHS. In this era of unbelievably cheap electronics, I can foresee owning two players if they get cheap enough and no format has proven dominant. I don't like that option and hope it doesn't happen.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Maybe some third group will introduce a player that can spin HD & BR. That'd be quite a feat.