Expect Two Winners in the HD Disc Format War

[deacongreg]

Thanks Jerry and kennyt very much. I will start with one of Toshiba`s HD DVD players, rent movies and go from there. After that purchase, then a universal player, and then I guess a LCD, DLP, RPTV, SRXD, LCOS, etc.
I have always admired Esoteric`s DV series. If I could, I would have an Esoteric that played video as well, then a Toshiba HD player, then I would be off and running.
But thanks very much Jerry andd kennyt, I`ll work on the Toshiba and finally get off the fence.

[deacongreg]

You know what though, I understand Tristan and others like him. Though I`m slowly breaking out of it, I understand. Most, do not have the funds to do both. Though, as kennyt said to me earlier, $577.00 is mighty low for two HD players!!
But, I also have DVD - A and SACD titles as well. This whole thing can get anyone a little weary. I mentioned before, look at your rack or entertainment centers - Do we all really need 4 to 5 machines with an eject button. That is a bit much. So, to me this time around its not really about being an early adopter, its about making sense and bringing more people into OUR world.
Because right now, We are the only ones in that world. And like it or not, there are not enough of us to go around to support whats going on right now. Maybe, and I say maybe, when finally all things are HD, channels, broadcasts, broadcasters, when all people are given that nudge to get an HDTV or else, then we might see something.
But go ask your neighbor, colleague at work, work out buddy, what HDMI is, or LCD, or 1.3, most of the time you will not get the right answer. The manufacturers need to make this more plug and play, clearly. Having consumers choose sides, only pushes them away and causes more confusion. Its not just about us in the high end anymore.

[CliffH]

I have been on the fence myself for this format war. I have finally decided to get the new Samsung dual format player when it finally comes out. I have read a few pre-reviews that speak highly of this unit.
I can understand the readers who are holding out for a winner. I myself have been burned for being an early adopter in the past and have learned that you can't count on the manufacturers to do the right thing. As an example I was an early adopter of the Laser disc format when VHS was the state of the art. When DVD came out I purchased a combo player from Pioneer that played both DVD and laser disc. It cost aprox. $1,200.00 US when I purchased it in the 90's. That was a hefty price at the time and I thought I was playing it safe by bying from a quality manufacturer. However the unit broke down after aprox. a year and I could not find anyone to fix the unit. All the repair shops declined, stating that it was a hybrid unit that they did not know how to fix. I then went to Pioneer and asked them to service it and they declined. It was just out of warranty so I was out of luck.
Even given this horror story I am tired of waiting for a format winner. The prices have come down a bit and I will jump in again. After all what is video nirvana worth to you. If you are a reader of this forum it is obviously a big part of your life.

[HiDefBob]

[QUOTE=CliffH;4193]When DVD came out I purchased a combo player from Pioneer that played both DVD and laser disc. It cost aprox. $1,200.00 US when I purchased it in the 90's. That was a hefty price at the time and I thought I was playing it safe by bying from a quality manufacturer. However the unit broke down after aprox. a year and I could not find anyone to fix the unit. All the repair shops declined, stating that it was a hybrid unit that they did not know how to fix. I then went to Pioneer and asked them to service it and they declined. It was just out of warranty so I was out of luck.[QUOTE]

I have the same unit ... and it still works. I did have one small problem with it. When I did not play CD's on it for awhile it would no longer play them properly ... it would only play the first few songs then stop. I took a suggestion from a friend ... I exercised it, playing a CD over and over until the problem went away.

[DaViD Boulet]

I've picked sides. Blu-ray.

Ultimately, if either of these HD disc formats stick around long enough to gain a foothold, it will be Blu-ray. So I decided to cast my dollar-vote in favor of that (better) format now.

Paramount's by-out deal with Toshiba is temporary, and once web-features get into the BD profile (soon) Universal won't have an excuse to stick with HD DVD.

[wazzzup]

I think I'll give my vote to whatever format sends me the 5 free discs first from their free offers. I submitted both my HD DVD list and my Blu-ray form at the same time and its been many weeks and no discs yet. You KNOW they have to have piles of these old discs sitting in a big warehouse. I havent see anyone buy a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc at Best Buy (other than me), but Im starting to see some momentum on both sides. I saw an HD DVD commercial with Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos, but strangely, it wasnt a Sopranos commercial (I cant remember the name of the movie the ad was for)