Which one will you prefer for films?
I prefer HD-DVD.

Whatever format has the most movies I like.

Shouldn't there also be a reason given as to why a person likes one over the other?

Personally, from what I know right now, I'd go for Blu-ray because the disc capacity is higher, and it appears that they're further along in the process toward making even higher capacity discs. Plus, there are more hardware manufacturers on-board with Blu-ray, which would potentially give me more selection (as well as push the product forward faster than if there was only one or two companies making the hardware).

But if it comes down to the movies I want being on HD-DVD exclusively, then I'd certainly go the other way. Things will shake out a lot more before I am able to get my hands on either one anyway, probably making the choice clearer.

I prefer HD-DVD for movies only.
Blu-Ray seems better off for PCs and other media.

More studios are behind HD-DVD as well.

Blu-Ray is a superior format, storage wise.
However, BetaMax AND Laserdisc are superior to VHS and look which one won out.

Home video tapes didn't really take off until VHS defeated Betamx
Dvds didn't really take off until standard Dvds defeated Divx Dvds
Sacds and Dvd-A haven't really taken off, partly because one hasn't yet defeated the other.

As long as they want this new market to confuse people and only serve a small niche market, they should be very happy with both formats coexisting.

I'll be happy with standard dvds for quite a while.

At this point, it doesn't matter to me. I just think it's ridiculous there will probably be two formats with only certain movies being available on one format and not the other (as I understand it). If I want a Columbia Tri-Star movie I will need Blu-Ray, yet I will need HD-DVD for a Warner movie? F'ck all of them. I, of course, will not buy either format until one wins over the other and is well established.

Wait for the players that play both HD-DVD, Blu Ray and regular DVD. Although maybe this will never really catch on much like SACD. It will be for high end users. Casual consumers wont know the difference, this will be confusing to them. And most people dont have the TVs yet. And there is NO WAY I am replacing my DVD collection to upgrade!!!

They still can't get the dvd burning disk right let alone try to get this right. Daytona24 is correct you will have to wait for the players to play everything because nobody is ever going to budge on this.

can't get the disc burning right??? I burn discs everyday . . .dual layer . . . with rarely ever a problem

Other than the storage capacity, would someone mind breaking down the pros/cons as they understand them for each?

Other than storage space, I don't know that there really is all that much difference that the viewer would see.

DVDs have only recently started to hit a stride and the right price point. Why on earth do they want to confuse people even further and not ride out the current medium? Seems like they haven't done any market research; most people I know won't be getting any new formats for a long long time.

whichever one is backwards compatable.

Blu-ray reportedly has mindbogglingly impressive scratch protection, something HD-DVD doesn't offer.

read about it here.

I think most people would just prefer that everyone get on board with one format. I don't see that happening any time in the near future. I, for one, will wait until one wins out and then go with that.

I would assume that both formats are backwards compatible to DVD??

At this time, Blu-Ray has no intentions of having players that can play current DVDs. I will not buy anything that can't play my current collection.

HD-DVD is for me!

Indeed. I read an article that says HD-DVD will play in your current DVD player in low resolution mode.

Uh, no. Says Andy Patrizio from dvd.ign.com:

I was at a Blu-ray conference in June, and the question of backwards compatibility came up. I forget who it was, but his exact words were "it would be suicide not to be."

from a Home Theater Forum thread . Don't know where your info is from...

Blu-Ray, to me from this early standpoint, seems far-and-away the best of the two.

I'll be holding out for a clear leader. If none arises (if there continues to be things only released on one format) then I just won't buy either.

It's silly to pick a favorite. Especially this early. Either one will be a tremendous upgrade over what we have now so it's really just a matter of seeing who wins the format war. As anxious as I am to upgrade, I won't buy either until it's clear which way the industry is gonna go.

There can be only one.

Exactly. And I figure that I am going to get 5+ years out of my existing equipment easily.

Exactly. The guys benhind Blu-ray are not that stupid. If Blu-ray is not currently backwards compatible it will be made so soon enough. And I'll bet good money that hybrid Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs will become commonplace as well, as they try to woo new converts to the format. And for the record, I share everyone else's attitude that I'll convert when 1) one single format is adopted industry-wide and this format war business is over, 2) players come down in price to a reasonable level, and 3) initial hardware and firmware bugs are resolved.

^^ that is what I can't wrap my head around. It is all about selling the hardware, not the dvd's. Assume Panasonic, Sony, Philips, Toshiba and the like build their 'one format' players only. it will be the smaller companies that make the duel players that will be raking in all the dough. I just don't understand executive's decisions. It is baffling.

I recently saw an article about how HD-DVD discs would have both the regular DVD version and HD-DVD version on the same disc but on different layers. This way they can switch over to new discs, and people can buy new hardware as they get rid of their old DVD hardware.

I think that HD-DVD will end up winning...