rexinnih

I've slowed down, joined Netflix and am waiting a bit more before joining the high def world.

mzupeman2

Count me in as another person that feels that standard definition DVD's are good enough.

I mean, if we're talking about DVD's released in the first couple of years compared to HD-DVD, there's absolutely no question, not even on an upconverting player. But you know what? Compression techniques over time, give images on a SD-DVD a near flawless quality that's now even further complimented with a good upconverting DVD player. With one of those, the picture looks to almost be HD itself.

Heck, there's even a lot of older stuff on DVD that looks good enough for me... and those that don't look good enough, I have enough faith that somewhere down the road, a company will re-release a movie with a poor transfer in order to make a few more bucks off of it. Except for perhaps Star Wars Episode I, which looked fine much of the time but had a soft picture throughout most of the film, with some minor edge enhancement to speak of from time to time.

I purchased the 360 add-on, and maybe like seven HD-DVD's. Well, I came to my senses and realised I was spending money on a new format that may not even make the cut. Why invest money in movies I own on DVD just because they're in HD, and why waste money on HD-DVD's when todays compression techniques looks absolutely fantastic with the right hardware? My DVD collection is large, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. A lot of people with DVD feel the same way, and those who are upgrading are still not willing to let their own DVD's go the way of the dodo either, and may not feel the need to replace many of their DVD's. I'm quite content letting my Oppo do the work of giving me excellent picture quality and saving me money thus far on a new format.

RUSF18

My DVD buying came to a crashing halt after I graduated college 2 years ago. A few factors which people have cited already...time, space, finding myself not watching things I've bought. But mostly it's because I realized I was buying things just because there were deals out there. Basically, I was being stupid (not trying to crap on others, how you handle your buying is your own personal thing).

Now I'll buy an occasional TV show, basically just comedies that I know I can pop in a disc either to kill some time or to have something going in the background. Seinfeld is an automatic, and I'll be getting Entourage on Tuesday. Taking a quick look over my movies...the only ones I'm sure I bought this year are The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine.

Netflix does the trick for me. After a long period of "I'd rather spend the extra money to have it to watch whenever I want, as opposed to a one and done rental," it's become, "I'd rather pay to rent something and not have it sitting around for a while after."

DeeKay

I've slowed down buying movie DVDs, now I'm concentrating on TV series.

Gdrlv

Basically stopped but only because I'm now buying Blu-rays and HD DVDs. So, I'm not exactly saving money...

fiver

My dvd buying has all but come to a halt (or at least an extremely slow trickle) in 2007. I sit here with two huge bookcases of double row dvds staring at me with many unwatched and I suddenly realized how attached I was to these round shiny discs...didn't like the feeling, esp. when that attachment borders on compulsion to collect. Why did I buy the Marx brothes collection just because it was $20 when I have never liked the previous marx brothers movies I'd seen, for instance? A sale price is not a reason to buy something that I don't really like.

Hi-def isn't an issue for me, just not particularly interested. The SD-DVD rat race has exhausted me over the past few years. I'm more interested in whittling down my collection and just having a tight collection of my favorite rewatchable movies and tv shows. These days I also preview through netflix if I'm unfamiliar with a movie or show.

Michael

mndtrp

I've slowed down quite a bit. This is mostly due to space issues, as well as renting a lot of movies.

I look back at several of the discs I have bought over the years, and I don't watch most of them anymore. My tastes have changed quite a bit. Renting has allowed me to do that fairly cheaply, and I've experienced many more movies than I would have buying.

Also, living in an apartment has severely limited my storage space. CDs are different. I can put them on the computer, and then put the discs into storage. DVDs, I can't do that with. So, until I get my house, and if I have room there, I'm not going to be buying a lot of movies.

coli

When I first got a DVD player in 1998, I would buy anything off the shelf, as I was buying the type of movies you watch once, maybe twice. As all the 'A' titles starting being released in 2000, 2001, etc, I started to slow a bit as I finally had my collection, and 'B' titles were starting to collect dust. I rarely buy a DVD anymore, cause I have what I want, and would love to sell about 100+ DVD's I know I will never watch again.

If BlueRay/HD-DVD could settle on one format, I would buy an HD Player, and this time I would only buy 'A' titles, as I have learned my lesson from the past.

Josh H

I've slowed down a bit, but not because of the HD formats. I don't care much about those, I'll eventually switch over and start buying new titles in which ever format wins out, but I'll only replace a select few favorites. DVD is good enough for me.

I've just slowed down as I'm not watching movies/shows as much as I used to, and I have most of the catalog titles that I want.

lordwow

I've slowed down as well. I've hit the critical mass where I've got most of what I want (all of the AFI Top 25 (of 100) films, most of the Best Picture winners, and every movie that I've enjoyed over the past 5 years). My wishlist right now is barren, save for nearly the entire run of Star Trek (TNG is the only one I was willing to drop $250 on).

I'm waiting for the DDD sale, and I'll be nabbing pretty much the rest of my wishlist (sans Trek) which is about $250 total.

Plus, my gf and I have gone from watching movies often to TV shows (Since we have less time to watch long stuff, and apparently ADD). Right now we're working our way through the entire run of Star Trek TNG, Cheers, Scrubs, and Freaks and Geeks... with 6 seasons of ER in the backlog.

And count me in for, I'm sure as hell not upgrading now.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

Haven't quit, just have stopped buying crap movies

Joel Goodsen

I buy alot of DVDs most of the time. I am pretty open when it comes to any type of film and manage to watch a fair few, So I am pretty much buying all the time. I for one, am not really interested in HD DVD etc. It was bad enough switching from VHS to DVD, without another flood of formats on the market in my opinion.

On a side note, When is the next DDD sale?

Cheers

matome

I have to say the amount of great DVD's that are on sale every week for less than $10 make it hard to stop.

Dan1boy

I've definitely slowed way down on buying DVD's for many of the same reasons other posters have stated.

Plus, gotta be honest here, Blockbuster's Total Access program has me totally sucked in and I couldn't be happier with it. I get so many movies/shows both in-store and by mail - it's sick.

Jray

I've cut way down for sure. I'm trying to hold off for an HD format as much as anything I suppose. But lifestyle changes have forced me to reconsider as well. My wife and I sometimes go months without putting a DVD in the player now, compared to previously when I lived alone and would probably pop something in almost daily.

My collection has ballooned to probably about 350 titles and a big chunk of that is unwatched. I sometimes open my cabinet and ask myself "why did I buy this?" If I thought I would take advantage of it, I'd join Netflix. But I had it once before and I found myself getting the DVDs and leaving them sit on the TV or counter for weeks at a time. Not necessarily a wise investment either.

DieselsDen

Getting a Blu-Ray player has definitely meant that I avoid new releases on standard DVD. I'll probably be duplicating a lot of my collection in the upgrade, but it also means (maybe) that I'll avoid buying more junk I've seen only once (the AUSTIN POWERS collection, SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, and so forth).

DieselsDen

That is exactly my case, as well. The collector's mentality has prompted me to buy DVDs which I think a well-rounded movie buff should have, but not necessarily because I wanted them so badly. Hence, I have DVDs loaded with special features that got great reviews, but my interest in the main feature is minimal. That's my own fault for being a consumer zombie.

Brian Shannon

No, no reason to stop

Gizmo

Yes, slowing down like crazy. HD DVD and Blu-Ray is a major factor in this. I'd much rather spend a few dollars more and get a MUCH better transfer to enjoy on my Plasma TV. I still have around 300 or so DVDs but I am slowly selling them off one by one. I plan on keeping most of my TV on DVD....but Movies on DVD are slowly being phased out.

3Js

Well if any DVD makers are reading this thread, they can't be too pleased.

The consensus seems to be that most of us are cutting back or have even stopped their DVD purchases.

Not too surprising really...a lot of the titles that were once "Is ... ever coming out??" are now readily available.

I remember when Star Wars and Indiana Jones films among other blockbusters were eagerly anticipated. Even the rumor of such films coming out generated a lot of excitement and discussion in the DVD community. Those were surely fun times.

But it seems nearly everything worth collecting or even just for viewing in that "must-have" category is now attainable.

Put me in the DVD buying on hold camp. I have got maybe 400-500 DVDs awaiting viewing and that will take some time to get through. I really have all the "A" titles I want and a lot of "B" titles as well.

What's left on my wish list are "B" (and even "C"?) titles that I may or may not ever purchase. I don't believe I have bought any DVD at all since November 2006.

Oh...there's still the occasional new release that gets my interest, but if I wait the price will either drop or a better version will emerge, so in this case DVD procrastination pays off.

What's the sense in buying even more DVDs when there are times I can't even decide what to watch next from what I have (much less find the time to do it)?

As far as the HD format discs my older eyes cannot probably appreciate the difference and with the format war on, I can certainly pass on those for now.

Giles

I feel like I've actually bought more DVD's in the last three months than this time last year.

bookcase3

I agree with this. I would love to make a switch to HD because I think it's the future, but I refuse to pay top dollar price for a player, followed by more expensive discs, for a format that may not make the final cut in the "format wars." Granted, I've not witnessed an HD-DVD on my 32" HD TV, but the SD-DVDs look pretty stunning, so I don't see the need to upgrade. Yet.

As for the original question, I still find that I buy a lot of DVDs, but I've stopped two things that were severely punishing my wallet: 1) buying DVDs of movies I haven't seen -- I use Netflix instead, and then wait for a price drop if I like it; 2) double-dipping -- it's ridiculous to re-buy a movie because of packaging gimmicks and a few extra features.

Eplicon

I've been more judicious in DVD purchases myself. I only made one purchase this year thus far, and that was for the steelcase edition of The Departed. Most of the titles aren't going OOP any time soon, so usually there's not much of a rush. A growing but unwatched library backlog is better spent elsewhere. The only concession I make if there is some limited exclusive that comes with the DVD(s). High-def is still a bit ways off for me, so that's not a deciding factor at the moment for the lack of purchases.

Jim

I think from now on I will just be buying Blu-Ray. I'll have to be more judicious in buying discs because they are more expensive, but the prices are not that much different than when I first started buying DVDs back in about 2001 (before I found CH). At this point I'd rather buy 1 Blu-Ray that I really want than 3-4 DVDs. There are enough new releases coming out on BD that should keep my buying impulses satisfied. I may do a minimum Netflix plan to be able to watch more BD without having to purchase so many at the current prices. But for big ones like Casino Royale, Flags of our Fathers, etc, I'll go ahead and buy the BD version of those.