Not interested...I barely buy DVDs anymore...I'm sure I will get one when they are the norm in 10 years, but no rebuying of DVDs/VHS/Doubledips for me!

I bought into HD DVD on day one and I bought a PS3 early this year. I love the HD formats and I'm glad I decided not to wait. The more standard DVDs I would have bought while waiting the more discs I would have to rebuy later.

the important thing is both formats have lived up to A/V expectations though Blu-ray did stumble out of the gate in 2006. I'm not even concerned at this point about one or the other failing. I just know that HD video will be around and if it has to find a niche I think it will be a strong one.

If both formats do well Christmas '07, and Universal stays exclusive to HD DVD for all of 2008, I think both formats will co-exist. Christmas '07 is the key.

i'm not really concerned too much about the "format war" but i've decided to hold off on jumping into either of the HD formats for the following reasons:

-- i'm planning to upgrade my tv (which is currently a 1080i RPTV with only component inputs for HD) in the next year to a larger 1080p model and am more than satisfied to wait on an HD player until i have a display that will take full advantage

-- i'd like to wait for the players to reach the right balance of lower price point and more mature technology, which i expect will come sometime in the 3rd-5th generation

-- also, there's no way i could convince my wife that it's worth it at the current prices

Both.

Still waiting.... I imagine I will switch at some point but have no interest at the moment, until one of the formats wins out.

HD DVD exclusive for me.

I just jumped on the HD-DVD wagon yesterday. Did the Amazon deal on the A2 and a bunch of other HD-DVDs. Can't wait to fire that bad boy up!!!

As for not seeing the need, that I will take as an acceptable response. Some people just don't care about the added quality and have other priorities which is fine, but the second paragraph is just silly. Any company that tried that would be committing suicide. I mean they would get hammered in the courts for it and even if they won there, the press and especially the Internet would crucify them.

HD DVD has regions, but has not implemented them at all thus far - all HD DVD work on all players as far as I know and have read. BD has a less regions than DVD and they act just like they did on DVD - the disc don't play unless the player region matches the disc region. Where did this theory of frying your player come from? I mean I know it is possible, but I don't remeber any rumors of it being considered for use. As far as I know the HD DVD situation is settled - the spec is complete - just like DVD. BD is supposed to be complete later this year, but it really only lacks some interactive features and network features from what I understand. Although I seldom trust Sony, I am pretty comfortable with Toshiba, Pioneer and Panasonic.

Own 100+ HD-DVDs (various regions)

Still waiting for a decent deal on a Blu-ray player (similar to the one on the HD-A2)


Rarely buy SD-DVDs anymore.

...I also own 100+ Multi-Region SD-DVDs. Never had one fry any of my players.

I bought some HD-DVDs during the usual DVD sales. But I will comment about something.

Since HD-DVD and BR DVD players will only get cheaper, I see no reason to be worried about one format or the other. In fact, I will probably have both players eventually. I just happened to start with HD-DVD so I'll be getting the respective player in the future. I'm amused by those who want to stick with one format or the other. This is what the companies want. I'm not falling for it. I will play both formats in my home, and enjoy them both, thanks. Some movies will only make it on one particular format, so instead of crying like a baby, I'll just wait until the players get cheaper. I forked out $1200 for a DVP-S7700 in the early DVD days, so forking out around $600 for both players is not bad. The prices of the HD/BR DVDs are not cheap, but just like the DVD days, I purchased only the movies I really liked and would watch again initially. Once the movies got cheaper, I purchased more.

What if HD-DVD bottoms out? I'm not really worried at this point. There will be HD-DVD players available for years and years. I highly doubt we'll see companies just stop making HD-DVD players altogether. BR and HD-DVD movies will be nice and comfy on my shelves and will coexist without killing each other.

I will comment as another poster did. This is a good time to buy a few HD titles here and there so you don't have to double-dip in the future.

And I appreciate DVD Talk's reviews of HD-DVDs. They are helpful in giving me instant info on what to purchase.

Titles is what matters to me, not the format! So...

I prefer BR because currently SONY has a few titles I am interested in (Almodovar in HD is enough of a reason to own a player). However...I don't like the fact that BR favors region-coding.

HDDVD practically has me cold at this point even though there are also a few titles (all of them in Europe) that I am interested in. I have zero interest in any of the HD discs produced in America (the upcoming Leaving Las Vegas should change that...French disc is already out ).

Also, I firmly oppose the combo practice favored by HD-producers.

Aside from that the type of films I like aren't going to be treated with much attention, I understand that (foreign films). Maistream cinema will have priority. That is why I did not pick up the Toshiba...yet!

This being said, shortly I hope to have a BR player (granted the price drops under 500$).

My vote: BR.

Pro-B

I have both formats and a 65" Toshiba HDTV DLP 1080p. The upconversion on both players is so great that some of my SDVDs look virtually identical to their HD counterparts. I say some, because PotC and The Matrix look disernably better in HD, as Terminator 2 looks almost the same upconverted vs. Blu-ray. Overall I'm pleased to be able to upgrade my favorite movies to HD. Its only been worth it on 20 of the 30 HD/BluRays I have.

Where's the "Don't Give a S * * t About Either" Button?

i'm still waiting. i have an hd display albeit an older one (dvi) but aside from a few select titles (matrix, pirates etc.) there is alot of crap that i would not buy, even on regular dvd on sale. i DO apreciate the technology and when more must have films are released or the price point drops further for players and media i will take the plunge. for the time being i am satisfied with my extensive dvd collection and upscaling players.

That's more what SONY wants.

This argument sounds like one I've heard before... when was that? Oh yeah back in the early 80's with Betamax or VHS. Wasn't Sony pushing THAT technology too? Granted Beta was a superior format, but the public resisted Sony shoving it down their throats. I expect the same to happen. There's no reason to have two formats.

I don't want two players in my home theater - plain and simple.

I bought the 360 add-on for $150. With King Kong and a media remote included it seemed like a good deal. Even though I only used the remote for watching HD-DVD and checking my friends list once in a while without powering up a controller.

With the A2 $299 deal w/ 5 crappy movies and the buy-Matrix-get-two-free deal I went ahead and ebayed my Oppo 970 and the add-on. The xbox was too damn loud as it is very near our seating. This created about $250 plus I'll sell 4 out of the 5 free discs which means I basically broke even on the changeover.

I used the Oppo 970 for 480i over HDMI and let the projector (Faroudja DCDi) deinterlace/scale. The A2 performs a bit worse than the Oppo/projector combo, which in turn didn't perform as well as my Zenith DVB-318 over component - especially for video-based content.

Good enough though.

I don't want more than one player around. I've got the HD-DVD player, Satellite HD-DVR, and the xbox 360, Wii, PS2, SNES, NES and Sega Saturn on the audio rack and it's pretty crowded.

I'm not double-dipping and rebuying discs though. I did the Matrix just because of the get 2 free deal, and I might double dip on my 2nd favorite movie, Eternal Sunshine, but that's it. I'm not willing to upgrade discs, only buy new discs in HD-DVD. And there's not that many new movies I'm interested in.

I have both(XA1 and PS3) and I also still buy SD-DVD. I have decided that I am not going to upgrade either player for atleast another year(even though I'm dying to get the XA2). I look at it like this:

1. if HD-DVD dies in the next year or so I'll still have a great player that can play whatever HD-DVD discs I own as well as a great upconverting player for my regular stuff

2. if Blu-Ray was to die in the same time frame I'd still have a player that can play all my BD discs as well as being used as a game system for my PS2/PS3 games

I'm also trying not to do many overlaps(double/triple-dipping) in my purchasing with the exception of some of my favorite movies. if a new title comes out that I want and it's available on HD/BD I'll just buy that instead of the regular DVD.

Other things indeed. Have to fund that lifetime supply of tinfoil hats somehow.

I was an early adopter of the HDTV. So early in fact it doesn't have HDMI. So I'll wait until I need a new TV and go the whole route at once.

This is a household with 2 LCD sets, 1 Plasma, a computer monitor with HDMI input and higher resolution than tuner sets are capable of displaying, and 3 HD DVRs.

And I think it's absolute bullshit that as much as I'd happily start buying HD discs to watch on them, I'm still forced to choose one format over the other.

So I say Fuck It. If they can't settle it once and for all before HD on Demand becomes a legitimate alternative, they deserve to lose all the money I'd love to be able to give to them.

Maybe at some point someone will wake up and realize they're alienating the consumer, but until then I'll be sitting it out.

I’ve had a Toshiba HD-A1 since July of last year and I have been quite pleased with the unit. (...using it with a Mitsubishi 65” RP HDTV.) I currently own about 20 HD-DVD titles.

I will probably buy a Blu-ray player eventually (or even a dual format player) when and if the price is right, but I am currently in no hurry to get one.

Count me in as one of those individuals that think it to be quite likely that both formats will end up co-existing. Indeed, I find it ironic that the folks that are holding out for a “winner” are partly the reason that neither format has enough momentum to “win” the war.

Of course two competing formats in an industry is not news. What is news, is the two formats rapidly becoming affordable to the consumer in a smaller time frame. Compare this format war with VHS and BETA. Could you afford both within a year or two? Hell no. I still remember my father coming home with a $4,000 VHS system where each comprised of components that were as large as my A/V receiver. The pricepoints are much more affordable these days. And when these competing formats become so affordable, you have to ask yourself are the movies which come on a competing format worth it. I think so.

A typical mid-range HD DVD player is around $300 (BR is much higher--go figure but will be more affordable later on which is why I'm only with one format right now). That's only 15 HD-DVDs. And if you have any type of collection, this amount doesn't even make a dent.

Maybe I'm coming from a videophile perspective versus a typical consumer who wants it all delivered on a plate without any oversight because I once owned several hundred Laserdics in addition to my collection of DVDs, and VHS tapes. I didn't care about a format per se. If a particular movie came out on a particular format, I was ready for just about anything. What I liked, was options.

Personally, I don't want only one format to win because that means prices will be monopolized. And this is what Sony wants. They've always wanted extreme control and they do this by creating proprietary components in an industry that seeks standardization. Sony doesn't like to create components which can be cross-compatible. Luckily, most of their proprietary creations have historically backfired on them. Including their memory sticks (which has an interesting history).

I have several objections to hi-def as currently available:

1) Many titles have been released in MPEG-2 rather than VC-1 or H.264, and even fewer use the new hi-def lossless audio codecs. Even if they did, players don't support them. Few (none?) of the discs use advanced features beyond what's available in regular DVDs. Basically, hi-def is woefully premature and should never have been released without full support *and use* of its features.

2) Many titles are rehashed SD. The extras aren't anamorphic, for example, just like the SD release. Nothing says "cheap and greedy" like failing to do simple upgrades like these.

3) Stop trying to lock everything down. It's impossible and pisses off consumers. Take a page from the software industry who gave up on the idea decades ago. Besides, the pirates (by and large) aren't selling decrypted video they're selling bit-for-bit copies, which encryption is powerless to prevent.

4) HD demands digital or physical restoration of the prints, but most discs are re-encoded from the original transfers done for SD. HD makes the flaws stand out even more prominently.

5) Format war. Enough said.