Is there going to be a player that will support both formats? i just can't afford or want to purchase two seperate players

LG has announced plans to develop one. However... no ETA yet.

And keep in mind that another company (which? I forget.) had announced similiar plans and then scrapped them saying something along the lines of "too technically challenging". However, if the Blu-Ray players also have DVD support, it seems the red laser is already there (which I guess would be the biggest challenge -- getting both lasers in one drive). So who knows if it will be difficult to pull off or not.

This is the route I hope to go, but it could easily be 2007 before a dual-format player comes to market. And I'm afraid to think of the price... hopefully at or under $1,000.

Both new formats use blue lasers, not red. Right now, a dual format player would be more expensive than either format individually. I don't think you'll ever be able to buy a player that does both formats cheaper than one that does one or the other. It will also be a loooonnnnggg time before such a machine is less than $1K.

I think both companies would put up a stink about a dual format player since they want to force the other format out.

I really think the dual player idea is going to be a last ditch effort by both sides if neither has success selling their own format over the other. Think DVD+/-R

Oh, I never realized that. For some reason, I thought HD-DVD claimed using a red laser as an advantage.

My TV does not have HDMI, and the players i see for sale say HDMI needed, does that mean i am wasting my time buying a player at all

Depends on the disc.

Do you have an HDTV?

yes i have an HDTV bought in 2003, it has component and DVI inputs but no HDMI

what TV model do you have? look in the manual: if your dvi input is hdcp compatible, then you should have no problem... just buy a hdmi to dvi cable. Otherwise, you can still connect component... it seems that most, though possibly not all studios will NOT initially downrez on component.

Samsung is the one that originally wanted to do dual format players, but backed out. I know that there were couple of breakthroughs recently announced that would make dual format players possible, but I am not sure we're quite there yet. There are also the licensing issues, that are quite confusing.

My prediction is that they will see if one format will dominate over the other in short order. If that happens, dual format player will not make sense. I know that a format war might drag on, but it's possible that a clear leader will emerge fairly early.

On the other hand, if both formats attain parity, then universal players will be the future.

You can get adapters that will take HDMI to DVI. (Video only of course)