That was it for me. That guy is first on my ignore list.

Congrats!

1080p isn't worth $500 more. There are high end sets that can upconvert 1080i to 1080p & a 24 FPS pull down conversion on top of that. HD-DVD sources are mastered in 1080p, so it's only a matter of time before that upgrade comes along, sticks it's shovel in the loose dirt, and tosses it on BR's casket.

Those "cheap, low end" players are indeed selling moderately. Considering Best Buy doesn't release sales numbers publically, maybe he could explain why his beloved Sony BR player is ranked #10,471 in sales. A staggering #6,500 place drop from yesterday (#3,996) where as the Toshi HD-DVD player, #569 yesterday, placed at #374 today at Amazon, whom I hold in equally as high regard as Best Buy.

People aren't stupid, and they're not going to buy into a mainstream electronic retailer's agenda. Just because some stores have a Magnolia division doesn't mean they're any more educated and trusted past their tirades of "Yes, this is a GREAT model! Just to let you know, we don't work on commission..". Smooth talking college kids that present their opinion as fact don't sway me.

I visted 2 Ultimate Electronics and 2 Best Buys over the past two days to help me solidify my decision as to what HDTV I was going to buy. I was shooting for a 42" LCD Sammy just yesterday, the same one I was sold on a month ago. I brought along my good friend Jason who's the tech-head beyond belief, to a newer Ultimate Electronics store in Maple Grove. I was approached by a thirtysomething named Kevin, and we all 3 had a fantastic half hour conversation, going between the Sammy DLP I was eyeing, and a beautiful Sony 42" LCD WEGA that was only $150 more, and performed 10 times better. He knew his shit, he layed it all out for me, and that's what sold me on it. Expertise and honesty.

Naturally, once I told him I was sold on the SONY, the conversation as rounded out by discussing my all new components. He was pleased to hear that for the time being, I was working with an upconverting Sony w/ HDMI, which he explained was going to give me tighter, cleaner graphics via a digital transfer, although in addition, an HD-DVD/Blu-ray would also offer upscaling, which I was aware of. I asked for his personal opinion on the DVD formats, and he, too, sided with BR. I respected his opinion and his reasoning, but he did mention that even though the HD-DVD player was less, that studio support would be the deciding factor. It was funny that when my friend asked if he would consider hooking up an HD-DVD player to the Sony LCD I'm looking to purchase, he not so politely refused, and this was after he mentioned he was working on commission. It may have been a store policy, it may have been a personal bias, who's to say. He did however invite Jason to come back by with a 360 if "that's what it takes to sell you this set, then so be it.".

That's my experience, and BTW, the Coon Rapids Best Buy, the Maple Grove Ultimate Electronics, as well as the Maple Grove Best Buy all featured HD-DVD quite prominantly and proudly.

Curiousity and no I do not work for them. I'm a pretty reasonable person and sometimes it looks like everyone jumps on the same 'let's hate this' bandwagon. And while BB is not the greatest place and it's not that smart to ask employees technical questions about things(or anything for that matter). I've never really experianced some of the shit many people have so far,including with the format war.


+ I had reason to be at B.B. today since I was looking too buy a dvd or cd and finally located a copy of the new Buckcherry album(which I have'nt yet found in any of the indie and other retailers). So alittle wander into the HD/BR demo area was appropriate.

The Best Buy close to me does display HD DVD in the Magnolia store, but neither the Blu-ray or HD DVD setup looks that great. However, when I was there yesterday to buy Brisco County Jr they had Van Helsing running on the XA1 and it looked as good as I have seen them display HD DVD. They also put a small floor display in the DVD department that had both HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs in it so they seem to be working harder to sell both formats. They were still out of HD DVD players though.

Spiky, if he's bothering you this much, maybe you should consider using the ignore option. Responding like this really doesn't do anything for the discussion.

I'd actually consider BD if their standalone players were alittle cheaper. I'd probably buy one if it was $700 or so. But it would be either the Pioneer, Sony, or Panasonic. And from what I've read, Sony's is a rebranded unit. I wonder if Panasonic made it. I think they're both $1000. The Pioneer will probably be the best 1st gen, but I ain't paying $1300.

We're starting to get several BD software annoucements lately. But the 25 gig, mpeg 2 discs are another reason why I'm hesitant to take the plunge.

I don't really want a gaming machine to be my primary player, but that's the cheapest option and that's still $600.

By supporting both, at least you know you're guaranteed to choose any movie available. Once Fox officially announces their BD plans, I may inch closer to supporting both formats. They've got 20+ titles coming, which includes some personal favorites like Aliens and Master & Commander.

No, my point was that HD-DVD/BD is a niche market. Not porn.

Coral just said it better than I did....I just dont think the percentage of those wanting to go to hd porn will be big enough to make a difference.

Wow, surprise surprise....another sony fanboy post. :rolleyes:

At my Best Buy we have to push Blu-Ray, only because we can't get anyone to buy one.

Toshibas sell themselves, hence no one needs to push that product. They sell out as soon as we get them in.

Well i am not made of money either...but i am not going to go out and waste hundreds of dollars on a player that may be defunct in no time. Its just common sense. Adding into the equation that having to buy a HD TV into the deal makes me want to wait until prices drop and quality of product improves. I keep on hearing that there is this huge market of people that already own HD TV's. Well i can imagine that quite a few people on this forum do...but outside that i think it is a significant minority that own these TV's. I think they need to make the overall purchase of both items more accessible before it will really take off.

As for hearing people say that VHS is good enough for me now when DVD was launched....well i don't know who you were talking to, but i never heard a single person say that. The leap from VHS to DVD was much more significant than DVD to HD IMO. Sure there is better picture, better sound and larger capacity between HD and DVD....but at the end of the day DVD introduced scene selection, better audio and video quality, the idea of extras.......et al. Everyone i ever talked to agreed that DVD was a significant change and never once defended VHS against it.

I get the impression that there are a lot of your kind of person out there. The kind of person that needs to get each new "toy" released just for bragging rights. Well whilst you and many others jump in head first, calmer heads i think will wait and be rational about the situation and give the format wars a bit of time to fight before deciding who truly provides the better product. Hope for your sake your choice is the right one.

I think thats going a bit far....its not fair to accuse someone for buying something just for "bragging rights".

Those of us who have an hdtv and A1 player enjoy the movies that we are watching on it. Its very simple. We love hd content and are very happy that hd-dvd is providing excellent quality.

This forum is for discussion about that. If you feel that we are bragging, then it might be best for you to stop reading this forum.

Don't worry about me. If Blu-ray wins I will go buy a Blu-ray player. My current HD DVD collection will last a long time whether it wins out or not. All my LDs still work fine and that format has been gone for a long time.

However, HD video will win out in the end. DVD is not good enough at 480i and will have to be replaced by a better HD format. I'm not settling for 480i when I have a 1080i TV.

I can afford and HD player and Blu-ray player for that matter - but I don't want to potentially throw away any money or have a format I buy get discontinued in 2-3 years. I am not spending a penny on either of these formats until things settle down and A LOT more content is available. Also, what's the huge rush?!? I've gone 34 years without either....what's another 6 or 12 or 18 months? Yes, HD DVD looks great as I've seen it on my display but I'm not going to take a chance throwing away hundreds or thousands of dollars. And, to me, it's throwing away money if this stuff isn't going to last up to ten years or more. A year or two ain't gonna cut it.

completely agree. HDTV sales are increasing and will continue to do so. Why not maximize that tv with a hd format? No need to limit yourself to dvd, if you have the funds.

Have you read anything about the Toshiba?

You do realize that it's an excellent upconversion player. So regardless, if BR wins, Toshiba owners don't really lose anything.

They still can access their existing HD collection
They still can access their existing SD-DVD collection.

If this contest was about bragging rights, I'd have the neighbors/family over every night for an HD-DVD party.

For me... it's about viewing films in the highest quality possible.

You're a raaaabid anti-HD-dite.

Is there something wrong with wanting to view a movie with the best possible audio and video?

Getting mad because someone buys into one of the new formats is beyond crazy. The early adopters are doing everyone else a favor because we're actually testing out the experience and dealing with the bugs, etc. No need to get upset because we're doing so.

It's perfectly understandable that you feel that way, but the way i look at it is that there is no guarantee that i'll even be here in 6 or 12 months myself (hey, you never know) so if i can afford something i want then why not get it now and enjoy it?

Van Helsing looks great on HD DVD, but I just can't force myself to watch the movie; it's just so...so...so damn bad!

If you can't stand Van Helsing, send it to me. I'll pay shipping. :)

Netflix, Skippy -- it's wonderful.

Although, I have to admit that I own Van Helsing on DVD; I'm too embarrassed to sell it :).

I saw Van Helsing in the theater and remember enjoying it at the time, but I bought the HD DVD a while back and can honestly say that i really regret it because sitting through it again was pretty hard. I'm not sure why but this one just doesn't hold up to repeat viewings for me.

What's sad is I already owned it on regular DVD but never even watched it.

Hugh Jackman was on Broadway at the time that Van Helsing came out. My friend and I both wanted to go wait by the backstage door to confront him and make him give us our $10 back. :)

HD or not, you couldn't pay me enough to watch that movie again.

It's just that the dialog is absolutely terrible, and for a CGI-laden film, the effects are quite poor, even more so when viewing it in hi-def.

But what if we sweetened the deal with a brand new, highly revolutionary Blu-Ray player and 5, YES 5, high quality Blu-Ray discs? Surely that would persuade anyone, right?