well with 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Sky Captain' having both DTS soundtracks it sure is tempting...

anyone seen any reviews for 'Sky Captain'?

Home Theater Spot has the only one I've seen, but it doesn't really go in-depth.

My home theater is also HTPC based with Theatertek. Honestly, with the razor sharp upscaled images I am seeing with standard DVD via this setup output through DVI to my DLP set, I feel no current *need* to upgrade from a video quality angle.

A HD PC drive player/burner would tempt me to start cherry picking certain eye candy titles to upgrade if, and only if,

1. There is a unified standard;

2. The releases I want can be obtained for around a price point of $14.99 via sales/deals/CH/used market, etc. (Yep, I am spoiled by low, low DVD prices and have been for some time)

Number 2 will happen first because number 1 won't for a long time.

At this point, I see high definition DVD, either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, as nothing more than a novelty. I'll be sitting on the sidelines continuing to snap up killer deals on standard DVD's until the dust settles.

An HDTV.

I used to think it would take the end of the format war. And it still might.

But, given the quality of what has been released so far, I may consider HD-DVD even while Blu-ray is still breathing. I'll be keeping a sharp eye on sales around Black Friday and, if not then, I'll be seeing what 2nd gen units appear in the spring.

I'm asking myself what it will take to support Blu-Ray. First, IF the upcoming Panasonic or Sony gets reviews that state they are reliable players, I MAY purchase one. The Pioneer is out of my range as I don't want to spend $1300+ on it. Future releases must match the video quality of HD DVD. I don't really care about extras all that much, as audio/video quality are definitely most important. At least I know I could have any movie I want that's been released by also adopting BD. And when Fox officially throws their hat in the ring, it will be very tough to hold off.

Regarding the Panasonic, I do like the looks of it. I believe AVS has some pics of it posted. It's got to be a better build than the Samsung, right?

even if there's a better player for BD, does it matter? I need there to be a GREAT player (equal to the Toshie) with GREAT discs (equal to HD DVD) to even contemplate it. And even then? What's the point of having two players? just stupid. I chose one and I'm sticking to it till it's dead.

It would take the certainty that HD will work with my analog HDTV (for all movies) and will continue to work for the next 10 years.

I may jump on the XBOX360 one when it comes out. I only have a component input, so that is a factor with my HDTV. Plus, one format would be nice.

I'm not sure what it'd take to get me into high def DVDs. I like the idea of high def DVDs, and I have a HDTV, but I'm one of those guys that got really into DVDs. I have a lot of DVDs. And I don't watch any of them. So I'm having a hard time getting excited about buying more movies that I won't watch.

Lower pricing on the hardware is what it will take for me. End of story.

Everyone is complaining about the price of hardware, but my first DVD player was substantially more than the HD-DVD player. I mean, its not like it is that expensive. With a little effort you can get it for as little as $364. It is not much more than a quality DVD player and way less than a top of the line DVD player. I can understand all the arguments except the price argument. I could see the price argument for BD, but not HD-DVD. I mean to take advantage of it you have to be using a fairly expensive TV and audio setup so why should the player be real cheap? Everyone waiting for lower prices are going to be waiting a long time most likely since it is rumored that Toshiba is losing like $300 on every player sold. When you look at the components inside this tank of a player, it is believable that they are taking a loss. Its also interesting to see people with 500+, even nearly a 1000 titles in their owned list complaining about a $500 player. I mean they have invested thousands in software and won't invest $500 in a decent player. I mean if they are all using top of the line Denon or Pioneer Elite DVD players fine, but I doubt they are and thus this would probably be an upgrade for playing regular DVD as well.

Just my opinion.

I don't know what some people's idea of "expensive" is but you can get a 1080i tv for under 1k at this point. Mine cost about $1300 and looks absolutely fantastic. Would that suit someone like Spiky? Certainly not. But you don't have to have a set like that to see the benefits of HD. You also don't have to have a built in HD tuner either.

I think you're making it out to be a lot more complicated than it is.

1) I never jumped on DVD until the players were

Really? I got my A1 from Best Buy for $499. Are you sure that the $699 price tag isn't for the XA1?

Edit: Nevermind, just saw that you were in Canada.

I got my 46" HDTV in September 2004 for $1200 -- one that was very highly rated and I've been VERY satisified. We're approaching the 2-year anniversary and I'm not even remotely tempted by other models. I haven't kept up with pricing, but I would assume that prices have dropped a decent amount in the past 2 years, so you should be able to get a decent model for under a grand. Even less if you don't need something as big. And the upcoming sales for both Black Friday and Super Bowl time are likely to be amazing.

I too was 'satisfied' with regular DVD. But hooking up an upconverting player and watching my titles in 1080i is something I can certainly appreciate. And I'm looking forward to grabbing a HD-DVD player soon.

for me I will wait till the second gen HD-DVD players comeout and also for a must have title like LOTR or some other movie I must have to come out on HD-DVD.

I got an HDTV four years ago that looked pretty good to me. CRT projection is laughable old tech now and it doesn't have many whiz-bang features, but it looks good. As someone else said, you're making it more complicated than it really is. An HDTV is an HDTV. It's an improvement over old TV technology, period. It's like upgrading to a Corvette from a Miata. The question is, do you want the heated leather seats, the in-dash CD changer, etc. The Z06 model or the basic one. It's still an improvement. There is no "wrong" choice... just what's right for you.

[QUOTE=Damed]1) I never jumped on DVD until the players were

All very valid points that I agree with but that doesn't mean that many many many consumers won't look at $599 and say 'that's too much for me'. Money is an issue for some people.

For me, the answer to that question would be, "Because there's a limited number of titles available, they cost more than regular DVDs, and there's a format war still to be decided." Take these out of the equation and I wouldn't be as concerned about the cost of the player itself.

Probably when I start my new job and clear out all my debt. I wish I could jump in right now, and get a new tv, hd-dvd player, and a bunch of titles, but it just isn't an option for me unfortunately.

It would also help if I saw Deadwood or Carnivale come out in HD. I watch more TV shows than movies in DVD at the moment so it would be nice if they were better represented.