Again, I'd love to hear some of the pompous, ridiculous statements that you keep referring to from the HD DVD side. I haven't heard any that make me sick like Sony has stated.

Thats funny cause I actually typed "geniuses" and then changed it. I felt I was giving them too much credit. Politicians too.

I just think a blanket statement that says 80% of ps3 buyers are buying BD movies is just plain lying. Had he said "We predict that 80% of PS3 buyers will buy at least one BD movie this year". I would not have said anything.

"Predicting/projecting" versus "stating facts" is different.

$599 Sony player

The reduced-priced players sound good. I will wait for those and stop looking for a PS3.

HD DVD needs to hire a few marketing geniuses. Their website sucks and they spent way too much marketing money on that dumb tour.

The reduced price sounds good, but I would probably be more inclined to buy a PS3 at this point... Have to hear a little more on the specs, but it is a step in the right direction.

Thats for sure....that tour was a bad idea.

They really needed to spend that money on tv advertisements or paying off Best Buy execs.

I was going to sell my Samsung and pick up a PS3, but I may wait now as well, since I like components better. I hate the lights on the front of the Samsung.

As far as the 80% quote thing goes, I remember reading somewhere that it was the results of a poll that asked how many PS3 owners would buy movies for it.

They're already losing literally hundreds of dollars on every console sold. Short of giving them away for free, pulling up stakes, and declaring bankruptcy, I don't think there's much more Sony can do.

I just want to know how it is that HDD can come out with sub-$500 players from the start with an eye to $299 by end of the year and BD just began to approach the $500 level. Something's not right there.

Its funny because I own a PS3 and dont even own a game. The games SUCK imo. The PS3 could possibly fail just due to that.

I play my 360 alot. My PS3 collects dust until I watch a BD movie.

Once the prices get lower, ill probably sell my PS3 and buy a standalone.

HD DVD's development costs weren't nearly as high as Sony's development costs for the PS3 and its Cell processor. HD DVD was built as an extension of existing DVD technology. Blu-ray was built from the ground up.

I'm new to the Blu-ray format, after being an HD-DVD supporter for the last few months. I got the 360's add-on HD-DVD player and I've used that a lot. The movies look great. However, I just bought a PS3, so I figured I'd pick up some of the Blu-ray exclusives (The Prestige, Casino Royale, Monster House, Reservoir Dogs, and last but definately not least, Stranger Than Fiction.)

How is the PS3 as a Blu-ray player, anyways?

It's pretty good.

Its actually damn good. I picked up my PS3 today and watched Underworld, Monster House and Talladega Nights and other than the transfer on Talladega looking like an upconverted standard DVD the experience was excellent. What other DVD player lets you download HD trailers straight to it?

I have to ask a question though since I know many of you have gone from HD DVD exclusive to supporting both. When releases come out for both formats which are you getting? Lets say everything being equal and one not having an advantage in picture or sound.

I am getting ready to order Bullitt from Amazon, but have no idea which one to get. The HD DVD will have the bookmark option, but the PS3 really has a nicer interface and remote setup (I bought the Sony remote for it). If I start buying Blu-rays when HD DVD is an option then I really have abandoned HD DVD. Granted I feel my frustration with HD DVD this year has been justified.

I always get the HD-DVD version just because I think it will eventual win over Blu-Ray. I also favor my HD-A2 hardware over the PS3 due to upscaling (Only 1 HDMI input so I would have to unplug my A2 and plug my PS3 in over and over again).

HD DVD always, without question.

I got the Departed on Blu Ray because of the PCM soundtrack and because it was not a shitty combo.

I got Babel on HD DVD because of the higher bitrate on the soundtrack.

If there's a choice between the two formats, and all the specs are exactly equal (and I consider PCM and TrueHD to be equal), then I go with the HD version. I even ended up getting the HD version of The Departed, despite it being a combo. I just want the studios to know that people are still buying the HD versions, even if offered an equal choice.

I disagree with most die-hard HDDers on this - the release that costs less. I don't want to be force-fed a combo disc I don't want. For the Departed, it was cheaper on BD and had a lossless audio track. We have a winner.

For me though, I'm trying to spread out my BD purchases a bit more to hedge my bets in case one format or the other wins. Right now, I have like 5 BDs to 25 HDD.

These are my potential purchases for March/April:
Bullitt (HD DVD)
Casino Royale (BD)
Chicken Little (BD)
Happy Feet (HD DVD) This is one I want a combo for
March of the Penguins (HD DVD)
The Natural (BD)
Dog Day Afternoon (HD DVD)
Night at the Museum (BD)

Thanks to Blu-ray I will finally have a steady stream of movies to buy instead of all these long dead periods. I will continue to buy HD DVDs when they are identical and priced the same as Blu-ray though. I still see myself with a nice combo player in a year or two and what discs are on what format won't matter. I'm going to make an exception and buy the Happy Feet combo. I have kids so having that DVD side will come in handy. However, I agree that I will get the Blu-ray version for movies I don't need the combo for.

Having bought a few Blu-rays I suddenly don't find the Combo price so bad though. Fox seems to price all their bare bones discs at combo prices. I don't see myself buying a lot of Fox titles until they get their head out of their ass. Warner is really the one that has this HD pricing right and I'm sure they will screw that up soon with their TotalHD discs.

Yeah, I'm voting with my wallet. I refuse to buy any Fox BDs until they get their prices more in line with the other studios.

I'm giving it another go-around. I just bought, again, a PS3 at Circuit City today. I haven't opened the unit, but after some debating, I finally decided to try again with this system. Hopefully it doesn't have teeth this time. One thing that makes me feel better is the box is in pristine condition. The previous unit I bought at Target looked like it was used playing soccer. Picked up The Prestige to break in this player. I hope everything works out okay this time. Tough to not have Sony, Disney, LG, and Fox movies available to you in HD. So, for the second time, I'm back to being a dual supporter. Now is May 22nd here yet?

See if you have better luck keeping the unit horizontal as well.

I really think you just had a bad unit. I haven't read any other reports of these things scratching discs.