Where?

The earliest date I've seen is 2/01/07 at CC

Anyone thinking of dropping a grand on a BD player would be NUTS not to wait for this model. For a mere $100-200 more you get HD DVD playback AND BD in one box? No-brainer.

$1200 for a crippled player? No thanks.

Besides, how is this seeing the light of day? I thought that the camps (at least HDD) put the kibosh on it.

No way would I pay $1200 for a Lucky Goldstar unit, even if it could fully play HD-DVD discs. I would pay more money for a dual unit from say, Panasonic or Denon. Plus it's not a mere $100-200 more than the Samsung, Phillips or PS3. You can get both a 20GB PS3 and an A2 for $200 less than the combo and if one unit breaks, you won't be totally out of movie playing while it's in the shop.

Every news agency/paper or other outlets are claiming this was the "star" of the show...

Because that's what LG told them.

Actually we already went through this discussion earlier in this thread. LG is not Lucky Goldstar.


digi, this is really out already??? It's hard to believe that they'd let this go into distribution as is.

Well, among many awards, it did win c|net's Best in Show Award:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-12760_7....html?tag=lnav

Current HD players have to be licensed to play 2-3 formats already, the HD format, DVD, CD, and possibly two different recordable DVD formats. The extra costs in multiple format licensing will eventually reduce to something unnoticeable, like how most DVD recorders can handle both +R and -R with no notable price hike.

Some studios are already paying for both licenses, and disc cost has never really been a major factor in end price.

You probably should have already been doing on DVD, what with double-dips, imports, and multi-edition releases of a film (rated vs. unrated, SE vs regular edition vs LE collectors edition, etc.).

That's a problem right now, and even if tomorrow one format "won," there would still be that situation since it'd take a while for all the exclusives to one format to be released to the other (with DIVX it took years),

That, or they're waiting for a machine/disc that can handle both formats, making the format war essentially moot for them.

Yet recordable DVD has multiple formats and is still flourishing, since the advent of multi-format DVD recorders and players has allowed DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW to co-exist in the marketplace with minimum consumer confusion/aggravation. If mult-format HD disc players become the norm, then it's entirely possible for the same to happen with HD DVD and BD.

Well, if Sony rebadgrd all its products as SY tomorrow, they are still going to be Sony. LG is Lucky Goldstar, they may have improved the quality of stuff they are putting out, but it is still the same company - they just created a new brand name in an effort to change their business. Its not like a company bought them or they were a new company started from scratch, they simply changed their image with a new name and a new standard of quality. I will admit, they make some great products now days and are not much like the old Goldstar stuff they were making. LG cell phone, yes (bought one last month), LG AV equipment, maybe - maybe not. They may not be making the lowest of the low like they were when they were churning out Goldstar branded crap a decade ago, but they most certainly are the same company Lucky Goldstar just with an image and name overhaul.

Saying that LG is not Lucky Goldstar is kind of like saying that KFC isn't Kentucky Fried Chicken.

You got that right. LG is most certainly Lucky Goldstar. Also, LG most certainly jumped the gun on this one as all the HD-DVD features are not implemented in this as of right now, most notably, iHD. You can bet the bank that the HD-DVD group will not give their seal of approval until it is also a full fledged HD-DVD player. It seems as though the HD-DVD implementation is just an afterthought, and they must fix it. The demo unit at CES was not even running a HD-DVD (as described) at their booth. HD-DVD's were being played with their GGW-H10N Super Multi Blue PC drive. Seems as though LG is realizing that HD-DVD is turning out to be a runaway success and are only making this player to cash in. Don't buy into it folks. If one were so inclined to support both sides, you'd be better off getting the Toshiba HD-A2 and a 20GB PS3. Even then, you'd still be saving $200 while getting two far superior players from far more reputable brands. If you wanted to go higher end, you could even get the HD-XA2 (easily found for $799 online) with the 60GB PS3 for about +/- $200 more. With that being said, the HD-XA2 is truly a stunning piece of equipment (thanks in part to the SiliconOptix Reon-VX chip).

LG Player can't be sold as is thread
CES news stating the LG player can't be sold as is
LG caught deceving people at CES demo

Well, looks like the LG player is coming out (already in some areas), but without iHD support and no official HD-DVD logo. Like I said above, there are better choices (all really) with HD-DVD support on this player at a minimum and an afterthought. If I was head of the HD-DVD forum, I would be very upset.

LG player released (Scroll dow about half way for pics)

That is the only point being made here. Duh.

This is the very first combo product. Leaving out a required tech is a little more stupid than expected, but anyone expecting this to be a perfect player or $200 or swearing off all universal players that might ever come out because of this one is missing iHD is an idiot.

The posturing on this board is amazing. Geez.....

It could be much worse -- we could be AVS .

Perfect...no
Complete...YES

Yup.

For sale:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/17/l...d-and-on-sale/

LG (Toyota Motor Corporation) is the parent company that makes both the LG brand (Lexus) and the Goldstar brand (Toyota). I suppose to a lot of people, Lexus = Toyota.

Anyway, I can't believe they are selling the player as is. That's just wrong on so many levels.

Good grief.

Every time I drop by DVD Talk and check out the HD Talk forum, I find ridiculous politically correct (or perhaps “industry correct”) stuff like this. Are we supposed to Clinton-ize all of our posts at DVDtalk, or just posts in the HD section?

..more evidence that the priority here is to create a warm and fuzzy feel-good fest; as opposed to openly and honestly discussing issues regarding new hardware, the industry, and the HD-DVD/Blu-ray format war; without having to evaluate word choice.

MOD NOTE:

Commander Dan,

It's not about being politically correct. Our priority is maintaining an intelligent, decent discussion environment. That means not getting personal with anyone, and that means not bashing a format with general/broad statements. The implication was that all BD players are crippled and overpriced; that does not help any discussion. You can be open and honest while being tactful at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. There are plenty of forums out there where you can just say whatever you feel like saying, whether it disrupts the discussion or not. If that's what you'd like, then you can stop coming here and start going there. No one is forcing you to come here.


We went over this a thousand times, but I'll explain it again. Let's suppose that HD DVD actually had better picture quality than BD (that it was measurably better). Then you're allowed to state that fact with no repercussions. But if you write something like, "BD's PQ SUCKS!" then you will be warned/suspended. We can openly, honestly have a discussion without saying one format sucks.

namja
Moderator, DVD Talk Forums

P.S. Please go back to discussing the LG. If you have any moderating questions or concerns, then please use the forum e-mail service to e-mail me. Thank for your cooperation.

I just want to say that "crippled" is a valid technical term to describe a product that is missing features. When I used it, that's the definition I meant.

I do apologize Namja if this was the sort of thing that you wanted folks to PM you privately about and I misread it. Just wanted to toss that comment out there though.

What about "differently-abled"?

MOD NOTE:

I actually have no qualms about calling this particular LG unit "crippled" in terms of the HD DVD playback. I acknowledge (and am stunned by the fact) that this supposed dual format player won't actually perform all the necessary functions of a dual format player. Yes, I consider HDi to be a necessity, and so does the DVD Forum. It turns out, LG is now calling this a BD player that just happens to playback HD DVD movies. Anyways ...

The problem was that it was not only used to describe this LG unit, it was then used to describe BD players in general: "But then again, I guess you could be asking that of (all?) BD players." By "that" he was referring to charging $1,200 for a crippled player. Cheapshots like this (isn't that format bashing?), we really want to avoid.

DVD Josh, it's okay to toss that out there. That's not exactly an issue with moderating; that's more of a clarification of what you were trying to say. Plus it accurately describes this LG product.

namja
Moderator, DVD Talk Forums

Seinfeld?