If You Had To Buy Only One Format, Which Would It Be?
 

I am not buying both. I am leaning towards Blu-Ray, perhaps purchasing the new Sony stand-alone player coming out this summer.

All opinions, please!

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible topic to start. It will only start a flame-war. I'd suggest you read over the numerous topics and posts about how people already feel on each format.

:thumbsup:

Agreed. This could get very nasty.

Yeah, what he said.

But, since we're here, I'll give my vote (I own both players via 360 & PS3). I say, as things are right now, and looking at the previous & upcoming release calendar, BluRay is the way to go. I owned HD 2 months prior to BluRay, but I am far more impressed with the list of BR movies, especially if you have a desire for family titles like Chicken Little, Cars, Monster House, Ice Age, etc...

~S2

I don't know anymore. That is the most honest answer I can give. Look at the movies available now and coming soon and decide which format will work best for you. Either way you have to give up something. That is why I broke down and bought both.

s-vhs

You know I still use this thing to record shows with. I had a Sony DVD recorder, but it crapped out. The SVHS is a tank that seems to last forever and shows look great recorded on it.

I've got both, and I'm more heavily invested in HD than BD (HD-A1 & 360 HD vs. PS3), but if I had to start over, I'd go BD right now. The new releases are coming out stellar and often, and the PS3 has exceeded all of my expectations as a BD player. I used to default all HD/BD choices to HD since I've got 2 players, but that's no longer the case. This isn't a knock on HD-DVD, all their stuff looks pretty much fantastic, but there just isn't enough of it anymore, and BD is blowing them out of the water with the new releases IMHO.

You know I really agree with this. I went with HD DVD at first because it was really the only format worth considering for 2006, but if I was starting today I probably would go with BD first and just do without Universal's titles until I could afford to add HD DVD.

Sweet!

With Rocky Balboa coming out, I'm tempted to pick-up a PS3. :brickwl2:

The downside to me becoming format neutral is all the money I'll continue to spend on both. :mad:

Also......

If you have the 360, I would recommend that you pickup the HD-Drive. (low cost HD-DVD alternative)

Otherewise, I think you can still get the PS3 at the Sonystyle store with that $100 Off CC promo

Agreed. I was a staunch supporter of HD DVD at the beginning, but after about 5 months of owning BOTH types of players, I find myself buying Blu-ray over HD DVD when given the option. It's not so much that HD DVD is bad (it isn't), it's just that Blu-ray has now caught up, and it's pretty much a stalemate on who has the "best" format. Since Blu-ray currently offers a lot more movie options, I'd say go with it. Unless you're a big fan of the Universal library. :)

I agree this could get nasty, but owning both this is what I think. The upcoming catalog of titles makes me lean towards BD, but my experience with both makes me prefer the HD-DVD format. In general, the exclusove titles I want on BD are FOX and I have been extremly disappointed in the disc in comparison to the price. If someone put a gun to my head and said choose - I would go HD-DVD.

S-VHS sucks, ED-Beta rules! Let the flaming begin!!!

Probably Blu-ray. I've owned HD DVD since launch day. As long as Universal is exclusive to HD DVD, I will support the format. I enjoy their catalog of movies more than any other studio. However, the exclusive studio support that BD enjoys is starting to show. I can't miss out on 4 exclusive studio catalogs, which is why I finally caved in to support BD. They have gotten their technical issues worked out and are offering up the same high quality that HD DVD has given us. BD is also more aggressive in terms of marketing and they are flooding the market with titles. Plus, these additional exclusives for this year:

Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, 3
Cars
Spiderman 1, 2, 3
The DaVinci Code
Fantastic Four 2
Sin City
Grindhouse
28 Weeks Later
Hills Have Eyes 1, 2
Chronicles of Narnia
Live Free or Die Hard
The Simpsons Movie

Isn't Grindhouse an HD DVD exclusive (Weinstein Co.)? But anyway, I would go with Blu-ray if I had to pick one format. I love HD DVD too ... I hope they both live on and co-exist.

I have HD DVD and am pretty happy with it. But if I were starting over now I'd probably go with BD if that new Sony player is well reviewed, full featured, and streets for under $500. Those are big "ifs" but it could happen.

Right now BD has lots of titles being released and HD DVD seems asleep. Part of the problem is that Warner is holding off on their HD DVD releases until they can bring their BDs up to speed, which really annoys me as an HD DVD owner. And Warner is about to dump their TotalHD discs on us at prices I likely won't pay (of course, this will affect their BD customers also). Meanwhile, Universal and Paramount aren't doing much of anything with releases while the BD only studios, Sony, Fox, and Disney, are going full speed ahead, albeit with barebones releases for Fox. It's a mixed bag, but I'd say "advantage BD" for now.

Nevertheless, HD DVD players are substantially less expensive than BD players and getting cheaper. And most HD DVD titles seem to be cheaper than BDs, except for the combos. When player prices get to $200 or so, there won't be any reason to not have both formats. But starting with BD seems the way to go for now, assuming that new standalone Sony player is all it's cracked up to be. (Unlike some others here, I absolutely refuse to buy a game machine just to play movie and TV discs. Just. Won't. Do. It.)

I only have an HD-DVD player and love the format but often wish I had a BD player as well. The decision really lies in your tastes. Universal have a great catalogue so I don't regret buying into HD but unless someone gets their shit together real soon, Sony's sweeping statements may actually come true.

Yes.

I still prefer HD-dvd and I have both.

Leaning a bit towards Blu-Ray...
I also work on the lot at FOX in Los Angeles and the studio store sells them for $11.99 for employees. :thumbsup:

Hook us up man!!!!

:thumbsup: Don't hold out on us bro!!

:shrug: Wish I could...

My thinking exactly. :)

Yep. This film and the eventual release of SIN CITY 2 and KILL BILL..THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR (both also Weinstein and assuming the latter film ever gets released at all) may force me to get a HD-DVD player if Harvey doesn't go neutral soon.

Well, I was perfectly happy with just HD, but just because of all the discs out and coming, I broke down and bought a PS3. Obviously at this point I still prefer HD, just because I don't have anything on BD yet, but I think it says alot that I decided to buy even though I was pretty set not to do it for a while.

I have to say, I started out with HD-DVD and it was awsome. But my first player broke and I couldn't get one for months and months. Then I saw that BD was coming up real fast so I purchased a PS3 and I have to say I'm glad I did. I haven't decided if I'm going to replace my HD-DVD player though. Ive thought about just selling off my HD-DVD collection and waiting to see if Universal will make the jump to BD. But by no means is HD-DVD a bad format, its just I don't know that I will support them anymore due to financial constraints and the fact that they aren't really releasing that many movies as of late.

You made the right choice in player selection. The PS3 is the most future-proof player on the market. With Sony being the main backer of BD, you know they will constantly provide the necessary upgrades on that unit. Plus, it is a player that will be produced over the next several years, something we're not 100% sure of the other players. Plus, it has HDMI 1.3 and will likely be able to decode DTS-MA later.

HD DVD. Not because i had to buy only one format, but because it is the only format i choose to support.

:thumbsup:

actually, the one format I want to win is SD-DVD. I hate HDMI and without High def we would be back to good old analog cables.

Sorry - I have seen high def and just don't think it's worth the hassle of dealing with handshaking issues, incompatibilities, new formats - let alone a format war.

Oh - I have a 106" Calibrated front projection system. Yes, I see an improvement - but not worth the pain of HDMI...

: )

You have nothing to worry about for a long time. I think the hopes for HD owners is one of the formats survives as a viable niche product. Sony may think Blu-ray will topple DVD, but that is highly unlikely.
Sales are currently less than 1% of DVD. What we need is for the HD formats to at least hit 25% of DVD sales.

once Fox releases 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Master and Commander' it's Bluray for me.

I love HDMI and have had zero issues with it and any of my Blu-Ray and upconverting players. It's awesome to have one single hi-bandwidth interconnect for audio/video rather then the 4-9 connections you have to make with component/toslink/coaxial/analog 5.1.

Oh and I vote for Blu-Ray :)

I've bought into both formats, but my heart says HD DVD, head says Blu-ray.

I think that's the sentiment amongst most, but who knows...?

I have owned HD DVD from the start and love it. However I plan to go BD once a great standalone 2nd gen player comes out.

I have a 106" as well, and dvd looks crappy on it. :)