So... my parents bought an open item HDTV from Best Buy this weekend and got a BBY gift card with a bit north of $400 on it. As I've done a lot of work for them this month and they don't shop there a lot they were nice enough to give it over to me. I was already considering making the jump to HD discs and this seems like a good time. So my questions:

1.. HD-DVD or Blu-ray? If I go BR it'll be PS3 most likely. I like HD-DVD being considerably cheaper. I haven't kept up with the format war much, is there a clear favorite?

2. Which player? Like I said only the PS3 is in my budget for a BR player but what about HD-DVD. The A2 at $399 seems like a good deal... is it?

3. Will I notice a difference between SD and HD discs on my HDTV. Its relatively small, a 36-inch Sharp LCD. Can I even play SD DVDs on BR and HD-DVD players? If so will I notice a difference between SD DVDs on a HD player and the LG upconverting player I have now?

Appreciate the help DVDTalkers!

The cheapest way to get into high-def at Best Buy would be to get an A2 player. Just stay away from the newer Universal combos (Children Of Men, Good Shepherd, Smokin' Aces) until they get their issues worked out. There are plenty of great HD-DVD titles available that are not problematic.

The A2 does not do 1080p, but that probably won't make much of a difference even if the display you're using is 1080p capable.

Personally, I'm of a mind that Blu-Ray will win eventually, but in terms of picture quality both kick ass in my experience. There are more exclusive titles on Blu-Ray, but opinions vary on whether they are "better" exclusive titles. The Matrix films will be temporary HD-DVD exclusives.

If you don't care about gaming but you're going to drop $600 on a Blu-Ray player, personally I'd wait for the G2 Sony box in June or the G2 Sammy box. I'm just not a fan of using gaming consoles for HD viewing. Many will disagree with that though.

You can play SD discs on both format's players, but note that currently the PS3 does not do upconversion. Many say the Toshiba players rival the best upconverting players. While my personal experience has been that my Oppo player delivers a slightly nicer upconverted picture, both my A1 and Sony BDP-S1 do a great job as well.

I can't speak to seeing a difference on a 36" display since mine is 61", but feedback I've read from others is that it is a noticeable difference between SD and HD.

Just get yourself an A2. I would imagine it does fantastic upconversion also, because the A1 is outstanding.

Here is another question to confuse myself further. My surround sound now is a all-in-a-box Onkyo that I quite like but is far from the best. Would I be better off just upgrading my center channel and maybe my reciever and waiting on making the HD jump?

Between the A2 and the PS3, you can easily be format neutral for under $1K. I'm also very pleased to say that the Blu-Ray playback on the PS3 is impressive. Fast load times, no freezes or skipping and very responsive controls. Much better than the first generation Toshiba HD DVD players in my opinion.

My Onkyo was a all-in-a-box as well and I just upgraded the speakers since the ones that came with it were pretty crappy, but the reciever itself is great.

Deleted.

You're right. I have edited my post to remove the political stuff. My apoligies.

I'm hoping to spend about $300 out of pocket, so about $700 total. Which with HD-DVD means I could get a player and a great start on a library. BR I would get a PS3 and 2 movies.

Really the key for me is if my SD discs will look better? I'm nearing 500 SD discs and there is a ton of stuff still coming to SD that isn't going to be HD in the near future. Warner film noirs and other such catalog titles. Maybe I should keep waiting but this gift card is burning a hole in my pocket.

And what issues are there with the new combo discs? I really love Children of Men and think it would be one of my first HD purchases.

Ditto.

Children of Men has had severe lock ups or or outright non-playability for many people, myself included. Neither Universal nor Toshiba have had an official statement explaining what's up. It's obvious there was a manufacturing issue with the discs, which is not the first time for Universal, but I also think the G2 players are less fault tolerant. Still I don't really think it's the player's fault, but I could of course be proven wrong.

While problems have affected every machine type, it seems the G2 players (A2, XA2, A20) are more susceptible to having a problem playing back bad discs.

As far as SD looking better, you mentioned you already have an upconverting player. Did you feel you saw a difference between that player and your previous player(s)? Either way, I don't think it would be going out on a limb to state the A2 would likely be a better upconverter than the LG.

Just last week, Best Buy was offering 4 free HD DVD movies with the purchase of the A2. I would wait until they run that deal again and get one. Regarding the PS3, I would wait until this Fall to see if there is any type of price drop. Blu-ray has more exclusive studios, but there are plenty of great HD DVD titles already out and they get The Matrix Trilogy first.

What I would probably do is look around locally or even online to see if I could find any remaining 20GB PS3 systems and if I could, grab one. (If you don't need the wireless connectivity and larger initial hard drive, that is.) Even if the PS3 gets a price drop, it would likely be to the same $500 price the 20GB cost.

I just jumped last week and got an HD-A2 (HD-DVD).

If you're curious about the upconversion, it sounds like you are in a similar boat to what I was in. You can see some thoughts on that in my thread here:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=497666

You have a large collection and it sounds like you are in a similar boat to what I was in, at least as far as that is concerned. Being completely honest, if I was in your shoes knowing what I know now, I would wait a bit to jump and pump up your sound system or even your television first. Sound is as important to me as the picture. On the other hand, if your sound is acceptable to you and your TV is all you hope for, then consider jumping. The HD player was the last part of my system that I upgraded... I got everything else in place first. You will notice an improvement in most of your SD discs but it won't blow your mind. If you have watched a lot of HD content on your screen, not even the HD movies will blow your mind, in my opinion. They will look great, but don't have your expectations too high. If you've seen good HD content, you know what to expect.

The down sides to jumping now of course are the format war and the limited selection. With a large collection, I have very few movies to buy right now unless I'm just replacing titles I already have. I may do that with a very few titles, but certainly not many. It has to be a movie that you will watch a lot of times to justify that in my opinion and I'm just not going to watch my entire collection 10 times at the rate I currently watch movies. It would be silly to spend another 20 bucks on a movie if I realistically am only going to watch it a few times and I already own it in SD.

Just some things to consider. Don't feel bad about waiting... I know it's tempting to have the latest and greatest, but it sounds like you may have other components to upgrade that will help the experience of your entire collection a lot more than an HD player will. Upconversion is a beautiful thing, but a great sound system will help no matter what you put in. If you wait a year, there will be more players at a better price, the format war may have tilted, libraries will be larger and you could have some sweet components to hook your new system up to if you upgraded those now instead. Those will work no matter where this format war heads and whatever new technology comes out in the next year.

Now, if it sounds like I'm trying to sway you from getting into either HD format, don't think that. But I will say that I would personally make sure my other parts were together first before jumping in, at least given what you have told us about your system.

If you were on a larger screen with a fantastic surround system, I would say go for it. But a great center channel and receiver will go a long ways if you can resist the hd itch for a time. I fought it for a long time, but finally had to jump in.

Just one man's opinion.

Go with the A2 when Best Buy brings back the 4 free (Or have them match CC). You get any 4 movies right there and another 5 by mail. Instant collection for $400.

The A2 will do upconverting of SD discs now. We are all patiently for the firmware upgrade for the PS3 so that it will as well. Currently the PS3 does a fair (at best) job of SD DVD's. I have no experience with the A2, but hear/read is does an excellent job.

However, I'm not entirely sure that should be "the" deciding factor. You can do a search around and find a pretty nice upconverting DVD player for pretty cheap. While I have a PS3 for blu-ray, I'm also using a Bravo D1 for SD. It will be interesting to compare it to the PS3 when it can do upconverting.

If you are SURE you only want the PS3 for movies, one drawback is that it cannot be used with a universal remote. It uses blu-tooth. Some find this a big deal, others do not. And there is a clumsy work around available, but it still won't control power.

They have the A2 at Overstock.com for $389.99!

(That 'A2' up there is a clickable link if ya didn't know...)

I bought a beautiful XA1 from them a while back, & I was getting tired of not having all the HD titles I wanted, so I recently bought a PS3-60 gig, and let me tell ya, what a F-I-N-E machine it is! I couldn't be happier!

I hope you soon get all the things you want!

-THEEK!

I think the Toshiba HD DVD players are exceptional value products, and I have a high regard for the format, but I have to be honest with you and say that with a 36" LCD you might be hard pressed to really appreciate the differences between sd and HD. They will be there, but depending upon your viewing angle, and how well your display is calibrated, among other things- the benefits just might amount to a big shoulder shrug to you.

It's cheaper at Amazon and has been for a while.

I got mine for $309 from Amazon (no coupons needed) but I think it's up to 329 now.

WOW & GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!!!

You're RIGHT!

Here's the link for those that wanna look: Thor's A2s for Less

...and they've got the XA2 for 554.99!

-THEEK!

The A2 is $299 at Value Electronics, with a free HDMI cable. They've sold a ton of the Toshiba players, and they're a forum sponsor over at AVS.

http://www.valueelectronics.com/avstc.htm
scroll down to see the A2. Have to add to cart to see price.

HOKEY-SMOKES, RICK!!!

It just KEEPS GETTIN' BETTER!!!

(Now if someone could find a price like that on a XA2...)

If someone finds a $300 price on an XA2 and I'll upgrade my A1 on the spot. I had planned to wait until at least 3rd gen machines to upgrade... but that price is definitely breaks any resistance I have.

get the A2 its a fantastic player. circuit city you get 4 free movies instantly and 5 free through the mail.

Big disagree here... You won't be hard pressed to appreciate the difference. I notice a huge difference when I watch on a 19inch Samsung LCD over standard DVD.

I don't subscribe to the theory that you need a huge tv to appreciate HD.