Problems with "300" HD DVD? (was: More anti HD-DVD FUD from The Bits/Bill Hunt)
 

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9&page=7&pp=30

Well, there are lots of people having problems with the 300 combo disk.

I just got back 2 HD-DVD combos from Universal yesteday after a month that were both defective. My copy of Hot Fuzz also froze at the end of the deleted scenes & I had to unplug the player (didn't watch the movie yet, so I don't know if it's okay or not), which also happens with Miami Vice if you pause the movie for more than a minute. The problem with the HD-DVD combos is very real, so to suggest it's just to make HD-DVD look bad is ridiculous. They do that just fine without help. I'm glad I got the BR version of 300.

It shouldn't be surprising that combo discs are having problems. They're not that different from DVD-14s and DVD-18s, with the multiple layers spread over a two-sided disc.

I'm sorry, but the whole concept of combo discs is just a bad idea. They obviously run into the same manufacturing problems that DVD-18s do, and the whole reason of buying them (watch the DVD side now, watch the HD-DVD side when you get a HD-DVD player) would seem to be invalidated by the possibility that the HD side will be defective and you won't know it for months or years.

Ding ding ding ding ding!!!! :)

While the Uni titles you mentioned definitely had widespread issues, I think with the WB combos, it's less pronounced, but definitely still there. I experienced faulty WB combos firsthand with The Matrix, and I have already read of people getting the same error from 300 as I was getting from Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. And yes, I am very vigilant about firmware and almost always have it the first day it's available.

Either WB is pushing their yields too far, or they changed something for the worse wherever they replicate their movies.

Even if it's only like 10% of discs (as a current poll suggests on AVS), that's still a terrible failure rate.

The worst thing for me is, just like the DVD-18's Josh mentioned, discs of this design are known to be unreliable, and even if I get one that works, every time I watch a combo I'm quietly waiting for it to freeze. That just sucks.

I watched this on my 360 HD drive yesterday and it played perfectly.

Quiet, you!!!! ;)

My HD-DVD of 300 played just fine on my Toshiba A2 :thumbsup:

Played fine on my A2, and friends 360

Mine plays flawlessly. Should I be concerned???

Hot Fuzz and 300 both played perfectly on my A2.

We're only one retailer (DVD Empire), so take this for what you will...but I'm unaware of any returns of the 300 HD DVD for defective reasons and we have PLENTY of Blu-ray versions left in stock.

my copy froze at around the 56 minute mark and after a moment caught up with itself. I took it back to best buy and the guy in front of me was also returning a copy of it and said that his wouldn't play at all.

I checked the disc for the same time code and it seemed to be fine. i need to run the entire movie again

I have about 40 HD DVDs and have watched them repeatedly on my 360. I have not had any problems whatsoever with any film.

Just curious - but wouldn't it be too soon for an online retailer to get a return of an item that was just delivered this week?

While I don't think it's front page news, user posts at AVS show that there certainly is an issue with a small percentage of these discs. It's not on the scale of Children of Men, but it is there.

True, and we may yet still...I'm just reporting that I'm not aware of any so far - including any customers complaints via e-mail or phone call. I think if there is a problem, it's much, much more minor than Hunt would have us think. In other words, no more serious than any other major release on any format (including Blu-ray)...there's always a few bad apples in a major release like 300.

And the stock issue about Blu-ray 300 is totally bogus. Stores may be short, but there's no shortage on Warner's end, I can tell you that.

I agree with you there. I think stores just didn't order enough. After work on Tues I went to Target to pick it up and they were out of both the BD and HD-DVD versions. The guy said I should have gotten there sooner...I went (literally) across the street to Walmart and they had about 15 copies on BD.

No excuse if Target didn't order enough. They actually had 300 on sale, advertised for $24.99. I got my copy there. They had one slot for the BD, which contained about 7 copies of the movie.

I'll have to watch the HD version when I get home from my vacation but I'm quite confident I'll have no issues. I'll keep you posted, none-the-less.

I guess I've gotten way lucky with the combo releases.

I have 5 of the HD-DVD combo releases and have not had a problem with any of them (including 300). Then again I haven't watched my Hot Fuzz HD-DVD yet, so I shouldn't jinx myself :)

I guess it all depends on your store, regarding Target stocking 300. I went to my local Target at 8am on release day and they had maybe 20+ copies of 300 on BD but only 6-8 copies on HD-DVD.

I sampled the 300 PIP/blue-screen feature on the HDdvd. It's pretty cool, and not a single hiccup on my 360's drive.

But I put in the Hot Fuzz HD-dvd, and after the Universal logo, I got an error message saying that the content is unplayable... Worried, I took out the disc, looked at it, and saw a nasty pubic hair on the disc. I brushed off, and the disc played just fine.

You probably could have just said hair. But now we all know what you were doing before you put the movie in.

Hot Fuzz indeed! :D

Well, I do love the movie, and it's a really stacked disc...

Or was it the sweaty Spartans that you were watching?