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?

300, Good Shepard, Children of Men, Hot Fuzz....not one problem with any of them on my 360 drive. But I have gone through 4 360's though... :grumble:

I went to my local target and they had plenty of bluray copies of 300, but none of the HD version. It was sold out.

Jacob

Thanks Shannon, for giving us some fact-based info without bias! That's getting harder to come by day by day, it seems!

My Fry's had around 20 Blu-Ray copies off 300 and 8 HD DVDs left. To be fair, when I arrived Thursday morning they did had an extra 20 copies compared to HD DVD. Not bad for a 'dead format' charging $5 more.

My local Target was sold out of HD DVD versions of 300 (with rainchecks available) while they have 6 Blu-Rays still on the shelf.

My copy freezes on my HD-A1 (2.3 firmware) right after the 29 minute mark. Happened three times in a row at the same exact point. Cleaning the disc --which showed no signs of discoloration or wear -- didn't help. Changing the soundtrack doesn't have an impact as it did for some people with the similar problems on Happy Feet. Deeply frustrating. Guess I should've saved a few bucks and picked up the Blu-ray release after all; the additional extras don't amount to much if I can't actually watch them.

It may freeze on other spots too, but considering what an ordeal it is to make it past the half-hour mark, I may never know.

ETA -- Sputters and stutters throughout chapters 15, 16, and 17, but none of that was nearly as bad as that tail-end of chapter 8.

Stock supply is probably regional. Where I live, it's darn near impossible to find <i>300</i> on Blu-ray, but it's everywhere on HD DVD. :shrug: Strangely, I noticed Wal-Mart removed the Blu-ray version from its online catalog. I looked it up yesterday sometime to get an idea of how retailers are pricing these titles, and it was there. Check again today, and *poof* :hscratch:

das

I was just in Best Buy today, and they had a probably a dozen copies of 300 on Blu-Ray; didn't see a single copy on HD-DVD.

Maybe there were so many returns on the HD-DVD version that they ran out of stock? ;)

My Target was the same way. Out of HD-DVD. One copy of Blu-Ray left. I got it.

there was a spot for the HD DVD version. it was sold out. It was right next to the bluray edition.

Jacob

The Target near me sold out also. I asked the electronics guy how many copies they had gotten in for the first week...he said 2.

Just watched 300 on my 360 HD-DVD add-on and it worked like a charm! No stops, no skips.

Just to throw in one more account I had a freeze at the 42 minute mark with the 300 disc I rented. I restarted the A2 and was able to duplicate the freeze. I've already watched this one in theaters so I will probably just check out the extras and mail it back.

I've also recently had a freeze on a combo I had watched all the way through once with no problems on my A2. Superman Returns now freezes during the airplane rescue something it did not do the first time I watched it.

I either got lucky the first time or these discs get worse with age. There is also a chance my A2 is the issue. Audio CDs now skip all the time when played in the A2.

All of this is just going to continue to push me more to the side of Blu-ray. I had tons of issues with the A1 and now I'm starting to get them with the A2. I have yet to even have a hiccup on my PS3 with any disc. What really sucks is I want Hot Fuzz, but don't want to deal with combo issues on that title as well.

Which format does everyone think has had the most playback issues involving both bad hardware and software? Of course there are no hard numbers, but I certainly read more issues regarding HD DVD. And I owned the A1 since launch and have encountered freeze-ups along the way. I can't say the same for BD.

I had problems with superman returns, but later in the movie when lex luthor is heading in helicopter to new kypton after leaving lois and jason in the boat.
my HD player is the A2.

Jacob