Is the 360 add-on reliable as an HD player? I remember reading some issues, specifically with combo discs.

I've wanted to get a stand-alone HD player, but now that I have an HDMI-360 and all the rear HDMI inputs on my TV are spoken for, I'm thinking the convenience of piggy-backing the one connection vs buying a switch box or having a cable stick out the side of the display is worth something.

I'm just asking because the add-on with 9 movies for $180 seems ridiculous to pass up but I'm still thinking a stand-alone is a better long-term investment.

pinata, I was in the same boat. If I bought a standalone I'd have to get an HDMI switcher so I went the 360 add on. The 360 does have a certain noise level to it but I never found it to be intrusive.

Stand alone is probably a better long term investment, however, if I was looking at long term I would be looking at a top of the line player.

Cool. Any problems with it?

I couldn't help it. I took the plunge. You can now put me in the format neutral category. A high def dvd player and 8 movies for less than I payed for my first dvd player in 99...awesome.

Nope. Granted I've only played 4 discs (King Kong, Batman Begins, Equilibrium, and La Haine) Equilibrium took a little while to load up for some reason but everything else popped up quick. Also, some little nitpicks I have with the player, from the 360 Dashboard you cannot open the HD-DVD tray to eject a disk. If you're done watching a film, you can go back to the Dashboard but then you have to get up and manually eject a disk. Little nitpick, I thought I had another one but can't remember now.

One thing I noticed about this player is that it is only 1080i. Right now that is not a problem, because I have a 5 year old WS television that only does 1080i. But next year I want to upgrade to a 1080p LCD.

I know it's been discussed before, but at the time I didn't need to pay attention to what was said, but is 1080p much better than 1080i?

I'm seriously considering getting this player and I have a component video spot waiting for it.

Chris

From what I understand, any decent 1080p television will de-interlace the 1080i signal so that the difference is negligible. Perhaps someone with more technical knowledge can chime in.

yeah, that's the general consensus. just read some in-depth reviews on the 1080p TV you're considering and make sure you get one that has a quality de-interlacer. you'll want that anyway for 1080i HDTV broadcasts.

Well, I just bit. 360 add-on with 300, TMNT, and The Fountain for $179.99. Also the 5 free rebate, King Kong, and the 360 remote are all pluses for me and not having to get a switch box.

Also, I couldn't go without Transformers in HD! God, my wife is going to go apeshit, but it is far less than I paid for our first DVD player in 2000 and that didn't have any free movies, let alone 9!

I saw this deal in the DVD Bargains forum before I left for work this morning and pulled the trigger...dammit!

I had all these great plans of waiting until the format war was over (or at least 2 more years). But $210 for a player with The Fountain (one of my favorite movies of the last few years) and 300 did it for me. I also got TMNT for my son. I love that it is a HD/dvd combo as he can either watch in my home theater or watch it upstairs.

I am in the same position as Chris. I have a 1080i HDTV that is 5 years old but I will likely upgrade to a 1080p player when I upgrade the TV in the next year or so. This player can travel to the upstairs where my current TV will go.

I paid $280 for my first dvd player back in 1998 (or maybe 99) and got a few stinkers with it (Lost in Space, Fools Rush In...you old guys remember the promotion). This was too good a deal to pass up and will completely change my dvd buying habits now.

I have a hard time believing there will be a better deal than this come X-mas time.

The five free ones are very ho-hum so I will likely not even open them and just sell them all on Half.com.

Now to change my Netflix account.

So welcome me into the HD-DVD family...dammit.

Casablanca is not "very ho-hum" at all!

You know, I watched Casablanca when I was a teen, in film class in college, and once in my late 20's. I have never understood the appeal and why it is considered a classic. Citizen Kane & Psycho...yes. Gone With The Wind & Wizard of Oz...of course. Casablanca...eh, not so much.

Maybe it needs a mid-30's review...but I doubt it will change much.

Since you bring it up (since Casablanca will be my choice between Constantine & Dukes of Hazzard of course)...is Casablanca pillar-boxed automatically by the dvd player or is it just transferred that way? Are the bars black? My Denon dvd player pillar-boxes in gray and drives me nuts.

HD-A20 + 300, The Departed and Happy Feet, + 5 free movies by MIR for $300 shipped?? yes! you bet.

I would consider Casablanca to be far superior to both Citizen Kane and Psycho. If you watch it again and still don't like it, maybe you ought to check out Ebert's commentary on the disc. He goes into more detail about why the movie is so great.

I don't know how Casablanca looks on the player I would hope it would be pillar-boxed with black bars on the side.

Sales of the A2 are up 4,400% and it's now ranked number 1 on Amazon electronics. Sounds like this deal is working out nice for the format.

if i were you, i will get the A2 over the add-on... the add-on is a little cheaper, but it's an inferior hd-dvd player. i'm in the process jumping on the A2 deal, just need few facts to straighten out. also, i read somewhere that the add-on has a 20% defective rate (don't shoot me, i tend to believe it since the X360 has a 30% failure rate).

The Add-on has more constant upgrades and supports 1080p, plus you can use it on your PC. The fail rate is nowhere near 20% (which is 1 in 5 and last I read it was about 1 in 50 defective, but that was just returns at the local stores.)

I got the standalone because VGA-input on my projector is somewhat subpar, and I wanted a good standalone upscaler.

I'm also curious whether the A20 is a better option than the 360 add-on? $31 more...I'm assuming it's not loud at all? Can't stand the noise out of my 360...

FWIW, currently have a 720p (or 1080i? Sadly, I'm not sure which it is, or if it really makes much of a difference?) 42" plasma, but will be getting a new 1080p LCD (probably 46") within a 6-8 months.

So, A20 or 360 add-on?

The audio differences may make the A20 a more compelling purchase. (The 360 add-on can't output lossless audio, and it has to transcode Dolby Digital Plus tracks.)

Is this still working? I can't seem to get the discount with the HD-Dvds added anymore. I saw this discount when I was browsing earlier today, but don't see it now.

Anyone know?

It's good thru 9/23. Just make sure you stick to the titles on the list.

I'm using the titles on the list. Same ones I used earlier.

I missed that it is out of stock at Amazon and they are now using a 3rd party for the player (that one doesn't get the discount). I guess I will have to wait until the A2 is back in Amazon stock (the one in your link - and that works, thanks!)

It looks like you might be able to still do the deal by ordering through Amazon, even though it's not in stock. On the A2 page, on the right side add it to your cart from Amazon. It just shows estimated shipping date of Oct. 1-14 or something...but I have a hard time believing it'll actually take that long.

I would look into the rumors about the a20 bobbing the signal to 540p before it sends out 1080p before I bought one.

Of course the A20 is better! And it's not $31 more... i think you're talking about the A2... and even the A2, i think it's still better than the add-on.