I want to go format neutral by purchasing a Blu Ray player, but in spite of numerous threads on the subject, still cannot decide between a PS3 and the BDP-S300.

Also, I imagine it will be even longer till we see a dual format player that is reasonably priced. If a dual format player were to be made that was actually reliable and priced at, say $500, I would buy it immediately.

I'd bet most people that collect DVDs didn't collect VHS. There was a major jump in durability and usability with the jump from VHS to DVD. People are now buying music for their iPod at less quality than CD. Quality isn't the only issue, maybe not even the most important issue.

Sure I'll agree HD discs present a better product. Is it worth paying more? Worth promoting (and thus driving my DVDs towards being obsolete)? Worth dealing with a format war? I'm not convinced and will stick with upscaled DVDs for now.

Portability and quality are certainly at odds with each other, but I would imagine we don't have a digital music storage device crowd who also do not own a receiver at home with some nice speakers, and want to listen to their music at higher quality.

People buy CDs, keep the original at home to listen to when they are at home, and when they are on the road, rip their CDs to whatever portable music device they have. But I agree, we do have a lot of users who are not concerned with quality, as much as getting the song and just making sure it sounds tolerable.

You'd be surprised how many DVD collectors had VHS collections as well. I was one of them. In order to retain moderate quality of your collection, you had to make dupes of your original retail VHS movies, preserving them, and then watching your movies on copies.

thats the thing thier will not be just one format. example thier are Wii, PS3 games and X-BOX 360 video games not one format, movie executives have figured this out. thier will always be more than 1 format and right now I would not only say blu-ray , hd-dvd but other formats better will join them. this isn`t a simple vcr to dvd. those days are over.

I could afford one, but neither format has put forward a convincing case for me. To buy either one is to sacrifice a few studios, and to buy both just seems so wasteful after 10 years of buying a universal format.

At this point I think it's highly unlikely that either will catch on, and in the very slim event that one of them does, I'll just pick one up for nothing in a few years.

I'm holding out - not for a projector but for an end to the format wars. I remember being on the losing end of the VHS-Beta fiasco, and I'm not interested in doing it again. I would very much like to start buying high def. DVDs instead of standard ones, but I'm dot going to do so until the format war is over.

BINGO. I find that it's not the added detail that makes me love HD so much (which is nice) but it's easily the colour reproduction...compared to SD, the colours look so much better on 99% of titles (a back to back comparison makes most SD's seem muddy or like you're watching them through a screen door)... That big difference in the way the overall movie LOOKS is what made me an HD snob.

yep, I'm waiting....still have over 200 movies I need to open and watch....I don't need to add the headache of tyring to decide between BR & HD.

I've been holding out for several reasons, some of which can't be helped:

Money issues. (I mean me personally, not pricing)
Lack of value in players. (pricing vs quality)
Lack of titles. (inherent issue in new tech)
Audio not finished right away.
A desire for a combo player to dismiss the war and fit better in my system.

*ahem* That should say a QUALITY combo player.

I'm waiting for the PS3 40gb $399 version packed with Spidey 3. Also expect Amazon to offer at least 2 free instant BRD or else I'll still hold off. So Nov should be my month.

If you open a Chase Sony credit card you get $100 cash back after your 1st purchase. That deal + the $399 40 GB PS3 will get you a PS3 for $299 in November. That is the path I'm taking.

I am jumping in on the side of HD-DVD late this year for two reasons.

1) HD-DVD player pricepoint.

2) The DRM issues with Blu-Ray. The recent BD+ / BD-J fiasco with the recent Fox discs are basically proof that Blu-Ray has been released prematurely. When I purchase a DVD player, I expect it to work straight out of the box, period. I also expect the DVD software that is manufactured to be fully compatible with the machine.

It is only a matter of time before the new BD copy protection is cracked, and newer copy protection is authored onto the discs, causing them to not work in some players again.

Wow - where to begin? How about anyone who has jumped on is really bad with money, irresponsible, and I would never trust with finances - this is a gross generalization, but since you used one first... You know, I can afford a mansion, but why the hell should I buy one when I live by myself.

As for HD (I do have one for the 360, but I bought it on a lark), I never watch a movie I love, thinking, "hey, I'd like Godfather even better in 1080p", I also never watch a movie I hate, thinking, "hey, now that I see Failure to Launch in 1080p, I love it".

HD does look better, but to me, it's not that big of a deal...

There's no way I'm going to buy two players that do the same thing. So I want one format to win. I don't want to have two boxes in order to have the library I want.

I think that the people that are buying into the formats now are taking a gamble, but it's probably their big hobby anyways and that's OK. An average consumer would be insane to buy now.

And no, I'm not going to pay more for a inferior combo player.

If this war happens too much longer, some other format will win (like downloadable content) and both will lose out.

Actually, the economics of the lower priced HD DVD players make them an easy choice over a standard upconverting DVD player, if you are in the market for one.

I bought my HDTV last February and bought an upconverting DVD player at Costco. Last month, I realized I could do HD content + upconverting player for about $50 more (actually less because I sold the 3 free from Amazon) and returned my Costco player.

Given that my first DVD player cost me as much, if not more, than the $199 it cost me to buy a Toshiba A2 HD DVD player, combined with the fact that Columbia House now carries HD titles, I thought this was the most cost-effective way to jump into HD right now. Granted that CH doesn't carry a whole lot of titles right now and it's a bit of a hassle dealing with the club, they carry enough of the big sci-fi titles I really wanted to get (Transformers and Matrix just to name 2). Maybe Blade Runner if they decide to carry it.

I'm looking for the possibility of a $399 PS3 but even that is kind of pricey to get into Blu-ray so I really have to think about whether there's enough exclusive titles to the format that I really want. Right now, only the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Spider Man titles, and possibly Fantastic Four comes to mind.

I love movies of all genres, but given I own practically everything on SD, to me, sci-fi (and possibly horror) titles where special effects are so important, have the biggest to gain in terms of video and audio. That's why I would prefer to buy them in HD.

With the canadian dollar now on par with the U.S I order all my hd-dvd's from amazon.com. The shipping is still cheaper than buying anywhere in Canada & the delivery time is almost the same. I'm so glad I made the leap in August..

For those of you still holding out...my condolences!!

i realize that's merely an opinion, but your hyperbole discredits it. the catch-22 of that opinion is that if all "average" consumers wait for a winner, there won't ever be one. as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, any average consumer looking to get a decent upconverting DVD player should consider the lowest-price HD DVD player, as there isn't much of a price difference. substantially more capability for not much more money is a great value for any consumer and there is nothing more sane for a consumer to do than take advantage of a good value.

Having purchased the 360 hd-dvd add-on, I'm not holding out, but I certainly am holding back with regard to hd-dvd movie purchases. In building up a sizeable DVD collection, I have become way too accustomed to paying on average less than $10 to get a deluxe special collector's 2 disc double dipper edition of pretty much any movie I want. So, I primarily just Netflix hd-dvd's.

This was exactly my reasoning for why I bought a Toshiba A2. Paying $125-150 for an upconverting player that still wouldn't give me the greatest quality on my new plasma seemed pointless, especially when the HD player can be bought for $230 new at Amazon. Not to mention, like you said, the savings that could be factored in if you sold the freebies.

Not all HD-DVD software will work with your player "straight out of the box". If you believe that to be true then you are kidding yourself. If you want a Blu-Ray player then the PS3 is really the smartest way to go. I have yet to run into a disc that has given me any playback problems. I have had some playback problems with a few of my HD-DVDs and I have the newer HD-A30 Toshiba. I have both so I am speaking from experience. They both have their positives and negatives but I wouldn't rid myself of either one.

That's a good point but the problem with the HD players right now are stability. On avsforum, I'd say at least half of the topics on the first page are questions/comments/complaints about the functional aspects from the players. Whether it's the bass for the sub, players freezing or not reading discs.

If I was a regular consumer and encountered the problems mentioned at avs, I'd return the player right away. It's not worth the hassle and price you pay for.

I just bought an HD-A1 from ebay and it gets stuck on the welcome screen. Fortunately for me, the seller is working with me to get it repaired by Toshiba since it's still under warranty.

So far, I haven't had any issues with my HD-XA2 with the follolwing HD DVDs, and I haven't even updated the firmware yet:

Unforgiven
Phantom Of The Opera
Pitch Black
Chronicles Of Riddick
The Thing
Battle Of The Bulge
Purple Rain
The Matrix
The Matrix: Reloaded
The Matrix: Revolutions
Relentless Enemies
Planet Earth Collection
Casino
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Serenity
Van Helsing
Jet Li's Fearless (Combo)

I don't have a lot of titles, and I'm waiting for about 10 more from WB, in addition to 5 more from the rebate offer. 300 and Backdraft are coming as well (part of the 7 HD DVD offer from Amazon and Toshiba).

99% seem muddy or like you're watching through a screen door - this is something of an exaggeration !!??!!

watch are you watching HD on ???


and since most guys in here would have decent gadgets - how about some screen shots to prove this ??

I myself noticed this when I started watching movies on HDNet that I have on sd dvd. That's when the difference really pops out. Up until then I loved watching sd dvd on my hdtv. I still do, only now I know it can look so much better in true hd as opposed to upconverted hd.

I really want at least one of the hd players but don't have the money to risk. That's the main reason why I would love to have a good dual player. I've held out for a year now and I don't know if I can wait another year.