Just so you know, the ads for Blu-ray, HD DVD, and just about every other product is not because Best Buy wants them in the ad, its because Toshiba, Sony, whatever pays for them. If Toshiba wanted the A3 on the front cover, they would pay. If they wanted it on page 2, they would pay. If they wanted it anywhere, they would pay. Rarely does a store just put a product in their ad without being paid for it (cash, discounted hardware/software etc.). Do you think Magazines just put advertisements for Pepsi and Snickers bars for free?

Its just like when you go to Best Buy and see 4 Blu-ray setups vs. 1 HD DVD. Why? Because Sony, Samsung bought those "spots". Its not because Blu-ray is a 'better" product, its because they pay a fee to have a presence there. Much like how Target has a end-cap with Blu-ray/BDP-300 and an extended library of movies, because SONY/BDA paid them to.

Well, I don't only own a Blu-ray player. In fact, I own TWO HD DVD players, to my ONE Blu-ray player. But you know what? I want this war over. In the beginning, I was as anti-BD as one could get. But that was then, this is now. My perception is that Blu-ray has won the war, and I'm fine with that.

It's time to move on, and see whether the claims made by many in the industry that the war was slowing down peoples' adoption of HDM are really true. The only way to find that out is to all get behind one format and see what it can do.

So, how are you going to pigeon-hole me?

I was never speaking to you regarding this. Not sure why you decided to take my comment to Mr. Cinema as regarding to you.

For the record, I am not saying I don't believe his "news." What I am saying is that anyone with a hint of acumen in this topic can say that Best Buy may be considering dropping HD DVD. When it happens, Bill's followers will act like he is the second coming. Problem is if it doesn't come to pass his "insiders" were wrong and no one will call him on it, and if someone does, it is called "sour grapes."

I officially predict that Circuit City will be going BD exclusive. From my sources. My unnamed sources. Now, when (if) I am right, then I expect you all to kiss my pretty blu-bejeweled ring, just as you do with Hunt.

As has been noted, and also for the record, I believe these Fox/WB/HD DVD stories (except for the terms on a financial incentive), HD DVD came pretty close to nabbing Fox AND WB as exclusive studios. Hunt was nearly completely, 100% wrong. I don't doubt the guy has sources, but stop acting like it is gospel because it comes from his mouth.

I also took exception to the negative opinion of the reporter posting about the WB stuff with unspecified sources, and in the same breath praising Hunt for the same thing. Either both are legit or neither are, until they name their sources.

The flyers were done weeks ago. Last week HD DVD was all over it.

Format activism aside, I have to agree with Gizmo. It will be severl months before we start seeing Best Buy or any other retailer moving on exclusivity. As of today, they are still selling players, and I would think that they would find themselves in class action territory if they don't inform the customers that they are purchasing a soon-to-be discontinued format. If they DO switch suddenly, they I would expect there is another financial incentive involved. It doesn't make sense not to sell something to consumers if Best Buy has no stake in who wins.

It says it requires 2.0 OR an internet connected BD player. The PS3 is the latter (and probably will be for a while).

For reasons I just stated. I share Mr Cinema's curiosity about what a single HDM format can do in the marketplace. You seemed to be claiming that there was something disingenuous about that opinion, so I was pointing out that I, a former HD DVD zealot, felt the same way.

I don't know at whom this little barb was directed, but if it was at me (since it was my post you were quoting), you should really take the time to do your homework before you start slinging mud. Doing otherwise (as in this case) merely discredits whatever else you might have to say.

Have a nice day.

Maybe this is the underlying problem of the whole thing (not particular to just you).

Maybe no one needs to be a format zealot. Maybe we can like movies. Maybe we can say "Wait a second, Fox, no extras? WTF?" without being branded an "enemy" to the format. Maybe we can have opinions that aren't just regurgitations of someone else's opinions.

In short maybe we can STOP acting like the Playstation vs. Xbox roxxor11223 types.

Maybe we can keep open minds. That, IMO, is one of the things that made DVD a success. Criticism is not always a bad thing.

Not directed at you directly. But if you fall into this "Hunt said it, and he's got sources" crowd, then I don't know what to tell you.

As someone who was a former HD DVD "zealot", I never remember seeing you around these parts before the Warner goes Blu announcement.

Weird, why wouldn't they just say "Internet enabled players" only? Profile 2.0 is still months and months away, and its not like the general public has any idea what 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 is.

No apparently you don't (hint- you could have started with "my mistake, I'm sorry"). But in light of that, I guess I do know what to say to you. Welcome to ignoreland.

I don't know either. I would assume that the way the feature is implemented on this disc, as long as an internet connection is available it will still work. Maybe they worded it that way to avoid confusion for people who buy 2.0 players, but don't realize that 2.0 implies an internet connection, or at least don't realize that 2.0 requires an active internet connection to provide all of its features? How many non-2.0 players feature an internet connection?

Hell, I'm not even sure if the 2.0 "feature" will work tomorrow.

As far as players with internet connected... I think only 2 or 3 Blu-ray players have them (1400, BDP-300, BDP-500, Pioneer BDP-30?). All the Dual players have it because of HD DVD, I don't know if they can use it for Blu-ray features though.

I think most of us are doing just that. There are a few people who I would call zealots on either side of the fence that jump in immediately to defend their chosen format or attack the other, no matter what the conversation. Most of us know that Fox is very very uneven with their releases. I'm the first to say so, because I'm a total extras hound. But there's a difference between saying, "Come on Fox, give us all the extras" and "Fox is the reason why HD DVD is better than Blu-ray," which I seem to be seeing a lot of lately (not in those exact words, of course, but that appears to be the attitude).

Criticism is not always a bad thing, but when the main criticism is "Blu-ray isn't HD DVD," then it IS a bad thing. People need to get over their love of a specific format and realize that the writing is on the wall. WB made their choice, Blu-ray now has the lion's share of the market, and you'd have to be crazy to suggest that Paramount and Universal aren't looking at their options to release on Blu-ray right now. End of story.

So we're not qualifying someone's commitment to a format? This is like home theater McCarthyism.

Because it is Profile 2.0 compliant, so why not list it?

And as far as Bill Hunt goes, the guy does have a lot of connections. For one reason or another, insiders feel comfortable talking to him. Does that mean he's always right? No. Does that mean everything he says should be shot down immediately? No. I have no interest in kissing his butt, as some would like to suggest, but to say everything he says is wrong or should not be listened to is as silly as saying everything he says is right and should be taken as gospel.

The forum search is your friend. I've been here for a very long time. I was one of the more vocal HD DVD supporters before either format launched. I bought my HD-A1 on its release day, along with a half a dozen movies. I believed then (as I believe now) that a format war would seriously jeopardize HDMs chances of long-term survival, and since HD DVD was first to market, and also appeared to be more consumer-priced (at that time), it got my support.

But, as time went on, I grudgingly joined the purple group, believing that the war was going to drag on for a number of years, so my only chance to having all of the movies I wanted in HDM was to support both formats. At that point, I stopped posting in this forum quite as much as before, since too much of the discussion was in the "my format's better than yours" category.

I became more active again after Warner's announcement, since I believe this is our last shot at having HDM achieve any kind of mass acceptance (even if it is only an upper-tier mass-acceptance).

As for your memory problems, I hear that there are some wonderful new pills coming for that.

I still don't get why there is so much hatred for Bill Hunt.People keep forgetting this campaign that he was a part of as was DVDtalkhttp://www.thedigitalbits.com/hddvdoneformat.html), yet people keep on attacking him.

When both were for set for release he told people to wait so people who say he's a clearly a zealot from the beginning need to go buy a fucking clue. Go read his archives and educate yourselves. The guy has had a lot of good information throughout the years given out before HD and BD were ever released and now because he has spurned HD-DVD, people write him off like he's done nothing. It's pretty sad.

And now since the Warner announcement this forum has become more like it used to be with bickering and jabs coming mostly from the hd-dvd fanboys who are clearly in denial. The sad part is that the hd-dvd fanboys were willing to buy discs are now sadly going to rent because their feelings are hurt that hd-dvd has all but lost. These are the people who I feel most sorry about that they are willing to give up and not buy any more movies because their format lost. Then, we have these really pathetic petitions to save HD-DVD which just wreak of desperation.

HD-DVD people, just move on, there is nothing you can do.

Gizmo and Qui Gon it's over. Some people here like movies not formats so stop trying to create all this negativity because frankly it's sad.

I lost what little respect I had for Bill Hunt due purely to terming which made him come off as an arrogant ass, that's all. It isn't good journalism when you can't get through a paragraph without cringing due to continuous criticism.

That said, it really isn't a big deal, he's another douche with a website, nobody forces anyone to use his information or opinions, and while it may be annoying to have him referenced everywhere else, it's just as easy to ignore it.

What do you mean months and months away?The Panasonic BD50 will be out in May. So much for your little prediction that we wouldn't see any 2.0 players in 2008, right?

I've been using this player quite a bit today to test it out and I really like it. It is slower than the PS3, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Some discs can take 20-30 seconds to load, but the loading screens for the java features are quick and the picture this player puts out is very nice. I may even prefer it slightly to the PS3 though I don't have multiple copies of the same film to do a true A/B comparison.

Regardless, it is a very nice BD player and DVD upscaler and not bad at all for a freebie. The only thing I don't like for DVD playback is the layer change. The PS3 eliminates layer changes so I had kind of forgotten they exist. The Aquos has the old 1 second pause, but that is honestly the only complaint I have about a very nice machine.

I tried out all of the discs I could that have given other profile 1.0 players issues with slow loads or no playback and had no issue with the Aquos.

I did search, you only started posting again when Warner went Blu. Besides that it was next to nothing for 8+ months besides a few pop-ins here and there, hence why I have no idea who you are.

I completely agree with you. This Bill Hunt bashing has got to stop. Before some of you guys start with the "You're only saying that because he supports BD", I could care less what Rob Enderle says as well. I don't let what he thinks dictate any of my posts or compel me to spew vitriolic posts about him. Just let it go already guys.

FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

I am impartial. I don't know how else to say it. Look at my last few posts. HD DVD will be phased out. I get it. I am not arguing.

I will continue to call bullshit on both sides, and their zealots/supporters.

What the fuck.

I think the word fanboy should lead to an immediate suspension.

Qui,

Don't worry, I am sending out T-Shirts with a picture of Bill at his Blu-ray Birthday Bash with the words "I Do Blu" in quotations above his head. We will be joining them soon enough! What size T-Shirt do you wear?

The Bits has these charts, which only are for standalone units:

"First up, let's look at the month of December (weeks ending 12/8 to 12/29), along with the first two weeks of January (weeks ending 1/5 and 1/12)..."

"As you can see, Blu-ray Disc players outsold HD-DVD players in the month of December here in the States by about a 60/40 margin, and that split has grown to 70/30 in favor of Blu-ray in the first half of January. This despite the fact that HD-DVD players were (on average) some $200 cheaper than Blu-ray players throughout the holiday shopping season.

But the most striking revelation in the data is the change in the hardware sales ratios between the first and second weeks of January (ending 1/5 and 1/12), reflecting the impact of Warner's announcement (and the mainstream media reaction). The graphs below show player sales for each format both before and after Warner's 1/4 press release..."