What would you do if you were me?
 

So, I just bought an HD-DVD player on the 30th. Seems to be a smart choice now -rolleyes-. Nothing has even been delivered yet, so it shouldn't be that hard to return everything to Amazon and get my money back in full.

All told, I got this:

A-3
Bourne Identity
300
2001
Terminator 3
Face/Off

From Amazon for $173.49

Blade Runner
Batman Begins
Casablanca
Corpse Bride
Eternal Sunshine....

From Best Buy for $90.92

Hot Fuzz
Knocked Up
Fearless
Children of Men

From Amazon for $44.72

That all comes up to $309.13. In total, I would have ended up with 22 HD-DVD's between the above, 3 more I was planning on buying and the 5 rebate titles. Adding in some GC's that I had earmarked for HD-DVD's, I have a total of $391.48 that I spent/was going to spend on HD-DVD. So, looking at the poll options, which do you think would be the best bet for me right now?

I'm in a similar boat. Question is, can you live w/o the movies that you can't get on BD right now.

Plus, you won't really be able to get any movies for your BD player (if you take stuff back) with the exchange. It's like take all that back and get player w/o movies.

If your un-certain what you want to do with the stuff, and it is un-opened, it might be better to just return the stuff and get your money back.

fitprod

I was going to outright say to send it all back and focus on BD.

Deftones does make an interesting point that most likely these deals will now dry up altogether, and you won't get as many titels AND a player for that money. If you are comfortable having a format that you know is waiting for last rights, then keep them. It isn't like they won't work for years to come, and by the time any of it needs to be replaced, the alternatives will hopefully be as inexpensive or even cheaper.

I'm not selling my setup or the discs. I have long said that when one format finally goes tits up, it is good news to cheapskates everywhere, short term. Titles will hit bargain prices.

But what happens after HD DVD is gone?

My vote would be, keep the player - it's a good upconverter. Return the movies and rent them until the dust settles.

- Movies look/sound the same in BD and HD.
- They won't stop working if BD wins.

you don't have space for two players in your shelf?

Keep the player (good upconverter), return the movies, and put that money towards a Blu-Ray player. Then rent both formats from Netflix! :)

Yeah, that's the main problem. I return a player with 22 discs and get one with only 6 discs, and I have to put in almost $40 extra still, but I do get a next gen video game system in the deal.

More like I don't want to feel like I just spent almost $400 on a dead format.

And keeping the player is not really an option. I'm already fully, extremely happy with my current Prog Scan DVD Player (Panny DVD-CP72S).

I saw your post in the other thread...

I think the question is, would you be happy with what you purchased. I jumped on HD with the A2 for $98, and I don't regret it for a second, format war be damned, because it upconverts, and it's a damn fine player. Is having a handful of HD-DVDs out of your collection going to matter a year down the road? Not really, because they'll still play, still look good, and still make you happy, provided you like the movie.

I wouldn't panic and put everything up for sale here on my end, but you're in the unique position of cancelling orders, which would mean zero loss.

Another factor - do you game at all? And if so, would you use the PS3? I wouldn't mind having a PS3, but I do most of my gaming on the 360, with about 15% spread on other systems (ps2, wii, dreamcast, etc). If you don't have a 360, or you have a PS2 already and some games, and would buy more games with a PS3, then perhaps that's the best route and better "investment", long term. Although, if you do have a PS2 library, you'll have to find a 60gb PS3 or go for the 80gb PS3, since the $400 40GB one won't play PS2 games.

Who needs another device hanging around in their home theater?

I think you should count your blessings that it died before you got into it financially. Return everything, then take a breath and let the dust settle to decide what you want to do. NO need to rush out right away and buy anything...

That being said I DO love my PS3 :)

I LOVE that player. I had one for 4+ years, and it was absolutely fantastic. I sold it after I bought the A2 to fund the purchase (and actually ended up making money in the end...), and I kinda miss the 5-disc aspect, but seeing what the A2 does with SD discs made it easier to swallow.

Should you need to sell it, you'll get an easy $100 out of it on ebay, if you list it right. I could help by providing the description I put up if you want...

I do play a ton of video games. I currently have just about every system save PS3/360/Wii. I had a 360 and about 25 games, but had to sell it to help a family member with some financial problems. I hate the fact that the 20 & 60GB PS3's are gone already, and hardware emulation along with them. Buying one of those isn't really an option, since I have a ton of credit tied up at Best Buy. The only option would be the 80GB version, but that adds another $100 to an already high total. I guess I could wait until they put up another of the standalone players for $299, and grab that. At least I could get that, the 5 free rebate movies, and still have around $70 to play with to get some movies.

If you don't mind having two players, keep all of it. That's a bargain you've got there. It's not like the A3 and all those titles will suddenly stop working the day Toshiba and HD-DVD throw in the towel.

Then really, you have nothing to lose going either way - if you go with the A3 and movies, you still get some damn fine stuff. Keep in mind, this HD dying off thing is all speculation, and things still will have to play out, which could take quite a while.

If you go with the PS3, then you get some good gaming, and maybe spend a bit more, and get less right now, but longer term you'll have more options available to you, and you still get free movies. Actually, isn't there a 5+5 Bluray deal at BB this week? Hell, if you apply for the BB credit card, you'll get double reward zone points, and get more money back from those too...You've definitely got a bunch of options!

Also, with the CES this weekend, there are a few cheaper players and such (on both sides) expected to be announced...

Quake, until you know for sure, I think there's nothing wrong with keep the player and the 22 movies. While today's news is definitely a huge blow to HD DVD, keep in mind that the HDM is still in its infancy stage and it'll be a long time before it takes over DVD. I still think that both HD DVD and Blu-ray failing is more likely than one succeeding (success as defined by achieving more sales than DVD) in the next 3 years, and a lot can happen in that time.

Hang on to it. See what develops. And if HD DVD truly dies, then you can abandon it then.

I'm going to kepe my A3 even though I already have a good upconverting Sony player. I did just order 5 HD DVDs from BB on the B3G2 sale, but I'll probably just return them to the store for credit. Am I upset? Sure. I know my HD discs will always work fine, but I don't want to have 2300+ SD's and about 40 HD's and then start buying BR also. I'd almost rather sell of my HD discs and rebuy them on SD until I feel BR puts out a player that is both Profile 1.1 compatible and low-cost.

Definitely a lot to think about.

return and wait and see

Sell or return your HD DVD stuff right now. This war is over. In six months you won't be able to give the stuff away. The people recommending you to keep the stuff are doing it in the best interest of HD DVD, not you.

I have a question. Bestbuy wont take back the A3 if the upc is missing per the free hd dvd offer right?

Get a dumb clerk at Best Buy and anything is possible.

Less than $20 per movie with a free player. I would keep it. Movies still work. There is no guarantee that some of those will be released on BD anytime soon. It's a good upconverting dvd player. Be able to buy super cheap HD-DVDs before long.

What's the upside of getting rid of it? Turn it into cash and have just enough for a BD player with no movies?

If you are content with the discs and the player that you got then just keep them. Your investment isn't really an investment as there won't be much return on it regardless of if it were HD-Dvd or Blu-Ray. If anyone that works at Toshiba is reading these threads they must be crying after all of the talk of returning players and such. I'll keep my A30 and my 30+ HD-Dvds as they all play (except Mr. Bean's Holiday) and I expect them to well into the future. However, the PS3 is a damn fine Blu-Ray player and is a great video game machine with a steadily improving library of games.

Option 4:

Return everything, get a standalone BD player, wait 6 months and then rebuy the whole HD-DVD package on ebay (player+movies) for $100.

This is coming from a long-time HD-DVD owner who went format neutral 2 weeks ago with a cheap open box BD player.

HD-DVD is dead. If you can return the movies/player you should. Those of us who can't return our players/movies should just enjoy them for now. I know I won't be buying anymore HD-DVD movies unless they're $1-$3.

How, exactly, is it dead? $1-3? Talk about jumping the gun...

kvrdave makes a good point, if you were to buy those on bluray you would probably pay more then $20 each, you payed less and got a free player, but if you have the selve space why not keep the movies and the player.

Knowing what you know now, would you have still ordered/bought all that stuff? You are actually in a pretty good position. You can take advantage of the good fortune that you found out about the WB deal before you opened anything. Now you can get out without losing a dime if you choose to. Who knows what will happen, but it doesn't look good for HD DVD.

I am sure someone will find or create some sort of hack or something to have Blu Rays play on HD players.... one can only hope! :)

Believe me. It's over. You'll see studios jumping to BD soon.

Why keep a brand new player when there won't be many movies coming out for it? Unless it only cost $98 or something.

I'm not a BD cheerleader. Unless the OP has piles of money, the money he does have would be better spent on a format with a future.

Those of us who already have HD-DVD collections can enjoy them. But for people just starting out, like the OP, why not wait a month or two and benefit from price drops, if he just has to have those HD-DVD exclusives? Otherwise just spend the money on BD.

Keep it. HD DVD is dying, not dead.

I think I am going to keep it. I had no clue I could get $100+ for my Panny, so that softens the blow quite a bit. I paid right around $390 in cash and GC's for a player and 24 movies, and I would have to add in at least $140 to get the PS3 I want and only get 5 movies out of the deal. Plus as others have said, this war could still drag on for quite some time. By that time BD players and the PS3 could very well be much cheaper, and maybe even a dual format player as well.

Seriously Quake, it isn't the end of the world. Go with your gut. You the man! :up:

I am in sort of a similar position, and was just wondering what people thought (don't mean to jack the thread, hopefully it will just bring in more to the discussion). I have the A2 player and the following: Planet Earth, Mission: Impossible set, Batman Begins, King Kong, Bourne Ultimatum, and Happy Gilmore, everything opened. Now it seems silly to try to build a collection, but also dumb to keep a player for 10 movies only. I am thinking if I can bring in maybe $250 for the whole thing, I can put that towards an eventual PS3, never to worry about a format war and with the ability to start a fresh collection. Any thoughts? I see my two options as: 1) the PS3 option or 2) Keep it and maybe wait for clearance sales and try to get as many desirable HD-DVD's before they're gone. Only problem with option 2 is the risk that such a clearance sale doesn't happen or I'm slow and everything gets bought up fast.

I'm in the same position, but for me it's pretty simple. Once I get a smaller HDTV for the downstairs, I'll be using my old player (Oppo) as the upconverting player for that one, while the new A3 will handle the HD/ upconverting for the big screen upstairs. I'd feel worse about it if it weren't for all the free movies, but with the whole deal, I still feel like I'm in good shape. I have no desire for a PS3 or a BD player at current prices, so my new A3 should do fine for HD rentals until the BD players come down in price. Plus, I just got done watching Shaun of the Dead in HD, and I really don't want to get rid of it after that.

I'm almost in the same boat. I was going to be placing my order for an HD player this weekend and now with the Warner news... well, I'm holding off completely.

I blame microsoft for this... they are a bunch of ba$tards and I'm sure it will come out in the end that some of their heavy handed bu11shit had something to do with all this.

My problem is that I don't want or need a PS3 so I'm having to start my player research all over again on the BD side.... but there's no prices and deals out there that I'm seeing like there were for the HD players.

Keep the player. As mentioned in another thread I just got my 2nd A3 and love it. We got a new TV for x-mas and so I got the 2nd A3. I put in Bourne (I know not a great movie for showing off) and my wife was like "yea...so...". I then put in SD of Nemo and her jaw dropped. She couldn't stop watching it.

BTW...I have a PS3. It pisses me off I can't program my 880 with it. I use an A3 in there for my main DVD player and continue to do so.

With a $15 USB add on you can do everything except the PS button.

And Power. And since it won't power up with I use my 880 it causes confusion to my HD70. Now if I can remember to put the DVD in first (which would turn on the power) then maybe...

I do plan on trying it, but it totally sux having something else hanging out of the PS3 (guitar hero has a the usb thingy).

I hope your right, but I don't see prices droping. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if they went up. I wouldn't be shocked if they now try to establish the difference between SD and HD. Currently with the competition, you can often find HD/BD titles close in price to SD. But I'm thinking they will stop having these sales and try to establish the difference.

Otherwise we will have a "war" between SD and BD...LOL!!!