Downloads may be the elephant in the room, but with the XBox Live Marketplace issues over the last 3 weeks or so, that elephant has been defecating in its cage. Granted, most XBox360 owners are practicing the law of fluid dynamics and "going with the flow", there are some of us who aren't. The XBL outages (which seemed to hit me harder than most) coupled with Friday's announcement by Warner was enough of a 1-2 punch to trade in my 360 for a PS3 80. I loved the 360. It was a great versatile device with awesome games. But I didn't love how tightly it was tied to XBL.

Video downloads has been perpetually "on the horizon" since DVDs were first introduced. A video download service capable of replacing physical media isn't going to happen.

With those events, I find myself in the hi-def disc arena much sooner than I thought.

I started a thread a few days ago in the DVD Talk forum area, asking if I should continue buying SD DVD movies (not TV shows in SD, just movies). I made my decision based on the results.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=521795

I won't be buying a Blu-Ray disc player (or maybe a PS3 as a BD player) within the next month, but I might buy one after I buy a HDTV. I know that HD quality is way better than SD quality, but once I get a HDTV, I'll buy an up-converting DVD player at the same time. Then I will be saving up for a Blu-Ray disc player/PS3 (which I know up-converts DVDs, as well). I plan on buying a HDTV within the next 3-6 months, so I should have a Blu-Ray player within 8-9 months. I'll also be getting an HD-PVR digital box from my cable company (Shaw), when (or shortly after) I buy the HDTV. Only if I can save up enough, subject to change. At some point, I might have to stop buying SD DVDs for awhile, but only for a few weeks.

I got a laptop for X-mas, and high-speed internet (don't laugh; I had dial-up before. Alright, laugh), so 2008 looks like it'll be the year of upgrades.

SD DVDs don't bother me a bit, and I'm fine with buying them until all of the upgrades have been bought and paid for.

I've always considered Blu but price is a big factor for me, especially right now. I want to adapt now more than ever but I just can't until prices on RELIABLE 1.1 profile players come down.

I plan on picking up a PS3 this week. Maybe even tonight. And I've already ordered The Fifth Element, A Clockwork Orange and Lost: Season 3 this morning from Amazon. Along with the Nyko remote that allows you to use your regular universal remote to control it.

I was already planning to do this, but in February or March instead of now. So it's not a big deal to me. And my kids will enjoy the PS3 as well.

As for my A2 and 40ish HD DVDs, I plan to keep them and enjoy them.

Well, it has begun for me. I just picked up my first Blu-Ray disc yesterday, in advance of my impending PS3 purchase. It was Stargate: Extended Cut. I was at Wal*Mart and found that they still had a small amount of Blu-Rays still tagged at the boxing week price, so I figured might as well (buy now, think about it later). As soon as I get the PS3 I'll have to find some decent prices for The Rock, Sunshine, 3:10 to Yuma, and possibly the Resident Evil Trilogy, just to start off with.

I would love to get a stand alone player, but not at the prices they are at now. Thankfully my SD collection is very large and I'm not hurting for something to play on my other SD players around the house.

i won't be buying a blu-ray player, but only because i already own one. :)

It's clear that the blu-ray win the war..(In singapore at lease)

I just went dual format. I won a PS3 in an employee auction for $240. Not too bad.

Now I just have to see which Blu-Ray DVD will be my first purchase. Maybe The Rock?

= J

The Rock is a good choice. It has the nicest transfer I've seen on the format.

I'm thinking about getting a PS3 this month... I must admit, I'm still a little nervous about the format war due to Paramount and Universal holding steady with HD-DVD.

The PS3 and the Panasonic DMP-BD30 are the only current 1.1 players. What have you heard about them that would deem them "unreliable"?

There were quite a few titles I was eyeing myself, in looking to build my Blu-ray "starter set". I also picked up The Rock, as well as Con Air, Stargate, Sunshine, and Rescue Dawn. Hope to be getting 3:10 to Yuma and the Resident Evil Trilogy as well, some time soon.

I'm not nervous that Blu will lose or anything like that; I am simply upset that it appears that Paramount and Universal will hold steady with HD-DVD exclusivity for quite a while. Paramount in particular has a host of great new releases coming up (There Will Be Blood, Sweeney Todd, Beowulf, Into the Wild, Cloverfield, etc.) that I would love to own on Blu.

I briefly had a PS3 (returned it to Best Buy :sad: ), and now waiting for the second generation Samsung Combo Player coming out mid-2008.

If I may ask, for what reason did you return it?

my SO didn't want it connected to the downstairs tv - it didn't fit into the adjacent bookshelves... and it wouldn't have fit in the upstairs amour(sp?). This wasn't really my decision... :mad:

Ah, I see. Damn those practical reasons! Sounds like a good enough reason to buy new furniture. ;)

wow.


on a happier note....my wife finally got tired of our RPTV and the way it looks crappy when you stand up or view it from the sides...so she suggested (nay, insisted!) I buy a flat panel.

I chose the 46" Sharp Aquos LCD with free Sharp Bluray player. -biggrin-

Suggested topic change to "Who here is whipped?"

aww... true love. :)