Pizza

I admit it. I was in that camp. I had recently gotten my $99 player at Walmart, all my Xmas gifts were HDs and life was briefly good. Then came the cold month of January. I decided to give it up and cut my losses. Then came my 5 "free" discs and the recent spat of sales. I fell off the wagon and ordered 4 Uni titles online. Then I picked up Planet Earth and Ninja Turtles at Borders for a sweet price. I've ordered 2 more at Amazon last night and I'm debating Star Trek. I can't make myself go blu but I thought I could give up red. It's like a girlfriend you know you should leave before it the relationship goes horribly bad but you just can't let go. Anyone else make an about face on giving up on red and are still buying discs despite saying no more?

StephenX

I don't get it. You DO realize these evil HD DVD's will look work just as well down the road and you're not losing money, right?

Pizza

I realize that I can watch them until my player stops working. I think I am "losing money" investing in a format that's looking pretty shaky. But, it's a damn good looking format and a fun date.

bluetoast

I'll be getting Space Ace.

StephenX

I wouldn't worry about that. In a few years or even if your player stops working, by then my guess is Toshiba has a "Full-HD" player that plays blu ray and also HD DVD. If not, you can snag a cheapy off ebay.

DVD Polizei

Pizza,

You can always buy Blu-ray titles later. Stock-up on cheap HD DVD titles now. That's what I'm doing. I'll probably get into Blu-ray next year, but for now, it's all HD DVD for me. Every HD DVD release I buy is one release I won't need to buy on Blu-ray. And since Universal isn't releasing Blu-ray titles yet, who knows how long we'd have to wait or how much we'd have to pay for those same releases on HD DVD we can get now for as little as $11 each.

clappj

I had to pick up the DC of Zodiac, and I have Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Into the Wild on order.

I can always sell my HD-DVDs on eBay down the road, and will probably "lose" less money than I have on many of my regular DVDs that I purchased upon release for $15 or more, that are now available for around $5.

rworrell

I had thought about switching to Blu also, but the more I looked into it, the more amazed I was at the state of Blu. I'm not trying to get into the whole debate here, I was just trying to reproduce what I've currently got with HD DVD in a Blu Ray setup: high def audio, great upconversion and ethernet being the primary distinguishers among options.

In HD, I've got an HD-A1 using 5.1 analog outs to a Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver. I'm very happy with both the PQ and AQ I get from this setup with my Panny projector.

On the Blu side, the only two players people are recommending a lot seem to be:

1) If you want an SA player and not a console: Panasonic BD30. Pros from my list: high def audio with analog outputs Cons: 1.1 player (so no ethernet) and upconversion is generally described as "adequate" VERDICT: I have a ton of SD DVDs, so "adequate" upconversion isn't an option after seeing how good the HD-A1 looks

2) If you want the best and most future-proof: Playstation 3 (of course). Pros from my list: ethernet and great upconversion Cons: no high def audio without an HDMI-capable receiver that can also handle the decoding VERDICT: To replicate my current HD capabilities, I'd be looking at a minimum of $400 for a PS3 plus around $400 for a receiver (Onkyo 605), but more likely $600 (Onkyo 705 or 805). About $1000 just to maintain the status quo...and I'd have to start building a library all over again on the Blu side.

In other words, this is a very long intro (sorry!) as to why I've started buying HD DVDs again. There are some really nice deals out there right now and I've been picking up disks regularly in the $11-$15 range. I used to pay that on new releases on SD, so it seems like a good deal to me. I also jumped on the $80 Xbox 360 drive, so now I have two viewing options, as well.

Who knows--maybe lower cost is exactly what HD needed and they'll stage a miraculous upset (the NY Giants of HDM?).

StephenX

I just ordered Army of Darkness on HD DVD for $11. I don't see how prices are going sub-$10 each in the next year. Prices are too good right now for such good quality.

Zen Peckinpah

HD DVD will never be dead TO ME, even if it fails. I'll still feel cool for having a player.

RoboDad

Of course HD DVDs will still "work" down the road.

But do you realize that most people won't want to have to maintain numerous separate players for what will eventually be a small fraction of their HDM collection? In five years, I anticipate having Blu-ray players in at least three rooms. In order to be able to watch HD DVDs in those same rooms, I would either need to a) invest in separate HD DVD players for each room, in addition to the BD players I will eventually own, b) invest in much more expensive (and likely troublesome) dual format players for each room (and I absolutely will not buy another Toshiba player, ever), or c) lose the ability to watch those movies in any room except the single room that now has an HD DVD player.

I would much rather spend my money where I know that I will get the most out of it in the long run, so I have not purchased any more HD DVDs since the Warner announcement, and I will not be purchasing any more in the future.

Adam Tyner

Just speaking for myself, I'm an early adopter because I want instant gratification. I'm concerned about what I'm going to watch this weekend, not what I may or may not do in 2011.

Out of curiosity, how many people have multiple home theaters? I do, in a sense -- when I upgrade one system, I move my older ones to other rooms in the house -- but I almost never watch anything outside of my main rig, and when I do, quality's not really a concern.

I guess I just don't see it as that big a deal. If someone wants to buy HD DVDs, buy them. If someone doesn't, then don't. If you already have an HD DVD player and there's a title you want that's exclusive to that format, it seems pretty silly to me to deprive yourself.

TheNightFlier

haha yeah that's such a terrible problem

"Honey we can only watch HD-DVD in the living room."

I agree with Adam. I'd rather worry about what I'm going to watch in the next couple of days, than something that's most likely a couple years down the road.

Mercury&Solace

Man I am copping HD DVD's still. It's not like they aren't going to work. I will buy HD DVD's for $10-$15 all day long its all good.

kefrank

although i understand RoboDad's thought process, i'm with Adam. i bought into both formats because i want to enjoy as many hi-def titles as possible right now. i only plan to watch hi-def in my main home theater on my projector for the foreseeable future. the other TVs in our home will likely continue to have a standard DVD player hooked up to them for years to come and i'm keeping my DVD titles (even many that i'm also getting in hi-def) for that reason.

the only affect that the Warner decision had on my buying was helping me decide to get currently neutral Warner titles on Blu-ray (all other things being equal), since that is the format they will be supporting going forward.

lizard

I haven't been buying much in the way of HD DVDs since the beginning of this year but that's because:

1) There haven't been any releases this year that I want.
2) I already have nearly all the ones I want from earlier releases (31 titles, a fairly small collection compared to some here).
3) The stacked sale offers that allowed me to buy discs cheap (

PopcornTreeCt

Never swore off buying HD-DVDs. Still pick em up. If my player dies I'll buy another one.

Legolas

I stopped buying HD-DVD except for when closing out Columbia House accounts. And when I finally got my five free movies, Universal did a wonderful job slashing their cases to death.

Also, I don't understand the "stocking up on cheap HD-DVD now" statement, when obviously when they go on clearance, they'll be significantly cheaper then.

RockyMtnBri

Nope - I have bailed. I'm still waiting for my freebies, and when those get here, that's it.

Jericho

I find this post particularly on point and I give it a

I still buy HD DVDs, but I also figured I would. I too want instant gratificfation, and my HD DVD collection wasn't going anywhere. I mean I have Blu-Ray too. I'm not in denial or anything. But I'm happy to get my Universal and Paramount titles (and an occasional import) on HD DVD for now.

I'd also agree with StephenX, that Toshiba likely will make a dual format player at some point and if not, I'll get something on eBay.

The Edit King

I LOVE my ol' 15 Ton, XA1 BattleShip and I'll keep buying 'em until ALL the cows come home! &

Laser Movies

No offense to the HD-DVD format but I don't think I will buy anymore HD-DVDs since the battle is clearly in favor of Blu-ray. In my opinion the quicker it dies the better for everyone. Let the studios unite under one format and move on. I'm already thinning my HD-DVD collection and replacing some of the titles with the Blu-ray counterparts. Thankfully the Amazon B1G1 Blu-ray sales have made the transition a very inexpensive proposition and less painless switching over. However I will probably keep my Toshiba HD-XA1 and a few select movies until it gives up the ghost.

PopcornTreeCt

Are you fan of movies or a fan of a format? If Back to the Future in High Definition was exclusive to a 3rd HD format (and yes there is one) I would buy the player just for the movie.

clappj

No offense, but I'll enjoy watching my Universal and Paramount titles in HD for the next couple years, while you feel happy you're siding with the clear winner of the "war."

True_Story1011

Amen.