IIRC, I spent $60-$80 on a 64MB MMC (?) card back then. I was really cool though in class listening to music on this digital thing. People were still rockin' CD players and I had this sleek little thing. Also had a FM/AM Radio Watch that I convinced people was playing music from Satellites. Idiots. Man, I miss Napster.

Ha! My copy of Fargo worked just fine too.

Mine didn't...Also had to go through God knows how many copies of Casino and Schindler's List...

So, as of now the only flippers announced are the Bourne movies correct? Love Actually looks to be just a regular new release, and the combos announced earlier are separate BD and DVD discs right? Maybe all is not lost, of course Universal will probably selectively pick just the ones I want to buy... Apollo 13, Backdraft...

Looks like I'll be asking for the Bourne Trilogy BD boxset for Xmas now....that way I'll at least be guaranteed not to have to deal with these "flipper/combo" monstrosities for those titles at least....

The problem with Universal's discs is that many of them are manufactured by Technicolor in Mexico. DVD-18s from Warner and other manufacturers have worked fine, but Technicolor just can't get them right- and I'm sure they didn't move their plant to Mexico because of the scenery there. I've had some 1-sided discs made there turn out defective too. And I too went through 3 copies of "Casino" before I got one that played with no glitches- doesn't mean DVD-18s are bad, just ones made by Technicolor Mexico.

And would it be asking too much for them to print a label on BOTH SIDES of these new discs?

It's strange that Universal would be doing this in an attempt to limit themselves to one SKU per title.

In the past, they've never had a problem issuing seperate widescreen and fullscreen releases of the same title on DVD, as well as those multiple repackagings of things like American Pie.

But now they want to force both formats onto a single disc?

This was the great thing about blu-ray, no flipper discs. Is it really asking too much to put them on separate discs? Look at all the digital copy discs that studios put out. If they force this upon us, I would rather pay a little more for the extra disc than have flippers. It makes me sick looking at the fingerprints and on each side of my current flippers that I lend out to friends and family members.

I personally wonder if the 800-LB gorilla has been bitching...

fitprod

Really disappointing to hear them bringing back "flippers" (I know it's not the correct title, but it's how everyone seems to know them). After purchasing a little over 100 HDDVDs, I always hated the double-sided discs and had nothing but trouble with them. I never saw them as a "positive". Always scratched or skipping/freezing.

I don't know if Blu can do it, but I know some HDDVDs were a "dual format" discs with both DVD and HDDVD on one side (meaning you put it in a HDDVD player, it's HDDVD. In a DVD Player it plays as a DVD). Is this possible on Blu?

So don't lend them out until they learn how to handle them properly.

Instead of doing a BD/DVD flipper combo, they should do a two-disc set instead. Disc 1: Blu-ray, and disc 2: a DVD/Digital Copy flipper combo. That way, the digital copy disc doesn't become useless once it expires.

The problem with this is it uses too much common sense and logic - these are foreign concepts to studios.

Very odd that Disney has made the wisest decision so far in just releasing their 3 disc sets.

I have a fairly large collection and have learned the hard way not to lend out the original discs. If a number of people in my family want to borrow it, I just make a backup of the main movie and let them pass that around. Much better to just toss a 50 cent DVD-R than replace the orginal. (And for those wondering, I can't think of a time that I even touched the original disc while the backup was floating around the family.) I do the same with my kids' movies too...a 2 year old really doesn't have an appreciation for what a bunch of dirty finggerprints does to a disc.

I'll pass on these combo discs.

Never was a fan of them before, still not now.

Sorry, double post.

Let your kids handle the original discs so they can LEARN how to handle them properly, and if they mess them up, don't replace them. I had tons of records when I was a kid and my parents made it very clear that they were not indestructible, so I always took good care of them and didn't touch the playing surface.

"Home Media Retailing" magazine printed a letter from a video store owner saying "It makes no sense to put kids' titles on 2-sided discs." I say it makes PERFECT sense! Teach 'em to respect media!

I don't really see the point in releasing a Blu-ray and a seperate DVD of the same movie in the same package. If buy a movie on Blu-ray, I don't really need or want the DVD.

I'd probably be inclined to give the DVD away to someone, like I do digital copies. I gave my Star Trek digital copy to my cousin who's iPhone/iPod crazy. And I probably would have done the same to a DVD copy of the film.

Do you have kids? I'm guessing no....
Disney is GENIUS to include a DVD copy in with their BD releases, as most people do not have BD players in their kids room, or portable BD players (if these are even for sale yet) in their cars/vans/etc.....
Use the high def BD copy for the home theater/main TV/living room, and the DVD for on the go & upstairs bedrooms....
I'll take a DVD over a useless digital copy disc all day long and twice on Sundays!

Everyone should email Universal and tell them we won't buy that double-sided shit. Hell, the only reason I upgrade some of my DVDs to Blu is so I can get rid of the double-sided discs! I'd like to smack whoever came up with that digibook garbage over at Warner too. I call digibooks the snapcases of the blu-ray era.

I'm late to the discussion, so I'll just say that I HATED HD DVD/DVD Combo discs with an unbridled passion, and I'll hate these just the same. Sucks that I may have to pass on buying some titles I really want because I don't feel like dealing with faulty product... again.

For myself, movies are something I like to share with others, and just because I have a Blu-Ray player doesn't mean everyone else does, so I appreciate the ability to buy a Blu-Ray and get the DVD as well, so that if I have to go somewhere where there is no Blu-Ray player to show it to them, then I have the ability without having to rent a movie I already paid for.

Same with me, but even more so for my personal use.

I watch less than half my films in my living room. Between the other rooms of my place, the car, hotels, Mom's house, sister's house, and work; I watch a heck of a lot more DVDs, even when I own the same title on blu-ray.

More on topic, hate flippers.

My email to Universal on 02 December 2009:
Today's response, from USHE Canada:
In retrospect, maybe I should have reworded my message, as I didn't think anyone was going to read/respond to it. I would have added:
Also, please send me as much free product as possible. Love, me.