Universal didn't waste a ton of money just to call it off because some angry Blu-ray owners who represent less then 1% of the buying audience does not like them. They will go out with Bourne... and hopefully that's it. But if these are proven to be a success (retailers love 'em, consumers love 'em and no issues with the discs themselves) expect to see them more often.

Actually, I'm more inclined to buy Disney discs now. That last thing I want is them to switch to the Universal method because it saves them a few pennies somewhere.

These BD59 discs cost far more money to make than a BD50 and a DVD9. The cost appears to be 3x that of BD50s and the yields are likely not going to be as high since it's a new tech. If it catches on, it would eventually drop in cost (like BD50's did). It's certainly a good way to give away a DVD copy without actually doing so (as to not hurt sales if the BD owner gives/sells the bonus DVD copy).

I actually think the "flippers" are more expensive to produce than individual discs....You have to glue to two discs together which is more material and effort. Doesn't really make sense at all.

This is gonna be a dilemma for me because being a media geek, I'll have to at least get the first title released this way. I've already got all the Bourne movies on HD-DVD though (I bought Rumor Has It just because it was the first combo HD-DVD), not sure if I wanna buy them again so soon.

I don't know what caused the problems with the DVD-18 and the HD DVD combo, but that Blu-ray didn't do double-sided discs was one of the reasons I preferred it over HD DVD.

Even with the same glitches reported in the HD DVD combo as were experienced with the DVD-18, HD DVD combos were going to continue. I read that announcement and couldn't believe it. Had they learned nothing?

And here we go again. Flippers are notorious for their problems, and we're still going to use them. Seems we've still learned nothing.

--THX

Please post the list of Blu-Ray combo discs you have watched that do not play properly.

The only DVD-18s that had problems were the ones made by Technicolor in Mexico- nobody should be using that manufacturer for anything!

If you read through the entirety of the thread, the reasons why so many of us are skeptical about these discs is made pretty clear.

Put another way: let's say you go to a restaurant and they do a lousy job with your prime rib. You go to the same restaurant again and order a T-bone, and they botch that too. Your friends report the same problems, and you see the same sorts of complaints coming up time and again on community review sites like Yelp. After all that, would you have any confidence that this same restaurant would be able to competently prepare a different kind of steak? Universal has had a slew of problems with their DVD-18 discs and with their combo HD DVD discs. If they can't manufacture those types of combo discs with any degree of quality, why should I expect that they can produce this other kind either? Sure, there's the possibility that they'll work flawlessly, but since this is something seemingly no one the world over is clamoring for, why take the risk?

My copy of Seven is still the old flipper.


Stove.

I still think they're a good idea. I haven't had issues with them but if there's a problem with the discs, then that's obviously not good.

That is the major concern... Technicolor Mexico is Universal's replicator for BD and DVD.

fitprod

Don't worry Smithee, I'm sure you'll be able to post a list as soon as you buy some.

As there will be no Blu-ray combo discs until next year, and I have no Blu-ray Disc player on which to play them, that would not be possible.

I'm not saying they are, in fact, going to have problems. I'm just looking at the history of flipper discs, and observing the problems they've tended to have. Doesn't give me confidence in the product.

For all we know, whatever conditions that caused the glitches in older double-sided discs have been rectified. But there's been no official statement addressing them or any solutions, that I'm aware, so I remain doubtful.

Judging by the comments in this article on Blu-ray.com, I can see that a lot of people are firmly behind Universal's announcement. (Ahem.)

--THX

Frankly, I just don't like losing the disc artwork. It just kind of makes it look cheap when nothing is printed on it.

I wouldn't take much stock in posters from that website. They are what many consider to be "fanboys" and call HD DVD "HD DUD" on a regular basis. They are just mad because anything that HD DVD did/does has to be evil and dirty. Many claimed to never own HD DVD players, yet all hate the Combo's and had issues with them.

With Universal doing this crap and Warner seemingly crapping on SD-DVD transfers, I'm starting to think "movie" collecting is dying a slow death.

This is the best, most accurate analogy I have seen for the argument against these discs and completely sums up what my feelings were on it too, well done sir!

Without printed artwork it is difficult to tell which side is which. The small type on the hubs of my 2-sided DVDs is hard to read at night if the lights are dimmed. Unless they follow some kind of standard like coloring the hub blue on the BD side, I won't be very inclined to buy these.

The problem is, of course, that my experience, for example is going to a restaurant and enjoying the steak, the T-bone, and eventually everything on the menu, and hearing a bunch of people complain about it. Then all of those people go to a restaurant across town and complain about the same things there. Finally, both they and I all meet at a third restaurant that looks like it's going to do things the same way as the third one, and the angry people are already ready to complain, so much so that the "bad experience" seems to be slowly spreading to include even the most lightly undercooked meals.

Blu-Ray.com correspondent Ken Brown says it's all good:
Much more here: http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4040

Uh huh. We'll just see what happens when they have to manufacture more of them, and how they hold up over time. I bet they didn't have problems with the HD DVD/DVD hybrids at first either.

Personally, I never had any problems with DVD-18 discs (although I didn't have many of them). But, I'm not going to discount the reports of trouble from others. Let's see how these things do when they're out in "the wild."

I just don't want to see them standard for all new releases, hopefully they don't sell well.

I ended up getting the UK Bourne set ($30) and skipping the flippers that are coming out and the over-priced US set.

Notice all the players he used were 2008/2009 models? Curious to see someone give them a spin on Gen 1/2 machines (though the amount still being used is likely under 5%).

$18 + free Pizza at Best Buy next week...they'll sell well. I'm curious to try them out so I'll have a friend send me his copy and give it a spin on my BH100 to see how that handles it.

The most ridiculous thing is the following:
The benefit of the 2-disc BD/DVD combo is that I and others can watch the movie in two different locations at the same and/or different times. One (the blu) at home and the other (the DVD) on the road (laptop/car/etc).