Best Buy phasing out HD-DVD

I would have never thought HD-DVD would go the way of the DoDo so fast. I would have figured it would become a side medium and never die away. It may still do that, but losing a large retailer like Best Buy somewhat spells doom.

Well, I see the silver lining in this: does this mean they'll be selling em for cheap? Cuz last time I checked, HD-DVDs still look damn pretty and I just happen to have a player! I r winnar.

Laserdisc 2K8!

Now, I'll pick up the other Bourne movies on the cheap.

It makes more sense for it to die fast. It only makes the retail store look bad to keep supporting two competing mediums when one of them has been given the death knell. People will come in a month later wanting to return the machine and asking why they were recommended format that is dead. Plus shelf space is super valuable. I still don't get why the have any shelf space for UMD movies though.

You know, I just got my player, but i don't care about this news. It's a shame, but I'll take fire sale prices on all these HD discs, given that my player cost $129.

Fire sale has begun!

HD DVD Buy 1 Get 1 Free this week at Best Buy:

$24.99
The Big Lebowski
Backdraft
Shawn of the Dead
Serenity
The Mummy
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy

$29.99
Transformers
Hot Rod (wtf?)
Knocked Up
Shrek the Third
Shooter
Smokin' Aces
Disturbia

I was kinda thinking about grabbing a player and a bunch of discs. So the format dies, but I still have some sweet discs on the cheap that look good. I have a PS3 for the Blu already, but another player might be a good idea.

What do you guys think.

As a side note, are the films that were HD-DVD exclusive going to be re-released in BRD? Anyone see anything about this?

This isn't a firesale. They have the same deal going on for Blu-Ray. The fire sale will be when everything is $10-15.

This is the first Buy 1 Get 1 sale for either format. All previous sales have been Buy 2 Get 1 or Buy 3 Get 1.

That's what I did. I wanted Shaun and Children of Men. I'll bet they get re-released in Blu-Ray, but it's not a major expense to get a player right now, and it's a lot less embarrassing to play a DVD in my hd-dvd player than it is in my playstation.

I'm waiting for Batman Begins, a special edition of 300, V for Vendetta, the Bourne movies, the Matrix collection, and other stuff, but mostly stuff from warner that has pip commentary. What taking so long for warner since they have alrady released T3 with pip, are the waiting to cash in for the others?

With Batman Begins they are obviously waiting to release it on Blu-ray at this point to tie-in. It just better have the PiP if it has different features than the last release.

With Matrix I'm betting the same for when Speed Racer comes out.

With 300 I'd like them to replace my inferior Blu-Ray version for free.

Bring on the fire sale!

Toshiba is ponying up 2.7 million dollars for a 30 second HD-DVD Superbowl spot. They're all about throwing away money.

I don't think I'd go that far. Laserdisc had many enthusiasts (myself included) that kept it going through the 80's and 90's. Plus their content at the time was second to none (AC-3, Director's Cuts, Commentary Tracks, etc). HD-DVD will sadly take a nose dive after a few years of being in production, while laserdiscs were around for almost 2 decades.

I put an HD player (the A30) in my Amazon cart a week ago (but as of yet I haven't purchased it) , and the price keeps dropping (and occasionally rising) in these odd and random increments. It will drop, say, $.76, than $1.18, go up by $.56, and than drop $.80. This will all be in he span of 8 hours. What the fuck is causing this fluctuation?

AIDS.

I promised to a PS3 at Target that I'd use my 2007 tax refund to buy it and Madden 2009. We're going steady.

This is the worst fire sale since the one in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.

Here's a question. I have an older TV where I have my system set up, sound, etc. It only has component inputs, up to 1080i. If I get a cable to go from HDMI to component, am I going to get the HD picture. I have been playing my PS3 on my other tv with the HDMI hookup, but this isn't my main tv with the sound system hooked up.

Anyone using either system in this setup and getting it to work? I thought that I heard that you have to use the HDMI for the copyright crap that they have on the discs.

Amazon has the toshiba a30 going for $150 with 2 discs (300 and bourne identity) in the box and 5 on the mail in.

You'll still get an HD picture if you connect it via component and set the PS3 to output 1080i.

Yeah, you can't get an HDMI to component adapter but you can get a PS AV Out to Component adapter. There is a proprietary adapter on the back of the PS3 (like there is on the basically every video game system ever made) and you can buy a component cable that plugs into that adapter that will let you get 480i/p, 720p, 1080i.

Keep in mind that if your older TV doesn't do 720p you might be kind of screwed with your games since the PS3 doesn't have a built in scaler like the 360. So if your TV doesn't support 720p and a game doesn't support 1080i, you'll have to play it in just 480p (which sucks).

To comment about this thread specifically. This sale is definitely not the first Buy 1, Get 1 sale for HD-DVD or Blu-ray. There have been a couple of them at different retailers in the past 2 months.

Second, while I appreciate that the Digital Bits is saying this, the Digital Bits is unabashedly pro-Blu-ray. They've even gotten to the point where they won't show HD-DVD ads on their site (they argue it's because it's going to lose and they don't want to confuse their readers or sell a product they don't believe in). The important thing is that we have no idea what there source is and Digital Bits can be hit or miss about these rumors sometimes.

Until you see an actual press release out about someone discontinuing this stuff or actual retail proof that the HD-DVD's are being restocked, I'm not going to take what they say with a grain of salt. This is coming from someone who owns a PS3 and some Blu-ray movies so don't think I'm some insane HD-DVD owner trying to save a dying format (because it definitely is dying). I just want to make sure that everyone doesn't start counting their chickens before their hatched.

Toshiba seems determined to make this fight go on as long as possible and until Blu-ray can get Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks to switch to it, this long format nightmare won't be over.

I bought two of the Harry Potter movies when Amazon.com had a B1G1F sale on HD-DVD about a month ago. Got both for $19.95.

But I agree, buy one at $25 or $30 and get one free ain't much of a sale, considering there's a shit ton of HD-DVDs (and Blu-Rays for that matter) for $19.99 you can find already.

You know, I wonder if the reason Blu-Ray is winning is because it sounds "newer". People see HD-DVD and think, "Oh, that's just a fancier DVD. This Blu-Ray stuff is NEW!"

Yeah, they should haved named it Red-ray and let people battle out in the streets over which is their favourite color, totally get the Microsoft/Sony element out of the picture!

When I hear the term Red-Ray, I think of Death Rays. I'm just not ready for my Home Theater to murder me.

If they would have just called it Rad-Ray this thread wouldn't exist.

Well, I was going for a 3-letter color theme, but I suppose if they called it maybe.. Green-ray, then all the people riding the Go Green train would jump on board that, maybe get an Al Gore quote along the lines of 'Green-ray saves the environment!'.

They definitely would have won with Green-ray.

Or Rad-ray!

Combine Red Ray with Laser TV for extra murdering!

I like my HD-DVD add-on for my 360, but I keep thinking of e-baying the thing while I can still get something for it. These kinds of reports only encourage that impulse.

Brand recognition has a lot to do with this. Look at the current trend of TV marketing. Every nice set is listed as having "True HD". It's because the masses couldn't understand 1080i 1080p, so saying it had True HD was much easier to market.

Pardon the interruption, but I have a neophyte question. It seems to me from the very cursory research I've done that Blue-Ray and HD are very similar in quality, and the real X-Factor is what kind of TV and sound system you have. Is this accurate?

I ask here because the format war thread has gone belly-up.

Just to clarify, when I said that was the first B1G1 sale, I was referring specifically to Best Buy (since that was who we were talking about at the time).

I look forward to more inventory clearing HDDVD sales in the future. Hi-def is Hi-def, so if I can get a few good movies in either format for less than $15 a piece, I'm happy.

No, there's an example of Best Buy having one in December right here.

Damn you and your fact-finding! I will retreat to my cave and plot revenge! REVENGE!!!

Actually I did find find a cable at Frys that goes from HDMI to component for the PS3. I may take it back, not sure yet, as I saw one that will work with the proprietary connection for the PS2 and PS3. I keep the PS2 around for the kids so they don't thrash the expense toy that I use.

Thanks for the info guys.

Unless it cost over $100, no you didn't. There isn't a non-powered adapter for HDMI that can convert to component. HDMI is entirely digital and component is analog. There's no physical way to convert between the two unless there's a separately powered device with extra hardware in it.

The real question on everyone's lips:

Electrichead, is that Alba's ass there in your avatar? Because that is one fine HD caboose!

EDIT: Sure is.

Well, maybe we're both right. The cable has a HDMI connection at one end, and a component (green, blue, red, and yellow) connection at the other end. It also has the analog outputs for the white/red audio. Here's the link:

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5155306

On your part, you may be right and this may not pass through the "true" HD signal. Don't know, haven't had a chance to try it yet.

More importantly, Amazon has The 40-Year Old Virgin for 15 bucks right now.

Ah, I see the confusion now. The PS3 actually has 2 ports on the back, one is the standard AV out that all Playstations have used. That's what the one you linked to is. There's a second port near that AV port that is the HDMI port. They look fairly similar in shape so I could see how you would think it's HDMI to component.

ETA: It's not that component isn't HD. It definitely is. I've hooked my Xbox and my TiVo up with it before and it's fine. You just generally don't get 1080p capability out of it and there are some needless digital to analog to digital conversions in there which could potentially hurt the picture quality (but in most cases does not).

OK, nachos we are still both right, technically.

I didn't notice that the ends were different, I didn't compare the end to the HDMI cable that I do use for the PS3. I got this cable to work on my other TV that doesn't have a HDMI input. What I was going by was that it says right on the package "HDMI to component HD A/V cable". I never got around to opening the package and trying it.

Damn lying bastards.

I wonder if I can use this for my PS2 also, as I think that the multi A/V out is the same on both systems.

It is, I believe. I bought a PS3 A/V cable with component outs and used it with my PS2. It didn't work at first, but then I realized I had to use the old connector, go into the settings and change it to the component out, then use the new cable.

Thanks for the info. I would have been pulling my hair out trying to figure it out.

Yeah, I just about did. I was so livid that I took the cable back and got another, which "didn't work", and then I decided to make the change that way and see if that worked, and it did.

Netflix says "Smell you later" to HD-DVD:

Best Buy makes it Official

HD DVD blowout!
Everything must go!
All HD DVDs $6.99!

I hope.

Inexplicably the HD-DVDs have been and still are the very first thing you see upon entering the Best Buy closest to me. Perhaps they haven't gotten the memo.