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Hi Def DVD player conundrum

post #1 of 33
4/4/07 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, so they're closing all the CompUSAs in the Atlanta area, and the xx% off stuff is starting to get good. I was there today and saw this:

Blu-Ray Drive (for PC) -- $549

HD-DVD Player (RCA) -- $399

There was only one of each there, and I have an HDTV upstairs that needs a replacement for the upconverted DVD player I'm using ('cause it sucks).

I can buy a DVI->HDMI cable to output the Blu-Ray player to my HDTV, which would be another $25 or so, plus I'd have to build back up a PC to handle the drive. I also have a PC downstairs that's attached to a 22" WS LCD monitor that I'm sure would look fantastic until I got the new PC built.

Suggestions? Should I wait and see if they knock the %age off any higher? They just did like a week ago (10% off went to 20 & 25% off, etc.).
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post #2 of 33
4/4/07 at 6:37pm
As much as I hate to say it, if you're going to spend that much just on a Blu-Ray drive, spend the extra 50 bucks to get a PS3.
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post #3 of 33
4/4/07 at 6:40pm
I would wait. I would also just go ahead and get a PS3.

Blu-Ray Drive for the PC sucks, unless you have a nice media center it hooks up to your TV easily.
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post #4 of 33
4/4/07 at 6:54pm
Buy the PS3, the Blu-Ray Drive, the Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD drive add-on, and a standalone HD-DVD drive.

After that, I say you take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
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post #5 of 33
4/4/07 at 7:04pm
I was poking around CompUSA hoping to find a discounted 360 HD-DVD add-on. No luck. Children of Men will forever be in low-def for me.
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post #6 of 33
4/4/07 at 7:19pm
Just going the PS3 route is a good idea, but I had always heard that using your game platform for playing DVDs was a bad thing in terms of burning out the drive really quick. Maybe that isn't the case. I guess if I'd ever use a PS3/360 or whatever as dual-purpose game and video watching, I'd get it from Costco or someplace with an extended warranty.
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post #7 of 33
4/4/07 at 7:24pm
The best option is still to wait.

From day one I've always thought Blu-Ray is going to "win", and I still think that's the case, but the cost/benefit ratio still doesn't make much sense. Specially with 2 competing formats still out there.
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post #8 of 33
4/4/07 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
As I was typing the post, that PS3 thought occurred to me. Amazing how I'm OK with spending $549 on a drive, but I can talk myself out of spending $599 on a PS3 "because that's just too much for a gaming system." I asked the guy when the store is closing, and he said, "Whenever everything is sold." So I'm banking on some more markdowns. At worst, I could buy the HD-DVD player and then sell it on eBay for a bit of a profit. I actually thought about doing that for a lot of the 40% off stuff.
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post #9 of 33
4/4/07 at 7:38pm
I agree with Overlord. Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It is the only way to be sure.

And yeah, I'd wait... I'm not buying any HD players for a long time... this format war is just too ridiculous although my friend has an HD-DVD add-on for the 360 and the quality is impressive, but still.
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post #10 of 33
4/4/07 at 10:53pm
Get a PS3. Honestly, at this point, it looks like you would be throwing your money away if you bought an HD-DVD drive.
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post #11 of 33
4/4/07 at 11:08pm
Yeah, if you HAD to, go PS3. I know the 360 drive is gonna drop to like 150ish pretty soon, which does make it damn tempting.

I hope after my basic sciences (med school baby agh I'm gonna lose my hair) that the format war has settled a bit and I'll go the PS3 route.
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post #12 of 33
4/4/07 at 11:31pm
HD-DVD is a very likely a dead end, but if you can throw that money away go ahead.
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post #13 of 33
4/5/07 at 12:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica
HD-DVD is running neck and neck with Blu-Ray, so you're better off buying both then nuking the site from orbit just to be sure.
Fixed it for you.
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post #14 of 33
4/5/07 at 12:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica
Overlord bought an HD-DVD drive, I feel bad for him. For his sake, I really wish HD-DVD was running neck and neck with Blu-Ray. Sadly, as most sane people predicted, HD-DVD is sinking like the Titanic. I hope Overlord doesn't nuke himself from orbit just because he wasted his money when he should have known better.
Fixed, fixed.
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post #15 of 33
4/5/07 at 7:01am
You know HD-DVD is region free and China made it official that HD-DVD is the only hi-def disc format to be sold in the country right?

HD-DVD isn't going away by a longshot, plus players are coming down in price next month and the toshiba hd-xa2 does the best upconversion of a regular dvd than pretty much anything else on the market.

the blu-ray players...well c'mon...when has sony ever won a format war?
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post #16 of 33
4/5/07 at 10:44am
I haven't read anything about HD-DVD only being allowed to play in China, please send me a link.

HD-DVD has been out longer and Blu-Ray titles and players (thanks to the PS3) are outselling their HD-DVD counterparts. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. If you look at the studio support, it still tilts Blu-Ray's way.

Having said that, the best solution is to wait. I have no idea why people are in a rush to build a movie library that could potentially be obsolete, pretty soon.
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post #17 of 33
4/5/07 at 10:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica
Having said that, the best solution is not to buy anything remotely connected with Microsoft, as Sony is the messiah. I have no idea why people are in a rush to build a movie library that could potentially be obsolete, pretty soon.
Obsolete? Do you mean the next generation after HD-DVD/Blu-Ray? I love the 19 HD-DVD movies I have (which aren't available on Blu-Ray, and might not be for years), and a 180.00 dollar investment doesn't exactly break the bank. Even if all other HD-DVDs magically vanished across the earth, I don't movies already in existence becoming obsolete.
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post #18 of 33
4/5/07 at 11:08pm
It's hard to play those laser disc movies isn't it?

I don't think the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray battle is going to last very long, so expect those movies to show up on Blu-Ray in the not so distant future.
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post #19 of 33
4/6/07 at 7:16am
If you feel the need that badly...just buy a player and rent the discs. Blockbuster Online and Netflix carry both formats.

Then at most you're just out the price of the player should your format of choice go down.
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post #20 of 33
4/7/07 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica
It's hard to play those laser disc movies isn't it?

Still have my LaserDisc player; still whip out a platter every once and awhile. Picture ain't great, but name another format that has the Criterion Bladerunner (until the eventual DVD, of course).
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post #21 of 33
4/7/07 at 10:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by damimegood
Picture ain't great, but name another format that has the Criterion Bladerunner (until the eventual DVD, of course).
I read Digital Bits' open forum with the WB rep, and he mentioned that the Blade Runner DVD should be coming out later this year, with every previous cut, plus some new "final" cut as well. That's got to be a freakin 4-5 disc set, if they are truly including every cut.
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post #22 of 33
4/8/07 at 4:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman
I read Digital Bits' open forum with the WB rep, and he mentioned that the Blade Runner DVD should be coming out later this year, with every previous cut, plus some new "final" cut as well. That's got to be a freakin 4-5 disc set, if they are truly including every cut.

Why the fuck is it so hard to just get the original theatrical cut on DVD? I can think of no other movie where I've had to keep my original VHS copy because I can't stand the DVD edition.
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post #23 of 33
4/8/07 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overlord
Why the fuck is it so hard to just get the original theatrical cut on DVD? I can think of no other movie where I've had to keep my original VHS copy because I can't stand the DVD edition.
Cough Star Wars Cough
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post #24 of 33
4/9/07 at 4:53am
If I'm not mistaken, your graphics card (and display) will also have to be HDCP compliant in order to playback Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs at HDTV resolutions. I believe this is true even if the Image Constraint Token (ICT) which initiates downscaling in set-top players is not present. Otherwise, it will playback at 540p. You'll also need a software player (WinDVD or PowerDVD) that supports playback of the HD disc formats. So you'll have to factor these additional costs into your price estimate.

Just curious, but what CPU are you running. Even with hardware acceleration enabled, you need some serious horsepower to playback the HD formats smoothly. You may want to visit NVidia or ATI's websites and run their respective compatibility tests to make sure the rest of your system is up to speed.
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post #25 of 33
4/9/07 at 4:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAIRUS
Cough Star Wars Cough
Yeah, you beat me to that.

And I think I'm going to just hold out and get a PS3 or an XBox 360 with a player to be named later.
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post #26 of 33
4/9/07 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAIRUS
Cough Star Wars Cough
I stand corrected.
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post #27 of 33
4/9/07 at 5:26pm
As far as this format war goes, when is Total HD discs coming out again? That's what I'm holding out for (that, and the money to actually buy this stuff.)
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post #28 of 33
4/9/07 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark
As far as this format war goes, when is Total HD discs coming out again? That's what I'm holding out for (that, and the money to actually buy this stuff.)
I am too lazy to look it up. What the heck is Total HD?
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post #29 of 33
4/9/07 at 7:23pm
Total HD is a new psuedo-third format that Warner and I think one other studio are pushing for--basically it's an HD format that plays on either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players, and they're also making players that will serve the same function. It's the best idea, really, and it's not without precedent--in the early to mid 90s there was two digital formats getting ready to square off in the marketplace: S-CD and an early form of DVD. Sony was backing S-CD and was still smarting from the Betamax fiasco in the 80s, so they came up to a comprimise: integrate the best parts of each format (S-CD's codec and DVD's storage space) into one streamlined medium. Sony and Toshiba both would've been smart to push the same tactic with this current war, but Sony's too big an empire now to feel the need to listen to anyone else.
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post #30 of 33
4/11/07 at 11:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman
I read Digital Bits' open forum with the WB rep, and he mentioned that the Blade Runner DVD should be coming out later this year, with every previous cut, plus some new "final" cut as well. That's got to be a freakin 4-5 disc set, if they are truly including every cut.
Yeah I heard that too. But I still love my Definitive Star Wars Collection, even if the quality is dated.
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post #31 of 33
5/29/07 at 3:08pm
I still haven't seen a movie that makes me feel compelled to pick one side or the other. The Matrix pretty much made me buy a DVD player. There's nothing pushing me to go HD.
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post #32 of 33
5/29/07 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg
I still haven't seen a movie that makes me feel compelled to pick one side or the other. The Matrix pretty much made me buy a DVD player. There's nothing pushing me to go HD.
I'm really looking forward to the Matrix trilogy on HD-DVD (just ordered it). Well, let me amend that: I am really looking forward The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded, and about fifteen minutes of Matrix Revolutions.

Last night I watched Goodfellas on HD-DVD, and I shed a solitary, Spiderman 3-esque tear as I realized that I could forever retire the godawful Goodfellas flip-disk DVd edition.
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post #33 of 33
5/30/07 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
I was at Best Buy today, and they have a special going on in-store that if you buy an HDTV over $999, you get an additional $100 to take off a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player--and on that note, they also have a Toshiba HD-DVD player for $299. So you could get that player for $199 with the purchase of an HDTV. If you're in the market for both. Which I am, but I'm not looking to buy something right at this moment.
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