Peace Out, HD-DVD? - Page 4

I was one of those that was going to wait until the war was over but the sale that Amazon had last week tipped the deal for me. I got a Toshiba HD-A2 and 3 HD-DVD's from Amazon for $218.93 plus I get a mail in rebate for another 5 movies from Toshiba. So I get 8 movies and the player for about $220. That tipped the scales for me.

I was worried about the upscaling but it does a slightly better job than the sub $200 Oppo unit I was using before. So I'm pretty happy.

I have a pretty decent sound system and we definitely notice the difference between True HD and and normal surround. Everything sounds and lot clearer and balanced and well...uncompressed.

I fully understand I may have thrown my lot in with the losers, but I'm enjoying the game for now.

http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/ba...s-p-12719.html
that is all.

Wal-Mart to sell the Toshiba HD-A2 for $198 starting November 3. It still qualifies for the 5 Free disc deal*. Cool beans.

http://www.slashgear.com/wal-mart-to...eap-258164.php

* The New Free Disc List contains:

Aeon Flux
The Hulk
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Firewall
Black Rain
Babal
Pitch Black
Swordfish
The Frighteners
Darkman
The Italian Job
The Thing
Full Metal Jacket
U2: Rattle and Hum
Troy

HD-DVD has had similar technical problems, though. Neither format is really 100% mature yet. They tried to make a HD-DVD with similar capacity to Blu-ray and found that nothing could actually play it reliably. Oops.

HD-DVD is massively outsold every week, and even lost in sales to Blu-ray the week Transformers was released on HD-DVD. It's 2:1 in the US this year, and more like 4:1 in Europe and 9:1 in Japan.

Counting PS3s (and xbox add-on HD-DVD players), HD-DVD is massively outnumbered in players sold, and the cheaper PS3 released just in time for the holidays is going to probably swamp HD-DVD player sales even more. The next generation of Blu-ray players has started to come out with lower prices, and prices are going to be cut further for the holidays. Last I checked, comparable quality players are about the same price now between Blu-ray and HD-DVD already.

The problem with appealing to cheap standalone players to save the day for HD-DVD is that HD discs in either format are a niche product now. Discerning videophiles who already have huge, expensive HDTVs are buying the standalone players, and they don't want something that works like shit. They want something that is technically better and has the most studio support so they can get more of the movies that they want. And that describes Blu-ray, not HD-DVD.

Put another way, cheap players would be a great coup if HD discs were about to go mainstream. But they aren't. Everybody likes a bargain, but a cheap player isn't going to make much of a difference when only a small minority of enthusiasts is buying ANY kind standalone player. Enthusiasts with a 55"+ HDTVs will drop another $100 to go with the format that has more of the movies they want and is technically better. And the only non-enthusiasts with any kind of HD player are PS3 owners.

None of this means that mainstream adoption of any HD format is going to happen anytime soon. It just means that HD-DVD is probably going to fail even as a niche enthusiast product against Blu-ray.

-HD-DVD isn't selling now
-HD-DVD has fewer players in houses now
-HD-DVD has fewer studios supporting it now
-Even HD-DVD exclusive releases of blockbuster movies can't get it a sales win for a single week against Blu-ray
-HD-DVD is technically inferior
-There is no reason for any of the above to change anytime soon

Thank you, Sony Representative.

We have to consolidate these two HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray threads, I don't want to have to fight your ignorance in two places. Your bullet points above are just crap. Use some facts and try and argue reality rather than throwing out dumb-ass opinions.

Actually, Enthusiasts with a 55"+ HDTV will probably go This route.

Actually, I don't own either one. But most of the evidence seems to be pointing to Blu-ray's favor...sales figures, number of players in houses, etc.

I read your post over there and...we don't seem to be disagreeing that much? So I'm not sure why you're so pissed. HD-DVD is leading some in standalone player sales, but PS3 ownership is swamping the difference between the two and apparently is driving disc sales since Blue-ray is leading those 2:1 overall in the US. I mean there is really no arguing the fact that Blu-ray is easily winning the sales fight so far...the figures are available to the public for anybody who wants to read them.

EDIT: To clarify, I mean sales of actual movies.