Cintoman

Hi everyone,

Well, after being on the fence for soooo long watching the format war go at it, with my recent purchase of a Panasonic Plasma TV, I figured it was time to spring for an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player. Like so many of us, I did my share of research, saw the sales figures, read about each format's specs and strengths and weaknesses, and finally decided to go with a Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player.

Of course, now, with Warner Bros going blu, it definitely dealt a blow to the HD-DVD camp. Many are saying that's the final nail in HD-DVD's coffin, and I'm sure, many people like me, who recently bought or were given an HD-DVD player for Christmas are thinking about returning theirs for fear of getting stuck with a format that's going to potentially die.

So my question to all of you is: Who is keeping or selling their HD-DVD player now? Here is my thinking....

I fall in the category of what I believe most consumers fall in: the general consumer. As a general consumer, we've heard about HDTV, know the differences between Plasma and LCD, the amazing PQ each has, and the coolness factor of being able to hang our new widescreen TV's on the wall.

I have a bit more knowledge than the average consumer, but am by no mean an audio/visual techie. I've seen the specs on each format, and to me, I don't particularly care about how one format can pump DTS, or TrueHD or Dolby Digital 7.1 or use different codecs, etc and as many acronyms as there are letter combinations . So basically, I probably won't be able to tell the difference in audio or video quality between the very best and the next best. As such, that's one of the reasons I ended up buying a 50" 720p plasma, instead of a smaller 42" 1080p plasma. That, and the fact that all video signals (Cable, Sat, OTA, etc) only transmit in 720p/1080i. Of course, if you get a 1080p TV and a 1080p capable blu-ray or HD-DVD player, it will make a difference in PQ versus 720p/1080i, but I think only those of you technophiles will probably be able to notice the difference in a side-by-side comparo.

I decided to go HD, but keeping a reasonable budget in mind. So I, like many consumers, wanted the most bang for my buck. Which got me to buy the Panasonic 50" TH-50PX75U 720p plasma and a Toshiba HD-A3. I think many consumers are looking to get into HDTV in the least expensive way possible. Which explains why Walmart is promoting low-end Visio HDTV's, and why so many people sprung for the $99 Black Friday deals for the Toshiba HD-A2's.

But the Warner blow is a serious hit. However, in light of what I'm going to say below, how many think HD-DVD will really die, based on some tidbits I've found all around the net:

- HD-DVD is cheaper to manufacture...no need for new plants. Just re-tool.
- No region coding
- Standards are set. No profile1.0, 1.1, etc to worry about, and no compatibility issues. All HD-DVD movies will play on all HD-DVD players. Whereas blu-ray 1.0 players won't be able to play "Bonus View" and "BDLive" movies. Even Blu-Ray execs (BDA) admit they should have waited a year or more to release Blu-ray
- More blu-ray disc are tossed out at the factory due to production/manufacturing defects.
- Value, in the eyes of 99% of consumers (non-technophiles) is what matters most, and HD-DVD is a better value, thanks to lower priced players. Just look at Beta vs VHS.
- HD-DVD is less expensive to get people into the HD world with players as cheap as $180.00 vs blu-ray's MUCH more expensive price for their players. With a recession looming, do people really want to spend close to $400.00 for a blu-ray player, where they can, in their eyes (again, not looking a detailed techno-specs) they can get the "same thing" (again, in their eyes) for over $200.00 less.
- People can see the value in having DVD's with both formats (SD DVD and HD-DVD). They can use the same disc in their Toshiba HD-DVD player, and then bring it with them to watch it in mom's minivan.
- People that own a 720p/1080i TV can buy a HD-DVD that plays up to 720p/1080i. No need to spend more money on a player that plays 1080p when they don't need it and their tv doesn't handle it.
- Being that sooo many people bought Toshiba HD-DVD players over the holiday season for cheap, how many of them will be pissed now that they may be stuck with a 21st century Betamax player? Does the industry really want to piss of so many consumers? Sure sure...if HD-DVD folds, it won't render the players useless, as there are over 400 U.S. HD-DVD movies out, and it will continue to beautifully upconvert SD DVD's, but they'll still be pissed if they can't get new movie releases in HD-DVD. Will this force an uprising and continue the 2 format war?

Once again I'm back on the fence on what I should do with my HD-DVD player, but leaning more towards keeping it. Thankfully, I'm still in the window to be able to return it back to Amazon should I choose to. So I'll wait and see how things pan out over the month of January. Of course, if Toshiba raises the white flag and declares victory to Sony and Blu-ray, I'll definitely return it, but I'll be grudgingly doing so. Reasons why? Because I'm not a big fan of Sony and their ideas to monopolize a format and charge major royalty fees. Remember their failed formats: Beta, UMD, MicroDV, SACD, etc. But the real reason I prefer HD-DVD is because of the feature set and specs that were built into HD-DVD from the start, and the ethernet connectivity, which blu-ray does not yet have. I hate to have to worry about what profile blu-ray player I'm buying (1.0, 1.1. 2.0, etc). Of course, if I were to go out and get a blu-ray, I'd love to get profile 2.0, but it'll be prohibitively expensive for me. Plus HD-DVD fits for what I want it to do....play 720p with great digital sound for a very reasonable cost.


It's funny to see so many people on the different forums saying "oh I really wish HD-DVD would come out on top", "I was rooting for HD-DVD", "Sony Sucks", "HD-DVD is better for the consumer", etc. If this is the case, then we consumers should be able to sway the market back to the HD-DVD camp. Remember, the movie studios watch what the consumer does. And, yes, I know the sales figures for disc sales favor blu-ray over HD-DVD, but is it because Sony/blu-ray has been advertising so much more than Toshiba/HD-DVD? I guess that might be the case because when I bought my HD-A3, my wife (by no means a technophile) never even heard of HD-DVD.

As for me, I'll admit, I would prefer to see HD-DVD win the war, but if it doesn't, I think I'll still be keeping my HD-A3, buy up any HD-DVD movies I like, enjoy HD-DVD for what it is, and wait until blu-ray sets its standards, and drops in price to about $150.00 or so. If and once that point is reached, then I will definitely go with Blu-ray.


Anybody else have any comments? Sorry about the huge post and the somewhat incoherentness and bouncing around topics a bit, but I wanted to throw something out there based on the eyes of a general consumer.

Thanks,
Paul
(cintoman)