BluRay/HD DVD combo player

Somebody told me there are players that now play both formats. I can't seem to find any info and was wondering if it is true or not? Lots of great deals on HD dvd's around here.

Update: I spoke too soon! Saw some on sale for $499.00 which doesn't seem like a bad deal considering how cheap the HD dvd's are going for lately.

Best Buy has the LG BH200 for $400, at least some quantity is left. I was able to purchase ine several weeks ago when Best Buy had it sale priced at $340. I think the player is exceptional for both formats and very good for DVD as well. It can be made to play all region Blu-ray discs with a tedious remote control hack described at AVSForums.com. The Samsung BD-UP5000 gets mostly good reviews as well.

Chris

I think worth every penny. I'll do my best to get one this week. $340 sounds like a steal though based on what I have seen on the web so far.

I think worth every penny. I'll do my best to get one this week. $340 sounds like a steal though based on what I have seen on the web so far.

Prices on HD DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray/HD DVD players have been dropping like a rock, but I think $340 is a great deal now. There will soon be no more HD DVD players and no more Blu-ray/HD DVD players for sale new and sealed so the chances we can find a better deal on that player appear slim to me. I wasn't sure it was a great deal until I hooked it up and used it, but now I am very happy with the deal.

Chris

For the prices HD dvd''s are selling for around here it's really worth getting the combo player while a few of them are still on the market.

For the prices HD dvd''s are selling for around here it's really worth getting the combo player while a few of them are still on the market.

I think there are a lot of them available still and the number reaches the 100s of titles with the prices ranging from approx. $4.00 to 18.00 for single movies. Most of them seem to be $6-12.00 each right now online. The HD DVD movie prices are less than half what the movies cost on BD now, and you should be able to buy a player for under $100.00 if you wanted to get one. The problem is if you buy a lot of titles (even at these VERY cheap prices), you would want a backup player IMO.

It is up to you whether you want a lot of HD movies cheap but at least you know the risks at this point.

I thought about a backup player too just in case. I started to look at a whole run of old DVD movies I have using my oppo player with upconversion and I can safely say they all look nearly HD on my 50 inch, so I may just wait until blueray prices become reasonable and enjoy my dvd movies for awhile. I have a 720 plasma, but setting my player to 1080 makes the movies look almost too good to be true.

If Toshiba wanted to make a splash, in the Blu Ray realm, they would make a newer profile Blu Ray player, that plays HD DVD's. Since they already own the patents, it would be cheaper for them to produce a dual player, then the current Blu Ray companies, buying into the HD DVD patent and marketing one.:2cents

If Toshiba wanted to make a splash, in the Blu Ray realm, they would make a newer profile Blu Ray player, that plays HD DVD's. Since they already own the patents, it would be cheaper for them to produce a dual player, then the current Blu Ray companies, buying into the HD DVD patent and marketing one.:2cents

I think if Toshiba did get into the BD player market, I would hope they would also have it play HD DVD too. It would promote a lot of good will among HD DVD owners IMO.

I think if Toshiba did get into the BD player market, I would hope they would also have it play HD DVD too. It would promote a lot of good will among HD DVD owners IMO.

The problem with that is HD DVD players could only ever be sold at a loss. Any price that results in a reasonable profit would likely mean nobody buys the player. Say whatever you want about the HD DVD owners that you think might matter to Toshiba, but the one thing they had in common was they only purchased into HD DVD because the hardware was very inexpensive. So inexpensive that Toshiba probably lost close to $1,000,000,000 trying to create a customer base large enough for the product to be viable. You might recall, the plan didn't exactly work.

In my opinion, there is no feasible business plan that could make selling Blu-ray/HD DVD players work. The Blu-ray business plan for most companies includes having to sell hardware at the slimmest of margins and you might have noticed no more LG and no more Samsung Blu-ray/HD DVD players are planned. You can bet if there was any profit for those companies in those players which can be sold at higher prices than straight Blu-ray players, the two would still be involved. The prices for Blu-ray/HD DVD players have dropped like a rock along with Blu-ray player prices although I think the $340 price was the magic number for the LG BH200, I can't find another at that price after buying one new in the box a month or two ago. I also think the player was sold to me at a loss, not sure how the loss was allocated, but a loss none the less. The days where consumers are willing to pay prices for Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVD hardware that makes the business attractive are way behind us. In the case of HD DVD, there was never a time the product could be sold at a price for the business to be attractive, which is why only one company ever made a straight HD DVD player.

You often mention prices must come down for these products to sell, while at the same time you suggest the companies selling the products should offer something extra at significant cost for the customer that isn't willing to pay the price that would be required. There is only one way for Blu-ray, low prices which means bare bones player options, no HD DVD, no SACD, no DVD-A and very modest build quality for the mass market player. The high end low volume products can be very good ones at a high price and expect to sell a few thousand in the few markets those products are available. The demand for Blu-ray/HD DVD players at any price that could make sense for the product to be offered is zero.

My suggestion for Toshiba, sell Blu-ray players three ways. First, offer a Blu-ray player to compete with Pioneer and Denon and the other high-end manufacturers, include SRT and make it first rate and sell it a price that would result in a profit. Second, sell a budget player competitive with other low cost manufacturers at discount retailers. Third, offer the budget Blu-ray player in a package with an HDTV for the retailers carrying Toshiba HDTV's.

The press release announcing the players can be full of BS and make mention of the HD DVD customer base and the reasons for the decision and the pricing decisions and hype XDE or SRT or DVD or whatever. Even Toshiba has to know that Blu-ray is going to see growth, the business might not be a highly profitable one, player prices have dropped way too far, but some profits and some associated benefit for the company's related products could make sense. DVD is facing a long gradual decline and there will be no stopping that trend now, unless Victoria's Secret models are trained to be professional in home DVD player installers and will personally deliver and set up and be a companion for the first few weekends of use for any purchaser of a player.

Chris