Ten reasons to buy a first-generation HD DVD player from Toshiba

[Ilya]

First of all, don't count me in as an HD DVD format proponent yet. I am not!
To tell the truth, I don't care which format wins, I just want my movies in HD, that's all. I don't watch movies in SD any more. I stopped renting DVDs two years ago. And I am sick and tired of DBS and Cable providers overcompressing and downrezzing HD and calling that a new "Industry Standard".

I don't know which format is going to win in the long run. Possibly it will be Blu-ray. However, for now I am getting HD DVD! Yes, a first-generation player from Toshiba! And here is what makes me feel good about it:

1. It's cheap! Don't get me wrong, $499 is a lot of money! But it's cheap compared to Blu-ray players and also compared to the first-generation DVD players!

2. Toshiba seems to be heavily subsidizing the first players, selling them at or below production costs. Why not take advantage of that?

3. I am confident in Toshiba's quality: I still own a first-generation Toshiba DVD player and it works great!

4. If you think about it, Toshiba has only one shot at this - they have no choice, but to make a great first player!

5. The firmware is upgradeable! I am not going to get stuck with a buggy first version!

6. Even if Blu-ray wins the format war, it is probably going to take two-three years. And by then I will be ready to upgrade no matter what I get now.

7. In the very worst case scenario I will end up with a good upconverting DVD player.

8. Getting an HD DVD player now will help me resist spending $1000 or more on a first-generation Blu-ray player later this year.

9. PS3 sounds like a good alternative, but am I willing to stay in those lines come Christmas time? Or wait another year until it becomes available in a local Best Buy? And more importantly, will a software-based decoder in PS3 work as well as a dedicated chip in other players?

10. And the final reason of course: I don't want to wait any longer! I must have it now!!! :devil:​

Just wanted to share my thoughts. Feel free to post yours...

 

[korsjs]

good reasons, but not enough to convince me. i want to wait until they have players can play both formats or a winner is likely. 400 bucks for the first ones is not cheap for me. would like them to be a little smaller. they look the same size as when the first dvd players came out.

i will wait.

 

[riffjim4069]

Sounds like great reasons, but after shelling out $$$ for a Dish 942, Dish 622, Sony HD DVR and other HD equipment...I personally don't have a compelling need to buy a HD DVD player at this time. I need a new game system so (hopefully) I can pick up a PS3 later this year. I'll may pick up a stand alone HD DVR player when reach the sub $200 price point.

 

[charper1]

I too will at least wait to see the end of the year street pricing of the PS3 vs the HD-DVD low end player.

 

[Ilya]

good reasons, but not enough to convince me. i want to wait until they have players can play both formats or a winner is likely. 400 bucks for the first ones is not cheap for me. would like them to be a little smaller. they look the same size as when the first dvd players came out.

Dual-player sounds like a good choice (if it ever happens), but the question is how much more are you willing to pay for it? Would you pay $1500 or $2000 to get both formats in one player?

And how many years are you willing to wait for a clear winner in the format war? Or for the prices to come down?
Remember, it took DVD players two-three years to get under the $300 mark...

 

[charper1]

Dual-player sounds like a good choice (if it ever happens), but the question is how much more are you willing to pay for it? Would you pay $1500 or $2000 to get both formats in one player?

And how many years are you willing to wait for a clear winner in the format war? Or for the prices to come down?
Remember, it took DVD two-three years to get under the $300 mark...

I agree somewhat, but when DVD came out there wasn't anything compelling that was close to the same league out already, not even LaserDisc; DVD was a whole new format. At least now we have very good progressive and upconverting DVD players. The software for HD players will not be anything really new either, just better, so one can afford to wait them out a bit; at least the 2nd generation or the 3rd.

 

[Ilya]

I agree somewhat, but when DVD came out there wasn't anything compelling that was close to the same league out already, not even LaserDisc; DVD was a whole new format. At least now we have very good progressive and upconverting DVD players. The software for HD players will not be anything really new either, just better, so one can afford to wait them out a bit; at least the 2nd generation or the 3rd.

Actually, LaserDisc was pretty close to DVD in picture quality. For me, the difference between HD DVD and SD DVD is much more striking than the difference between DVD and LD. In my case, DVD is not a competitor to HD DVD (as I said, I pretty much stopped buying or renting DVDs long ago). The real competitor to HD DVD (or to Blu-ray, for that matter) is the DVR! But the problem with the DVR is that its hard drive is never big enough! (And now with the upgrade from my 942 to the 622, I have to through away all my favorite movies that I have recorded so far...)

 

[charper1]

Thus the need for that large storage figure PC based HD recorder, so we can start to backup or off-load the files to burn to disc, like I do now for SD. LaserDisc was analog and just didn't have the same wow, that DVD had.

 

[Ilya]

Wouldn't it be nice to have an HD DVR with a built-in HD DVD burner?!!

 

[charper1]

IMHO no, as I am not a fan of any all-in-one devices. I want to hand pick based on usable medi, formats read and record (aka 100% coasterless and able to take burned discs to every other player) and also be able to set to region free, auto PAL conversion, etc. I highly prefer saving to my PC first for consumer grade editing, stabilization, etc and seeing the finished product before burning.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

good reasons, but not enough to convince me. i want to wait until they have players can play both formats or a winner is likely. 400 bucks for the first ones is not cheap for me. would like them to be a little smaller. they look the same size as when the first dvd players came out.

i will wait.

Toshiba could have easily made the players smaller and a lot lighter, but build quality and stability is vital with blue/violet laser as the wave length is very short and vibration or shock would make the play-back skip.

The engineering, manufacturing and shipping overseas, to the distributors and then to the dealers and consumers add quite a bit to the cost of this unit. However, reliability was Toshiba's number one concern.

In the end what's wrong with a larger and heaver HD DVD player, especially considering the performance advantages.

-Robert

 

[jayn_j]

LaserDisc was analog and just didn't have the same wow, that DVD had.

Remember that Laserdisk came out in 1977, so it was 20 years old when DVD emerged. It had plenty of wow factor in the '70s and was a definite step above VHS. It didn't sell on first launch because they couldn't produce reliable units and because the public thought they wanted recording capability.

When DVD was emerging, there were the same format wars. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and an 11th hour compromise was reached. In addition, we had the same debates then about which format was better and that they would be compressing DVDs so that the quality would be inferior to LD. Fortunately the first discussion became moot, and the second turned out to not be an issue.

However, in terms of inferior quality, I still own 600+ laserdiscs. I have been slowly been replacing them, but only when there is a compelling reason like new transfer, unbeatable cost or exceptional extra features. Yes, they are a little soft compared to DVD, but at this point my intention is to wait until one of the HD formats dominates and then restart the upgrade process a little faster. I see no sense right now in upgrading to DVD, and I expect my DVD purchases will be down for a year or two as well.

If they had sat down and stopped acting like little kids, they probably would be having a boom like the original DVD launch. As it is, I see most folks taking a wait and see attitude, with the result that both formats will struggle. Winner will be the group that flinches last.

 

[Jamey K]

With a lack of product to watch, I'm looking foward to going through my collection and watching upconverted titles!

 

[mike123abc]

#11 I suspect the winning format player will play both formats, so you probably will be able to play your HD-DVD discs for a long time.

 

[teamerickson]

#12. Being the coolest person on the block! What, you don't have High Defintion DVD?

 

[hdtvtechno]

I'll might wait until there will be an Blu-ray Recorder
Or if i cant take it any more waiting I'll jump in for a Blu-ray player :devil:

 

[Digital Dude]

I think #9 is the most compelling reason.

With regular DVD recorders running into more and more flagged content combined with hollywood's paranoia it may well be a long time before they'll release a $1000 recorder to record 480i. Once a format is hacked recorders will hit a wall.