U Have Gotta Be Kidding me!

[ozzy1028]

I cant believe im actually sitting here reading through these baby posts. Im better than u are.....im better than u are........no im better.......nuh uh im bet....STFU. You know what would perturb both formats is if we were to all boycott them and let them settle this format war themselves, once and for all. Im really getting tired of it. Lets let them wollow in their own childish stupidity and lose money and respect in the meantime while we sit back and watch and laugh. You know even im gonna have to get into this a bit. Im not on either side of things really yet but we all know whos gonna come out on top. You can sit back and whine and cry but you know it just as much as we all do. EXAMPLE - Mom goes holiday shopping at Happy Mart for Mr. Honey Do. "Oh I think ill buy this 399.00 BD Player, Oh wait....Whats this?... HD DVD Player for 198.00. Well Mr. Pocket Pool is just gonna have to settle for this one." Or someone Just wanting to get their feet wet in the hd hype. Do you think they are gonna be thinking anything other than price. AND we all know there are more average joes and average consumers out there than fanboys who are gonna be looking at nothing more than the price point. Need i say more?.
I dont care who wins, I know who probably will, YOU know who probably will. Lets just give it a rest.

 

[SatinKzo]

I don't get into these type of posts or get on one side or the other (I'm purple). But you make a good point on the hardware side for sure.

But also take into account how much BD hype is out there and yes they do in many stores seem to have more media available. Not everyone who is not a fanboy is cluelessly buying on price alone. Consumers do take into account the media portion on their purchase plans also.

Lately at stores the top things I hear from consumers:

What's the difference (Between the 2 formats)
Where's my movie on BD? It's on HD-DVD. or vice versa
Why is BD more expensive then HD-DVD (hardware and software wise)
and one I am hearing alot lately
Screw it, I'll wait until there is only 1 format.

 

[ozzy1028]

You do make a good point too SatinKzo. And then at the end you mentioned folks will wait for one format. That is what I think we should all do, so no one is taking sides. Lets let the media companies settle on a format and not make the consumer do so. Things would be oh so much better.
Also, no, not everyone is cluelessly buying a format. Alot of of people have no idea that certain titles are only available on centain formats. They WILL be buying on price alone. There are lot more unknowing buyers out there than there are buyers who have researched. And alot have researched but will still go with the cheaper hardware of the 2 because they know the more that buy the cheaper hardware, that format will win out and then they will soon have the titles they want on that format.

 

[ripnbigc]

Great points, both of you. I have been sitting on the fence hoping there will be an end to this format war. I hate to buy both players, don't really have room, and dual format players are priced way too high. The great low prices on HDDVD players right now make it tempting, but what about the titles that aren't available on that format. I have a great upconverting DVD player right now so that isn't a benefit from either format. The only thing I've done is stopped buying standard DVDs for now. I'm still waiting.....

 

[dfergie]

I have HD DVD and was weighing in on Blu-Ray when the External HDD option was enabled for Dishnetwork, now I patiently wait for the non HD DVD titles to appear and archive...

 

[cummingsje]

Great points!! I recently purchased an A-2 at the $198 price. I've done research on both formats and basically made the purchase on price. Yes, there are some BD titles I wish I could get on HD-DVD, but I can see that if HD-DVD continues the price points they currently have on their hardware, BD could be in for some trouble over the next several months.

 

[haertig]

I can see a big difference in HD movies on my TV (via Dish or OTA antenna, I don't have a HD player yet). Is HD fun to look at? Yes! Does it make a major difference in my enjoyment of a movie compared to a normal DVD ? Hmmmm, not really all that much if I'm truly honest with myself. $29+ to buy one movie (either format)? I don't think so! I'd watch it once or twice. Rentals will be the way to go for quite a while until media prices drop. So putting a lot of money into a player for rentals is not something I'd do. The argument "Even if XYZ format loses, it will still play your existing collection" does not hold much merit if your collection is only a handful, because you mostly rent. On the other hand, if my existing DVD player breaks tomorrow and I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon as a fanboy of either format, player price wins. My current DVD player cost me $279 way back when, so a sub-$200 HD DVD player would not feel like a commitment to the format. However, $400 for a BD player would feel like I was committing myself and betting on BD to eventually win. That would be a very risky wager the way I see things.

So I can wait for prices to come down. Mostly on the media, not as important on the players. If a reasonable quality player (not top line, not bargain junk) comes in around $150-175-ish then it becomes an impulse buy for me. That's less than two tanks of gas for my truck.