Why this newbie went with HD DVD

[AJMiami]

I'm a newbie and has found a lot of great information on this site. I've been lurking for 2-3 weeks. Let me share my story, so you can related on what new people maybe thinking regarding the format war and HiDef.

I consider myself a hybrid between an early adopter and a mass consumer (more toward the later). I don't rush out to buy the latest and greatest, but I like to be aware of technology and what is the next big thing. (buying when prices come down significantly).

I purchased my first 42" HDTV 1080p LCD recently and that prompted me to go with Dish Network and explore HiDef players.

I wasn't planning on buying a player, but the current Toshiba A2 HD DVD for $250 was to hard to resist. I did a bit of research and it seems that blue ray is winning the battle, but I felt HD DVD still has air left. Initial cost of ownership was the big deciding factor for me. In addition, I subscribe to Netflix and being able to rent on HD made the decision a lot easier. I don't plan to create a library of HD DVDs, so I see my risk very low at this point. I may buy a bd player later on, if they come down in price to the A2 level.

the way I see it. I feel is way to premature to declare a winner, and maybe both formats will lose at the end. Who knows. . . I feel this fight is on the 3 round, and blue ray have one round advantage (2 to 1). But there are still 9 more rounds.

IMHO, The two formats is delaying adoption for mass market, since the consumer is confused and may see risk going with either format at this point. That may not be good long term, if this war lingers for too long. Multi format players may be the answer for mass consumer adoption, if they reach the 200s dollar level.

anyways, those are my 2c

 

[riffjim4069]

The $249 player and free HD DVD at Costo the othe week was tempting, but I am very happy with my two PS3s and couldn't justify the purchase at this time. The biggest drawback to the $249 player is that it does not output 1080p.

 

[dfergie]

to SatelliteGuys... I enjoy my HD D1, best purchase of the last year other than my Mitsubitsi HD1000U...

 

[JoeSp]

Congradulations on your purchase AJMiami. I am sure you will enjoy your new HD-DVD player with your new Toshiba and you are right. You do not have much invested so if BD comes out on top -- by then they will probably have a player in the $300 range and you can easily move on over. Have fun!

 

[AJMiami]

The $249 player and free HD DVD at Costo the othe week was tempting, but I am very happy with my two PS3s and couldn't justify the purchase at this time. The biggest drawback to the $249 player is that it does not output 1080p.

My understanding is that if you have a 1080p TV, the 1080i signal gets up converted to 1080p at the TV set. Take it with a grain of salt, since I'm a newbie at this

 

[navychop]

Well, you made a well reasoned decision. And, as JoeSp said, you don't have a whole lot invested. So if you get a few years use out of it (worst case), you've gotten your money's worth.

And yes, interlaced signals are converted to progressive signals in almost all tvs except CRTs. But the fewer conversions the better, PQ wise.

 

[ocnier]

Multi format players will be the answer i think in the long run as well. This war was really stupid. It's freakin dvd+r, ram, & dvd-r all over again with everybody losing. I think the ultimate decision maker will be the burners for the computers but that is at least 3 years off before reaching critical mass. Until then we are all kinda screwed hd-dvd & bd alike. I went with hd-dvd as well but my only decision point was the xbox drive was sub $200. It was afordable enough for now and it gives me an excuse to get the dell 2707wfp this year (wooh hooh), just waiting for that bad boy to come down 300 more dollars. The prediction is christmas will see it around $700.