Im looking to purchase a new dvd player. Was curious if anyone new anything about the populatiry of either type of player. Is this a repeat of the Beta or VHS competition? Can anyone recommend a solid player?

Gracias.

Best thing is to search for the movies you would really like in hd then see who the motion picture company is. For now Universal and Paramount are HD-DVD only. Warner Bros is Both. Fox, Disney, Buena Vista and others are Blu-Ray only. I have both, but lean to Blu-Ray due to studio support.

Dave

That's what it is looking like!

I don't reccomend buying either format until one emerges as a clear-cut winner.

Of course, I know what *some* members here will say.

Right now I favor Blu-Ray, mostly due to the technical differences and that most of the movies I want are in that format. Also, none of the Sony-owned studios (Columbia Tristar, MGM, etc.) will EVER produce a movie on HD-DVD... at least not until BD suffers some sort of gruesome and complete death, which doesn't seem likely any time soon.

However, with Paramount jumping and Universal still HD-DVD only, there is now a growing number of titles I want on HD-DVD... so I'm thinking of picking up one of those players so I can watch what I want when I want, rather than worrying about who supports what.

Honestly, the best decision for a consumer who just wants to watch some HD might be to get one of the combo players (the forthcoming Samsung or 2nd generation LG seem okay so far).

The problem with that scenario is you may be waiting a long time. In the meantime you will be missing out on a lot of great movies with awesome picture and audio quality.

True. I'll probably break down and get something soon. By something I mean I'll buy both formats.

I like movies on each format, so right now, it's not worth it for me to buy one without getting the other. And a combo player is more expensive than two individual players.

At the rate of technology these days by the time a clear cut winner is established we will be working on a new format.

I prefer BD as well, but whenever I sell any anything I always preface the bs of this scenario...

it was an easy choice for me to spend the $200 on the HD-DVD add on for my 360 a year ago. i'm not satisfied however as there are MANY titles i want that are only available on BD, and the war doesnt seem to be ending anytime soon. so i do plan on getting a BD player in the near future.

if i had to choose one or the other right now, i would do my homework and find out what titles are available on each, then total how many from each i want to own. the one with the longer list wins!

the other issue is budget i suppose, you can get into HD-DVD for a little cheaper than BD as i'm sure you've discovered already.

easiest answer - GET BOTH! :-)

good luck.

I have an HD player....... Love it. And there are some titles only on BD.
Good thing that the DVD server i have will add BD in about a week and HD in about 2 months. That will be ideal for me. All my discs in one server DVD, HD, & BD all in one server...... i cant wait.

That being said i will be purchasing a BD player shortly and just add that to my 16x16 component matrixer as another source for distribution.

eventually both formats will die when the next latest greatest comes out.

that does sound ideal, what server are you using? do you have a link?

If you like to play video games, I'd buy the PS3 for Blu and buy the Toshiba HD-DVD player. The Toshiba upconverts standard DVDs very well (even if HD-DVD dies you would still have a great DVD player) and the PS3 is a great gaming console that plays BD quite well. You could get both these pieces and be about the same price as the Samsung dual format player coming out.

I am using an Xperinet. Its pricey but not as pricey as a K'scape.

www.xperinet.com

I would say get both, they are both great and having both will give you the best selection of HD movies. I would recommend two single players over any current combo player.

If you want just one or a place to start, even though both are good I would say BluRay has the better players and pricest as well, while HD DVD has the lowest prices so shop by which of these is most important to you. You may also want to compare movies available on both formats and let this help you decide.

I have a Panasonic DMP-BD10A BluRay player right now and I am sure I will soon also have an HD DVD as well. Both formats are excellent for high def movies, but in the near future I hope to add a BluRay burner to my computer. BluRay will be much nicer for a computer recordable DVD as it is 50gb while HD DVD is a smaller 30gb.

Blu-Ray has better players? No PIP. No interactive features. No ethernet plug.
All HD DVD players have these features. And have had them since day one.