HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? Can't decide which one to get?

[Haljackey 17,241]

Hey everyone, if you haven't heard, theres a HUGE war going on in the DVD industry right now.  The two sides are Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-Ray disc. 

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When the DVD player came out, there was only one format, and thus all the major motion picture companies released their movies on DVDs and consumers bought the players and discs. There was no confusion.  Those were happy times.

Now, those happy times have ended.  Companies can't decide weather to release their movies to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.  You can only find some movies on HD-DVD (for example, Paramount Pictures) and others on the Blu-Ray (For example, Disney).  This war has also caused confusion among the consumers, who can't decide which format to purchase if it means that they can only have certain types of movies on one player.

I am that consumer.  I can't decide what to get, HD-DVD or Blu Ray!  I have a HD-TV and a 7.1 surround sound system, and I enjoy watching DVDs on it.  The thing is that DVDs are only SD (standard definition like a regular TV) and can only output 5.1 surround sound. 

Right now, movies are not a concern for me, but I am looking for the best system of the two.  Samsung has ended this conflict with their HD-DVD AND Blu-Ray player, but its really expensive and out of my price range.

My question is: Which format do you think is better and why?  Which format would you recommend for me with my specs? 

Best,

-Haljackey

[hym 358]

I personally would go with HD-DVD, but this is in part due to personal biases.  First, BluRay involves a totally new technology that is completely incompatible with millions of DVD's presently on the market, and it does so without offering a drastic quality advantage over HD-DVD, which is compatible with existing drive technology.  Second, it does so with drastic cost increases, that, imo, can't be justified by the marginal quality advantages over HD-DVD.  Finally, geeks in research labs have already made massive strides towards protein based 50 TB discs that can be read using existing drive technology.  IMO, both BluRay and HD-DVD have been made obsolete, even before they were readily available to the public,  but HD-DVD doesn't force us into a messy conversion scenario.

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

If history repeats itself, Blu-ray will be the next Betamax.

I would stick to traditional DVDs until there is a clear-cut winner in the race.

[hamsterTK 93]

I would stick to traditional DVDs until there is a clear-cut winner in the race.quote>

yeah same here

[Voar Tok 4]

Originally posted by: The_Dalai_Llama If history repeats itself, Blu-ray will be the next Betamax.quote>

Which is sad, because Blu-ray was the superior technology as it was more forward thinking, and made a great stepping stone for stuff like ultra-violet lasers in drives and stuff, which would have blown the daylights off of anything we can achieve with any adaptation of a red laser.

[beebs 129]

I'm waiting until the silliness is over. Hopefully HDDVD wins so I don't have to rebuild my movie library, so soon after VHS was put in its grave.

[ShortStraw 1]

Originally posted by: The_Dalai_Llama If history repeats itself, Blu-ray will be the next Betamax.

I would stick to traditional DVDs until there is a clear-cut winner in the race.quote>

I agree completely.  Affordability and convenience tend to trump technological superiority so HD-DVD will likely come out on top.  Still, you never know what's gonna happen and it really could go either way at this point depending on too many variables to consider. 

I too am waiting for a clear cut winner before I give up regular dvd.

[Zelgadis 638]

I'm going to get a player that can play both. The combo players will come down in price soon enough.  Problem solved.

Until then, I'm sticking to LD.

ISF

[Haljackey 17,241]

Well right now I have a DVD player that "Upconverts" the signal through a HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable so that it looks "similar" to HDTV.  I still prefer to watch movies when they are on TV, because the superior clarity in picture and sound can't be beat.

In addition, my 7.1 home theatre system "upconverts" the 5.1 channel to "simulate" a 7.1 channel.  Its just not the same though.  A friend of mine brought her PS3 over and we watched the 007 movie on the Blu-Ray... Amazing picture and sound!

Because of this, DVD is still a good choice, it hasn't died just yet (for me anyway).  I guessing I will wait either for a winner or for that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray player to come down in price.  Then again, the PS3 is cheaper than any Blu-Ray player out there. (and it comes with a gaming system too!)

Anyways, I still can't make up my mind just yet

-Haljackey

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Jury is still out.  I expect that the better and therefor more expensive one will lose.

[beebs 129]

Yes, if you're planning on getting a blu-ray player, just get the cheapest PS3. Cheaper than any other on the market right now. In fact, that's basically the biggest selling point of the PS3 at the moment.

[belfastuniguy 18]

We use HD-DVD at home at the minute, so hopefully that will win over Blu-Ray, which I think it will to be honest. I know Blu-Ray is superior but it's also more expensive and as many have said incompatible with the vast majority of DVD's

[Duke87 1,070]

My personal opinion on this matter? It isn't broken, so it doesn't need fixing. So I recommend the following course of action:

-keep buying old fashioned tube TVs until nobody makes them anymore. Until then, they're cheaper!

-keep buying regular old DVDs and DVD players until nobody makes them anymore. Again, cheaper.

No reason to spend more money on something than you have to after all.

And unlike VHS to DVD, there really is no fundamental improvement from DVD to either "next gen" technology. Analog to digital is always an improvement, and the fact that DVDs are more portable, more versatile, and easier to use made them a necessary improvement. Now, the new thing really has nothing "new" to offer besides allowing you to better count the hairs on people's heads.

Also, you can play DVDs on your computer. I doubt your computer recognizes HDDVD or Blu-Ray (though that may change with time).

Actually, DVDs play better on a computer than on a traditional TV. A tube TV has a 640x480 resolution. A computer can do 1024x768, and most new ones can do better. Dunno what the resolution on an HDTV is, though I doubt it's better than a good computer monitor. Which brings me to another recommendation: if you really want better resolution than a typical TV offers, just get one of those cards you can put in your PC to hook a TV signal into it. This also makes it a lot easier for you take screenshots and audio samples. And yes, you can still record shows.

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Also, you can play DVDs on your computer. I doubt your computer recognizes HDDVD or Blu-Ray (though that may change with time). quote>

Actually, the higher model HP's my store sells come with HDDVD drives, and we've been selling Blu-Ray drives for computers for about almost a year now.

[Haljackey 17,241]

Duke:  To clarify some things you mentioned,

-Sony's higher-end laptops come with a Blu-Ray Drive

-Toshiba's higher-end laptops come with a HD-DVD Drive

-You can purchase a Blu-Ray drive for a desktop computer, although its awfully expensive (I'm not too sure if HD-DVD is avalable yet)

My HD-TV's resolution is 1920X1080, which is MUCH better than the 1024X768 resolution on computers and the 640X480 resolution on "tube" TVs.

[Zelgadis 638]

Originally posted by: Duke87 My personal opinion on this matter? It isn't broken, so it doesn't need fixing. So I recommend the following course of action:

-keep buying old fashioned tube TVs until nobody makes them anymore. Until then, they're cheaper!

-keep buying regular old DVDs and DVD players until nobody makes them anymore. Again, cheaper.

No reason to spend more money on something than you have to after all.

quote>

It's not just about the money.  These are words of a person who is not concerned about video quality.  And I am a video nut.  I don't care how much it costs.  It delights me to see great video quality.  Sound quality I'm not picky about, so I'll go cheap there.

That's why I spent $1000 on a new Laserdisc player.  It was a lot, but I buy laserdiscs whenever possible (unfortunately, not for movies less than 10 years old. ) because DVD doesn't measure up as far as video quality.  Money well spent. 

The computer issue is tricky.  But I'm going to go with Blu-Ray.  Apple and Sony have a pretty good partnership going and I'm virtually certain that Apples are going to all have Blu-Rays in the near future.  So that's yet another egg in the growing Blu-Ray basket.  And there's the PS3.  Not popular just yet, but it will be after one more price drop, I think.

Does anyone make combo Blu-Ray/HDDVD computer drives yet?

ISF

[beebs 129]

I haven't seen any combo drives at best buy yet. Only the Blu-Ray. Its only a matter of time, I should think, before someone comes up with something though..

[SpecialEddie 3]

Betamax pwned!

[sithlrd98 66]

As far as I know , the biggest problem with blu-ray (besides price) is the multiple layers of DRM that is supposed to make piracy of content imposible (or very near) because it can be loaded with multiple keys and thus enable locking out pirated keys. Of course , micro$oft is trumpeting HD-DVD and with stores like Wal-Mart selling HD-DVD players after thanksgiving for under 100 bucks , HD-DVD probably will be the winner(the pron industry were early adopters with HD-DVD just like with VHS) what that means for the consumer is you buy an HDTV so you can watch the newest that hollywood has to offer, you spend even more money on a Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) player and special HDMI cables , plug it all in and the HDCP inside either the player or TV say you aren't authorized to vew the content that you paid for by displaying a black screen!

just my .02

[Haljackey 17,241]

Originally posted by: sithlrd98   stores like Wal-Mart selling HD-DVD players after thanksgiving for under 100 bucks... you spend even more money on a Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) player and special HDMI cablesquote>

Under $100 for a HD-DVD player? They are at least 3X that price here!  I should head to Wal-Fart sometime.  Regarding HDMI cables, you can get them as as cheap as $10 most places.  In fact, my "upconverting" DVD player came with a HDMI cable.

What really puzzles me right now is that there is little or no 3rd party HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players yet.  If they entered the market, they would really drive prices down (just like when they entered the DVD market).  However, I think that along with the consumer, 3rd parties are waiting for a winner in the competition, then will release their players.

I remember on Boxing Day (Dec. 26 if you aren't Canadian), I bought a 3rd party DVD player for $9.99 CAD.  I wish HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray players were that cheap!

[beebs 129]

Honestly, haljackey.. wait until boxing day to get an hd player. Checking bestbuy.ca, the cheapest HD player is 300.. that'll probably be what.. 100, 150 on boxing day? If I didn't have to work for like 10 hours that day, I'd be out trying to buy one too.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Originally posted by: beebs I haven't seen any combo drives at best buy yet. Only the Blu-Ray. Its only a matter of time, I should think, before someone comes up with something though..quote>

LG Electronics do one, they are make the worlds first Blu-ray Disc Rewriter & HD DVD-ROM Drive.

The Combo DVD Player the LG BH100.

Samsung and Pioneer are also close to releasing I think, if not already.

[coolotter88 2]

HDDVD, Blu-ray has already admitted they've lost some momentum.

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

I actually have a Blu-Ray Player, well a Playstation 3 anyway. The PS3 games are Blu Ray format which is going to do the format a lot of good. But to be honest i cant see the discs being that popular in film format. However, if the PS3 uses them for games, Blu Ray is here to stay.

[Haljackey 17,241]

Originally posted by: beebs Honestly, haljackey.. wait until boxing day to get an hd player. Checking bestbuy.ca, the cheapest HD player is 300.. that'll probably be what.. 100, 150 on boxing day?quote>

Really, you think they will be down to about $100-150?  I should head there for a door crasher then.  Thanks for the info!  I was waiting till around then to buy a player anyway.

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Anyways, looking at the results from the poll, its pretty much equal.  However, 3 of you said "other".  Would you care to explain what you have in mind?  (I know there are other next-gen formats out there other than HD-DVD or Blu-Ray so thats why I put the other in the poll).

[beebs 129]

Haljackey: Probably the cheaper ones will be. There weren't very many HD/Blu Ray players last year at boxing day so I don't have all that much to base my stuff off of. But that would be my early estimate.

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

blu-ray?!?! but i just finished converting my VHS to DVDs!

[Haljackey 17,241]

I had hoped this poll would help me influence my decision, but because it is so close (as of now), I guess I will wait for a clear winner in the race.

I wonder what would happen to the PS3 if HD-DVD won?  (I.E: Its games are all Blu-Ray discs)