There is no reason to buy either format for now as there are lots of technology and copyright hurdles to simple home use right now. If you can wait a year or two, you'll be able to buy a Chinese made player that plays both formats for about $200-300.

If you are planning on buying a PS3 or XB360, the you'll get one at a subsidized cost and get the added benefit of having a game console, but a simple player is not worth the cost.

 

Yup, I'm picking up my 1080P panel this Saturday. What spurred me to go for 1080P over the usual 1080i/720p panels was the inevitable release of Blu-ray and the PS3 at a subsidized cost. Remember when the PS2 was a great value as a DVD player alone?

Anyhow, Netflix has already started adding HD-DVD to their line up and they promise Blu-ray support as well, for no additional cost.

 

I'm not jumping on it, that's for sure. There was a huge difference in quality between VHS and DVD, but I don't think the upgrade to HD-DVD is worth the trouble. I'll give it a couple of years at least, see what happens, before I upgrade anything.

 

Not interested, especially since the disks cost like 50% more. You would think that the movie companies would have figured out by now that their pricing structure for home media is already too agressive. The even higher prices on the new media formats will just encourage less purchases and more priracy.

Andrew

 

video: put it on a hard drive.

 

The PS3 will come with a blu-ray drive and that is the reason why I think that the blu-ray format will eventually win the war. By the end of this year, there will be a lot of PS3's around the world. How many HD-DVD players will out there be? I doubt it will match the PS3. For now, I'm satisfied with my Samsung upconverting DVD player.

 

Well, if looking at Sony's past technology pushes is any indication, odds are Blu-Ray will fail. Betamax did, as did ATRAC. Its crappy copy protection schemes were pretty unpopular too. You're right though that Sony's PS market share will probably be big, so that may help it. MS got a year's head start on the PS3 but hasn't been able to ship many units until just recently, and now a lot of people are just waiting for the PS3.

 

Well I'm a big SONY fan, although I never brought into their lame ATRAC format but I think blu-ray will be different. It will succeed because of the PS3, especially if the PS3 comes in on a very competitive price point.

 

If you look at the list of Blu-Ray supporters, it seems that Blu-Ray is set to stay.

 

Blu-Ray. Mav made the point. I'm waiting for my PS3 to upgrade my room systems. Im getting the PS3, a Yamaha HT amplifier and a BOSE Acoustimass 10 Speaker system, oh and my HD Direct TV receiver. Im done.