How long before you take the HD-DVD plunge?

[joe kurtz]

I guess I could be considered a somewhat "early adopter" when it comes to home video technology seeing as how I spent a bundle on a VCR way back in 1981 when I was 19.
I'd been reading about them for a year or two & wanted one badly, but figured I'd be waiting quite a while before I could afford one. But, that summer my Dad died unexpectedly & I recieved a significant bit of money from his life insurance policy ( & before anyone says it... NO, I didn't want a VCR THAT much! ).
Being in college at the time, I spent some of it on a more reliable vehicle than what I had as well as on other school related things, then I took that bundle that I spoke of earlier & purchased an RCA SELECTAVISION VHS VCR.
Believe it or not, that baby ran over a grand at the time, but, at the end of the day it was worth every penny.
If I remember correctly, I remained the only one in my circle of friends & family that actually owned a VCR until sometime in '84. The thing was a tank too! Though it may have been big & bulky, it proved to be durable as well. Though I eventually got newer Hi Fi Stereo models to replace it in the late '80s, that old SELECTAVISION lasted right up into the mid '90s after I gave it to my Mom.

[Tyler_Durden_208]

I'll wait until they exclusively release a movie that I love on HD-DVD. Simple as that.

[Backstabba]

When people who play DVDs are laughed at and put in the stocks...

Then I might start buying HD-DVD/Blu-ray

[Cronos]

Originally posted by Tyler_Durden_208
I'll wait until they exclusively release a movie that I love on HD-DVD. Simple as that.

same here

[HeavyFknMetal]

I'm so tired of these threads, but I still reply for some reason.

Theres nothing wrong with the current dvds that we have now.

I"ll buy the HD Dvds if they're the same price.

I'll only rebuy the dvds I've lost, or were stolen from me, or broke, on HD Dvd. As long as they're the same price.

The quality of the dvds we have now are, for the most part, perfectly fine.

Steve Bartman should be deported.

[joe kurtz]

Damn, I actually went & got so longwinded, I forgot the bloody subject of my own thread!

Anyhow, I might have been a wee bit ahead of the pack when it came to DVD as well. Though not by much.
DVD players came out in what, 1995? '96? And, I bought my first one in early '98.

Which brings us up to HD-DVD & Blu-Ray.
I must admit, I'm chomping at the bit on this one, but I'm determined to give it all at least a year in order for the market to decide which format will become mainstream & last. Not to mention come down in price by half for the player(s).
I must admit, at this point I have no idea which format will come out on top.
At first, I assumed that it would be HD-DVD because the name was just so damned self explanatory that people would be comfortable with eventually upgrading their present technology with it. I guess I still feel that way.
But, if Blu-Ray is, indeed, going to be a part of the next generation of Playstations then THAT'S a pretty strong marketing tool to consider as well. Though it certainly didn't help the PSP format to last too long...

Whichever one survives, I know that I'M definitely looking forward to it.
I have a High Definition TV & HD service through my cable provider & though DVDs still look damned good, they can't compare to watching a film on HBO HD or Showtime HD. So, I'm eager to go High Definition with my DVDs as well. Though, I certainly don't plan on replacing my entire collection of discs anytime soon. Hell, let's be honest here, I probably won't get around to replacing the bulk of films that I already own with HD versions in my lifetime. Unless I win the bloody lottery that is!
But, I do intend on buying HD discs of the majority of new releases once I've made the switch.
Like I said, though. That'll be at least another year for me.
How about the rest of you?

[zombievictim]

NEVER!

[bubutthead]

i kinda agree with digitalbits.com own estimate that "no matter what comes out, DVD's , at least our best estimate, will still be prominently popular and at the forefront for AT LEAST 10 years from now, possibly more"

either way, i guess hd-dvd/blu-ray are backwards compatible, which is good news.....but its still kinda pointless (for me at least) since i dont even have an HD-TV!

[sarah1980]

Originally posted by Tyler_Durden_208
I'll wait until they exclusively release a movie that I love on HD-DVD. Simple as that.

[TylerDurden182]

Originally posted by zombievictim
NEVER!

[thedudeman69]

Fuck those greedy Hollywood fucks. They think they need to make their DVDs better. I am currently building my collection slowly and I find out that I have to buy the dvds again? Fuck that shit. I am saying fuck them up the assholes and tell them to come and see me when you start making original movies again,.

[Psychocandy]

Originally posted by thedudeman69
Fuck those greedy Hollywood fucks. They think they need to make their DVDs better. I am currently building my collection slowly and I find out that I have to buy the dvds again? Fuck that shit. I am saying fuck them up the assholes and tell them to come and see me when you start making original movies again,.

Listen...you don't HAVE to buy anything again. No-one is twisting your arm here. It will be a long time before things settle down and until then you can stick with your DVD player. Even when (and I think it could be as much as five years down the line) you don't have a choice but to upgrade to the winning format the players will be backwardly compatible with DVD. So where is the problem? Why is everyone so against progress?

[Tyler_Durden_208]

Originally posted by Psychocandy
Listen...you don't HAVE to buy anything again. No-one is twisting your arm here. It will be a long time before things settle down and until then you can stick with your DVD player. Even when (and I think it could be as much as five years down the line) you don't have a choice but to upgrade to the winning format the players will be backwardly compatible with DVD. So where is the problem? Why is everyone so against progress?

I'm not. I'm just not gonna upgrade until I'm forced to, since that's usually how I do things.

[joe kurtz]

Originally posted by Psychocandy
Listen...you don't HAVE to buy anything again. No-one is twisting your arm here. It will be a long time before things settle down and until then you can stick with your DVD player. Even when (and I think it could be as much as five years down the line) you don't have a choice but to upgrade to the winning format the players will be backwardly compatible with DVD. So where is the problem? Why is everyone so against progress?

Good points. Very good points.
Though I can understand some of the heated backlash regarding this subject.
After all, though it's been 9 or 10 years now since DVDs first came out, I think most still consider it a new technology. Hell, there are still pockets of those that are still desperately clinging to their VHS tape collections!
Then there are those that invested a bundle into laserdiscs.
Now, there's yet another format coming out...
It can be baffling & intimidating. Not to mention frustrating & even rage inducing when one thinks of all the money one would have to spend in order to replace everything in one's collection.
Though there are those that are young enough & who have large enough disposable incomes to be able to afford to "up convert" their entire collections, as I said in my previous post, I don't plan on doing that.
I happen to REALLY enjoy High Definition images, so I'll adopt whichever format comes out on top within the next year or two. But, that's being secure in the knowledge that this next generation of technology will play all my "regular" DVDs. Rest assured, that if that were not the case, I'd be bloody pissed as well!

[Shockwave]

Im building my dvd collection.

The rate at which they want to progress just make me want to say "fuck it!" and download everything.

[Adornado]

Here's an article I found interesting..

High-def DVD player: Don't expect to be dazzled just yet
By David Colker

Los Angeles Times

As it rolls out the first high-definition DVD player, Toshiba Corp. is boasting: "Image is everything."

After testing the so-called HD DVD machine on three TVs of various dimensions, I hit on a more appropriate slogan: "Size matters."

We reached a milestone in viewing recently with the debut of the Toshiba HD-A1, which costs just shy of $500. (A deluxe model, the HD-XA1, goes for $800).

Should you care? Probably not. Because unless you already have a high-definition television at least 40 inches in size, you won't notice much of a difference.

Here's my advice: If you have a spare $500, use it toward an upgrade to a bigger set instead. In the time it takes to save up another $500, the price of HD disc players will probably drop and a pending format war may well be decided.

Disc player for the HD set
Manufacturer: Toshiba
Model: HD-A1
Price: $499.99
Pros: Shows films in HD resolution
Cons: Slow load times, some controls confusing, only a few films available in the format
Note: The HD-XA1, a deluxe model priced at $799.99, has the same basic electronics but a different design.
Source: Toshiba

When the first movies in HD DVD format were released recently, I watched NBC Universal's "Serenity" and Warner Bros. Entertainment's "The Last Samurai."

I started on a 32-inch Sony HDTV that was about 2 years old. It had no capability to accept the most current digital-hookup technology — HDMI — so I used the analog audio and video cables included with the player.

Then I popped in "Serenity" and waited. Then, I waited some more.

It took the better part of a minute for the machine to recognize the disc and ready it for playing. Not a huge amount of time in the scheme of things, but frustratingly long compared with standard DVDs.

Indeed, many functions on the Toshiba player seemed to take forever to complete. This was probably due, at least partially, to the huge volume of data on HD discs. But that didn't make it any less irritating.

Matters were not helped by the fact that the Toshiba remote didn't always work.

And it was labeled so poorly that it was barely readable except under bright light (not true of the fancy model, whose buttons are backlighted).

When the movie finally appeared, it was squeezed, causing shapes to be distorted. The globe in the Universal logo was more egg-shaped than spherical. Actresses in the first scene appeared even more emaciated than the norm.

I later found in the manual that some HD DVD discs would not play properly without HDMI.

Next, I switched to an almost new, 23-inch Samsung LCD set with HDMI hookup. The HD DVD image looked great.

But a plain old DVD of the same movie looked just as great on the set. In fact, the images looked almost identical.

Sure, during bright, outdoor scenes, the HD DVD image looked a tiny bit cleaner, as if barely a day's worth of dust had been wiped from the screen.

Finally, I tried the player with a 37-inch Sharp LCD set, also with HDMI. Again, the regular DVD and HD DVD images were quite good. But on a set of this size, I could see more differences.

The overall image appeared richer, more dense. At moments, especially during scenes in which the camera was in motion, it felt more like watching a film projected on a screen.

Using a DVD player hooked up to the same TV, I tested my perceptions by switching between the two formats. I asked a colleague to close his eyes while I chose a version, then had him open them and guess: DVD or HD DVD?

He got it right only about 75 percent of the time.

So, yes, it's better. But don't expect the dramatic leap in quality that came with the transition from VHS to DVDs in the 1990s.

Another big factor to consider before investing in an HD DVD player and movies is that a rival format, Blu-ray, is expected to hit the market this summer. Blu-ray discs will not work in HD DVD players, and vice versa.

The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray is reminiscent of the one that pitted Betamax against VHS in the 1980s.

Now, lovers of antiques can find cheap Betamax machines on eBay, along with films released during the format's brief window of viability. "Back to the Future," anyone?

[Adornado]

Upon reading that article, my interest in HD-DVD has dropped. First of all, it's too much cash to spend on something that could be made extinct by Blu-Ray. Also, like any new thing to hit the market, the technology is far from perfected...I'll wait until they cut down on the load times and make a remote that works, thank you. And, since I watch most of my movies on the 13" TV in my bedroom and not the 51" TV in my living room, so most of the time I won't be benefiting from the HD technology anyway. So, I'm going to wait to jump on the HD bandwagon, and see how much better/worse Blu-Ray is, how much the price will go down and make sure if I spend over $500 bucks I'll be a getting machine with a working remote.

[cocksmokinclerk]

Originally posted by Tyler_Durden_208
I'll wait until they exclusively release a movie that I love on HD-DVD. Simple as that.

[joe kurtz]

Originally posted by Adornado
Upon reading that article, my interest in HD-DVD has dropped. First of all, it's too much cash to spend on something that could be made extinct by Blu-Ray. Also, like any new thing to hit the market, the technology is far from perfected...I'll wait until they cut down on the load times and make a remote that works, thank you. And, since I watch most of my movies on the 13" TV in my bedroom and not the 51" TV in my living room, so most of the time I won't be benefiting from the HD technology anyway. So, I'm going to wait to jump on the HD bandwagon, and see how much better/worse Blu-Ray is, how much the price will go down and make sure if I spend over $500 bucks I'll be a getting machine with a working remote.

Oh, while I definitely plan on making the switch to whichever HD DVD format comes out on top in a year or two, I'm not going to jump the gun either. Like you, I'm going to wait for the technology to develop a bit more & for the price to come down by about half before buying.
Plus, I'm going to have to invest in a new TV set before adopting anymore new technology as well. Which, now that I think of it, will most likely push my foray into HD DVD to the two year mark.
The television I have at the moment is a 26" HDTV that I bought two years ago. I like it a lot & it's sound & picture quality are excellent for it's size, but I really would like something bigger & probably an LCD or plasma as well.

[[SD] Bob Plisskin]

I'm going to wait five years until flash memory has dropped in price so far that it becomes more economical to put films on a memory stick like 'disc'.

that's the only step up in home theatre technology that truly interests me.

<OB>

[mouldy311]

im gonna wait and see who wins the disc batle: blu-ray or HD-DVD and ill propably pick up the winner in 10 years. same thing happened with VHS and beta.

[m_burlock]

What he ^^^ said.

[adcrochunter]

Im happy with my collection now, I've invested so much in it and as long as they keep releasing regular DVDs, I'll keep on buying them.

Alan D.