I'm running out of patience. Is it Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?

Question

For all who own an HD-DVD are you happy with your purchase? How do you feel about the fact that they may become a piece of useless trash like Betamax? Do the rest of you think Blu-Ray stands a chance given that the player costs about the same as a down payment on a decent car? Please give serious reasons.

Answer 1

Wait for 1 to win the format war, and you will also see prices go down.

Keep in mind it may take years before this happens, but it will eventually occur.

Answer 2

What brought dvd players into alot of homes? It wasn't the players themselves, but actually entertainment systems (you may call them video game systems). Look at how many people had a dvd player once the Playstation 2 was released. The new Sony system PS3 will be supporting Blu-Ray, while I heard the XBox360 will require an attachment to make it playback hd-dvd. I believe each brands success will rely on the next generation of what fans call the console wars. Since the PS3 will be Blu-Ray playable out of the box, I think it will have a slight edge. Of course these systems may not decide which format is more widely used, but I think it will be a good indicator that smart people should pay attention to in the months and years to come.

Answer 3

I am going with Blu-ray.

First of all, Blu-ray can hold up to 50GB of data in its first incarnation, where as HD-DVD can hold up to 30GB.

Second, the overwhelming majority of electronics companies are behind the Blu-ray format.

Third, although the Blu-ray player and movies are more expensive at the moment, these prices will drop. Anything is more expensive when it is first introduced. When IBM introduced the PC in 1981, the base price was $1,565--affordable for businesses at the time, but not for most home users. In 1967, Amana introduced the first popular home microwave oven, the countertop Radarange in at a price point of $495.

Here are some other prices (in today's dollars) of selected electronics products:

1925 - Radio set - $83
1947 - B&W TV - $279
1955 - Color TV - $500
1980 - VCR - $1140

I can tell you that I personally remember as a kig drooling over a 5.25" floppy disk drive (the Atari 1050) for Atari 8-bit computers and thinking I could never afford the (then-dollars) $399 price tag. When Atari introduced the 520ST, all I could do was dream about it--it cost (then-dollars) $799. It was a keyboard and a CPU--no built-in storage.

Nowadays, $799 can buy you an entire computer and a screen then is 1,000,000 times as powerful as that computer was.

Blu-ray prices will drop, no doubt about it. The extra time Blu-ray is taking is being put to good use.

I have so much faith in Blu-ray that I already purchased my first Blu-ray disc--and I don't have a Blu-ray player or even an HDTV set yet! I will continue buying discs for the next year or so while I wait for the players to drop in prices. The earliest I foresee myself getting the Blu-ray player is Christmas this year. I am even delaying the purchase of my Macintosh laptop until a model with a built-in Blu-ray player is available.

Answer 4

It's far too early to tell. The HD-DVD players have just come out, Blu-Ray demo models are in some stores but not readily available. This may not turn out to have a clear winner like VHS vs Beta; eventually players will be available that will play both formats (at least one manufacturer has plans for that). Right now, I wouldn't buy a high def player until it becomes clear which one dominates or I could get a universal player.

Answer 5

Personally, I'm rooting for Blu-ray. Especially after reading this review of the Samsung and how HD-DVD players are basically Windows computers with long boot times.
http://www.avrev.com/equip/samsung_bdp1000_bluray/