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If you had one choice now, which format would you pick?
Blu-ray (What are your reasons?)
HD DVD (What are your reasons?)
Discussion is locked
Look, Bluray does <now> have a protective layer, but the only reason for having it was because the surface of the bluray was weaker than the HdDVD ie. easier to get damaged
Why? I just no longer trust anything that Sony does. All the DRM, all the propritary stuff, the root kits, the ego Etc. I just do not trust them any longer.
It is just not to be trusted. I no longer have respect for the company or their Business practices.
I own HDDVD and love it.
Anybody remember how much better PS2 and PS3 were supposed to be over the Xbox and Xbox 360? Did they deliver? They sure like to overemphasize their products, don't they? Some people argue that Bluray is the better of the two in terms of quality, storage, etc. Well, the quality thing is complete bogusness, and who cares about the storage thing when you can watch the same movie, in the same high def quality, on either? And what about the problems that Bluray has been having? ALL HD DVD players are required to have internet capabilities for all firmware downloads (not that they need them like the nasty Java updates bluray has needed). BOO SONY!!! PS. I love my Sony HD TV.
Around here we refer to MS as "The Evil Empire" screwing every legitimate bit of competition with unfair business practices and lawyers that make even the DOJ back down. And the legendary reliability and security of their software is sure to inspire good faith. The Paramount move doesn't surprise us. This war will not be decided on what is the best product, but rather on best tactics.
Hi all...
This my first time on the Cnet forum so be gentle 
I am looking to purchase a dvd player (the most modern one -most likely blu ray) which has the ability to take usb based hardrives and play content which is on it.
Please can you advise accordingly?
Thanks
Mainly because I have a player on my Xbox 360. Well... actually, it's the porn industry. Look it up. Blu Ray won't go there... hahahahaha! Eat that, Sony!
Who watches porn on disc anymore, that was the 80's when there was only video, porn is all over the web where youcan readily get it 24 hours a day, this isnt gonna make a dent in HD DVD's slow decline into the dark abyss.......
While the Blu-Ray format may be technically superior, I don't trust Sony to do the right thing by the consumer.
That said though, if Blu-Ray wins and a Blu-Ray player is ever affordable, I'll have to buy it. Currently I am sitting on two HD Widescreen LCD televisions that I am only getting marginal joy from due to their lackluster performance with crappy regular old television signals. While I get a beautiful HD picture with my antenna, I feel crippled without the Tivo functionality.
Bottom line is, when a high-quality, affordable player comes out, I'll jump off the fence and take a side. Right now I'm rooting for HD-DVD.
Come One Samsung, or some other Korean company! Make a $150 HD-DVD Player with HDMI outputs, and send pallettes of them to Best Buy! Make it slick looking and give it some nice features! I'll buy two!
I will admit that the picture is as good as blu ray, but the mechanics, ergonomics & functionality of the toshiba hd-a2 (which is their/the *only* reasonably-priced hd dvd player available) turned me off completely. It's great for people who want to merely put in a disk and press play, but beyond that, what a mess. Try to fast forward/rewind to get to a spot on the disk - virtually impossible as it overshoots by 10 seconds each way.
Half the time it seemed to boot up and can't see the tv due to some hdmi incompatibly. Other times it wouldn't boot up at all and needed a "reset" cycle (press the power button for 30 seconds to reboot it, as ti becomes not responsive. Surprising I had any hair left - had to bring it back for a refund.
In comparison to that the samsung dv-p1200 at a similar price point for blu ray, and plays like a player should. Not as responsive as a standard (old) dvd player for sure, but just fine.
Agreed that sony is borg-like, and has done some really stupid format stuff in the past, but this time, I think toshiba has shot themselves in the foot by producing such a lousy player.
my 5 cents....
*thorenj* I'm sorry you had trouble with your Toshiba HD-DVD player, but you should know that yours was DEFECTIVE. This does not mean they ALL are! Mine has worked flawlessly since day 1, and it UP-CONVERTS many of my standard DVDs to near-HD quality on playback! Best example: I bought the Discovery STD-FORMAT DVD set "Planet Earth" just before Amazon had the Toshiba (with 5 HD-DVD titles as rebate) on sale for under $250. When I play it in the Toshiba HD-A2, the up-converted picture is nothing short of SPECTACULAR. Everyone who sees it one time begs to see the whole 5-disk set. My comments about not indicting an entire company due to problems with a particular product extend to all those who are bashing Sony as well. Sony has always made many fine products. I have a DV Camcorder and 52" HD TV by them, and both have worked flawlessly and are a JOY to use and own. Their Windows laptops are always full-featured, and they were the first company outside of Apple to offer FireWire (Sony calls it iLink) as a STANDARD feature. (And I'm saying this as a computer consultant who works on BOTH). I have not used a BD player, but their high price is what kept me from purchasing. It's sad for the consumer that the movie studios are "taking sides" and only producing High Def disks for their chosen platform. If they want to maximize their profits, they should make them in BOTH formats, and let the market decide.
My HD-A30 is probably the best one.The HD-A35 some have had problems before the 1.3 update.I can play 1080p/24fps movies with Dolby TrueHD through my Onkyo ts-r605 AV reciever.I also own the Onkyo HT-R530 which turns the audio into DTS or Dolby Pro Logic 2x(it's a few yrs old)I have a PS3 which will not out put TrueHD Dolby.I got this player for $199.99 Thats a pretty reasonable price considering I paid $399.99 for the smaller PS3.I have Xbox 360 too!I love them all,they each bring something great to the table.NO ONE COMPANY SHOULD HOLD A MONOPOLY ON THE CONSUMER!There is room for both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.HD-DVD are putting 3 movies together for the price of one,like all the Jason Bourne movies as one package.I haven't seen that from Blu-Ray,not to many bargains at all.
Doesn't really matter to me, but I did upgrade to enable Blu-Ray viewing and recording. My player and software will also allow me to view HD movies. It's a format war but if I can play both, I'll take either. I'm not big into recording. I went with Blu-Ray because, frankly, I'm partial to blue.
If you've been thinking about making the switch to Blu-ray (and you should, you really should), there's no better movie than Transformers to make you a believer.
On 1080p, the picture is crystal clear, the colors are vibrant, and the sound is amazing, I swear you can practically feel those freakin' robots.
Check out more at www.transformersmovie.com
Thanks,
Martin TF
Are you done with that tenderizing mallet yet?
I could really use it right about now.
25 gigs VS 15 gigs, per side per layer. need i say more? blue ray has more space.
more space= less compression = better audio and video quality,longer playing times or more files if your using it for data storage.
blu ray is also more phisicly durable than HDHVD, HDDVD is phisicly the same as normal DVDs, two thin plastic discs glued together with the aluminum and gold data layers sandwiched in between. the glue can fail and the discs can delaminate and come apart.
blu rays are 1 solid polycarbonate disc with the data pressed into the read side then the aluminum and gold reflective layers plated over that, with a hard coating as the outermost layer to help protect agains scratches and dirt. because BDs are 1 pice of plasic insted of 2 glued together makes them much more rigid.
betamax failed because it sacraficed play time for picture quality. blue ray has both longer play times and better picture and audio quality (due to more space and less compression)
you get what you pay for, dont buy somthing just because its cheap and has a cool name.
As ridiculous as my logic may seem (and I have a feeling I may get chewed out for this considering how passionate some of you are... nerds) I think Blu Ray may hold the edge, because it has a better and simple name. HDDVD has two too many syllables. "Hey guys, I'm gong to go pick up the new Pirates of the Caribbean HD DVD" vs "Hey guys, I'm going to go pick up the new Pirates of the Caribbean blu-ray". HDDVD just seems like a mouth full to say. I can see blu-ray becoming part of our vernacular. If you look at the past, all the successfull formats had 3 syllables or less (CD, MP3, cassette, record, LP.......). You know, words you can say easily and quickly. ----- just my two cents.
Blu-Ray means that every movie maker and producer will to share profits with SONY. I don't want this.
I would rather that money go into making good content, not paying for the format it is on !!
I was on the losing side in the Beta vs. VHS war because I picked technical superiority over capacity. I was on the losing side of the Laserdisc vs. CED war because I picked marketing power over technical superiority. But both of those were back in the infancy of home video and I had to pick something in order to have anything.
With yet another format war, I refuse to pick sides wihout a compelling reason. I'll continue to buy DVD's until the dust settles. I'll also hold off buying a 1080 big screen TV for lack of an acceptable pre-recorded program source.
If there are others like me, and I'm sure there are, this war is hurting the entire home theater industry.
It is amazing how Sony NEVER learns a lesson. I detest their choice of shoving their own Memory SH!Tick cards standard into their cameras and cell phones instead of the more popular and cheaper SD-cards. Just like Beta vs. HD. Just like their failed Music Store experiment.
This company makes some great products. e.g. I loved the Sony Ericsson P900, and the P990i I use is not bad, Memory Stick notwithstanding. But, how stupid is SONY even in those. Even Apple, that used to make everything non-PC-standard, made its iPods use standard headphones. Not Sony.
You have to buy ugly, stubby, stupid looking Sony connector headphones OR chargers to work with the P990. Oh, and they are DIFFERENT from the ugly, stubby, stupid looking Sony connector headphones OR chargers that I collected over time for the P900. Doh.
Their UX280-whatever handheld PC laptop is truly beautiful but uses Memory sticks, making it useless for using to transfer pics from an SD-card camera to the Sony handheld. So I never invested a dime in their Memory Sticks to use with these devices.
The Sony Bravia 50" XBR 1080p TV I am watching is a thing of beauty, listening to it on a Sony wireless sound system that is not bad.
So, Sony can make great products, and win loyalty BUT by doing their typical NON-standard, we-are-better-though-it-means-we-will-fail, actions mean I will support any decent standard over Sony's.
Now that iPhones are out, even my Sony phone-using days are coming to an end.
Imran
imran.TV
Sony didn't learn back in the days of Beta vs. VHS and who won? Even though they are now making some small concessions in Taiwan, they are still placating Disney by refusing to support adult entertainment, and that will likely spell disaster just like years past.
I'm going to let the early adopter schmucks and the market decide the winner, then AND ONLY THEN will I shell out money for a player. I refuse to pay for a player that who the hell knows is going to be the winner.
~mario
Here are the real reasons HD DVD will win.
1. Porn will decide. Weather you watch it or not, love it or hate it. Porn single handedly swung the battle in the Sony Beta Max VHS wars. It maybe sad, but it is true. Its a huge global industry. One of the top reasons' your surfing broadband right now is because of it.
2. Usually proprietary formats don't win because of money, this is why your running Ethernet right now and not Token Ring or some form of Wireless Token Ring. In the early days Token Ring was faster, and to some degree better. But every hub, NIC and switch had a small amount going to IBM. It was just too expensive compared to Ethernet.
Why does Sony do this? Sony Beta Max, Sony Memory Sticks, Song Blue Ray...
Do you like paying top dollar for a 2 gig memory Stick, I can get a two gig SD card for a 1/4 of the price now.
Look at the prices for these players...mmmm I see a trend here.
1. The porn argument has been debunked in a number of places. While VHS and the internet had their uptake rates positively affected by porn, it was because they offered privacy and economy. HD porn does nothing to improve on those, and only a few technophile porn fans will be interested.
2. There isn't anything particularly proprietary about Blu-Ray. Yes it requires new manufacturing facilities, but so did CDs - did that make them a proprietary format?
Why? Because the PS3 install base is the closest thing either format will get to achieving critical mass. A protracted and ultimately futile 'format war' a la DVD-A/SACD will benefit no-one, least of all consumers. And unlike those high-resolution audio formats, people will be increasingly aware of the difference between SD and HD as their favourite TV shows switch over to hi-def. I think that the HD-DVD group has their stuff together more - managed copy, interactivity etc. - but a few hundred thousand players versus a few million PS3s seems like a losing battle to me.
Blu-ray is a cool name and all, and I think they are both equal, but my new laptop has an HD-DVD drive, so it won't read bluray.
What about unifying the two formats into one player? What about skipping a player entirely and using your pc to download hd content and producing more hdmi laden pc's?...think forward...Happauge has good products along these lines...I am into the idea of simplifying, not complicating hardware. Blu-ray is a disc containing digital hd formatted media. Do we really need discs anymore? Just more things that won't decay in a landfill. The iPhone is a step in the right direction. Now let's do it all and wirelessly...Alot of it is already possible.
for this kind of HD you will need more bandwidth to download. If a DVD movie size is about 700mb (not the whole disc, just the main movie) that takes about two hours to download at 256kbps, so I wonder how much would these HD movies sizes would be and maybe they will take up to 4 hours or more to download. I'm also sure that we will need to backup our files on some optical media because of hard disks mechanical failure, and 25gb against 15gb of storage room makes a difference to me; however I'm not choosing any until it settle down.
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