I recently purchased an internal LG BluRay/HD-DVD disk drive for my computer. With HD-DVD now proclaimed "dead" and a lot of the titles going on amazon for real cheap (<$5), is the quality the same or better to warrant buying HD-DVD?

I figure buying HD-DVD would prevent my friends from "borrowing" my movies for long periods of time and HD movies for that cheap is a good deal. I could pick up 10 titles for the same price as 3 BR ones.

I run a 21.5" Asus TN computer monitor at full 1080p and sit about 3-5 feet away from it. The differences I've seen from DVD to Blu-Ray is amazing.

Reader in question:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136154

EDIT: Any chance there's a list out there with reviews for HD-DVD movies, much like the one that AVS has for BRs?
EDIT 2: For example, Serenity on HD-DVD is $4. On BR it's $19. Big viewing difference?

I recently purchased an internal LG BluRay/HD-DVD disk drive for my computer. With HD-DVD now proclaimed "dead" and a lot of the titles going on amazon for real cheap (<$5), is the quality the same or better to warrant buying HD-DVD?

I figure buying HD-DVD would prevent my friends from "borrowing" my movies for long periods of time and HD movies for that cheap is a good deal. I could pick up 10 titles for the same price as 3 BR ones.

I run a 21.5" Asus TN computer monitor at full 1080p and sit about 3-5 feet away from it. The differences I've seen from DVD to Blu-Ray is amazing.

Reader in question:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136154

EDIT: Any chance there's a list out there with reviews for HD-DVD movies, much like the one that AVS has for BRs?
EDIT 2: For example, Serenity on HD-DVD is $4. On BR it's $19. Big viewing difference?

I'd go ahead and buy any movies you like on HD DVD - in most cases, the quality is the same. In some cases, the quality may even be better as I've heard some of the BR versions add DNR which causes some loss of detail. Some of the BR titles do have better (lossless) audio though, but IMO, not enough to justify the price premium. The HD DVD's should at least have Dolby Digital Plus, which is better than what you'd find on DVD anyway.

BTW, there's a site called highdefdigest that has reviews for both HD and BR titles.

I recently purchased an internal LG BluRay/HD-DVD disk drive for my computer. With HD-DVD now proclaimed "dead" and a lot of the titles going on amazon for real cheap (<$5), is the quality the same or better to warrant buying HD-DVD?

I figure buying HD-DVD would prevent my friends from "borrowing" my movies for long periods of time and HD movies for that cheap is a good deal. I could pick up 10 titles for the same price as 3 BR ones.

I run a 21.5" Asus TN computer monitor at full 1080p and sit about 3-5 feet away from it. The differences I've seen from DVD to Blu-Ray is amazing.

Reader in question:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136154

EDIT: Any chance there's a list out there with reviews for HD-DVD movies, much like the one that AVS has for BRs?
EDIT 2: For example, Serenity on HD-DVD is $4. On BR it's $19. Big viewing difference?

Keep in mind that you are buying movie for the long run. That LG drive maybe a deal but if it goes belly up in a year or so you may have some problem finding a replacement since those are end of line product and nobody is producing them anymore (this apply to any hd-dvd player, stand alone or pc).

You may end up having to buy them all back on BR in the end.

Some time a good deal isn't really one when you think about it.

Keep in mind that you are buying movie for the long run. That LG drive maybe a deal but if it goes belly up in a year or so you may have some problem finding a replacement since those are end of line product and nobody is producing them anymore (this apply to any hd-dvd player, stand alone or pc).

You may end up having to buy them all back on BR in the end.

Some time a good deal isn't really one when you think about it.



I agree with you to a certain extent on this one. Just think about how many obsolete gear still has legacy support. You have a number of options to still be able to play any HD-DVDs you purchase.

1) You can always pickup a cheap Microsoft HD-DVD drive as backup.
2) You can rip the HD-DVD and convert to Blu-ray (future proof somewhat)
3) You can rip the HD-DVD and play in a software player such as TMT or PowerDVD.

Option 2 is the best option of the ones listed.

I agree with you to a certain extent on this one. Just think about how many obsolete gear still has legacy support. You have a number of options to still be able to play any HD-DVDs you purchase.

1) You can always pickup a cheap Microsoft HD-DVD drive as backup.
2) You can rip the HD-DVD and convert to Blu-ray (future proof somewhat)
3) You can rip the HD-DVD and play in a software player such as TMT or PowerDVD.

Option 2 is the best option of the ones listed.

Option 1 just pushes away the problem for a time. And you may end up spending more on those spare than on a new BR player. Some $150 player are coming soon.

Option 2 is too much work and end up costing more if you factor in the time it takes you to tweak it and the cost of the media.

Option 3 is ok if you stream or if you have a really silent PC. I wouldn't want to watch a movie on my quad with all the fan and the noisy HDD and optical.
But that is only my personal preference YMMV.

Keep in mind that you are buying movie for the long run. That LG drive maybe a deal but if it goes belly up in a year or so you may have some problem finding a replacement since those are end of line product and nobody is producing them anymore (this apply to any hd-dvd player, stand alone or pc).

You may end up having to buy them all back on BR in the end.

Some time a good deal isn't really one when you think about it.

What is the 'long run' for Blu-ray discs? 10-20 years maybe, before something better comes too replace those as well, as DVD did to VHS and LD? I agree though a backup should be purchased if you're going to buy more than 40-50 titles or so (40 HD DVD movies at $5.00 each is still only $200, practically worth it for a one time use), and one that will be playing only HD DVDs, so as to reduce the usage as much as possible. HD DVDs are not going to get played very often down the road, as people's collection get played through and they start to cycle through it again. Maybe only a few times each month, or it may lie dormant for periods of time, thus extending the lifespan.
An HD DVD add-on drive only costs new $40 at Frys. LD players are still dirt cheap on ebay, BTW, same as some other bygone formats. The player's lifespan is longer because they don't get constant use like active formats do.

I'd go ahead and buy any movies you like on HD DVD - in most cases, the quality is the same. In some cases, the quality may even be better as I've heard some of the BR versions add DNR which causes some loss of detail. Some of the BR titles do have better (lossless) audio though, but IMO, not enough to justify the price premium. The HD DVD's should at least have Dolby Digital Plus, which is better than what you'd find on DVD anyway.
I'd second this. $5 HD DVDs on Amazon are a screaming deal. Cheaper than DVDs in most cases.

What is the 'long run' for Blu-ray discs? 10-20 years maybe, before something better comes too replace those as well, as DVD did to VHS and LD? I agree though a backup should be purchased if you're going to buy more than 40-50 titles or so (40 HD DVD movies at $5.00 each is still only $200, practically worth it for a one time use), and one that will be playing only HD DVDs, so as to reduce the usage as much as possible. HD DVDs are not going to get played very often down the road, as people's collection get played through and they start to cycle through it again. Maybe only a few times each month, or it may lie dormant for periods of time, thus extending the lifespan.
An HD DVD add-on drive only costs new $40 at Frys. LD players are still dirt cheap on ebay, BTW, same as some other bygone formats. The player's lifespan is longer because they don't get constant use like active formats do.

The long run is being able to go to any store and buy an actual player off the shelf if the one you've got crap out. Those end of line hd-dvd player won't be available for ever and once they are gone you are prety much limited to ebay or used player.

The guy asked for an opinion and I gave mine. For me I wouldn't go into HD-DVD at this point since it is a dead format after all. Do you still buy titles on LD when you know that the DVD is available? Of course you don't. And you wouldn't consider buying a couple of laserdisk player and titles at this time if you can get the same titles on the actual format.

I would buy only the titles that are lesser known and that are likely to take a while to be released again on HD-DVD. The rest I would go with BR.

For example, Serenity on HD-DVD is $4. On BR it's $19. Big viewing difference?Big difference? No, how about "no difference"!

There are many hundreds of HD DVDs still available, and a couple hundred are actually worth owning. :p

I disagree with those who say "but you might find yourself someday without being able to find a player if yours breaks". There will always be playback options available from somewhere--there have been many hundreds of thousands of PC drives and set-top players that were produced.

The long run is being able to go to any store and buy an actual player off the shelf if the one you've got crap out. Those end of line hd-dvd player won't be available for ever and once they are gone you are prety much limited to ebay or used player.
HD DVD players will be around for a long time.

I did a quick search and found D-VHS players at B&H Photo and other on-line stores...in-stock! 10 years from now if you need an HD DVD player, it will be very easy to find. I bet there are still warehouses filled with 360 add-ons too.

Also, I bet in 5 years everyone will be ripping their movies to a media PCs and other devices like many do today with DVD. Which means you won't need an HD DVD player. In 5 years the average hard drive will be at least 5 TB which will hold 250+ HD DVD flix.

At the slow rate that studios are releasing Blu-ray titles, HD-DVD is going to be around a long time. There are just too many classic titles out there that will take years to be released on BD (if in our lifetimes) and look fantastic. There's also a trend of excessively degraining older titles like Dark City and Patton so that's bad news if you like films to look like films. Who knows what these studios will do with if they ever rerelease classics on BD.

If you're more into recent titles, HD-DVD is a less appealing option. Studios have been great at releasing recent hits on BD in fantastic quality.

Of course BD does sometimes look and sound better but I'm constantly amazed at how doubling the bit rate returned so little improvement on some titles.

I'd say go ahead and get whatever titles that you want on HD DVD. You can always rip them and use the PC as a media server.

I wouldn't be afraid of buying HD DVDs at all. Of course there are title to title variations but overall HD DVD looks as good as BD. I've been buying new and like new discs for $3-7 for quite a while now and all seem to work fine. On BD the price would be 3x or more and as mentioned above, the SD DVD often costs more.

Players are pretty cheap too so it's not a bad idea to have a spare set top box. Used A30s are $60 or so. Just make sure you test it out and that the seller has good feedback.

Because of HD DVD I'm holding off on BD for possibly another year plus can upconvert Netflix rentals of titles I don't have in HD. I'm not hurting for movies to watch.

When the cost of a movie is about the same as a burger and some fries, you should buy if the title appeals to you.

The useful lifespan of the movie on HD DVD will be much longer than the burger & fries, so you're getting a bargain - with staying power.

Player availability is a very distant concern of mine. For $5 a movie, it's hard to lose. With all the money you save, you can buy another player on ebay and still be on top. I've only bought 25 movies and Heroes season 1 so far, but I've only spent $135 in media. 25 blu ray discs would be well over $400 on a good sale, so my $130 BH200 has already paid for itself and then some.

Player availability is a very distant concern of mine. For $5 a movie, it's hard to lose. With all the money you save, you can buy another player on ebay and still be on top. I've only bought 25 movies and Heroes season 1 so far, but I've only spent $135 in media. 25 blu ray discs would be well over $400 on a good sale, so my $130 BH200 has already paid for itself and then some.

That's a very good price for the BH200. With that, and the $5 HD DVDs, you're not doing bad at all. ;)

Hell ya....I bought an A3 with 10 movies for $25 :)

Also I bought some off Amazon for $5 each, some from Kroger for $4 each, a couple from private sellers...range from $3 to 7...plus I trade with someone for regular DVD for their HDDVD LOL