I think maybe the advantage may go towards HD-DVD.

The way I see it, HD has a price advantage on the players themselves.
They have players withing $400-500 price range.

Now Blu-ray has $800-1K range.

Say a customer spending money on a new HD format machine, may be tempted by Blu-Ray because of the advertised hype. But he may see the LG machine as hmm its only a couple hundred more and I dont have to worry about which format wins and buys it.

Either way. BD = 1, HD = 1.

However, if you have a customer that justs wants HD movies for the cheapest price they can get. HD = 1, BD = 0.
And given current state of HD disc software, with BD still not drastically improved over HD-DVD. And current price point. May lead to drive more HD-DVD software sales as these new dual format owners are going to be tempted to try both selections.

Well it says that a company which formally supported blu ray and in fact demoed a blu ray player at the last CES has decided to *&ll with this "war". We'll make money off of both and provide the leadership to do so. Kudos to LG.

Amazon has BD players for $575

All I know is that the Consumers are going to win due to the format war. With a pending $299.99 HD-A2 price, Joe-Six packs are going to flock to the HD-DVD format.

I think maybe the advantage may go towards HD-DVD.

The way I see it, HD has a price advantage on the players themselves.
They have players withing $400-500 price range.

Now Blu-ray has $800-1K range.


Either way. BD = 1, HD = 1. ???

However, if you have a customer that justs wants HD movies for the cheapest price they can get. HD = 1, BD = 0.




Looks like Samsung will announce a 2nd Gen player for 500 bucks this week.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200701/kt2007010720393611880.htm

We'll see if this pans out.

I still think that it's to early for counting Joe Six Pack as contributors to either side. Most of those guys are perfectly happy with a soft picture and a 90 buck player. It definitely is getting interesting this week. Toshiba also announced today the A20(1080P different chip than the XA2 and targeted as a mid level player) I am still waiting for more reviews on the XA2 before committing to a stand alone HD-DVD player.

All I know is that the Consumers are going to win due to the format war. With a pending $299.99 HD-A2 price, Joe-Six packs are going to flock to the HD-DVD format.

Doesn't appear that Toshiba delivered on that $299.99 price. They balked and actually introduced a more expensive player.

yep but its a 1080P.... not 1080i like the A2

They actually introduced a more expensive player.

Yet it's still cheaper and does more than the Blu-Ray players.

What do you think will happen with format war after BH100 hits stores?
Not much, because the LG is a crapola HD DVD player, yet retails for $1200.

It doesn't even support chapter thumbnails for pete's sake.

Looks like Samsung will announce a 2nd Gen player for 500 bucks this week.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200701/kt2007010720393611880.htm

We'll see if this pans out.

I still think that it's to early for counting Joe Six Pack as contributors to either side. Most of those guys are perfectly happy with a soft picture and a 90 buck player. It definitely is getting interesting this week. Toshiba also announced today the A20(1080P different chip than the XA2 and targeted as a mid level player) I am still waiting for more reviews on the XA2 before committing to a stand alone HD-DVD player.

Actually $799. $500 is just a fiction created by a Korean source.

I don't think LG's player will affect the war that much. It is still too expensive for the average consumer. You can get a HD-dvd and BD player for around $1K, so I don't see this player being much of a factor. Maybe if it was priced around $800, that would be a different story.

I don't think LG's player will affect the war that much. It is still too expensive for the average consumer. You can get a HD-dvd and BD player for around $1K, so I don't see this player being much of a factor. Maybe if it was priced around $800, that would be a different story.


hd-dvd is currently droping down to the sweet sweet price point of $300 . That will start selling alot of stand alone hd-dvd players

Keep in mind you need a HDTV 50" or bigger or HD projector to get full benefit of either HD or BD, and the majority of folks still do not have that. It could be argued both formats jumped the gun for that reason, though I am sure most AVS members would disagree. Within 3-5 years I expect the majority will have those big HDTVs and by then HD/BD players will be only slightly more expensive than SD DVD players are now. We will also have dual format players and/or dual format discs. How that will affect the "war" is yet to be determined, however.

Now BB can claim that they're unbiased! :D

I'm sure every one of these will be running the Blu-ray demo, however.

Looks like Samsung will announce a 2nd Gen player for 500 bucks this week.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200701/kt2007010720393611880.htm

We'll see if this pans out.

I still think that it's to early for counting Joe Six Pack as contributors to either side. Most of those guys are perfectly happy with a soft picture and a 90 buck player. It definitely is getting interesting this week. Toshiba also announced today the A20(1080P different chip than the XA2 and targeted as a mid level player) I am still waiting for more reviews on the XA2 before committing to a stand alone HD-DVD player.

yes - they have announced a 2nd gen player for .......$799

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/07/samsung-unveils-the-first-second-generation-blu-ray-player-bd-p/