Knowing what you know as of present day: What advice would you give to the average movie fan who has a low budget and is generally happy to wait? What time-frame would you suggest for them to wait to be in a "prime-time" and/or relatively safe period for buying into the HD war?

-Christmas when prices drop and deals are everywhere?
-After CES 2008 in January when whatever is revealed is revealed there?
-Mid-next year when dual format players are cheaper, more abundant?
-Or even to not wait and just get in now, given some other reasoning?

Essentially, what advice would you give to someone like your parents or perhaps a casual friend who is interested but has no money and is scared to make a mistake?

Vote in poll and add your reasonings/comments in reply. Thanks!

Wait for what? OH. "...into the HD war". Gee, that's unclear from the question.

Format wars are for early adopters and if losing your money scares you, I wouldn't bother with a BD or HD DVD player until they are $99 or around that price, so Q4 2008 is a good bet.

I would wait till CES 08. You will know everything you need to know for the year to come at that point.

I have both formats today, but for anyone else, I'd wait it out at least another 6 mos.

for me it already passed.... when the 360 addon launched there was a coupon at cc where you could get one for 160. since i already had a 360 it was a no brainer for me and i can get in on the next gen stuff and if hd-dvd loses im only out 160. (considering i rent 95% of my movies)

and by the time the format war is decided whichever player wins will be ~199 or less so if bluray were to win i could get in for minimal $.

Wait until most releases are available in your local video rental store, with player rentals also. Once that happens, rent a player and try it out on your own equipment to see what the benefits are.

If they are good, consider buying whichever format that fulfilled this. That's the way I ended up buying VHS instead of beta.

- Tom

If they're concerned primarily with "making a mistake", I'd say wait until 08 when combo/universal/dual/whatever its called players would be abundant and more affordable. Or 1 format more firmly establishes itself as the victor in this war. If neither has happened by then that might indicate more problems with the format(s) than we can imagine.

If money isn't your biggest concern, and you feel comfortable investing in a format (or even two) that may not last very long, then now is the perfect time to buy into HD. There's lots of great stuff on the market, and some very exciting titles on the horizon. (not as many as I might like, but that's part of the fun). It's a perfect time to start moving away from SD, but I don't reccomend it for those that *need* to know their purchase is future-proof.

For those that want a little extra assurance, I'd wait to see A) how well HD sells throughout 2007, and how the two formats compete with each other, B) If the Christmas season shows a big "push" in consumer interests toward one solution or other and C) if CES 2008 brings any changes in loyalty, and I don't just mean Universal.

With sub $299 HD-A2 players, and the 5 free HD DVD movies, now is the time to jump in.

Essentially, what advice would you give to someone like your parents or perhaps a casual friend who is interested but has no money and is scared to make a mistake?

If they have no money then i'd hazard a guess they don't have a HDTV in which case buying into HDDVD or BD right now would make no sense. With the exception of investing in HDDVD combo discs - presuming the price is right.

For HD optical media to appeal to the 'low-budget, happy-to-wait' consumer, at least two of the next three things have to happen:

-$200ish combo player or an end to the format war and a $200 single-format player
-Rentable media available at most rental chain stores. A token shelf with a dozen titles does not count.
-Average disk available for $20 or less.

I can't see this happening until at least the end of '08, and probably later.

Low budget and happy to wait. That does not strike me as someone with gobs of money to throw at a whim. For them, I would say the best deal is the only deal. I would advise to wait at least till after Holiday season 2007 and CES 2008, when *hopefully* BDA will get its act together and mandate the BD Live profile on all players. Hopefully CES 08 will see some announcements about newer, better, more affordable gear from both camps, as well as see some hints if any of the studios are reconsidering their exclusive support decisions.

By January 2008, the PS3 would also have had a price drop, so it would be an option to pick for Blu-Ray, and the Toshiba player prices will continue to drop. So, wait at least till end of January 2008, and then reevaluate.

With sub $299 HD-A2 players, and the 5 free HD DVD movies, now is the time to jump in.

Just be aware that you probably wont get those 5 free movies for about 3 or 4 months.

If your on a budget then why bother, this post is retarded, it cost money when you treat AV like a hobby, and upgrades to stay in the "new" are certain. If your worried about HD format wars then upconvert Standard Def for the next 5 to 10 years, If your a hobbiest then buy and resale next year, like I said; "upgrades are certain".

Prices will only go lower, I am giving this at least another year maybe more as I am happy with my current dvd's

black friday.

Historically, the family spends less time in the home theatre in the summer. With the kids out of school, there's almost a one month family vacation in there somewhere.

And there are significally much more to do during summer weekends and nights besides watching movies at home. So I would guess major HT purchases before thanksgiving are wasted.

The home theatres get a good workout around late fall/early winter all the way to just before spring. Peak HT usage is during cold winter nights.

I meant to vote Fall/before Thanksgiving, but the only close option was late summer.

---
I like the rent a player approach first. Safest course to take.

]
Essentially, what advice would you give to someone like your parents or perhaps a casual friend who is interested but has no money and is scared to make a mistake?



My advice to anyone who is interested but doesn't have a lot of money to spend on this stuff would be to wait until there is one HD format and then wait till the players are $150 or lower. That would end up being the best bet.

black friday '08.

War should be over after this holiday season. Allow time for dust to settle and prices to drop a little more.

black friday.

Ditto. I see I'm with the majority for a change.

I'll buy either an S300 or BD10a if prices have been considerably reduced by then, but if not I'll get an A2.

Explanation:
Its prime time to buy for me. (perhaps not you)
Reason:
Waiting on delivery of my new projector.
Went with the format that seemed to offer the best d dvd upconverting possibilities.
Tony