I keep hearing insiders talking about a combo player that will be announced during CEDIA. There is a hint that it will do everything with BD profile 2.0. I am wondering what is the whoohaa about a combo player. We already have two available in the market.

That brings me to the conclusion that the Combo player might be announced by an exclusive format backer? :eek:

Pioneer? most likely given what you describe.

Would not mind seening Marantz make a dual format offering.

Possibly Meridian given their cost structure -- for $10k to 20K a lot of things are possible.

Pioneer? most likely given what you describe.

Would not mind seening Marantz make a dual format offering.

Possibly Meridian given their cost structure -- for $10k to 20K a lot of things are possible.

Pioneer? i always think Pioneer is like Universal to HD DVD as they are for BDA.

I would think its Panasonic :eek:

Panny is more in power in the BDA than Pio (though both are heavily involved). As far as the topic of the thread; any announcement of a dual format player (unless it's LG or Sammy, as the already have annunced products) would be from an exclusive CE maker, as pretty much everyone but Tosh, Onkyo, and Venturer are BD exclusive; and those three are HD DVD exclusive. I think the big deal will be a player capable of advanced BD profiles; with an actual est ship date & cost; making it a dual player would be icing on the cake (I know I'd be interested). This type of player would be "future-resistant" no matter what would happend with the format war or profiles (short of HD DVD coming out with an incompatible TL disc or some other un-announced new developement).

I've read the same rumors and have no idea on the manufacturer. Pio I think would still be a decent guess, but less likely due to strong ties with BDA. I would have thought Denon, but they've already annouced their short-term plans. Marantz could be a possibilty (they are owned by the same co as Denon). Onkyo could be a surprise (doubt it). That kind of leaves either unknowns or maybe a JVC, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, etc (all of which are BDA, but then again so is LG and Sammy). I'll be very interested in news of further developements along these lines.

I'd sure like to see another manufacturer enter the dual fray, the more the better. It's the only way for prices to enter the realm of sanity.

where do you hear this talk? just wondering, because everytime when one out of the blu-ray camp hears "talking" it's bullshit. however, now this "talk" seems to be legit? just a bit confused here... either rumors without source are bullshit alltogether or one must accept rumors coming from both sides....

Panasonic said blu-ray would win at IFA, would seem a little strange to say that and annouce a dual format player a few days later.

Personally I think a dual format player that is profile 2.0 is a big deal whoever annouces it. As long as it was good quality and decently priced that is the thing that will start me buying blu-ray movies.

I keep hearing insiders talking about a combo player that will be announced during CEDIA.

Links please.!!

:confused:

Who else is missing from the fray besides:

Yamaha
NAD
Hitachi
NEC

Who else is missing from the fray besides:

Yamaha
NAD
Hitachi
NEC

Could have sworn I heard somewhere about a possible NAD multiformat player. I would think that another combo will come the high end of the scale not the low end where people are used to paying 1-2K or more for a player.

I doubt a dual player with BD profile 2.0 will come in at <$1000 before the end of the year.

We'll be lucky to have a BD 1.1 player before the end of the year and THAT is highly doubtful. For 2.0 to show up...even less of a chance.

We'll be lucky to have a BD 1.1 player before the end of the year and THAT is highly doubtful. For 2.0 to show up...even less of a chance.

Got to do both at the same time. Makes no sense just to do 1.1. The Daewoo said both. The Denon only said 1.1 and that may have been the reason for the pullout.

I have no inside information on this but if I had to guess based on recent actions, I would say possibly Pioneer. They were absent of any Blu-ray news at IFA and Andy Parson's does not seem to be the mouthpiece of the BDA anymore (as in this past week). We will see.

~Josh

I have no inside information on this but if I had to guess based on recent actions, I would say possibly Pioneer. They were absent of any Blu-ray news at IFA and Andy Parson's does not seem to be the mouthpiece of the BDA anymore (as in this past week). We will see.

~Josh

A guess Josh? From you? How refreshing!:)

I would quickly trade my Pio and A20 for a Pio multi with the networking features the 94 has.

Who else is missing from the fray besides:

Yamaha
NAD
Hitachi
NEC

I'm talking about DF players only, not HD in general.

Hopefully Denon or Onkyo.

Hopefully Denon or Onkyo.
Denon had said they would if the parts were available, but seems to pull back from that once the parts became were out there. Onkyo also seemed to hint at multis, but they got quite about it. They do seem to be better candidates that Pioneer, however.

Pioneer mentioned making dual format recorder/rom drives at either the last CES or CEDIA, so could be them making a dual format player, though i have my doubts (but would definetly be happily surprised if they do).

Links please.!!

:confused:

it was mentioned in the Insiders' thread by one of the insider. Dave i believe :)

Integra or NAD are my guesses.

I have no inside information on this but if I had to guess based on recent actions, I would say possibly Pioneer. They were absent of any Blu-ray news at IFA and Andy Parson's does not seem to be the mouthpiece of the BDA anymore (as in this past week). We will see.

~Josh


LOL! Everything you've done so far is guessing. Please stop, I'm cracking up here.

guessing is better than trolling IMO ;)

I'd like to see Pioneer DF players, I'm pretty happy with their DVD stuff as a rule.

I remember reading some time last year in AVSF about retailer who was speaking to a Pioneer rep. He was asking about a next generation BD player and Pioneer rep supposedly said, who's to say our next player was going to be a Blu-ray player. I, too would love to see a dual format Pioneer player.

Pioneer mentioned making dual format recorder/rom drives at either the last CES or CEDIA, so could be them making a dual format player, though i have my doubts (but would definetly be happily surprised if they do).It turned out to be false.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Pioneer-has-no-current-plans-for-HD-DVD_Blu-ray-drives.html

Considering the position of Pioneer at BDA you can see it's false immediately. Less stupid than saying "Panasonic may consider combo" though.

If DF is the only way for these mid-range CE companies to have an edge and make some $, I don't think it matters much what boards they sit on, they won't let their sales go down the tubes out of alliances that aren't paying-off.

Sony's got this weird standalone VS PS3 pricing conundrum, thats gotta be testing their CE partnerships as it is.

The article sited above is also well over a year old. Not much had gone down yet when it was written, but there's been a lot of water under the bridge since.

guessing is better than trolling IMO ;)

Absolutaly, couldn't agree more.

A dual format Pioneer would make me a very happy man.

I have no inside information...

:eek: What a shock ;)

I thought we had a thread for rumors.......