First off I bought 2 A3's for xmas, one mine one for my brother. What I need to find out is

a)Best dual player out in market: in case I decided to return mine(only) and start thinking of future proofing myself.

b)Does any BD player output 7.1 through 1.3hdmi effectively or is it all just Dolby Digital/DTS core only?

c)What is this talk about 2.0, 1.1? I like the PIP features of HD DVD but don't really use them alot.

d)Do BD players force me to be connected to the Internet to be able to access content on the disks/get updates?

I ask this in the HD DVD forum because from reading various posts I find that HD ppl are better informed about the differences btwn the 2 formats. Less likely to skip out features that BD don't do.

I hate the fact that Warner switched, cause I can see Sony (if they do become the one standard for HD) jacking the price up on disks and players for years to come before finally dropping prices. No way there is enuff NEW plants up and running to be able to supply BD's, where as simple retooling of current dvd lines for HD.

Anyways if anyone can help me out with the above 4 questions or additional insight about the differences btwn the 2 formats that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Wrong Forum.

First off congrats on purchasing the A3s. If you are looking for a BD player consider the 40GB PS3, it is now profile 1.1 compatible and most likely will be updated to profile 2.0. Profile 1.1 supports picture-in-picture during the movie. Profile 2.0 supports web-enabled content download to the player. HD DVD players have had these features from day one. There is no profile 2.0 BD content available, the web content is not on the disk it is downloaded to the player but you do need to be connected to the internet. There are quite a few HD DVDs with web-enabled content, like Transformers and 300. Optionally you may just want to wait until cheaper dual format players are available, and just enjoy the HD DVD player you have.