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Keep or get rid of HD-A35?

post #1 of 36
2/28/12 at 5:39pm
Thread Starter 
Is it worth holding on to? It seems like most of the HDDVD titles are now on bluray.
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post #2 of 36
2/28/12 at 8:33pm
There haven't been any HD DVDs released for a couple of years. The players do a very good job with DVDs and it depends on if you have a collection of good HD DVDs which a few of us still have. HD DVDs are still available on the used market.
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post #3 of 36
3/5/12 at 4:39am
I'd keep the player. Some BDs coming out that are on HD-DVD are "worse". Recent example is The Deer Hunter (unless you get a European BD).

larry
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post #4 of 36
3/5/12 at 6:28am
agreed... it's not like it would sell for a lot anyway...
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post #5 of 36
3/5/12 at 9:41am
I'd definitely keep it. And build my HDDVD library up in the used disc market. I have the HD-A35. And I love it for Hi-Def and upsdcaled DVD viewing. It is also great for CD listening. I have a Pannasonic BR player. And I like it too. But it is not nearly as good as the A35 IMO. The newer Blu-Ray players are anemic in comparison to the HD-A35. The higher quality Blu-Ray players like those in the Oppo line are equal to the A35. But they are much costlier. Basically, you get what you pay for. With the A35 you get top of line performance at a close out cost. And there is still a ton of HDDVD content out there to chose from. I only buy new releases on Blu-Ray that came out after the HDDVD demise. Most of the Blu-Ray remakes of HD-DVD are not as good...according to reports I have read.
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post #6 of 36
3/9/12 at 8:24pm
Thread Starter 
Decided to keep the A35 and just bought some more HDDVD's on eBay.
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post #7 of 36
3/9/12 at 11:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtenn View Post

Decided to keep the A35 and just bought some more HDDVD's on eBay.

Excellent, I have one and I just bought , , and for less than half the price of one Blu-ray . I have more HD DVDs now than ever.
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post #8 of 36
3/10/12 at 10:54pm
Thread Starter 
I was just comparing Terminator 2 on both bluray and HDDVD and I feel it's better on HDDVD. It seems like the picture and sound is slightly better.
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post #9 of 36
3/17/12 at 10:55am
Got an A35 off Craigslist couple years ago for 30.00. Have all 3 gens (XA1, A20, A30, and the A35). I agree that both the movies and the players have better Picture quality, but am concerned about "HDDVD rot". Followed the thread about Warner disks freezing up, but I have had just about all (Universal, Paramount, and Warner) BRAND NEW just out of shrink wrap, freeze at least once during the movie, mostly toward the end (heat buildup?). I still have nearly 200 HDDVD's and have NO plan on getting rid of anything.

Back to topic (sorry), another thing I love about the A35 is the analog multi outs. I have a high end Sony ES analog preamp with 2x 5.1 inputs and separate 5 channel AMP. Watched transformers a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by the sound (movie starts right up at the beginning and never lets up).
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post #10 of 36
3/17/12 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfbar1 View Post

Got an A35 off Craigslist couple years ago for 30.00. Have all 3 gens (XA1, A20, A30, and the A35). I agree that both the movies and the players have better Picture quality, but am concerned about "HDDVD rot". Followed the thread about Warner disks freezing up, but I have had just about all (Universal, Paramount, and Warner) BRAND NEW just out of shrink wrap, freeze at least once during the movie, mostly toward the end (heat buildup?). I still have nearly 200 HDDVD's and have NO plan on getting rid of anything.

Back to topic (sorry), another thing I love about the A35 is the analog multi outs. I have a high end Sony ES analog preamp with 2x 5.1 inputs and separate 5 channel AMP. Watched transformers a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by the sound (movie starts right up at the beginning and never lets up).

A suggestion (in case you have not pursued the possibility of heat build-up):
Make sure the fan in the player is working - & make sure all vents are away from any obstructions (rear fan output + any side vents in the player, as these are most likely air intakes for cooling). My A35 was acting up until I realized I had it too close to the inside of my home theater cabinet, blocking the right side air intake. I centered it better on the shelf, ensuring the vent opening was clear, and the problem disappeared.
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post #11 of 36
3/19/12 at 3:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtenn View Post

I was just comparing Terminator 2 on both bluray and HDDVD and I feel it's better on HDDVD. It seems like the picture and sound is slightly better.

The BD you have must be the old version. The current Skynet Edition easily destroy HD DVD in image quality.
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post #12 of 36
3/20/12 at 8:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuenMuner View Post


The BD you have must be the old version. The current Skynet Edition easily destroy HD DVD in image quality.

It's the sky net version. Maybe the A35 just does a better job then my Sony BDP- S480 does.
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post #13 of 36
3/28/12 at 12:35am
I just read several reviews and none said skynet BD was better than the HD DVD. Infact I read that skynet uses more DNR.
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post #14 of 36
3/28/12 at 5:30am
I've kept all my players ( A1,XA2,A3, Onkyo D800), and I have probably 130 HD-DVD's. I've been tempted to sell it all, but I must admit I have an attachment towards my HD-DVD stuff, and I don't think I would get much money for the stuff. I unfortunately bought most of my stuff when it was new, so these weren't at discounted prices, other than the A3. All my discs and players work flawlessly. However, I hardly use my players anymore because I have since moved almost all my movies ( DVD, Blu Ray, & HD-DVD ) to my server and popcorn hour c-200. So, it is a little sad when I see my players sitting in a box in storage or in my home theater rack with not much attention anymore.
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post #15 of 36
3/29/12 at 4:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfbar1 View Post

Got an A35 off Craigslist couple years ago for 30.00.

Heck, I would buy one right now for $30 (nice deal) if I found a local one in good condition. I had the A1 on launch day but sold it to a friend that needed the 5.1 analog outs and still have an A3 but it's 1080i only so finding a smoking deal on an A35 would be nice. I keep telling myself to replace my hd-dvd collection with blu rays but have yet to actually do it. I have such fond memories of that A1 playing The Last Samurai, I was followed by (and that was only on a 720p projector at the time).

Jason
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post #16 of 36
4/2/12 at 4:34pm
I still "search" craigslist every day for any HDDVD player. High on my wish list is the XA2 (ebay has a couple here and there). There is a "used" electronic store here in SWFL that "buys" your old stuff and resells. They actually have an A30 on the shelf that I am going to pick up next week (once they buy items, they go on the shelf with a price, but can not be sold for 2 weeks).

Picked up "Black Rain" (shrinkwrapped) HDDVD for 5.00 there last week.

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post #17 of 36
4/4/12 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfbar1 View Post

I still "search" craigslist every day for any HDDVD player. High on my wish list is the XA2 (ebay has a couple here and there). There is a "used" electronic store here in SWFL that "buys" your old stuff and resells. They actually have an A30 on the shelf that I am going to pick up next week (once they buy items, they go on the shelf with a price, but can not be sold for 2 weeks).

Picked up "Black Rain" (shrinkwrapped) HDDVD for 5.00 there last week.


I bought 3 HD-A2's when they were first released but really wanted XA2's then.
About 2 years ago I picked up 2 brand new XA2's off ebay for 250-300 each.
Very nice player and built like a tank.
I have fond memories of buying that first HD disc back in ?2006? at BestBuy, John Carpenters The Thing HD-DVD. I honestly dont recall the very first bluray title I bought though.
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post #18 of 36
4/5/12 at 12:23am
Saw an A30 on craigslist earlier...was considering getting it since I still have a few HD DVDs left
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post #19 of 36
4/5/12 at 9:46am
Go for it, they make a great up-scaling DVD player. I've had an A3 since they came out and I picked up an A35 a few months back for cheap on the bay. I still watch and buy HDDVDs, they are a great bargain.
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post #20 of 36
4/6/12 at 9:54am
If I sold my A30, then how would I ever get to se a good HD version of Carpenter's THE THING? Certainly not the BD edition.
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post #21 of 36
4/10/12 at 1:11pm
I'll never get rid of my onkyo hd-805...sweeeeeeet player.
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post #22 of 36
4/10/12 at 1:26pm
Still rockin' my XA2. If for nothing else, it's a fantastic DVD upscaler. Having said that, I too, seem to have grown oddly attached to my HD DVD collection and refuse to give it up.
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post #23 of 36
5/22/12 at 12:12pm
I love my A35, it looks great on my Panasonic plasma and will have slot in my cabinet for years to come.
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post #24 of 36
6/11/12 at 10:59am
I sold my onkyo as I had two A3s and and a30. I miss my onkyo. :,(
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post #25 of 36
6/21/12 at 11:53am
I still have my HDDVD player accessory I got for my xbox. I bought after the format tapped out and I got the player for 40 bucks. Still works like a charm and I still watch the titles I bought when the wifey isn't home, she hates all of my movies lol. Only bugger I have is all of my Matrix dvd's stopped working at all. Part 1 will start up but I can't get past the title screen without a total freeze :-( Major bummer cuz that's my favorite movie to watch besides Transformers at high volume.
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post #26 of 36
7/29/12 at 10:09am
I started off in HD-DVD land before I did with Blu-ray. I guess I just had about 15 titles before going Blu so it was not a big change over.

If one had several hundred, it gets difficult. I would be scared of my player dying. Yeah, you could get it fixed or buy a used one. Not likely to find a new one and if you did, it would likely be costly.

Tough call.
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post #27 of 36
8/10/12 at 3:16pm
I have a A3 which I bought when the battle was still on between the two camps. I also had (and still have) a PS3 for the BD side.

Now that the battle is well and truly over my A3 is still in the rack and used occasionally. But it's only 1080i and my projector is 1080P. I still have about 30-40 HD-DVD titles that I like to watch (and recently got some more when I bought a HD-DVD/BD drive off Ebay that came with a few titles) so what I am now doing is, ripping the titles I like, putting them on my server and watching with a Popcorn Hour A200. That way I get the DD+ (and occasional TrueHD) audio and 1080p video that's on the discs.

I am guessing when I have ripped all the ones I would expect to watch again, I will remove the A3 and it go into the closet of equipment I don't use and am reluctant to dispose of:rolleyes:

So in summary, rather than rely on keeping the HD-DVD gear going or having spares around, ripping them and putting them on a media server (or even just a hard drive you can connect to a BD player) is the best option. HD-DVD encryption was broken ages ago and isn't obviously being updated so there are free tools out there that can easily rip a title.
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post #28 of 36
8/10/12 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lchiu7 View Post

I have a A3 which I bought when the battle was still on between the two camps. I also had (and still have) a PS3 for the BD side.
Now that the battle is well and truly over my A3 is still in the rack and used occasionally. But it's only 1080i and my projector is 1080P. I still have about 30-40 HD-DVD titles that I like to watch (and recently got some more when I bought a HD-DVD/BD drive off Ebay that came with a few titles) so what I am now doing is, ripping the titles I like, putting them on my server and watching with a Popcorn Hour A200. That way I get the DD+ (and occasional TrueHD) audio and 1080p video that's on the discs.
I am guessing when I have ripped all the ones I would expect to watch again, I will remove the A3 and it go into the closet of equipment I don't use and am reluctant to dispose of:rolleyes:
So in summary, rather than rely on keeping the HD-DVD gear going or having spares around, ripping them and putting them on a media server (or even just a hard drive you can connect to a BD player) is the best option. HD-DVD encryption was broken ages ago and isn't obviously being updated so there are free tools out there that can easily rip a title.

The same goes for blu-ray - if it can be read - it can be ripped . . .
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post #29 of 36
9/29/12 at 4:22pm
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Originally Posted by Rich86 View Post

The same goes for blu-ray - if it can be read - it can be ripped . . .
Yeah, you can pick up a LG HD DVD/BD super multi drive from amazon for less than $70 and rip your hd dvds to iso.
This is the best way to guard against hd dvd disc rot.
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post #30 of 36
11/2/12 at 11:12pm
I have 2 Samsung 5000, an A-30 and a combo drive on my HTPC. I ripped my 85 HD-DVD collection to my hD and stream it to my other tv's
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