Hollywood Video + Blockbuster Hd-Dvd's Availability

Several (and by that I mean 5) stores near me told there are no plans to offer these movies as rentals... One regional manager for Blockbuster told me that the store's online version MAY rent them, but that the real world stores will not for some time for a multitude of reasons.

God I hope they are all wrong/lying

Given how long it took Blockbuster to finally see the DVD light, you might have a long wait. It was over a year after dvd's launch before they finally decided to start carrying them. I suspect they'll wait out the format war before renting any HD discs.

Rent them from costco or sams club, It is a free rental with a full price down payment

Movie Gallery(which bought Hollywood Entertainment) and Blockbuster have about 10,000 stores in U.S. combined.

With about 10,000 players being initially purchased that means there is a maximum of about 1 custumer per store if everyone customer rented from them and every customer rented every title.

When you take out everyone purchasing and using Netflix you might only have 1 customer for every 10 stores for a title max.

Netflix on the other hand could buy 1 copy and if 50 or so of 4.2 million customers have a player they are guaranteed a profit.

The economics are bleak for B&M stores vs. Netflix or Blockbuster online.

Not for Netflix.

Blockbuster online has some stores which send out discs as well as the distribution centers. I was told last summer that I could return the discs directly to the store which which had sent me one disc and it would be scanned back in. Since I discontinued their service I don't know what the situation is today.

I certainly couldn't hurt them to buy one copy per store. Maybe the hardware makers will donate the discs if they need to jumpstart the harware sales.

Not picking on you....but if your post is a question about a topic and not information about a topic, please use a question mark in the title. Your thread got me all excited about a confirmation that HD-DVD's will be carried by BB and HV, only to find out you were asking "if" they would be carried by the companies.


Punctuation Police
Ron

Blockbuster told me that xbox 360 games were not scheduled for rentals back in November. Now you can find a couple of dozen.

What's the current availability status of HD DVD's these days?

I don't think any of my local BB's have any in or plan to get any in any time soon. The Hollywood video by my house on the other hand has had a selection of HD-DVD's since shortly after launch, and they now have most that have been released. They don't have any BD and don't plan to get any anytime soon. The employee I talked to said it's completely store by store as to which format if any they stock.

Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to justify spending $450 on a HD DVD player, but I still can't do it if there's very little available to watch on this format.

What got me off the fence was the knowledge that these first gen players were an endangered species from the beginning (with only 70,000 units produced), and there is no guarantee that the G2 players will be as good at upconverting as the A1 is reported to be. So I'm buying it as much for my huge SD dvd collection as I am for HD-DVD titles that are released and announced.

Yep, my SD collection has kept me busy in between HD purchases!

Well I'm really please with my local Hollywood Video. I went in today to rent a couple more HD-DVDs, and they had just received another shipment of the newer movies. Sahara, Sleepy Hollow, Tomb Raider, Sky Captain and ATL. Not bad, what is that, a couple weeks after their release? I talked to the manager who was on duty, and she was suprised she had gotten so many of them in so quickly. She said there still weren't many people renting them, but that it was picking up. She was probably talking about the 4 titles I had rented over the last two days!

Well, if anyone lives close, I'd suggest taking your business there and supporting them for supporting the format. I know that after I finally use up the Blockbuster rental card I got with my Panny 900, I'm going to be renting at HV exclusively.

Haven't found a BB or HV yet renting these in store in Columbus, OH. However I know that all 3 Video Centrals and North Campus Video rent both HD-DVD and BD. I'm still searching for others as well. They are 2.99/night so don't keep them too long Other than that, I'm still using Netflix as well.

I guess HDTV hasn't caught on too well in the NE Region........
Neither Walmart, or Target have HD players(not that I need one- I have an HD-A1) OR HD DVDS
The Hollywood video near me doesn't have them for rent either, I asked the Sales guy, and he said " Nope" I asked him when they MAY be expecting them to come in, he gave me an incredulous look and said " a year or 2 maybe "

I was like what?

" Theres no market for them"

I give up.........

Today I checked on my blockbuster online account and you can rent hd-dvd's and blu-ray just and fyi
chris

I just got an email from Blockbuster Online. Giving me a 2-week trial even though I'm a former customer. So I'm back on the bus. Also you can now get a free game or movie rental when you return an online rental to a local store. GREAT. You get both of both worlds. NO LATE FEES. What more can you ask.

My local BB has about 20 HD videos and a few BRD. THey had no BRD in stock but had 20 or so HD DVDs.

BB online rents the movies as well, just takes a little longer then 2-3 days to get. I assume it's because they stock a smaller number of copies per and you have to wait until they are sent back, etc.

Not quite...

When you return a movie, you can only rent another movie for free.
"Q. Can I redeem a DVD from BLOCKBUSTER Online for an in-store game rental?
A. BLOCKBUSTER Online DVDs can be redeemed for movie rentals only. "

You will get a SINGLE monthly e-coupon which will entitle you to a game rental.

The online trial rocks, and since I used FRIENDS as the coupon code, mine was extended to 4 weeks. One of the mailing centers is nearby in San Jose, so I typically get the movie "next day". I am ripping through their limited in store stock, but was told that they expect new HD DVD(and BR) after the new year.

Hey if anybody has locations that have HD DVD's for rent, could you please post to this thread?

Local places to rent HD DVD's in the USA (not online)

Many thanks...

You know, with all of the absolute CRAP that Blockbuster and Hollywood & other chains carry for rent, you think they could just cut back a bit on ordering the crap and buy some HD-DVD's and Blu-Rays.

It seems pretty simple that a couple of copies of a new release in next gen format would be a wiser choice than buying a lot of 15 DVD's of Lady in the Water.

On a side note, how can Blockbuster not have a SCI-FI section?? They seem to feel that 'Action' describes Fast and the Furious, Tombstone, and Blade Runner... If I walk into the store looking for SCI-FI alone I should be able to scan a few shelves (hopefully more if they had a big selection of titles) and if nothing jumps out I can then move onto a different section or leave. Not to mention they have some SCI-FI in 'Drama' and some in 'Horror'. And no Classics section? But there is a sparsely filled Foreign section!

I wish there were more independent stores for people outside of large cities to choose from. Damn Blockbuster and Hollywood/Movie Gallery gobbled them up , **** out the worst elements and seem to still have the gems of these mid-90's suburban staples lodged in their colon.

the BB in Clifton NJ rents HD & BD

it's not my closest location, but i get over there when I can (only a few minutes)

They list a substantial number of HD-DVD titles currently available as well as forthcoming titles on HD-DVD, so if you ever want to see BB adding those titles in the actual stores, my recommendation is add as many HD-DVD titles to the head of your queue as you are interested in seeing.

Holy crap, good job in resurrecting an old thread! Last post before yours was in February!

so there are no B&M stores renting HDDVD? (with the exception of the few test markets).

I haven't heard of any in my area. Sugarland/Missouri City