Has the Warner Desicion stopped you from buying a New player? - Page 5  

Well, guess that the majority of Blu-ray consumers may be PS3 owners anyway, since there's a lack of exclusive games to keep them happy, that's what it is, imho... If it weren't for the PS3, I'm quite sure that Toshiba would have seen far better support, thanks to the cheaper price tags of their players over the BD counterparts.

I only got into HD-DVD because of the Wal-Mart A2 sale. The only movie I bought was Transformers and it cost $20. I rent all my movies from Netflix.

I needed an upconverting player anyway so my money was well spent.

I'm not a gamer at all so I don't see myself spending $400 on a PS3. Eventually BD prices will get under $100 and that's when I'll jump in. I"m a cheapskate.

I'll be fine renting HD-DVD and upconverting SD until that time.

I find it very telling that around 70% of the people responding in the poll have basically decided to stop buying HD DVD material. This is from the group of consumers that are MOST knowledgeable on this subject. So what do you think will happen to the rest of the mainstream?

Face it, when you go into BB and try to by an HD DVD player the salesman will be telling you to buy BR as HD DVD is about dead. Hd DVD sales will plummet.

BR has won this thing.
Why some of you are saying you will not buy BR is beyond me though.

Yes, that may be true, but when you deal with online shopping, like Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, Buy.com, etc... There you go for the best bargains that you can find on a player, and in this case, I found the Toshiba HD-A3 deal, and I don't see any e-mails telling me to cancel that and go with a BD player. Why should brick and mortar give you a runaround?

Wrong and Wrong. Answer me this: If Bluray is technically superior to HD DVD then how come Warner STILL have not released Batman Begins or The Matrix on Bluray?

It's Sony vs Toshiba in a "fist fight" and they just kicked Toshiba in the growing. You ASSUME Toshiba will not get up and do the same back.

Screw Warner, if Toshiba can convince Walmart to go HD DVD only or/and get an HD DVD drive included in every Xbox very soon then they have a chance to save HD media.


There is no way the overpriced unfinshed spec Bluray players will compete against $60 upconverting DVD players from Walmart.

We will have to wait and see what happens.

You need to smell the coffee.............It's over stop the FUD!!

I don't know how often you visit BestBuy but they've essentially been in Sony's pocket from Day 1 (product placement, ads, sales, product knowledge, in-store sales people). The salespeople may not get commission but BB obviously has been getting more from Sony than HD-DVD. I personally think lack of marketing at retail and not exploiting cheaper costs to drive cheaper media prices relative to BR is where HD-DVD has been failing (combo discs priced for a premium double dip don't help adoption one bit).

Yes, and probably we may see trade stores like F.Y.E. trying to make an exclusive format, which is impossible, since they will carry used movies in both formats, but who knows how well that will go down?

Also, walking into a Sears store just today, a salesman was trying to push for Blu-ray, because you know that Sears and Sony are big partners in sales.
However, they have both demo booths on display, and to me, I don't see any difference between the two formats as far as quality.

No, they made a move that would best suit their wallet not the HDM community and not the consumer. (just like paramount)
They may offer lots of great movies but it's simply the priciple of the situation. They may not feel the sting of me sitting out but at least I know none of my money is going to them.

Edit: Why are you so heavy for the BR side? Ever since the beginning of this thread you've been telling everyone to jump ship. If you like BR so much then please, there's a forum 3 clicks up..

That makes no sense. The mainstream is not on here so it will be business as usual for them.


You're joking me right? You really think if I go to buy a HD DVD player on Monday they will stop me and say don't because its dead? LMAO...You can still buy VCRs cant you?

When people buy PS3s do they tell them don't bother because Xbox is killing them in sales, game selection and online play?

If they go to buy an SXRD do they tell them don't because Sony lost a lawsuit and will no longer be making them?

What are all those places gonna do with all the HD DVD stuff they have? Eat the cost? I don't think so.....


BR has not won squat yet. They are currently leading after 5 laps in a 500 lap race. They beat out HD DVD but who's to say they will even finish the race without blowing a motor trying to catch DVD.

When new releases stop coming out on DVD/HD DVD and are only available on Bluray, then you can say they won.

On a side note, if thats the format that does take out DVD I have no problem buying BDs with a final spec.

The first step will be:

Theatrical release: DVD
Unrated/Special Edition: Blu-ray

Just because HD-DVD may have taken a death blow in no way means down the road Sony and Blu-Ray alone are capable of making the HDM format grow to become dominant, or even live on. In fact the idea of the responsibility of doing so resting solely on Sony's shoulders along with the makers of relatively expensive players is troublesome to me.

I've never understood the idea of studios going exclusive HD or BluRay. Is there a cost associated with putting out a movie on two different formats. Game-makers seem able to do it. That said, I'm all about price. Got an A2 for under $100 and that seems to be my price point. So if BluRay wins they won't get me in the camp until players are under $100. I still have a nice upconverting player and some favorite titles on HD so it's not a total disaster.

Im heavy on the movie side. I was HD first then realized the best way to see the most great movies on one format would be to support BD. Ever since I picked up BD it has been awesome. No problems and nothing but fun. I had no prefrence going in and still just want what is best for my home movie viewing and BD is it.

What Fud would that be?

If you are going to stir up garbage, then please explain the delay..

Since you seem to know so much...

I know I will not purchase any more HD DVD movies at this point. I will be waiting to see what happens and RENT my HD DVD movies from netflix .

Perfect opportunity for an hd dvd player in the bedroom for porn, and blue ray in the HT. Still the best of both worlds.

I'm in the market for an upconverting DVD player to go with my new LCD. Mom's also in the market for a new DVD player. With the price of the A3, I was considering it for both of us to be somewhat future-proofed. The announcement has put both of our purchases on hold.

Count me as one of those looking to get a HD DVD player at the right price, but am no longer considering it because of Warner Bros' decision. That just about finishes off HDD.

Well, maybe my HD DVD player as a DVD upconversion player in one room, and a PS3 to play BD movies and game demo downloads in another. Good way to split things up.

It kind of cracks me up that about 70% of the people I see only have BD because of the PS3. If it weren't for that console, BD would have never even gotten off the ground. Every single person that has an HDDVD player bought it specifically for that purpose. Most folks that have a BD player bought a game console and it just so happens it also plays BD movies.

I myself have an XBOX 360 and have no desire to buy a PS3. When/if I go blue, it will be because they have finalized their spec (if they ever do), and they release a reasonably priced player.

Til then, I'll still enjoy my HDDVDs and will still buy ones that come out that interest me. Not sure what's gonna happen to HDDVD in the long term, but it's a sad day for consumers since the movie studios decided to make the choice for us instead of us making it for ourselves.

I guarantee you there would be totally different sales figures for HD movies bought if every studio had released in both formats from day one. Of course Sony couldn't allow that or they would have had another betamax on their hands.

I, too, have an X360, Wii, PS3, HD-A3, and a partridge in a pear tree, so I'm fully loaded here. The only reason I went with the HD-A3 as opposed to the X360 addon is for the obvious reason, trying to avoid the RRoD, as well as Amazon now selling the HD-A3 at the same price as the addon, so that was a no-brainer.

I wasn't trying to poke at you specifically. I was just pointing out the obvious. Even if you had went with the add-on for the 360, that's still purchasing an HDDVD player for the specific purpose of playing HDDVD movies. All I was trying to say was that if the PS3 didn't have BD playability and all studios had been dual from the start, we'd be in a totally different place right now. Heck, even with the PS3 as is, we'd STILL be in a totally different place right now if the studios had released in both formats from day one. Guaranteed.

I already have 2 HD-DVD players. and only have 2 HDtvs so I wont be buying a new one anytime soon, but will still be buying HD-DVDS, people are jumping ship too early.

Someone posted that Sony's next move will be to stop doing SD DVDs. Sony consistently has high prices and high margins. If Sony and the rest of the DRM boys kill DVDs to move to higher prices, I'll end up just watching premium movie channels again.

I have 30 days, but I think I'll keep a new, still in the box, XA2 I got yesterday. I'll use it for SD DVDs. Before this war, I was a Sony fan and own Sony stuff. Now, I'm a pirate fanboy. I'll be cheering for the pirates to pound BD+. That's all we have left to stop Sony from gouging us.

Toshiba's only shot is to start dumping players through Amazon and Wal-Mart very soon. Unless tons of consumers have them in hand soon then the war will be over by summer. I have an A-2 and a PS3 so I'm neutral, but I agree Toshiba made a mistake dumping players at Wal-Mart in a manner in which most of them did not reach new buyers. They need sustained dominant hardware sales fast!

No marketing and focused on price. The first people to buy HDM players didn't mind paying more and therefore bought in spite of price. Naturally the disc sales favored blu-ray because the PS3 was such a smart idea. It isn't over but Toshiba needs to come out fighting with the gloves off.

I will buy an XA2 if they get cheap enough....

Go for it, I have the A35 and it does wonders with my Onkyo 605

Excellent comment. I will still support HD DVD only, and have no urge to buy a BD player whose specs have yet to mature into what HD DVD has had since Day 1. My two XA2s are still one of the best purchases I have made - HD DVDs look amazing, and the upscaling ability is excellent.

It is truly pathetic that some corporation makes a decision like this with zero regard for the consumer, only for their own wallet. And I will not buy any future Warner titles as they do not deserve another penny from me.

The ship is far from sinking...

I am shocked by all the really unfair practices and comments that Blu-Ray lovers have posted all over the world. If this is what Warner wants to have as customers, I will stick with HD DVD. It seems that all this is in fact really a war for some people. This is Home Entertainment not the war room.

And if the Blu-Ray team wants to win HD DVD lovers, how about exchanging all the bought HD DVDs (just the discs, the covers could stat at home)? If I get the chance to exchange all I bought, well then it is a different situation or the industry and even sony stops selling Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players immediately and give us customers only multiformat players that support everything else, then we all can go on with our lifes and buy the remaining format. Blu-Ray should get rid of the region codes and adapt the capabilities of the HDi, integrate Ethernet for online content and for all us out there it would be happys from that day on.

The industry gave us two formats to chose, they like to chose for us by playing games. We pay their price. It was not us customers who wanted two formats, they wanted this. If they want to end all this confusion then they should better start exchanging the products and that would hopefully end all the mean and primitive comments of what is a better format. I am interested in HD content not in war games.

Besides, people who look at the price tags of either HD DVD and Blu-Ray, they clearly understand what is less expensive. They are not confused.

All you clever engineering teams out there in the home entertainment companies: Combine what is best of both and give people a player that plays all of it. In a certain way, the dual format players are indeed the best of both worlds.

As long as it is either Blu-Ray or HD DVD, I stick with HD DVD.

No the Warner decision hasn't stopped me. The price of the media has from the get go. When my Sony 400 disc DVD changer can upconvert to 1080i thru HDMI I can't justify any format yet. Never been abouth the price of the players its the media price.

I tried a Blu-ray back in August and there really wasn't much improvement over my Sony SD/1080i player so I returned the Blu-ray. Still neutral and waiting.