[chidlebaugh]

I went neutral. I was in the market for a new LCD and being biased to Sharp As my current Sharp 37'' LCD has been fantastic. I opted to purchase a new 46'' Sharp LCD and I took advantage of Sharps promo where you buy any Sharp 1080p LCD over 42'' and you get a free Sharp BlueRay Player.


So I have a Sharp BR player to go with my Toshiba A2. I still hope that Toshiba can pull this thing out since HD-DVD is, in my opinion, a better format for the consumer.


I will say that both systems take about the same time to boot up. And both my BR and HD-DVD have pretty much identical PQ. For sound I can't make a fair comparison since my Onyko receiver doesn't do full uncompressed True HD sound.


But, the A2 is a much more responsive unit when watching a disk. It’s almost a 5 second lag time on the BR player for a menu to come up when pressed


/rambling off.

 

[number17]

As a consumer, I have no bias against HD-DVD or Blu-Ray ... I really can't care less about who wins the format war.


I just want High def movie RIGHT NOW at a reasonable price, and that's only possible with HD-DVD players, which is why I went this route. The cheapest Blu-ray player, as we speak is the Sony PS3, for $400. For a 'real' BR player, you're still looking at $450 at least, and it probably won't support profile BR 2.0 when it becomes the standard in a year or 2, so that, to me, is also a deadend technology, except that's a $500 deadend technology.


Going neutral is the way to go. When (or IF) BR players drop to a pricepoint of ~ $200 then I have no problem picking up a BR player and go 'neutral'. I just gotta figure out a way to do HDMI switching ... time for a HDMI switching receiver by then I guess

Once the standard war is over, I think all high-def players will support both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. I don't see my HD-DVD collection being unplayable by new players in the future, but even if it does, I am perfectly fine keeping both players.


Until then, I don't mind telling me "HD DVD is dying" ... I know I can enjoy high def movies for $130 and you can't beat that!

 

[LostInPa]

Nice deal! I have been trying to get either the 42 or 46 in my area but they sold out everywhere with the promo. Closest CC that has that TV is 4+ hours away!

 

[luigionlsd]

Not sure if you got in on this, or where you bought the TV, but I noticed that Best Buy is now offering a free 3-pack (I forget the exact titles off hand) of BDs with any 1080p purchase. You may want to see if whoever you purchased from will match or honor that to any extent. Congrats on the buy!

 

[chidlebaugh]



Quote:
Originally Posted by luigionlsd /forum/post/12894990


Not sure if you got in on this, or where you bought the TV, but I noticed that Best Buy is now offering a free 3-pack (I forget the exact titles off hand) of BDs with any 1080p purchase. You may want to see if whoever you purchased from will match or honor that to any extent. Congrats on the buy!

I purchase through best buy, but pricematched the CC price after 8% off AAA coupon. Best Buy did inlcude the 3 movies. They were: 50 first dates, Night at the Museum, Invincible.

 

[whiskey alpha]

I would agree about the neutral thing. I own an A30 for my HD dvd and am picking up either a S300 or panny 30k this weekend. It's nice to see the HD dvd still put up a fight as I believe it is the better format.


The problem lies in the fact that the general consumer is confused as hell about HD. They don't know if they are getting it, most think their tv is HD, and they don't understand the lingo, 720p vs 1080p, 24hz versus 60hz. I can atest to that as my father wanted to upgrade to a flat screen during a remodel. He was lost. HE IS THE GENERAL CONSUMER! CONFUSED! I blame the confusion of the manufacturer and the media. IMO they should have gotten together early on and decided upon a format. This would have eliminated the VHS vs Beta war all over again. But alas, Toshiba got my money and some other mfg (either sony or Panny) will get more of my money so I can truly enjoy my movies, no matter the studio, in HD.

 

[dildatonr]

Well partisan comments aside - welcome aboard!


I think you'll find it's easier to enjoy HD on your display, the less energy you expend cheerleading just one of the formats. They're both great and I'm happy you can now fully enjoy both of them as many of us do.


I only enjoy the format war when it rages on in my living room, on movie night.

 

[whiskey alpha]

No i'm not cheerleading one of the formats. I just think it does a disservice to the consumer to choose a format, or in this case, both formats to truly enjoy movies in HD. The consumer is already confused, now they are having to choose a side.