HD-DVD titles release at $18.99 - $24.99

[robert393]

Wow, I'm shocked to see the low prices on HD-DVD. Player's are $499.99 & titles are releasing at $18.99 to $24.99

Exciting times............
Robert

[N. Abstentia]

They'd better get the price down around the $89 mark for players if they plan to displace DVD any time soon. Which one do you think Joe Sixpack is going to buy? They also better settle this 'format war' NOW or else both formats will end up in the niche market with SACD and DVD-Audio and I don't want to see that happen again.

So, how is the HD-DVD player? I know you were first in line to get one (you better have been, as much as you talk about it)! Give us a report.

[GMichael]

Interested minds want to know. So, how is it? What movies did you pick up first?

Hopefully prices will come down once the format wars are finished.

[N. Abstentia]

*bump*

Robert? So which movies and player did you get? How is it. You did get one, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be hyping it up so much, so give us the skinny!

[superpanavision70mm]

Not only do the prices need to be competative, but there also needs to be consumer knowledge about WHAT HD-DVD and Blu-ray is. The general public doesn't even understand 16X9 vs. fullscreen let alone what benefits they are going to get from a HD format. Oh and one more thing....why aren't the studios releasing titles that don't totally suck? They need to push evergreen titles instead.

[Geoffcin]

Wow, I'm shocked to see the low prices on HD-DVD. Player's are $499.99 & titles are releasing at $18.99 to $24.99

Exciting times............
Robert

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/format.cfm?classID=1

[N. Abstentia]

It's definitley going to be an uphill battle. The first thing that needs to happen is either:

A) Decide on ONE format.
B) Barring that, make players that will play both. However if one format is not chosen neither one will survive.

I'm also eager to hear about Robert's 'exciting times' with his HD player. Robert? How is it?

[paul_pci]

It's definitley going to be an uphill battle. The first thing that needs to happen is either:

A) Decide on ONE format.
B) Barring that, make players that will play both. However if one format is not chosen neither one will survive.

I'm also eager to hear about Robert's 'exciting times' with his HD player. Robert? How is it?

Doesn't he strike you like a retailer plant? I always feel like I'm being sold to.

[N. Abstentia]

Surely Ol' Robert wouldn't be hyping up something he doesn't even own....would he?

[GMichael]

Surely Ol' Robert wouldn't be hyping up something he doesn't even own....would he?

Robert owns a car audio store. I believe that selling is in his blood and he may always "sound" like he's trying to sell something.
Ditto on looking forward to his report.

Nab, love the new avitar. I mean, really love it!

[N. Abstentia]

Robert owns a car audio store.

That explains a lot. I guess I'll need to get some 6x9's and a 600 watt booster before adding a BluRay or HD player.

Glad you like the avatar! I've loved that album cover ever since I saw it in the store when I was a kid. At the time I had no idea who Rush was, but later on it all fell into place

[Price0511]

I saw the Toshiba unit on display at NAB in Vegas. Simply fantastic! The ability to view your different menus while the movie was still playing was awesome as was the picture. I am with you all though, we need to have one format, or universal compatibility between the two (fat chance, huh?) Definitely worth the price if HD-DVD sticks......

[N. Abstentia]

I'm assuming from 'ol Roberts abandonment of his "you gotta buy this!" thread that either:

A) He doesn't even have an HD-DVD player.
B) He does have one, and it's complete ass so he's not coming back looking like a fool.

[GMichael]

I'm assuming from 'ol Roberts abandonment of his "you gotta buy this!" thread that either:

A) He doesn't even have an HD-DVD player.
B) He does have one, and it's complete ass so he's not coming back looking like a fool.

Looks like he just came back for one day. He made 5 posts after being away for almost 3 months. I think he has moved on to another forum but had to come back to post news about HD. Just one last stab at his old sparing partner maybe.

[N. Abstentia]

My crystal ball says he might post today about his HD-DVD player!

[GMichael]

My crystal ball says he might post today about his HD-DVD player!

Would your crystal balls be eying up that fact that he's on line now?

Come on Robert. Tell us what you got and how it looks. (not your crystal though. no need for that info)

[robert393]

Wow, I'm shocked to see the low prices on HD-DVD. Player's are $499.99 & titles are releasing at $18.99 to $24.99

Exciting times............
Robert

I never said anything about me purchasing an HD-DVD player, or software. I simply gave information regarding both items. I'm very excited with the pricing and happy to see the first HD-DVD units fly off the shelves & sell-out in a matter of hours nation wide.

I viewed the new Toshiba unit (with full display!) at one of the local BB. It was beautiful. I was most interested in the back panel (which I got to view) for input/outputs. I WANT to buy it, the price is right, but practicallity says wait for a bit and get 2nd gen. Let others work any of the "bugs" out. I'm concerned that true HD content is passed ONLY HDMI, and not component. Looks like HD is pairing with HDMI to be the only video transmission available for the future.
Patience......Patience.....Patience......Patience. ..................................

Truth is, with 20+ HD channels (Dish HD, VOOM, OTA), with more than 25hrs of HD DVR, and an HD-VCR with my stock of movies in 1080i, I'm "ok" for now with HD-Viewing and need to remain patient.........that's hard for me.

[N. Abstentia]

The future for HD-DVD doesn't look so bright after all, eh?

I fully agree to wait until prices come down, bugs are worked out, HDMI is more stable, and a single format is decided on. However, during those years will HD-DVD simply become obosolete while something better comes along?

[robert393]

The future for HD-DVD doesn't look so bright after all, eh?

I fully agree to wait until prices come down, bugs are worked out, HDMI is more stable, and a single format is decided on. However, during those years will HD-DVD simply become obosolete while something better comes along?

Good question. Considering HD-DVD players sold-out nationwide in a matter of hours, I think the future is quite bright for HD-DVD.....and no fear of HD-DVD (whatever form it takes ie, blu-ray?) becoming "obsolete". The bigger question I think is when will HD-VOD enter the equation, and can HD-DVD survive it? Although a legitimate question, I still feel most consumers will want to be able to touch/feel and store the software (buying HD-DVD), as well as being able to access the special features a DVD will have and HD-DVD probably will not offer.

We'll see. It is definately going to be fun times.........
Robert

[drseid]

Actually, my first few titles watched on HD-DVD have really been quite stunning looking... I think the future (present as well) may be brighter than I thought. I was planning on buying a Blu-Ray player as well (PS3 actually), and now I am not so sure...

HD-DVD is still buggy to some extent (mostly software related), and I certainly can't fault anyone for waiting until the kinks get worked out and prices come down, but it actually is pretty darn good overall.

A couple additional pluses aside from the superb picture and sound quality are that the unit can download firmware updates directly from the Internet and component works fine with full 1080i resolution right now (Warner could be a spoiler later on if they put a special flag on their discs to cause downconversion through component though). I am actually using a HDMI to DVI cable, and the picture looks great that way as well.

The primary down sides to the A-1 so far are the s-l-o-w speed of the player on bootup (think computer startup), and that *horrible* non-backlit remote (even if it is well-built out of aluminum). All in all, a good start for the format, and I am looking forward to the new titles coming out each week at reasonable prices (except the overpriced dual format discs).

---Dave

[Woochifer]

I think patience is a virtue, especially since that Toshiba HD-DVD player is far from ready for prime time, and neither is HDMI 1.3. Seems to me that Toshiba released their $500 HD-DVD player basically to get their units into stores before Blu-ray, regardless of whether they worked out all the bugs or properly implemented the features. The reports I've read seem to indicate frequent freezing, audio sync issues, and long loading times.

Doesn't help that the Toshiba did not fully implement the new higher res audio formats. Then again, with no receivers or processors on the market capable of decoding Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, or DTS-HD, you would at least expect that Toshiba to handle all the decoding internally, right? Well, not exactly. My understanding is that the player can only output Dolby TrueHD into TWO analog channels, while the DD Plus signal can only be output digitally by first converting the audio stream to DTS! No one has tried DTS-HD yet because no HD-DVDs so far have included that format.

IMO, everything will remain a moving target until HDMI 1.3 is finalized, and the ancillary equipment begins to support the new audio formats. With so many things not yet finalized, it makes no sense IMO to invest in HD-DVD right now, especially since manufacturers are already developing a transport that can read both HD-DVD and Blu-ray (chipsets that can decode both formats are already on the market).