Interesting thread. But in reading through, I see alot of confusion and misinformation followed by correction and debate. Despite some of the goofy arguments that erupt on this board, most any of us are vastly more knowledgable regarding AV than your average schlub. So here we are, a group of well informed hobbyists and we can't even get the details and pros/cons straight. Now dump that sort of format war confusion into the $30 Walmart DVD player crowd and ask them to pay $300 to $500 for it? I make no prediction, but I won't be surprised if we see some real beta-max style losers in the next decade. And I say that as a proud MiniDisk owner... Boy I picked the wrong one there What a boob