Shades of Beta vs. VHS (That's tape for you young whippersnappers)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_toshiba
Luckily I invested in Blu-ray. Very happy with it, too. Looks great on my new TV.
I've been holding out eagerly waiting to see who would win the war. Have been leaning towards the Blu-Ray the past couple months and was about the make the plunge anyway. This may hasten things up a bit.
Does anyone know which Blockbusters in town carry Blu-Ray movies for rental? The one I usually go to at 93rd and Yale does NOT carry any. The clerk said only certain Blockbusters are carrying any Blu-Ray DVDs to rent.
I looked at the stats on both when they first came out. Looked to me like Blue Ray was the better format from the get go.
I don't know what the hell either one is....
quote:
Originally posted by Breadburner
I don't know what the hell either one is....
I don't know either, I figured I'd post it as a service for the techies on here and I might be able to figure it out finally. [;)]
quote:
Originally posted by Wilbur
I've been holding out eagerly waiting to see who would win the war. Have been leaning towards the Blu-Ray the past couple months and was about the make the plunge anyway. This may hasten things up a bit.
Does anyone know which Blockbusters in town carry Blu-Ray movies for rental? The one I usually go to at 93rd and Yale does NOT carry any. The clerk said only certain Blockbusters are carrying any Blu-Ray DVDs to rent.
Go to 101st & Memorial. That is the closest one with a decent supply.
I have HD-DVD but My total investment for the player and 8 movies is about $0 so it's no big loss for me. If I could've gotten a good deal on blu-ray I would've bought that instead.
Oh, and this is actually the opposite of the aforementioned betamax experience.. think about it.
Sony has tried to garner mass distributions of the following formats:
1. Betamax (Loss)
2. 3.5" Floppy (Win)
3. Minidisc (Loss)
4. SACD (Loss)
5. MMCD (Loss to DVD)
6. VideoCD (Loss)
7. Hi-MD (Loss)
8. UMD Movies (Loss)
9. Memory Stick (Loss)
10. Blu-Ray (Win against HD-DVD)
They are Digital Disks with about 6 times the capacity of a standard DVD (50 gigs). Blue-Ray is Sony's pet and HD DVD was Toshiba's bet. Sony was pissed they lost the BETA war, so they set out to win this one I guess.
They use the extra space for higher definition (1080 standard, where a typical DCD is 480) and progressive scan as well as additional audio channels, more features, alternative scenes, and even alternative camera angles. Max output rate is 48000 kbs (typical DVD is 10080 kbs).
- - -
The Blockbuster at 31st and Harvard has Blue-Ray for all who might be interested.
Anybody wanna buy a slightly used HD-DVD player?
I'm keeping mine because it does good upconversion and because blu-ray still costs $500.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
I'm keeping mine because it does good upconversion and because blu-ray still costs $500.
I wonder if Toshiba saw this coming in Dec when they offered select players at walmart and best buy for $149.99? Blu-ray is far superior then hd-dvd in my opinion and experience. I guess you could always hold onto those hd dvd players and see if their value goes up 15-20yrs down the road. Whats the going rate for a betamax player?
I went to an estate sale with my dad a few weeks ago and saw some blank sony betamax tapes on a shelf in the garage.
quote:
Originally posted by TUalum0982
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
I'm keeping mine because it does good upconversion and because blu-ray still costs $500.
I wonder if Toshiba saw this coming in Dec when they offered select players at walmart and best buy for $149.99? Blu-ray is far superior then hd-dvd in my opinion and experience. I guess you could always hold onto those hd dvd players and see if their value goes up 15-20yrs down the road. Whats the going rate for a betamax player?
I went to an estate sale with my dad a few weeks ago and saw some blank sony betamax tapes on a shelf in the garage.
HD-DVD was cheaper because the parts are easier to get ahold of. That is why PS3's were tough to get out the door for so long. HD-DVD is just supercharged version of DVD whereas bluray involves entirely different laser systems.
quote:
Originally posted by TUalum0982
I went to an estate sale with my dad a few weeks ago and saw some blank sony betamax tapes on a shelf in the garage.
Beta was technically superior to VHS in almost every way, but they lost the marketing war.
It was BetaMax that changed the motion picture industry forever when Sony fought for the right to keep home recording legal. The MPAA argued that home video was just for pirates, and they fought Sony viciously to stop the technology that would ultimately end up saving their greedy arses.
Beta did much better in professional broadcasting, where it is still used today in digital form.
BetaMax decks are still sought out by people wanting to convert old videos into DVD's, so they still have a lot of value for the time being.
Blu-ray's biggest asset was the name rolled off the tongue a lot easier than 'HD-DVD'.
The HD DVD Meeting at Toshiba (//%22http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_b0g-TpKYE%22)
I was actually afraid we might see a betamax redo. Blue Ray was and is a bit more expensive than HD-DVD and HD-DVD was ready to roll off the assembly line before Blue Ray technology was up to its full potential. But what Blue Ray did was go ahead and put out some players and disks that were not up to the full capacity of the technology. Because if they didnt get something out at the same time, HD-DVDs would have an advantage. In effect with an early launch, Blue Ray was not as high capacity/high resolution as the first HD-DVD players and disks, and on top of that it cost more than HD-DVD. However in time Blue Rays basic technology had the capacity to smoke HD-DVD and of course it would come down in price. The trick was, would the consumers see that Blue Ray was ultimately the best technology, aka BetaMax, or would they go with the "still better than the old CDs and cheaper" HD-DVD, aka VHS, technology?
I think a couple of things went in their favor this time, having them in the game consoles got a lot of the Blue Ray players out there. And very importantly it is my personal opinion that HD-DVD sounds very much like old DVDs. Many assume that all DVDs are HD. And when they hear that there is a new, better, technology, Blue Ray sounded new. Plus, Blue Ray just sounds kewl[:P]
CNET did a review recently ref Blu-Ray and looked at five models. They still recommend the Play Station 3, since the machine is Blue-Ray, has the ability to upgrade to the eventual Blu-Ray 2.0 format, and comes with a free game console!
http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6463_7-6606636.html?tag=bubbl_3
plastic substrate media is sooo 2001. if you aren't downloading you are behind the times.
Microsoft is teaming up with netflix to deliver their library via the 360. That beats anything HDDVD or blu ray can deliver.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
plastic substrate media is sooo 2001. if you aren't downloading you are behind the times.
Microsoft is teaming up with netflix to deliver their library via the 360. That beats anything HDDVD or blu ray can deliver.
Color me old fashioned but for my favorite movies, I like having the actual movie. I like looking through them and picking out a seasonal favorite, seeing the familiar old cover, opening the case and loading the disk, etc. If it were any ol movie, downloading would be fine, but not for my favorites. I want to own it and have it. Kind of like getting the hard cover Harry Potter books versus paper back. [:)]
Kind of reminds me of the thought that I think something has been lost in a world where you can see anything anytime on TV. Used to really look forward to seeing certain Christmas movies. People would schedule get togethers in order to watch it, cause if you missed it, you would have to wait till next year again to see it. "Its a Wonderful Life" was a special family event. The Charlie Brown specials as well. Saturday morning cartoons were the best. Would look forward all week to seeing them. Now cartoons are on all times of the day, every day. Being able to download any episode of any show at any time will even make them less special imo. I kinda feel sorry for kids these days. Having to wait till ya almost couldnt stand to wait anymore was often just as exciting as the actual show or cartoon lol. Going to miss the show that night... Tvo it... Thats no fun.
quote:
Originally posted by TheArtist
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
plastic substrate media is sooo 2001. if you aren't downloading you are behind the times.
Microsoft is teaming up with netflix to deliver their library via the 360. That beats anything HDDVD or blu ray can deliver.
Color me old fashioned but for my favorite movies, I like having the actual movie. I like looking through them and picking out a seasonal favorite, seeing the familiar old cover, opening the case and loading the disk, etc. If it were any ol movie, downloading would be fine, but not for my favorites. I want to own it and have it. Kind of like getting the hard cover Harry Potter books versus paper back. [:)]
Kind of reminds me of the thought that I think something has been lost in a world where you can see anything anytime on TV. Used to really look forward to seeing certain Christmas movies. People would schedule get togethers in order to watch it, cause if you missed it, you would have to wait till next year again to see it. "Its a Wonderful Life" was a special family event. The Charlie Brown specials as well. Saturday morning cartoons were the best. Would look forward all week to seeing them. Now cartoons are on all times of the day, every day. Being able to download any episode of any show at any time will even make them less special imo. I kinda feel sorry for kids these days. Having to wait till ya almost couldnt stand to wait anymore was often just as exciting as the actual show or cartoon lol. Going to miss the show that night... Tvo it... Thats no fun.
there is nothing saying that you couldn't turn a temporarily purchased movie into a permanent one by paying an additional fee. People said the same thing about movies back in the VHS days....but do you REALLY want a nasty tape that will go bad some day? Same thing applies to pastic substrate media. Only way to keep your movie for good is to store it in a digital form free of physical format restrictions.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
there is nothing saying that you couldn't turn a temporarily purchased movie into a permanent one by paying an additional fee. People said the same thing about movies back in the VHS days....but do you REALLY want a nasty tape that will go bad some day? Same thing applies to pastic substrate media. Only way to keep your movie for good is to store it in a digital form free of physical format restrictions.
Until your hard drive crashes. You will likely lose at least 10 hard drives before a pressed DVD goes bad.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
there is nothing saying that you couldn't turn a temporarily purchased movie into a permanent one by paying an additional fee. People said the same thing about movies back in the VHS days....but do you REALLY want a nasty tape that will go bad some day? Same thing applies to pastic substrate media. Only way to keep your movie for good is to store it in a digital form free of physical format restrictions.
Until your hard drive crashes. You will likely lose at least 10 hard drives before a pressed DVD goes bad.
I guess the concept of RAID 1 is lost on you. Most home media servers do at least that and some even go RAID3. If you lose a RAID3 array then something truely catastrophic has occured (like the house burning down) and at that point I don't think a few movies are going to matter.
And I haven't lost a HD in over 9 years. Solid state technology improvements will further increase reliability.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
I guess the concept of RAID 1 is lost on you. Most home media servers do at least that and some even go RAID3. If you lose a RAID3 array then something truely catastrophic has occured (like the house burning down) and at that point I don't think a few movies are going to matter.
And I haven't lost a HD in over 9 years. Solid state technology improvements will further increase reliability.
Raid is far from lost on me. However tons of people bought ide-raid controllers and ran them Raid-0 which is worse than standalone (reliability-wise). I hope that no-one on the planet is still using Raid 3. Dedicated parity disks are so 1980. Raid 1,3,5 all provide the same level of protection, single drive failure.
Typically I prefer higher levels and N+1, N+2 or better redundancy, but I do use Raid 1 or 5 on the lower-level systems.
If you haven't lost one in 9 years, congrats. I generally see an average lifespan of about 3yrs on consumer drives and closer to 5 on the commercial drives.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
I guess the concept of RAID 1 is lost on you. Most home media servers do at least that and some even go RAID3. If you lose a RAID3 array then something truely catastrophic has occured (like the house burning down) and at that point I don't think a few movies are going to matter.
And I haven't lost a HD in over 9 years. Solid state technology improvements will further increase reliability.
Raid is far from lost on me. However tons of people bought ide-raid controllers and ran them Raid-0 which is worse than standalone (reliability-wise). I hope that no-one on the planet is still using Raid 3. Dedicated parity disks are so 1980. Raid 1,3,5 all provide the same level of protection, single drive failure.
Typically I prefer higher levels and N+1, N+2 or better redundancy, but I do use Raid 1 or 5 on the lower-level systems.
If you haven't lost one in 9 years, congrats. I generally see an average lifespan of about 3yrs on consumer drives and closer to 5 on the commercial drives.
give me a break, there are lots of companies still using RAID3. consumers can't shell for RAID5. nested raid is equally expensive. RAID1 is perfect for home applications. RAID3 is better as it adds the aformentioned parity drive and it is optimized for large file writes, which most HD movies are.
there are many many home stoarge servers and NAS devices preconfigured for RAID1, so worrying about a disk failing is worrying for nothing.
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
give me a break, there are lots of companies still using RAID3. consumers can't shell for RAID5. nested raid is equally expensive. RAID1 is perfect for home applications. RAID3 is better as it adds the aformentioned parity drive and it is optimized for large file writes, which most HD movies are.
there are many many home stoarge servers and NAS devices preconfigured for RAID1, so worrying about a disk failing is worrying for nothing.
RAID 3 and RAID 5 both use the same number of drives. What cost difference? And as noted by many sites, (you can even check wikipedia) Raid 3 is "Very Rare in practice." Commercial array controllers only support 0,1,0+1,5,6 and ADG.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by inteller
give me a break, there are lots of companies still using RAID3. consumers can't shell for RAID5. nested raid is equally expensive. RAID1 is perfect for home applications. RAID3 is better as it adds the aformentioned parity drive and it is optimized for large file writes, which most HD movies are.
there are many many home stoarge servers and NAS devices preconfigured for RAID1, so worrying about a disk failing is worrying for nothing.
RAID 3 and RAID 5 both use the same number of drives. What cost difference? And as noted by many sites, (you can even check wikipedia) Raid 3 is "Very Rare in practice." Commercial array controllers only support 0,1,0+1,5,6 and ADG.
fine, drown in your sea of DVDs I'm not going to continue to argue the benefits of media storage servers.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have just witnessed a geek smack-down.
(http://headrush.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/smackdown_1.jpg)
(http://www.sighco.com/store/images/danger_big.gif)
It's too bad Blu-Ray won. HD-DVD is really a better format and is more compatable with current fomats and offers alot more advantages over Blu-Ray. I wonder if the name had anything to do with it? The name "Blu-Ray" has a better sound and a high tech ring to it over just plain "HD-DVD"... I don't think it'll matter much in the long run I doubt Blu-Ray will be around long there's already new stuff in the pipeline that is better than Blu-Ray plus there's talk soon of Laser TV sets coming out with far clearer pictures than Plasma TV sets. Just as soon as everyone re-builds up their movie collection in Blu-Ray, something new will come.[B)]
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
It's too bad Blu-Ray won. HD-DVD is really a better format and is more compatable with current fomats and offers alot more advantages over Blu-Ray. I wonder if the name had anything to do with it? The name "Blu-Ray" has a better sound and a high tech ring to it over just plain "HD-DVD"... I don't think it'll matter much in the long run I doubt Blu-Ray will be around long there's already new stuff in the pipeline that is better than Blu-Ray plus there's talk soon of Laser TV sets coming out with far clearer pictures than Plasma TV sets. Just as soon as everyone re-builds up their movie collection in Blu-Ray, something new will come.[B)]
Blu-ray has higher capacity, that's enough to convince me :P
Hd-DVD had the advantage of selling dual format discs.
Blu-ray was night and day better technically.
quote:
Originally posted by EricP
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
It's too bad Blu-Ray won. HD-DVD is really a better format and is more compatable with current fomats and offers alot more advantages over Blu-Ray. I wonder if the name had anything to do with it? The name "Blu-Ray" has a better sound and a high tech ring to it over just plain "HD-DVD"... I don't think it'll matter much in the long run I doubt Blu-Ray will be around long there's already new stuff in the pipeline that is better than Blu-Ray plus there's talk soon of Laser TV sets coming out with far clearer pictures than Plasma TV sets. Just as soon as everyone re-builds up their movie collection in Blu-Ray, something new will come.[B)]
Blu-ray has higher capacity, that's enough to convince me :P
Yes, but that's about all the advantages Blu-Ray has and it really is not that much more time- and besides how much more of a movie can you sit and watch anyhow? Two hours is long enough for me.... HD-DVD is more compatable with current DVD's- Plus regular DVD's can play on HD-DVD players they are cheaper to make than Blu-Ray discs and use alot of the same tech and factory equipment to make as regular DVD's. The pictures are just as clear... Blu-Ray uses very small pits in the disc so they have to be treated with TLC because nicks and scratchs can ruin them more easy. Blu-Ray uses a whole new format and system.. None the less Blu-Ray will become out dated very soon anyhow with something else. IMO HD-DVD is a better, more simple system overall.
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
quote:
Originally posted by EricP
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
It's too bad Blu-Ray won. HD-DVD is really a better format and is more compatable with current fomats and offers alot more advantages over Blu-Ray. I wonder if the name had anything to do with it? The name "Blu-Ray" has a better sound and a high tech ring to it over just plain "HD-DVD"... I don't think it'll matter much in the long run I doubt Blu-Ray will be around long there's already new stuff in the pipeline that is better than Blu-Ray plus there's talk soon of Laser TV sets coming out with far clearer pictures than Plasma TV sets. Just as soon as everyone re-builds up their movie collection in Blu-Ray, something new will come.[B)]
Blu-ray has higher capacity, that's enough to convince me :P
Yes, but that's about all the advantages Blu-Ray has and it really is not that much more time- and besides how much more of a movie can you sit and watch anyhow? Two hours is long enough for me.... HD-DVD is more compatable with current DVD's- Plus regular DVD's can play on HD-DVD players they are cheaper to make than Blu-Ray discs and use alot of the same tech and factory equipment to make as regular DVD's. The pictures are just as clear... Blu-Ray uses very small pits in the disc so they have to be treated with TLC because nicks and scratchs can ruin them more easy. Blu-Ray uses a whole new format and system.. None the less Blu-Ray will become out dated very soon anyhow with something else. IMO HD-DVD is a better, more simple system overall.
Existing DVD's play on bluray players just like they play on hd-dvd ones. Blu-ray is also expanding capacity where hd-dvd didn't have much ability too. You say this is no advantage yet you can buy a 5 disc version of blade runner. Isn't putting it all on one disc an advantage? Not to mention is that Bluray discs use a different kind of acrylic that is much harder to nick.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
quote:
Originally posted by EricP
quote:
Originally posted by sauerkraut
It's too bad Blu-Ray won. HD-DVD is really a better format and is more compatable with current fomats and offers alot more advantages over Blu-Ray. I wonder if the name had anything to do with it? The name "Blu-Ray" has a better sound and a high tech ring to it over just plain "HD-DVD"... I don't think it'll matter much in the long run I doubt Blu-Ray will be around long there's already new stuff in the pipeline that is better than Blu-Ray plus there's talk soon of Laser TV sets coming out with far clearer pictures than Plasma TV sets. Just as soon as everyone re-builds up their movie collection in Blu-Ray, something new will come.[B)]
Blu-ray has higher capacity, that's enough to convince me :P
Yes, but that's about all the advantages Blu-Ray has and it really is not that much more time- and besides how much more of a movie can you sit and watch anyhow? Two hours is long enough for me.... HD-DVD is more compatable with current DVD's- Plus regular DVD's can play on HD-DVD players they are cheaper to make than Blu-Ray discs and use alot of the same tech and factory equipment to make as regular DVD's. The pictures are just as clear... Blu-Ray uses very small pits in the disc so they have to be treated with TLC because nicks and scratchs can ruin them more easy. Blu-Ray uses a whole new format and system.. None the less Blu-Ray will become out dated very soon anyhow with something else. IMO HD-DVD is a better, more simple system overall.
Existing DVD's play on bluray players just like they play on hd-dvd ones. Blu-ray is also expanding capacity where hd-dvd didn't have much ability too. You say this is no advantage yet you can buy a 5 disc version of blade runner. Isn't putting it all on one disc an advantage? Not to mention is that Bluray discs use a different kind of acrylic that is much harder to nick.
Geeesh- who can find time to watch 5 discs of a old movie- or better yet who will want to? The current DVD's have enough extras as it is. I don't even have time to watch all the extras with the current DVDs... IMO That's just over kill... I read articles about Blue Ray and HD DVD, and they had the "pros" & "Cons" of both formats and when you dig into it, HD DVD really does come out better there's more pluses there than with Blu-Ray. Popular Science mag had alot of stories about that subject as did alot of video mags. None the less I doubt blu-Ray will amount to much, the disc sales are still slow and new formats are coming that will blow blu-ray away with clearer pictures and even better sound. Laser TV is due to come out too.
So if Blue Ray has better capacity than HD, yet it doesnt matter because you cant really tell the difference anyway.... What is supposedly in the pipeline that will be better? If you cant tell the difference now, how could "better" be better?
I dont know what articles Sauerkraut was reading, unless they were the old articles, because the ones I read showed that Blue Ray is better. One thing to remember is that the Blue Ray technology has the capacity to go much further than it presently is. When Blue Ray and HD-DVD first came out, HD was indeed better, but that technology couldnt upgrade its capacity nearly as much as the Blue Ray technology can. Make sure the articles you are reading are comparing apples to apples, or more importantly, ultimate capacity to ultimate capacity not past or present configurations.
quote:
Originally posted by TheArtist
So if Blue Ray has better capacity than HD, yet it doesnt matter because you cant really tell the difference anyway.... What is supposedly in the pipeline that will be better? If you cant tell the difference now, how could "better" be better?
I dont know what articles Sauerkraut was reading, unless they were the old articles, because the ones I read showed that Blue Ray is better. One thing to remember is that the Blue Ray technology has the capacity to go much further than it presently is. When Blue Ray and HD-DVD first came out, HD was indeed better, but that technology couldnt upgrade its capacity nearly as much as the Blue Ray technology can. Make sure the articles you are reading are comparing apples to apples, or more importantly, ultimate capacity to ultimate capacity not past or present configurations.
Was at Sam's Mon morning and saw a Toshiba HD-dvd player for 115.00. Great buy for someone!!
quote:
Originally posted by TUalum0982
quote:
Originally posted by TheArtist
So if Blue Ray has better capacity than HD, yet it doesnt matter because you cant really tell the difference anyway.... What is supposedly in the pipeline that will be better? If you cant tell the difference now, how could "better" be better?
I dont know what articles Sauerkraut was reading, unless they were the old articles, because the ones I read showed that Blue Ray is better. One thing to remember is that the Blue Ray technology has the capacity to go much further than it presently is. When Blue Ray and HD-DVD first came out, HD was indeed better, but that technology couldnt upgrade its capacity nearly as much as the Blue Ray technology can. Make sure the articles you are reading are comparing apples to apples, or more importantly, ultimate capacity to ultimate capacity not past or present configurations.
Was at Sam's Mon morning and saw a Toshiba HD-dvd player for 115.00. Great buy for someone!!
lol They probably wont be able to give them away soon.
To tell ya the truth, I'm just as happy with my VCR and my old RCA 20" CRT TV set, I'm no movie nut- That's all I need. The drawback I don't like about all DVD's is they force you to watch The "FBI warming" logo and other stuff at the start of a disc, (The DVD player won't skip thru that stuff) with a VCR tape you can fast fwd past all that. I'm an old fashoined guy anyhow. I'm more than happy with the standard DVDs. I also won't be getting a HDTV I'll just have to git the converter box for my TV. Go ahead and rebuild up your movie collections in blu-ray and see how how it lasts till it's outdated.[B)]
Arent some of these HD-DVD players a good buy to use as an upconverting regular DVD player for a 1080p screen?
I'm probably about to get a nice 1080p 120hz LCD so I'd be interested if someone might have a suggestion for best upconverting DVD player - I'm going to hold off on Blu-ray for a bit. Not that I'm unsure of Blu-ray, just the fact that it is $400 minimum, PS3 or otherwise - to get a player.
quote:
Originally posted by YoungTulsan
Arent some of these HD-DVD players a good buy to use as an upconverting regular DVD player for a 1080p screen?
I'm probably about to get a nice 1080p 120hz LCD so I'd be interested if someone might have a suggestion for best upconverting DVD player - I'm going to hold off on Blu-ray for a bit. Not that I'm unsure of Blu-ray, just the fact that it is $400 minimum, PS3 or otherwise - to get a player.
Many HD-DVD players only upconvert to 720p.
This is the best upconverting DVD player I know of:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N254LU/
Even has a usb port on the front. Will play images/videos off of your jump drive or external hard drive.
Is it wrong for me to be skeptical of a product simply because it is TOO cheap? $59 just doesnt seem like it would buy a quality product (DVD player). I'd expect more of a "disposable" product that I'd just say "screw it" when it breaks. Perhaps I should just accept that technology has come down in price, and enjoy it?
$59 is because it's been out about a year. Philips produces some very reliable and technically advanced players. I've also known them to play scratched and dirty discs most players reject.
You can find the price pretty similar locally if you want to try it out and return it.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by YoungTulsan
Arent some of these HD-DVD players a good buy to use as an upconverting regular DVD player for a 1080p screen?
I'm probably about to get a nice 1080p 120hz LCD so I'd be interested if someone might have a suggestion for best upconverting DVD player - I'm going to hold off on Blu-ray for a bit. Not that I'm unsure of Blu-ray, just the fact that it is $400 minimum, PS3 or otherwise - to get a player.
Many HD-DVD players only upconvert to 720p.
This is the best upconverting DVD player I know of:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N254LU/
Even has a usb port on the front. Will play images/videos off of your jump drive or external hard drive.
yeah that player is nice, just wish the port was on the back. having a cable coming out the front looks like crap.
Since the "Pitts" are so much smaller on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs in order to get and hold all that data- I wonder if the discs are more prone to "DVD Rot" -that is when the silver lineing inside the disc starts to break down and the data is lost and the disc is worthless. The issues of DVD and cd rot are something to look into before putting down big bucks on a new system. I would never build up a whole movie collection of Blu-Ray movies, I'd just buy a few of the movies that I like, because you can bet it will be outdated in a few years.