I guess I hit the nail right on the head.

11/13/2007 9:07:26 PM

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 9:20 PM. Reason : !]

11/13/2007 9:20:10 PM

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 9:20 PM. Reason : !]

11/13/2007 9:20:46 PM

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 9:21 PM. Reason : !]

11/13/2007 9:21:09 PM

How to get 3 Blu-ray movies for the price of 1:

#1: Look at this list (also below), and pick 2.
#2: Buy those two at Amazon through this promotion. You will be charged for one of them.
#3: When they arrive, fill out this form to recieve your third movie.

The only catch is... for your third movie, you pick a first, second, and third choice from the list of twelve (aside from the two you've already purchased), so it's not guaranteed. But hey, it's not often that you get to stack coupons, and it's THREE FOR ONE.

• Casino Royale (Blu-ray)
• Ghost Rider (Blu-ray)
• The Fifth Element (Blu-ray)
• Underworld: Evolution (Blu-ray)
• Telladega Nights (Blu-ray)
• Open Season (Blu-ray)
• Black Hawk Down (Blu-ray)
• The Persuit of Happyness (Blu-ray)
• The Patriot (Blu-ray)
• Memoirs of a Geisha (Blu-ray)
• A Few Good Men (Blu-ray)
• Big Fish (Blu-ray)

11/14/2007 1:50:44 PM

6 of those I would want.'

few good men
the patriot
pursuit of happiness
black hawk down
fifth element
casino royale

11/14/2007 2:03:03 PM

You realize those are all Sony movies, right?

Isn't that against your religion?

11/14/2007 3:22:27 PM

uh no. Shitty consoles are against my spending habits. Good movies are not. I have no issues with some sony products as long as they stand up to their expectations and $texas price tag. Nothing Sony is cheap.

to name a few sony products I don't touch because they suck...

PS3
Sony VAIOS

The only problem I have with blu ray is the price tag. It does everything HD DVD does but for more money. Explain to me how that makes any logical sense for me to want to chose blu ray over hd dvd?

[Edited on November 14, 2007 at 3:48 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/14/2007 3:47:20 PM

You know, I'm not seeing this huge price difference between the two when comparing apples to apples. Sure, the 1080i HD DVD player is a lot cheaper, and for good reason, but the entry level 1080p models from both formats are within $20 of eachother on Amazon ($350 for HDDVD, $370 Blu-ray). And btw, neither of them sound like good buys because of slow load times and reliability issues, which would be my main concern at this point, rather than picking the winning format.

Though this was metioned briefly earlier, I think we're forgetting the importance of movie rentals, rather than sales. I really have no plans to buy more than one or two discs. They're expensive, and I have a mail subscription with Blockbuster. They only offer Blu-ray, so I will probably be getting a Blu-ray player. What movie comes out on what format isn't a real big issue with me. If its not on Blu-ray I can just get it on DVD and be happy with it.

11/14/2007 7:11:12 PM

Blockbuster Online also offers HD DVD.

Collections -> HD DVD

11/14/2007 7:48:22 PM

Wow, wasn't aware of that. They have them kind of hidden if you aren't looking for them. That changes things...

11/15/2007 1:28:44 AM

Quote :

"In a huge blow to Toshiba, Universal, Golovko and the rest of the HD DVD devotees, rental giant Blockbuster has decided to stock only Blu-ray discs in the vast majority of its nationwide locations, although HD DVD titles will continue to be offered online and in the 250 (out of 1,450) stores that have been testing both formats since last year. Blockbuster VP Matthew Smith revealed to the AP that the decision to go with Blu-ray -- which will reportedly be announced tomorrow -- stemmed from an overwhelming customer preference for those titles in the test markets, accounting for over 70% of all HD discs rented. Interestingly enough, it seems that content -- and not price -- was the deciding factor for consumers Jun 17th 2007, Blockbuster chooses Blu-ray: is the war over?"

I was in the Avent Ferry store earlier tonight, and they have a rack of Blu-ray disks here No HD DVDs in sight, though... so while you can get both formats online (through Netflix and Blockbuster), if you want to rent from a brick-and-mortar store, I guess you'll have to find a Hollywood Video that hasn't closed down yet.

11/15/2007 1:34:10 AM

^i had to do a double take on your time stamp for that post because I was under the impression blockbuster never had hd dvd's in store? and this news was EXTREMELY old.

I wouldn't view that as a hit at all considering I havent been to a blockbuster in at least 4 or 5 years and I never will again. I just recently started using netflix and I can get both formats there which is all I care about. Before that I just bought/borrowed movies.

Plus when you consider wal-mart on HD DVD's side I would say thats a giant step in the better direction. Renting only goes so far vs selling discs.

I would rather have 100,000 people buy my movie for $29.99 then have blockbuster buy 10,000 discs at a whole sale price and 500,000 people pay blockbuster $6 each to see it. Not quite sure how rental works anyway or if blockbuster gives a portion of the rental fees to the studios etc.

11/15/2007 11:11:01 AM

i bet walmart went with hd dvd cause sony is based out of japan

11/15/2007 11:14:36 AM

^i bet you went with that post because you didn't think it through.

11/15/2007 11:15:04 AM

you are right...i dont want to spam this thread and unencourage people from actually posting on it

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:22 AM. Reason : .]

11/15/2007 11:17:34 AM

this is tech talk. not soapbox. post that in soapbox, sit back, and enjoy the fireworks.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:20 AM. Reason : h]

11/15/2007 11:20:20 AM

Quote :

"FanatiK But..but... you said in the other thread that HD-DVD was capable of everything Blu-Ray was....??"

had to post this in here because Fanatik got lost on his way.

1080p:
blu ray: chcek
hd dvd: check

true digital sound (whatever format)
blu ray: check
hd dvd: check

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:38 AM. Reason : .]

11/15/2007 11:37:40 AM

And...according to YOU

Lord of the Rings

Blu-Ray: check
HD-DVD: hmmm....maybe (at the expense of lossless audio??)


PWNT



That's why I laugh when HD-DVD drones throw around the "30GB is more than enough space, who needs 50GB LOL!!!" line.

30GB is NOT enough. It's already been proven (see Transformers HD-DVD)

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:46 AM. Reason : d]

11/15/2007 11:43:45 AM

PWNT? lol, kid you are kidding yourself.

The movie is so long regardless that it would be hard pressed to fit it on 1 disc. Ever wonder why the DVD came in 2 discs + bonus discs?

you can come to me with that argument when a 1 disc movie has to fit on 2 HD DVD's. Since that will never happen you can keep your stupid comments to yourself.

and all these HD DVD drones will be laughing at you and your relic blu ray collection/player.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:48 AM. Reason : asdf]

11/15/2007 11:47:29 AM

i think its funny that people are actually taking sides... i don't care who wins... i just want hd movies.
i'd prefer hd-dvd so i don't have to buy another player but really its not that much money in the whole scheme of things

11/15/2007 12:12:08 PM

^exactly. I'm just against sony's tactics of forcing a shitty console down our throats by making all the stand alone players more expensive.

11/15/2007 12:13:52 PM

Quote :

"Ever wonder why the DVD came in 2 discs + bonus discs?"

hmmmm.... cuz DVD's hold less than 10GB?


You know, Sony isn't the one controlling BD Player prices. Unlike Toshiba + HD-DVD, they are not the only ones making players. So take your argument and apply it to your own format-of-choice, bucko.

The only reason HD-DVD players became affordable (for 1 whole weekend ) is because Toshiba sees they are losing the race and are desperate.

They are sorely mistaken if they think the folks that paid $99 for a player AT WALMART are going to fork out $30 for a single title, though. "But it looks just like a DVD, Rufus... How come it costs more??"


oh, and

Quote :

"you can come to me with that argument when a 1 disc movie has to fit on 2 HD DVD's"

Transformers SHOULD'VE been 2 discs. They had to cut features to get it to fit. The same movie WITH all its features intact would've fit on one Blu-Ray.

PWNT

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 1:09 PM. Reason : d]

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 1:10 PM. Reason : dd]

11/15/2007 1:07:48 PM

Ok, I've been as guilty of it as anyone, but can we just stop? We're back to shit that was argued way back on page 1. There is no more new information. Nothing has changed in the format war. If we're just gonna keep going back and forth arguing the same the points over and over again, a mod should just lock this thread. When the biggest revelation that has come out this thread in the past week has to do with some kid living with his parents, that should be a sign to just stop.

11/15/2007 1:16:58 PM

This is THE INTERNETS!!!!

11/15/2007 1:21:32 PM

HD is totally overrated...sure, if you drop $2k or more on a setup (tv, hd player, digital cable/satellite at a monthly fee, decent surround sound, and, of course, movies to actually watch), then of course it's great (it should be, for 2 grand)...but if you leave any of those out, then it's pretty crappy "upgrade"

when OTA goes all-digital in 2009, it might be worth it...until then, it's still just a money pit whose value i can't justify as equal to the cost...that is, of course, an opinion...some people see it as money well-spent, but i guess i still just spend too little time watching television and too much time doing things outside my living room

11/15/2007 1:32:49 PM

FanatiK, Toshiba isn't the ONLY maker of HD DVD players. Microsoft makes an HD DVD add-on for the X-Box for about $200.

Also, Samsung and Sony make dual-format players.

Making Blu-ray players, you've got Sony and Samsung, as well as Pioneer, Sharp, LG, and Denon.

11/15/2007 1:37:58 PM

yea?? well, outside of my living room is better than outside YOUR living room.

11/15/2007 1:38:28 PM

Quote :

"hmmmm.... cuz DVD's hold less than 10GB?"

I'll clue you in on something secret to the public. When video quality goes up, so does its storage size. So when Lord of the Rings extended goes HD, it will no longer be '20gb' of video but much much more than that + audio. So to use the argument that "DVD's hold less than 10gb" is dumb unless you were trying to fit HD on a DVD disc.

Quote :

" You know, Sony isn't the one controlling BD Player prices. Unlike Toshiba + HD-DVD, they are not the only ones making players. So take your argument and apply it to your own format-of-choice, bucko. The only reason HD-DVD players became affordable (for 1 whole weekend ) is because Toshiba sees they are losing the race and are desperate. They are sorely mistaken if they think the folks that paid $99 for a player AT WALMART are going to fork out $30 for a single title, though. "But it looks just like a DVD, Rufus... How come it costs more??""

Sony IS controlling Blu Ray player prices because they own the rights to it and are trying to push their unsuccessful console system by forcing people to buy it if they want a more affordable (although far from it) Blu Ray player.

Toshiba dropping prices has nothing to do with losing any race. They know that in order to win you get your product in more homes. Simple enough.

and seriously, your argument is "discs are expensive!" Are you saying blu ray discs are $15.99 now?

Quote :

"FanatiK, Toshiba isn't the ONLY maker of HD DVD players. Microsoft makes an HD DVD add-on for the X-Box for about $200."

thats how much they cost when first released. Now they're $179.99

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 1:42 PM. Reason : asdf ]

11/15/2007 1:41:22 PM

Quote :

"Sony make dual-format players."

they do? That doesn't make much sense, now does it?

Combo players (which you'd have to be nuts to buy at this point) and drives non withstanding, Toshiba IS the only manufacturer of "HD-DVD Players".

Either way, my point is that Blu-Ray has more manufacturers making players than Toshiba does. Therefore, it's ridiculous to say that Sony is controlling player prices when Toshiba is the one with a monopoly.

11/15/2007 1:41:51 PM

^sigh...someone explain how licensing works plz.

these other manufacturers didn't 'google' how to make blu ray player u know.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 1:42 PM. Reason : asdf ]

11/15/2007 1:42:33 PM

Quote :

" and seriously, your argument is "discs are expensive!" Are you saying blu ray discs are $15.99 now?"

my ever-expanding library of Blu-Rays is a testament to that. I haven't paid more than $15 for a single one of them.

and the rest of your post... I'm not even sure what it's supposed to be... so I'll just leave it alone.

11/15/2007 1:43:47 PM

^not sure what thats supposed to be so i'll just skip over to the next one. Does that mean I win the debate?

11/15/2007 1:44:34 PM

And to think I came here for some friendly informative comparisons between the two formats

jesus christ

11/15/2007 1:47:01 PM

nothing friendly about 'wars' lol

11/15/2007 1:48:02 PM

Quote :

"'ll clue you in on something secret to the public. When video quality goes up, so does its storage size. So when Lord of the Rings extended goes HD, it will no longer be '20gb' of video but much much more than that + audio. So to use the argument that "DVD's hold less than 10gb" is dumb unless you were trying to fit HD on a DVD disc."

gee whiz, you mean THAT'S why these new fancy hi-def formats hold so much data?

Good to know.

Wait... This must also be why Transformers didn't get a proper HD release then too, right?

Guess those extra 20GB of data do make a difference after all, then...

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 1:51 PM. Reason : d]

11/15/2007 1:50:41 PM

have you even seen transformers on HD? nothing not proper about it, try again.

11/15/2007 1:51:27 PM

Actually, I have. Dolby 5.1 is the wave of past, my friend.

But I guess Hi-Def only applies to video quality?

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:03 PM. Reason : d]

11/15/2007 2:02:20 PM

HDM Releases for November 20, 2007

* Badder Santa: The Unrated Version (Blu-ray)
* David Gilmour: Remember That Night (Blu-ray)
* Die Hard (Blu-ray)
* Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Blu-ray)
* Die Hard 3: Die Hard with a Vengeance (Blu-ray)
* The Die Hard Collection (Blu-ray)
* Hairspray (2007) (Blu-ray)
* Live Free or Die Hard (Blu-ray)
* Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (HD DVD)
* Pathfinder (Blu-ray)
* Rescue Dawn (Blu-ray)
* The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (Blu-ray)
* Star Trek: The Original Series -- The Complete First Season (HD DVD)
* Tremors (HD DVD)

These are the movies that are going to be prominently displayed for Black Friday, and the week after Thanksgiving. These titles are going to have a big impact on impulse buyers... I have a feeling it's going to be very hard to find Live Free or Die Hard if you wait until Friday to get it.

Hairspray is New Line's first HDM release, and is supposed to look and sound amazing. I had assumed earlier today that New Line, ultimately owned by Warner, was going to be releasing titles in both formats; however I suppose they lean Blu. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it got a 98% on RottenTomatoes.

11/15/2007 2:06:04 PM

word on the street is Warner themselves are considering ditching HD-DVD and going Blu.

Just wait for the software sales gap to widen a little more , I bet they'll make it official Q2 2008.

11/15/2007 2:10:42 PM

A couple of things...

First, it's pretty obvious that Sony is the one keeping Blu-ray players as expensive as they are. Since everything ultimately runs through them, they can jack up licensing fees of the technology to hold up prices of their other vendors players. As I said earlier:

Quote :

"Sony, meanwhile, has shown that their so desperate to boost sales of the Playstation 3 that they won't make any Blu-ray player priced under the cheapest PS3. It's absolutely laughable, because if Sony and the numerous other companies that can make Blu-ray drives said "hey, $100 Blu-ray player", this war would be over."

There's no way they're going to allow another company to sell a Blu-ray player significantly below the price of the PS3 because it will kill one aspect of PS3 sales. Why else would it be that every time the PS3 drops in price, Blu-ray players magically do as well?

On top of that, for all your talking about "TRANSFORMERS MISSING FEATURES!!!!1", there are two HD DVDs in the box -- one with extras, one with the movie proper. So unless you're fitting two full HD DVDs worth of content on one Blu-ray disc, you're probably getting two discs any way you slice it.

11/15/2007 2:16:07 PM

live free or die hard was what got me wanting blu ray

^ive been singing that tune for a while and fanatik (how ironic of his name choice) refuses to read that Sony doesn't want stand alones to cost less than PS3's to force PS3's down our throats.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:20 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/15/2007 2:16:49 PM

OK, so that must be why they've repeatedly stated that cheap Blu-Ray players are coming.
Must also be why there's a post that's 15 minutes old in the Blu-Ray Deals thread with a Samsung player + 7 movies for $370?

Wanna do 1080p? Your shitty $99 player won't do it. If you want a HD-DVD player that's COMPARABLE to a Blu-Ray player, you're gonna fork out about the same $$ for it. I challenge you to find me a 1080p capable HD-DVD player that's >$100 less than the cheapest Blu-Ray player.

And Stein, I'm not even talking about SPECIAL features, who gives a shit about them. I don't think a proper lossless audio soundtrack is a SPECIAL feature in the HD era. That shit should be standard. And the studio themselves have stated that it would've been included, but they didn't have space.

So, your gimped copy of Transformers isn't lacking SPECIAL features. It's lacking STANDARD features. Enjoy!

11/15/2007 2:28:15 PM

Quote :

"Wanna do 1080p? Your shitty $99 player won't do it. If you want a HD-DVD player that's COMPARABLE to a Blu-Ray player, you're gonna fork out about the same $$ for it."

You do realize that neither Blu ray nor HD-DVD have 1080p/60 content right? So unless you have one of those 3 or 4 displays that operates at a multiple of 24Hz, the difference between 1080i and 1080p/24 is practically nothing.

When they are recording and selling content that is 1080p/60 you can start talking about the quality difference between 1080i and 1080p.

11/15/2007 2:42:54 PM

I'd rather not have to buy a new player at that point.

Why not plan ahead a little when you buy?

What if I want to upgrade to a better display in a year or two? 1080p/24 capable sets are popping up left and right these days. They will be affordable by the time I'm ready for a new display.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:47 PM. Reason : d]

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:50 PM. Reason : ds]

11/15/2007 2:46:41 PM

Quote :

"OK, so that must be why they've repeatedly stated that cheap Blu-Ray players are coming. Must also be why there's a post that's 15 minutes old in the Blu-Ray Deals thread with a Samsung player + 7 movies for $370?"

LOL $370 is NOT cheap!

$99 + 9 free movies IS cheap!

so i guess by 'cheap blu ray players are coming' they mean they will be $389.99?

^exactly my point, which is why we planned far enough ahead to go with HD DVD so we don't have old relics next to our betamax movies.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:50 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/15/2007 2:49:50 PM

^again, you're the not getting the same capabilities from your $99 player.

If you don't need 1080p, then by all means... but don't go saying it's "capable of everything Blu-Ray players are", cuz it ain't.


Dude, you sound like such an idiot. "LOL Blu-Ray will be extinct soon!" Who gives a shit? If you had half a brain, you'd want it to stick around as long as possible. Whatever.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 2:52 PM. Reason : d]

11/15/2007 2:51:31 PM

'cuz' it is. Did you misread everything everyones been telling you?

11/15/2007 2:52:15 PM

What's the max resolution on that thing again?

11/15/2007 2:53:44 PM

1080p is overrated, it's quality yes, but i'm not paying $300 more for something hardly noticable, nor will the general public

don't get me wrong, i am not arguing for HD DVD, i'm merely arguing why people won't go to Blu-ray until price comes down.

do i want to settle for smaller capacity discs and lower-resolution players? hell no. but if they $100 becomes a reality (not just a one-day sale) then i'll have no choice. 1080p is hardly worth $300 upcharge, this is betamax all over again, where the more affordable inferior product wins (b/c of price)

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 3:53 PM. Reason : .]

11/15/2007 3:49:46 PM