Last minute HD DVD delays from Best Buy and Amazon?
By Paul Miller 
posted Apr 15th 2006 2:29PM
posted Apr 15th 2006 2:29PM
Read: HD DVD delays; via Slashdot
Read: HD DVD player released early; via HD Beat
posted Apr 15th 2006 2:29PM
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
From what I've been reading there has been quite a few players sold early (one guy bought 3 of them).
People are keen, If they where available here in Thailand I would snap one up on the day of release (or before, lol). Perhaps HD DVD has taken the upper hand by being the first to market?
Ben Hobbs
Best Buy's Web site earlier today said they had them in stock and available at a bunch of Bay area stores. I went to one (Bay Street) and of course (because everyone who works at Best Buy is an idiot), they said they had them - only a couple - but couldn't sell me one. By the time I'd got home, the Web site had been changed to "coming soon". Man... I was on the edge of getting one - an impulse buy on the way to the dog park - but now I think I'll just wait. Anyway...
Just kill DVD 1.5 and get over it. The short term future is DVD 2, also known as Blu-ray.
Anyone know if the initial HD DVD players will upsample normal DVD's to 720p or 1080i?
They most certainly have arrived -
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=667179
Check out this happy guy-
http://static.flickr.com/54/128954569_d3fcce6b98.jpg?v=0
and this big pile o' happiness-
http://static.flickr.com/45/128956510_f1f013cb17.jpg?v=0
I've been reading along w/ everyone about HD & Blu-Ray forever & just don't know why anyone would want one. Most early adoption I'm all for, but I just don't want to experience laser discs all over again.
#4
A bird in the hand and all that, Its not even worth comparing it to something thats not even out yet, let alone suggestions that the cheapest blu-ray player will sell for $1000 or so.
You can buy this NOW, which is the important thing if you ask me.
Is it me, or is that a huge ass box for dvd player?
I got the bundle...
*Toshiba HD-DVD Player
*Battlefield Earth
*Gigli
*and Tremors
10: Why in the world would you want to BREAK it on the first day you got it?
Mr. Umeadi, the box is overhuge for the player, but the player seems to be heavier than normal DVD players. Maybe they added in extra space for protective purposes. (Got mine today. I really hope Serenity comes out on time--that I expect to look great in this format.)
Well the consensus so far seems to be.
You can buy the player but you'd better sweet talk Best Buy into selling you some movies.
Serenity doesn't look as good as [I] would have hoped.
The Last Samurai looks good. Film Grain evident.
VC1 codec for all titles. h.264 better get it's butt in gear.
Lot's of impulse purchases happening. People that were going to wait (some) couldn't resist.
Don't rely on specs. Once guy tried it on 3 different monitors and the 1080 screen wasn't the best picture. If you have a 720p set you can still see a great picture.
I'll wait 4 more years and buy a blue ray player at a cheaper price and with a wider movie selection. My 1080i TV with my progressive scan DVD player looks 8 million times better then cassette tapes on my old TV, so I'm all set for a long time.
Just picked mine up in Citrus Heights, CA Bestbuy. Of course I bought the $40 4 year ESP....just in case something happens to it .
Best Buy in Chicago had 2 when I was there today. One at the Elston location, one hooked up to a Westinghouse 42w2 and the other one boxed.
ebob9
Mark smart man $40 for 4yr coverage is a steal.
Blacksheep what are you waiting for? No one knows what the selection is going to be like in 4yrs. Both formats will look generally the same. Perhaps you need only wait to see if the Playstation 3 comes in at price and qualitywise.
Frankly I don't really care if it's HD DVD or Blu Ray as long as the movies are quality and the price affordable. Regards.
In 4 years we will all be creaming over Hologram Disks. Blu-Ray will be dead and buried. Anthony -- #7 is right, this is Laser disks, all over again. The middle format, just before the next BIG jump. Don't fall for it.
c.Lake:
Except that nobody - let me repeat that: nobody - is planning for hologram disks. And this stuff doesn't happen overnight (and 4 years is overnight in Hollywood time). This is it, people. It's either HD-DVD or BD, and it's winner take all. Don't like it? Tough. There is no other format coming.
There's just no necessity for any further format upgrades. The reason HD-DVD and BD exist is HDTV. Both formats can do 1080p. What advantages are holographic discs going to give consumers or movie studios? (I know what you're going to say: "you could put every Simpsons episode ever on one disc!" Think before you say stuff like this. Add up the prices of every Simpsons box set on the market right now, and ask yourself how putting all of this on one disc would make either consumers or Fox happy.)
And anyway, there was never anything wrong with LD as a format. It had more than a 20 year run, it got pretty much every new release and those who had it (like myself) enjoyed far better quality than those stuck with VHS. So I'll take the LD comparison; it's not the insult you seem to think it is. If you want to stick with regular DVD's and make fun of people with high-def formats, that's fine. Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying eight times the resolution and I'll still have the ability to play all the same discs you can.
There's no doubt that downloadable movies will have a future. But they won't be HD for quite a long time. HD-DVD and BD are probably the last optical formats we'll ever see - when one or the other is eventually replaced in 20 years or so, what replaces it will be downloads. Not another optical format.
My friend in surf city actually bought one of these. I didn't believe him when he IM'd me and told me until I saw this article. I kept thinking he got ripped off on a HD upconverting player.
"People are keen, If they where available here in Thailand I would snap one up on the day of release (or before, lol). Perhaps HD DVD has taken the upper hand by being the first to market?"
Yah because HD-DVD has so much content on the market. No one gives a flying shit at this point. There is no upper hand. There is no first to market advantage because there is no content and because both are literally months apart for launch.
the first camp to launch will do so under the flag of a player that plays umm a bunch of half assed movies. And by the time REAL content shows up the price will be half of what it is now and the rest of the consumers of the world will be pointing and laughing at the morons to pissed away 4 figures all in the name of impressing frieds who come over.
"Yah that is my 60" plasma TV with HD-DVD"
"Sweet Bob. Can we watch Two Towers in HD?"
"Umm that isn't out yet."
"Can we watch Lethal Weapon?"
"Errr...that isn't out either"
What about Star Wars? Narnia? Any of the Bond flicks? Pixar movies? Matrix?
Eugh. No.
Well what do you have?
Ive got Million Dollar Baby, Phantom of the Opera, and The Last Samurai.
*blinks*
Bob Im going home. Your home entertainment dick enhancement is impressive but impotent. Let me know when you get The Matrix.
To be honest, if you've got any movies in HD they're going to look sweet, sure they will take some time to get the catalogue out but from what I've heard these puppies are flying off the shelf - I didnt expect that, I've even heard that some staunch Blu-Ray enthusiasts have jumped teh fence and bought a HD DVD player, why? - because they can.
$500 for a DVD player isnt actually that much, I know a LOT of people who spent more than that for a regular DVD Player (myself included) - If you dont think that the content will follow the hardware sales then you don't understand how the system works. If these players all get snapped up on release, it proves a lot.
Jeff, do you read this site?
A) there are companies right now working on holographic disks right now. not that it will matter, because...
b) it's not going to take 20 years for hd-dvd or blu-ray to be replaced by downloadable content, companies (like akimbo for example) are already starting to offer HD content over the web for a price.
LD never had great market penetration. It did offer better picture and sound, but so did betamax. They did about equally as well here in the US.
Do me a favor, and before you go an post a comment thats going to fill my whole screen, do your homework.
Is it correct that these 1st generation players will not be able to display the PIP feature?
The fact that "Million Dollar Baby" is one of the first HD-DVD Titles shows that Hollywood hates consumers.
Actually - the fact that movies was made shows that Hollywood hates consumers.
#21: That's what this device is, and upcovertion DVD player with regulatory copy protection controls.
Best Buy's Sunday sales circular have it for a "terrific" deal price!, get the Player for $499.99 and the 3-current titles which are: The Phantom of the Opera., The Last Samurai., and Million Dollar Baby for $24.99 each on the same receipt and they will kindly give you a $25.00 gift card in the mail!!!*
(*=Allow up to 8-weeks for the gift card.) Isn't that superb! how Best Buy always offer "competetive" deals... (100% pure Sarcasm.}
My support is neither for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray., but for a format that will be favorable for the consumers.
#22 LOL! Well done.
Personally, I plan on waiting until it's cheap and picking technologies then. Yeah, I can't have the goodies early, but saves me money. Or I'll find one of you that spend 1/3 months pay on this crap and then I'll bring the beverages for movie night and everybody is happy!
Andy,
You seem to be suggesting that people who are interested in cutting edge technology, high definition displays etc... are all earning $1500 a month - I'm not so sure thats the case. If you cant afford to buy this then thats fine, but theres many people that can and will - Its a hobby for them, some spend $15,000 on doing up there car or spend this amount ($500) on a pair of jeans.
first of all i really never experienced a tech war, unless the saturn/ps or dreamcast/ps2 counts, but us as consumers we don't want the best cutting edge tech or to show off to our friends just to envy us. we want satisfaction. and yes, DRM may eventually gain market share with hollywood, but who would want to wait a few hours for a hd movie to download off their oc line? i, like other consumers, would rather be able to drive to the local tech boutique, buy a new release, and take it home to watch with my family or friends, however it may be.
back in 1999 i loved my dreamcast, but some "specs enthuasists" insisted on the ps2. so what if the dc ran at about 100 mhz, had a modified cd-rom, and costed a mere 200$? the dc was still fun. but when the ps2 came out, it was a steal. a dvd player for about 300. that price point made my parents mind up to let me buy a ps2. it was a dvd player, with a great gaming system, a cd player, and later a linux machine. hd-dvd would have gotten mainstream acceptance from the regular old joe who works at some factory making less than 30 bucks an hour, if microsoft would have supported hd-dvd and included it with the 360. whereas the dc would have been very successful with the inclusion of a dvd drive. microsoft has had some great generation 1.5's lately. hd-dvd, the 360, vista.
blu ray launches in the later part of may i believe. hd-dvd players will sale to a niche community, but the hollywood acceptance of a nextgen format would ultimately return the umd results, with a few distributors backing out of psp territory right before the psp's price was cut back for joe. my friends all have 360's and high end 'puters, but i see hd-dvd and the 360 as an unwise investment. the games are great on the 360, but ms would gain only a few more percent on market share, and sony would sell the normal amount of systems, in the ball park of uh millions. i hate debates on tech and consumer electronics. 6 months from now my dual-core hp 'puter will become slow compared to the triple core x86's a korean company's developing and the terabyte hd. so don't fret people. some people have the money, but stuff like these players are just peanuts to some.
just please dont start a flooding chain saying how bad any of my arguements are, or how i need to do my homework. just nerds who think they live back in the homebrew 'puter club and wiring a tele line to their 'puter just to exchange messages on their macs. people who obsess over having the best high end player or computer need to get a life, or a girlfriend either one. i'd rather become something my father wasn't. some nerd who never got anything done because he was too smart and wasted all his money in laserdisc and red hat stock. geeks get the job done, and yupsters get the girls while staying smart. do not hack the planet, just hack your own mind and get the machinery working before you're reciting pi in your deathbed from a month of all nighters trying to beat final fantasy 7 for the eleventh time. get some sleep, get laid if you have to, get something done. if you dont like how the world, our country, or economics work, do something about, rather than whine like children who have to get a&w root beer rather than the microbrew from up north.
#20- Yea because not having some movies is worse then BR not being out at all and at twice the price? Huh?
Call me when you get a BRD player and ANY movies for it and I'll watch my HD-DVD player and movies in the meantime ;)