Top ten things to do with your now-defunct HD DVD player
By Ryan Block 
posted Feb 19th 2008 12:04PM
posted Feb 19th 2008 12:04PM
Gimmes
- eBay
- Doorstop
- Entertainment center cup-holder
- Destroy it. Office Space style.
- Mail it to the office of Howard Stringer in protest of Blu-ray's victory.
- Plug it into your clothes dryer's 240-volt outlet. Woops, honey! My bad, guess we have to buy a Blu-ray player now.
- Finally, replace your Betamax player.
- Buy the Blu-ray player of your choice, put it in the box, attempt to return it as "defective."
- Channel it through Whoopi Goldberg and make some pottery with it.
- Put a Blu-ray disc in the tray and then call up Toshiba when it doesn't work. Repeatedly.
- Put it in a time capsule, just to confuse future generations.
- Buy a few dozen of 'em and build a little hut for your Blu-ray player.
- Lock it alone in a room with a few lethal weapons... let it die honorably.
- Use it to upscale DVDs, which is all you ever used it for anyways.
Will it blend?
if theres a big enough blender for it
I think someone needs to hack/mod one so it will play doom
No it wont blend. didn't you read blenders stopped supporting hd dvd last week too
No it won't... ok?
Jees... that joke is about as finished as HD DVD itself...
I'm planning a "speed dating" service & hope to hook it up w/ my friend's laser disc player so that together they create the ultimate useless disc machine.
Hook it up with a Betamax and make a 3some.
Ultimate useless disc machine.. ..
I will throw in the mini disc deck!!!
A Betamax? Dude, that's like your teenage sister hooking up with an 80 year old man.
CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) is ALREADY the ultimate useless disc format. Short life, killed in 1986, and played by a technology not unlike a record player, with a stylus and everything.
You may also know them as Videodisc. They sucked.
you forgot UMD, the true Useless Media Disc.
Jerks
Sorry Mr.Toshiba, didn't realise you commented here
What's HD DVD? Who killed him?
Or I could keep it, since I was smart enough to buy one that played BR too.
... and spent way too much for what is essentially now just a plain BR player. Epic fail!
$279...LG combo drive in my HTPC. Only an extra $80-100 over a standalone BR player. Well worth the 4 months of watching Last Samurai, Star Trek, Transformers, etc. And it will still work tomorrow, and next year, and I won't have to re-purchase the ~15 HD DVDs I bought (counting the Trek collection as one). I don't think that's an 'epic fail'. Buying either format 1-2 years ago when they first came out sure as hell would have been though.
Err, by standalone I meant BR only drive, not an actual standalone unit (that would be more expensive).
score one for Brad!
#4 is the way I go!
LOL. +1 for brad. EPIC FAIL!
Slow news day over there at Engadget, huh?
Well, at least they've found something other than the MacBook Air and Apple's website being shut down for updates to obsess over.
Hmmm I wonder if Apple supported BluRay? :)
SLOW? If this is a slow news day - with a final resolution to a major gadget issue plus the fallout (Universal and Paramount to release Blu Ray etc.) - what would you call a BIG news days?
Yes, Apple was in the BD camp.
ryan you might have enough cash to stock in all players that are available, but i guess there are some that aren't that lucky and are angry about it ;)
Please accompany me to the sense of humor aisle, we have a wide selection...
i'd say you mean sarcasm. right? ;) :-p
Ok, don’t tell me that there is someone out there who’s purchased HD-DVD player without knowing about the format war, they knew that one of them will losses eventually. It not Toshiba/Sony fault.
If I had one, i would just keep it. Not like it's going to magically stop working
Correct, there is nothing wrong with your HD DVD player. Mine will still work an dI will buy HD DVD movie on teh cheap soon.
I happen to have both HD DVD and Blu-Ray. I like HD DVD more, but that is the way the cookie crumbles.
HAHA FUNNY. Heres an option how about i use it to play all the HD DVD movies that arent on BLU RAY.. It still works people...Just as good as its Blue cousin.. You guys at E must be really bored with the tech news today. Sitting up there preaching about how HD DVD is dead. Theres still plenty of media to be watched and or recorded.
GEEZ. OK IAM DONE...PEACE IAM OUT.. THE 10:00 SHOW IS NOTHING LIKE THE 7..
Nothing against Engadget, but their loyalty did seem to shift between "we don't care who wins" to "ohhhhhh burn HD DVD" right about the time Warner Bros did... hmmmm.
But yeah, I didn't go buck wild buying discs, but the few I do own will continue to play till the player dies so no need to burn it all down.
Disclaimer: This line of logic is not endorsed by Engadget or its parent company AOL Time-Warner.
Harlo, naw, we're just glad the format war is over. If Sony lost we'd have done the exact same post, just switch HD DVD with Blu-ray, etc.
OR keep on using it as it STILL really does play the HD-DVDs you bought (of course until you replace them with another format).
Proud PS3 owner.
Or not replace them and buy an Xbox360 HD-DVD drive on ebay for $30 in a few months and rip them to your media server.
Meh, I think I will get an XBox HDDVD attachment and rip exclusively Warner Bros HDDVDs for torrenting, those backstabbing tuckfards.
Um no, Mr. Samurai.
Your reflexes were not quick enough and your attempt at posting was not witty enough. Good bye.
You know in ~10-20 years time all the nerds / collectors will want one of those old-skool HD-DVD things. much like laserdisc and that. so grab them while you can
will the death of HD-DVD affect HD DVD-RAM at all? like a lot of blu-ray drives will write ordinary DVD-RAMs so maybe they can be upgraded
No, they won't. LaserDisc had Tens of Thousands of titles on them, if not more. HD DVD.......maybe a thousand?
Just one thing you should do with it....
See if it WILL BLEND!
Gonna try sticking in some old Circuit City Divx discs. Hey, who knows?
DivX the video format?
Oh, wait, you meant DIVX.
Maybe gabe and tycho will get a new buddy...
Its sh*t like this that makes me prefer hddvd. Damn Ryan go back to telling the world why the game cube rocks at your local EB games.
I'm just gonna go out and buy every HD-DVD I can. I mean the 360 attachment will still play HD-DVDs, so it's not a complete loss. Why not pay 1/3 price for HD movies? Brilliant
It makes a great upscaling DVD player. Would work perfect for that 19" 720p LCD I have in my bedroom.
great idea.
i will wait till people get desperate about their players and buy one for me.
720p on your bedroom tv?
How well does porn upscale, anyway?
lol 4, 6 and 7 are the best.
OR just use it as another media player in your home theatre *rolls eyes* Wow you guys are pricks. So I guess my VHS player is a boat anchor because its still sitting in my home theatre because of the handful of movies that aren't on DVD.
I'm going to pick up ever HD DVD I can on the cheap and put it in my collection. Then pick up a 360 HD DVD player when they drop below 100 so I can watch it on the go....But I guess its easier to kick a platform in the teeth then admit that its perfectly viable for playback until you want to start lending out movies to your friends...that would be an issue.
Fanbois....I wish they would all up and die. The world doesn't need people so fanatical about consumer products.
"Fanbois....I wish they would all up and die. The world doesn't need people so fanatical about consumer products."
Er, you're reading the wrong website chum.
What he said. I haven't decided yet, but I may end up bottom feeding and pick up a bunch of titles on the mega cheap. Season 1 of ST:TOS is down to 95 bucks (50% off) and will probably go lower. For some reason, everybody seems to think that every HD-DVD is going spontaously turn into dusty. My Serenity HD-DVD is still going to play, along with everything else in the collection.
No ur VHS player is a VHS player silly, not a boat anchor, but all those HD DVDs could prolly be one. . .
I'm waiting for a Microsoft buyback program :P
who said my betamax player was ever replaced by HD-DVD?
betamax forever!
wow, my bad.. dont know how i managed to conjure up this..
where's the edit post button?
I didn't know japan was also affected by the cut cables in the middle east. oh the latency...
"Put it in a time capsule, just to confuse future generations." - Gold!
Ryan, this list is hilarious!
Time to extract the laser diode and turn it into a laser torch that burns.
HD-DVD owners don’t fret. I still have a Laser Disc player (and about 50 titles), and you know what? I proudly display it in my wall unit. Do like I do when company come over. I bust out an LD an proudly exclaim when I hear some snickering, “ Hey I don’t expect you swine’s to understand, its an AV FILE Thang ;^)”...
PS Oh yea, we then proceed to play PS3 on the 72in when the LD novelty where off...
I have a few titles you could add to your collection, Frankenstein...
.
I say, it’s becoming quite annoying to read the same story every day or some time several times a day on engadget. If you could stay your hands and have this story once a week or if that’s not possible once a day that would be great.
This news of the format war is known and it’s over, several articles on the same story every day is a bit of a waste don't you think.
I'm with this guy!
(only because i never got either of 'em. God i hate being skint. still get old school dvds though (turns out they still sell them you know))... oh the shame!
It's just a discussion opportunity, no harm in that. Besides, Engadget would get a greater income with the traffic.
HD-DVD players are THE best upscaling DVD players (better than BR - yes it's true fanboys), and since DVDs will be the primary media for 2-3 more years, that's a good thing. Plus by then we'll be downloading everything anyway, so it won't matter. BR will be around as a niche product for 2-3 years for people in BFE who can't get high net speeds.
Funny how quick HD-DVD owners are joining the direct downloads party. Where was that "DVDs will be the primary media for 2-3 more years... Plus by then we'll be downloading everything anyway" logic when they bought their HD-DVD player?
What all these convert-to-download people are missing is that ISPs (see also: Time Warner Cable) are looking to start charging you on a per-byte basis. They lost the net-neutrality war, so they're looking at going with download "teirs", which will surcharge you for your downloaded movies.
keep dreaming.
lol, everyone doesnt already download their movies? does that mean im ahead of everyone even tho i still only have a dvd player? haha.
FYI Mr. Samurai:
1. You are a jerk.
2. People that bought Blue Ray or HD DVD are both early adopters at that time no one knew which format could win.
3. Samurai where the wariors of feudal Japan, there are no Samurai now unless he was frozen and somehow survided.
4. Japanese swords are good, but not the best ones. Japanese obtained their sword forging techniques from the Chinese including folding and differential hardening, But they did not obtained the most important; San-Mai. Research sword history and you will see that Chinese swords (real one not wushu flexible toys) are better than Japanese.
5. You are the one that sucks.
Highlander or kill bill, man u bored?
This is like digital signal processing and impedance fight, is Sony's walkman better than Apple's iPod? who cares, iPod is the winner, u people say so with every quarter sales figures.
It is a bit too late for Chinesse to regain awarness about their sword tech, japs are cool and their swords much more...
I thought best sword was Excalibur, dude!
Notung:
What the heck are you saying????
All Japanese style swords made sold on the US are made in China. Japanese made swords are only available in japan to japanese citizens.
Today the best swords are made in China by famous smiths like Mr. Zheng Wu tang using Maru, San Mai, and other techniques not available to Japan. Even the best Japanese smiths accept that fact. Grow up an look at an encyclopedia. And Excalibur is a fictious sword.
HD-DVD owners don’t fret. I still have a Laser Disc player (and about 50 titles), and you know what? I proudly display it in my wall unit. Do like I do when company come over. I bust out an LD an proudly exclaim when I hear some snickering, “ Hey I don’t expect you swine’s to understand, its an AV FILE Thang ;^)”...
PS Oh yea, we then proceed to play PS3 on the 72in when the LD novelty where off...
Woops! Sry :^(...
how do you sleep at night, double-posting is worse than killing children.
So how much money did it take from Sony to pay off Ryan Block? Maybe Sony decided to pay off the bloggers and tech writers to win quicker.
It sure does look that way from the coverage since CES.
I have the movies that I wanted in Hi-def. I don't have to wait for the studios to release them on Blu-ray. I will be watching The Matrix, Serenity, Battlestar Glactica, Terminator and the Bourne Series with my player. I wasn't going to buy or rent any other movies anyways, I'm not the consumer they wanted.
I might wait to find a really really cheap one to play DVDs with :-P
I'm glad the war is over... the format war...
11. Carpet Bomb Iraq With Them
Works for me...
LMAO! Ryan Block, that is soo funny.
I got a few of mine that I would like to throw in here:
* Drop them all off the cliff like the Spartans did to the Persians
* Bundle them all so they can make a good anchor weight.
* Donate it to the Smithsonian Museum.
* Makes a good suicide equipment than a toaster (not that i recommend it, hell no)
* Take it apart and rebuild it back and make it a Blu Ray (LOL)
* RETURN TO VENDOR. ADDRESS UNKNOWN
* Craigslist
* Recycle it
* Bury it in your backyard and stick an RIP sign on it.
"* Drop them all off the cliff like the Spartans did to the Persians"
i hope this isnt a reference to the fact that the HD-DVD version of 300 had wayy more features..
proud owner.
i'm not sure why ogscorpion got so pwned on the ratings--maybe the over-the-top gangsta screen name? anyway, i think he deserves better considering that he's the ONLY person (i checked) who has suggested recycling. just saying.
thankfully, my online retailer will take mine back
phew
A real HD DVD fan would harvest the drive and motherboard from a Blu-Ray player and mod it into the case of his beloved HD DVD player.
Wannabees.
damn good idea son.
That's an epic idea, I'm SO on this.
so, what's the cheapest best blu-ray player?
last time i checked HD-DVD was cheaper.
they still sell 360 addons yah know..
( oh will the HD-DVD fanboy comments ever end? )
Now that's an oxymoron...
i love the article those 10 reasons were funny. 4, 6 , and 9 were the best. but muddyh2o did it nice and simple.
whats the best blu-ray player? ready to change sides. nice simple to the point. CLASSIC
Don't think "cheap" with Blu-ray. You need to think of what players are to what profile specification. I know that most, if not all Sony BD players are 1.0 only (won't play "Bonus View" content and some other things. The PS3 does 1.1, at the moment, and it will do 2.0 in the future.
If you want a reliable BD player, buy a PS3. There is not a better BD player on the market. $399 isn't asking a lot for a machine that's a game console, HD movie player, music player, or, in some cases, doorstop.
i hear you re: the ps3, but i have a 360 and don't want to start doubling subscription costs, etc. is there a cheaper than ps3 player?
Only when the BR fanfoi comments end...oh!....see what I did there? Clever aren't I?
I second the PS3 recommendation, it's a great Blu-Ray player. And you're in extra luck, because there's no subscription fee with the PS3.
throw it into the ocean...opps...looks like some people already have...you say saboteurs cut the cables...I say it was HD pirates sending their obsolete HD DVD players to Davie Jones' Locker...aarrrrrrr
ahh these are all great suggestions i say just take the lazer out and make a little phaser/startrek gun thing.... or do you also need a blu-ray for that?
The HDDVD laser is 405nm which is actually slightly better visually than the 395nm Blu-ray laser, in fact is also marginally safer as you are less likely to stare at it cos it looks "cool" while tanning your eyeballs :-P
btw if you try this, beware as "the diodes are about 10* more static sensitive than red LD's and about 5* more sensitive to overcurrent. 0.2mA over the threshold will crater the facet and convert it into a DED (Dark Emitting Diode)" (Sam's Laser FAQ)
You absolutely *need* optical feedback and precise slow startup and current control, it can be done but I'd practise with a few red diodes first.
-A
Ship all your now defunct HD DVD players and movies directly to Ryan Block for proper disposal (if you can determine his parent's address). I'm sure he'll get to it as soon as he is home from middle school.
Be sure to include your copies of The Matrix, Star Trek TOS, and the Bourne series so he can see what they look like in hi-def before disposal. lol
FTW!
Dunno but you've just posted 3 time in 2 minutes about it. impressive!
Build a tiny octagon.
Invite friends over with their HD-DVD players.
Force obsolete technologies to fight to the death for your amusement.
The refreshing thing about all this is that Microsoft put it's muscle behind this and failed. Are we seeing a changing of the guard?