HD DVD sales apparently still going strong
By Nilay Patel 
posted Sep 30th 2008 1:47PM
posted Sep 30th 2008 1:47PM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
We just got one the other day free with our purchase of $200 or more. :-0
A fool and his money are soon parted.
The unit may have been free now but just wait. In order to use the HD-DVD player you're going to need to buy content on HD-DVD media. That media you buy will only be good for as long as you have an HD-DVD player (that works) or have the ability to rip (without losing quality) the content to another media that will be supported (ie HDD) down the road.
People need to start thinking about the future before they buy today. The digital content (ie movies, music, ebooks) we buy today we should never have to buy again because it won't degrade. But in order to use it "forever" we need to make sure it is on media that we can access forever. I roll my eyes every time I hear about another DRM situation where the retailer wants to shut down the DRM servers and screw everyone that has ever purchased from them. But the reality is that those buyers are almost asking to get screwed because they bought DRM content in the first place and didn't do their homework before they bought.
Plan ahead people!!!
I'm still buying the odd one - can get them for £3/$6 in places!
Of course, I'll need to rebuy when BR comes down in price and when stocks dillute for HD DVD, but I've got some good films in HD DVD for a few pennies. I'm happy.
they make great CD/DVD players too... not just for HD-DUD.... seriously I'd rather have a free HD-DUD player than spend $150 on the Toshiba XDE-500 to do the same damn upconversion
I really wanted Apollo 13 on Blu-Ray. I bought an XBOX HDDVD drive and Apollo 13 in HD for less than a standard BD movie.
As a side note: does anybody else feel embarrassed asking if a store has blu-ray movies? If somebody overhears and doesn't know what Blu-Ray is, it sounds like you're asking for porn.
time to buy me a 60 bucks piece o history
For $10 and $15 bucks a pop, I bought quite a few HD-DVD movies off Amazon (Bourne series, Shrek, etc, etc). I already had the player, so why not?
Blu-Ray movies and their players were and still are ridiculously expensive for the average Main Street consumer.
"still are ridiculously expensive"
I consider myself the average main street consumer and I wouldn't consider $18 is not reiculously expensive.
I purchased a bunch of Blu movies lately ranging from $13-$18 all new releases.
As for the hardware you can get a Blu-ray player for as low as $179 now!
So all in all I think that Blu-ray is very affordable for the average consumer, sure not compared to $60 for a player but far from "Ridiculously Expensive"
$179?
I think youre mistaken. The cheapest on cnet is $269 and thats if youre willing to buy from a shifty website for a very entry level BD Player.
got any links to this $179 BD Player?
i might even consider buying a player now. it's not like the players and disks are going to magically disappear just because the technology lost out.
and btw, most blu ray movies i see are $30+...
A $179 Blu-Ray Player? What brand and where to buy it? Sorry dude, I just don't see it. The cheapest, reputable-looking Blu-Ray player is an Insignia from Best Buy for $230-$250. I don't even see used 'Buy It Now' Blu-Ray players on EBay for $179.
And I've never seen new Blu-Ray movies for less then $25. The $13-$18 range for Blu movies are usually for sale ones that have been out for awhile and it's usually a select few that are at that prices (to get you to buy a player).
I'm the same way. I've really loved the companies dumping box sets especially on Amazon. I've got an HD-DVD and BluRay player, and I personally tend to buy the HD-DVDs from the "new & used" section on Amazon. So many people dumping perfectly good media. And lets be real, there's maybe one or two movies made lately that I actually want to buy, so I snag those on BluRay.
That's not true at all, most Blu-rays on Amazon on like $17.99, I've gotten a lot of really good new releases on there. Not to mention they have some classics like T2 for $12. Also PS3 plays Blu-rays (as well as being my gaming console) so in essence the best player wasn't expensive either since I wanted a gaming console. Sure if you want a standalone you gotta drop like $300 still but that'll come down.
when you guys talk about prices, please use retail value. Not for what you can get it . Retail value is what you should use as a comparison not what you can get off the back of a truck or craigslist. Even around $200 it's still hard to compare it to HD-DVDs or DVD for that matter. I think DVDs still provide a decent quality image and many will agree that the extra cost for HD movies is not worth it.
Definately!!! BD is still WAY too much, need to be like 10-15 bucks, maybe 20 for premiers but 40-50? F-that...I'll take a 9.99 hd over blu-ray at 29.00 anyday!!!
Blu-Ray, HD/DVD combo player, $140 free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136154
$17 are mostly for older Blu-ray movies. Most of the current Blu-ray titles are $25-$35. IF you can find a Blu-ray player for $179, I can guarantee it's not Profile 2.0 compatible, and has a limited amount of features/capabilities. I would NEVER recommend a Blu-ray player that could not be upgraded to Profile 2.0, as who knows what will change in the Blu-ray spec that has yet to be finalized.
Actually if you don't mind playing it back on your PC, drives have been as cheap as $95 before (for the lite-on BD drive). Just wait for a sale.
But if you want a standalone player they've sold at sub-$200 prices before on sale, although you'll only be getting older players that don't support newer profiles at that price:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=41925&t=930702
(deal was $125 for the BDP-S300 if you bought 3 movies and a PS3 remote, which came out to about $200 for everything, and you could probably sell the stupid remote).
God no. GO AWAY, HD-DVD!
You would have to be an idiot to spend any form of money on a dead format.
Not if they are rippable. Or if you have a combo drive.
Why? You can get tons of movies for cheap, and it's not like they're going to suddenly stop working because they stopped producing them. I have a Betamax player and the tapes still work, I can still watch movies on it. What's wrong with that?
@CaramelZappa
You have a betamax player occupying space in your life?
You are an idiot.
It's not occupying 'space in his life' it's occupying 'space in his house' which isn't really that big of a deal. It's not like he's got to make an effort to spend quality time with his betamax player.
@Serial 8-Ball Mouse
by your reasoning i should ditch my Dreamcast and SNES too, right?
No, not an idiot, just someone who likes blue laser pointers. That's why they keep selling HD-DVD players. Oh, and the discs? Making happiness in microwave ovens all across the nation.
You'd have to be an idiot to think people are buying HD-DVD for its intended purpose.
HD DVD disks may be dead, but HD DVD players are still upscaling DVD players that happen to play HD DVD disks too.
Simple problem.. I want a HD player. I have mostly DVD disks, and will be buying/renting mostly DVD for the next year or two at least. Perhaps longer.
Do I buy an expensive and as yet undefined player which is still figuring out what the specifications of the format are? A BD1.whatever player is not a BD2 player. And there is no guarantee without careful searching that I will get one that can and more importantly, will be updated.
Will the manufacturers bring out BD version 3 next year or the year after, thus making a whole slew of expensive players obsolete? Will the specifications be rigid enough to stop studios releasing badly mastered and incompatible disks to the general public so it is a gamble if the movie plays properly in my very expensive player, and will my player work with my next TV set? There have already been hiccups with HDCP compatibility in some cases, so I could end up with an expensive player and a stack of over priced disks that don't like my new expensive TV set.
Or
Do I buy a cheap as dirt obsolete HD player that upscales my entire current DVD collection and has some cut price HD-DVD movies I can get for a fraction of their retail price and wait until the market really settles? Worst case scenario, I have bought a small number of disks in an obsolete format that will need to be repurchased at a later date when the player dies, or ripped and copied to another format at a future date. But I still have a good cheap upscaling player. the player only has to last a few years, so it isn't as if I am building a whole home theatre system around a component that is any more than a drop in replacement when the time comes to upgrade.
Not a solution for videophiles, but for the average person in the street. And who knows, this might be the ultimate slap in the face for the Blu Ray standard. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. How funny would it be if HD-DVD actually showed significant enough numbers to make a comeback..
Ummm....according to this article, it's NOT dead (well kinda), but there are MANY titles available all over the place and most people can't tell the difference between BD and HD especially for the price. I'll take 10.00 HD DVD's over 30.00 BD all day long!!! Especially in this jacked up economy right now. And kids certainly wouldn't know the difference between Shreck on HD VS BD for instance.
Blu-Ray needs to come way down in price to be the big boy on the block inho, 30.00 for a movie is way too much when you can buy 3 HD's that look damn near the same to most eyes for 9.99ea. I'm just saying, for those on a budget, HD will more than suffice for their home theater. Mine looks awesome at 109" lcd projected, trust me!
OR one could say you'd be an idiot not to take advantage of the "about a third" less in price great quality HD movies, instead of paying 30.00 or so a pop and a MUCH more expensive player to boot, in this economy. I think I'll save a bit of money and not be an idiot, especially since there is no definitive proof that HD is completely dead (It probably is, but there are some killer deals out there and most people buy classics anyway, ot the latest release as they just saw it in theatres probably. Seems to be a lot of people here who actually enjoy their HD DVD's, and most people won't see the difference anyway unless they are total videophiles and if they do, more power to them, but I'd rather save a few bucks personally perhaps for another gadget or a nice lcd projector or something down the road to accompany a home theater or nice surround sound amp etc. rather than waste money on BD that aren't THAT much noticeable in quality versus HD dvd anyway.
I got my 360 HD DVD player from overstockdealz.com for $30 (I think they're refurbished, but mine works fine). I use it on my computer.
Blu-Ray to HD-DVD
"Gimme the loot, Gimme the loot!"
R.I.P Biggie!
Oh BD let me jack her, hit it with gat, kick in her in the back.
"Yo, chill HD, let me do that"
If anything, isn't HD-DVD like 2Pac? People just don't want to leave it dead or think it's still alive and releasing music?
Quite possibly...
But HD-DVD has NO alive theories...
Thank you for actually commenting something about the B.I.G. picture. :)
Cool, I can buy Iron Man for $10. Can I also expect The Dark Knight on HD DVD this season??
No.
Hey, why buy the HD DVD of Iron Man when you can get it with a Dell computer ;)
$12.95 seems to be the average price, and for exactly the same file that is on a blu-ray disk that is a pretty good deal (when you already have the drive)
HAHA great image!
I looked at this article during class, saw the picture, and the guy next to me and I pretty much died laughing.
What's beef?
you are nobody until somebody kills you.
Muscle meat cut from cows. My turn; what does this have to do with HD DVD?
Oh, right, this is no time for comedial skylarkings and such.
As you were, serious interneters.
My calico's been cocked, this rap Alfred Hitchcock
"HD's getting smoked G', believe me"
i happen to find that picture offensive
Tough shit.
How is it offensive?
I refuse to buy a bluray player until there are ones available that can playback movies without any judder just like DVD. Not worth spending money on pre-mature technology that comes with high early-adopter's tax.
I have supported both formats since the beginning, but since I already have the players I don't shy away from HD DVD purchases just because the format isn't getting any new releases. My movie collection is still pretty close to 50/50 between Blu-ray and HD DVD. I see absolutely no reason to avoid the red boxes just because of a silly format war.
my laptop (Toshiba) had an HD-DVD player on it already, with HDMI out, so a week or two ago it occured to me I could build a very nice library of 1080p movies for cheap that way.. picked myself up a nice lot of HD-DVDs from Fry's for ~$5 a pop. that's less than normal DVDs, and they look a ton better!
Seriously? $60 for hardware? I want one sepcifically a Tosh A35 since some movies on HD-DVD came out way better than Bluray, not all but some. Teh 360 add-on didn't do justice to my hdtv when the 120hz motion is turned on.
i got my Xbox 360 HD DVD player for 6 bucks out of that stacker arcade game in a movie theater. best 6 bucks i ever spent. 2 months later hd dvd lost :( blu-ray should have lost imo oh well. glad to see i can still get more movies i'm gonna have to get more now.
sure they'll sell at $5-10 bucks a DVD
I bought my Xbox 360 HD-DVD player precisely because HD-DVD "failed" and everything was going/went cheap. I don't even own a 360, I use it with my friends' =D Player for $50, HD movies for
"I bought my Xbox 360 HD-DVD player precisely because HD-DVD "failed" and everything was going/went cheap. I don't even own a 360, I use it with my friends' =D Player for $50, HD movies for"
For what? For coasters? For target practice? For... oh wait.. you're not a vampire are you? Ohh the humanity! Poor cromas, we hardly knew you. Let's look back on all the great times we had with cromas...
It would be awesome, if, in this depression, the HD-DVD format came back from the dead and became the winner, due to the exceedingly high prices of Blu-ray
Yeah, but if it came back it would just become more expensive. The only reason the HD-DVDs are so cheap now is because it's been discontinued. Nab these great deals while you can!!
I just bought another HD-DVD movie from Amazon. And I still have a lot of unopened, yet to be watched HD-DVDs at home. So I'll be set for the next two or three years.
I'll see if I can't use my Mythbuntu HTPC to download HD movies at that point.
Any burners going for $60
They just made the cover of one of the best albums of all time into Internet GOLD!
The only reason i have a HD DVD player is because it came free with my 360 purchase a few months back at a Best Buy in Lakewood, CA.
Shaun of the Dead never looked better. *tear*
The real lesson here is Blue is still too expensive. Consumers are voting with their dollars to buy a dead format because it's cheaper.
I'm not happy with the fact that in order to get the movies at the same price (sometimes less) as DVDs i have to buy online, but at the same time, the lossless audio and beautiful picture make it worth it to spend the extra... you can't get something for nothing... movies i've bought for substantially more than their DVD counterpart; Planet Earth (79.99 vs 59.99), Batman Begins (17.99 vs 9.99), Rambo Trilogy (24.99 vs 17.99)... really the price difference between SD-DVD and Blu-ray isn't a huge gap, and a lot of cases it's a gap that is closing quickly.
Would I like Blu-rays to be cheaper? Yes
Can I live with them at this slowly declining price point? Also yes.
Come back Red!
http://www.inetvideo.com/ is still having their "HD DVD Crash the Website part 2" going on with new and used starting at $3.99. Keep in mind they ship from Canada media mail so it takes a good 2 weeks.
UK reds...
http://hmv.com/hmvweb/specialOffers.do?ctx=-1;13;-1;-1&pGroupID=13&pGenreID=-1&pTertiaryID=-1&primaryID=13&secondaryID=-1&tertiaryID=-1
HD-DVD starts at 2.99 free delivery.
I picked 4 HD-DVDs from that site. With shipping and currency conversion my total came to $43.55; hardly a bargain for HD-DVDs. There are some titles available from the UK that aren't available in the US on HD-DVD, though.
HD-DVD forever. Down with Blu-Ray.
Agreed!!!!
Are you serious?
That's like saying long live Beta die VHS. Anyways live in the past if you like but the fact is HD DVD is never coming back.
Just a question: you can ripp a blu-ray movie to a hd-dvd disc?
In theory... if one of the following conditions are met;
A) The movie takes up less than 15GB of disc space
or
B) The movie takes up less than 30GB of disc space and you have a dual layer disc.
a lot of blu-ray movies take up close to (or greater than) 30GB if they have high bitrate video and lossless audio... then the special features usually fill a bit more space
but that's the point, if you don't care about special features then just don't include them in the rip...
I got my 360 player when it hit $50 AND there was an offer for 5 free HD-DVDs that I still qualified for.
Yes, rippable. Plenty of software out there. So I can always rip and burn to BD later (once BD burners are a little lower in $).. and hey, since BD has such a higher capacity, no compression! Right? Well, in theory.
Yeah, there's nothing wrong w/ getting an HD-DVD player if you know what you're doing.
Now if someone complains 3 months from now about why there are no new HD-DVDs out... ok, that person is an idiot.
The rest of us... we just like our hi-def flicks and it's hard to pass up the cheapness. So what if I'll end up with a library of only 20 or so films? Who would complain about seeing the Big Lebowski for the 35th time?
I'm still buying HD-DVD discs. They're always a lot cheaper than the Blu equivalent (if there is one) and look just as good... it's the same data after all.
It's also easier for me to watch HD-DVD than Blu-Ray. I can control my Toshiba A30 with my universal remote, but my PS3 is Bluetooth only, and I hate having to use multiple remotes, especially when it is due to a silly limitation like the lack of an IR port (seriously... why would they do that?). Plus my PS3 freaks out every time I switch from my TV to my projector and it takes several minutes to reset its display settings to get it to work again... it's just a hassle I'd rather avoid given an option. (The TV handles 1080/24p but the projector only takes 1080/60p... the PS3 insists on outputting 24p even though the projector it is connected to won't take it.)
Also, when I got my Toshiba A30 (for $129 brand-new I might add) I moved my Xbox's HD-DVD add-on drive to the bedroom. So I can watch HD-DVD when I go to bed. At $400 I'm not going go invest in another PS3 for the bedroom (or even $250 for another BR player), so Blu-ray is confined to the living room.
Where are people finding Blu-ray discs for less than $20? regularly? Everywhere I look (including Amazon) they're $25 and up. Hard to justify for a format I can only play in my living room (not on my laptops, not in my truck) when a well-encoded DVD (at $15) on a good upscaling player looks pretty darn good. And once you get into the movie, you totally forget that you aren't watching high def.
"It's better to burn out, than fade away!"
I bought a player (360 add-on) and 6 HDDVD's for less than the price of a single Blu-Ray!
People keep saying it's stupid as it's a dead format, but I'm enjoying watching my HDDVD's and I will be able to do so for a long long time so who cares that it's a 'dead format'.
IC
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
HD DVD FTW!!!
For HD-DVDs everywhere: [112] OOOOoooooOOOOOoohhhhhhhhhh I'm Missing Youuuu (I'm missing youuuououoo) [/112]
HD will be aiight after getting thrown in the Ocean, Because you know Dead formats get better Promotion!!
Why we don't laugh at HD-DVD and cry at Blu, don't say you won't buy it till it dies out first!
Actually makes a lot of sense.
If you've made the decision to rebuy you extensive DVD collection in wonderful HD - as long as you're buying a reasonable number of films, you'll save a fortune buying an HD-DVD player and all the films you want on that format.
Then you buy you BR player and pick up whatever you can't buy on HD-DVD.
The local Fry's has almost as much shelf space for HD DVDs as it does for Blu-Ray. Most movies are $10-$15.
I personally have both; a Toshiba A3 and a Sony PS3; so I can go either way- and why would I pay $80 for 'Planet Earth' when it is less than 1/2 that price on HD DVD?
Basically old HD DVD sales = less sales for Blu-Ray with the same titles...
Did you really have to insult the late, great Notorious B.I.G. with that picture?
c'mon guys! swallow your pride and come over to the blu side! We'll be watching ironman in HD tonight...
Why u hide Biggie's face with that HD-DVD shit... thats wrong dude.
you should have more respect with dead people... whoever may be...
Moreover it's just a stupid news and you hide and disrespect one of the greatest rappers of all times.
think twice next time..
laters.
I just bought Transformers on HD DVD after going on Amazon to get the Blu ray version and seeing the HD DVD one going for half the price.
*walks over to HD-DVD add on aand touches it..*
"Mmm, Good.. Still warm."
umm. bittorrent?
I'll continue to buy and support Toshiba's technology. I'll hold out on buying a Blu-Ray player, PS3, for as long as I can. I have the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player and picked up another one for $12 at K-mart a few months back. HD-DVD had all the cool features that BR wasn't even capable of up until now. I'll get my HD goodness via HD-DVD, XBL Marketplace, or via DirecTV. No way Blu-ray! Long live HD-DVD!
http://www.inetvideo.com
"Toshiba pretends no one really wants true HD anyway"
My GOD Engadget, seriously can you guys change the mother-spining record. Toshiba isn't pretending we don't want or need HD, what it's doing is trying to help us get the best out of every one of the billions of DVDs in the world.
Sure, Blu-ray is great, but enjoying your old movies is terrific too.