#5, it's far more likely that these "HD" version of these shows are simply taking the SD 4:3 version of the shows, upconverting them and stretching them to fill the 16:9 format of HD. This is what's happening with the older episodes of "Law and Order" on TNT HD. Actually going back to the vault and remastering the 35mm film negatives to produce true HD versions is very costly and time consuming.

#7, good question and the answer - I think - is NO. Check out the Pioneer press release, which does not list CD as one of the supported audio formats. This is just like the Pioneer Blu-ray computer drive they announced. Another reason to avoid first generation gear.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060104005022&newsLang=en

And really, everyone needs to chill and stop freaking out about the price. This is the first gen and for the rich early adopters who won't blink at dropping $1800 for a player so they can play movies on their 100" screens with their $20,000 front projectors. It's not for you and me. Prices will come down soon enough.

#18, New Line is part of Time Warner. Has been for like 15 years. So yes, Blu-ray. That's why Lord of the Rings, which was made by New Line, is going to come out on Blu-ray (as well as HD-DVD).

You're right that Universal hasn't publicly announced releasing on Blu-ray but it'll be any day now.

FINALLY! A halfway decent looking machine. Take a look at the other Blu-Ray players, especially the Sony prototype which looks like a clam:

http://www.blu-ray.com/players/

Just awful.

#16, You really need to get your facts straight. Blu-Ray also supports mpeg4 and Blu-Ray players also play DVDs. And the additional space on Blu-ray will EASILY be used with extra content or something like all the HD episodes of Battlestar Galactica on one disc. And if HD-DVD needs more than one disc to fit the season of a TV show, then its alleged cost advantage shrinks or vanishes.

But really, this is just a stupid pissing match. NONE of us know what the real costs of either media are or will be. All I know that a couple studios - Sony, Fox and Disney - have said they will never release any of their movies on HD-DVD. I'm interested in Blu-Ray/HD-DVD primarily for the movies so that's a huge disincentive to buy HD-DVD.

It's the Blu-Ray licensing group, not Microsoft, that's charging $30 per Blu-Ray device. This is what this format war has been all about; not which one is technically superior, better for the consumer or more flexible but which one will reap more royalties.