OT - HD DVD Players?

[ReasonablySober]

So I went to Best Buy today and picked up MLB 2K8 (sounds like it's going to be another disappointing edition).

But I noticed that Best Buy is now selling the HD DVD 360 drive for $50.00. It used to be quite a bit more, right?

I know that it lost the format war, but I don't have a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player despite owning a pretty nice HD TV. I'm thinking about picking one of the cheep ones up. HD-DVDs are also 30% off. Even if I never build up a library of movies, it's only $50.

Anyone think it's worth it?

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

What would you do with it besides spend money on obsolete movies?

[jerrod]

sorry to get sidetracked but you don't like mlb?

[ReasonablySober]

What would you do with it besides spend money on obsolete movies?

I've never done a Blu-ray/HD-DVD side-by-side comparison, but the picture quality is pretty similar isn't it?

Right now you can get quite a few movies and TV series at discount prices it seems.

[ReasonablySober]

sorry to get sidetracked but you don't like mlb?

The 2K series? Hate it with a passion. But I don't own a PS3 so I can't buy the Show, and I don't own a PC so I can't play MVP08. 2K8 was my only option if I wanted to play a baseball game. I went and bought it today but I read some reviews and it sounds like it's more of the same crap that Take 2 has put out in recent years.

[jerrod]

-= original quote snipped =-



The 2K series? Hate it with a passion. But I don't own a PS3 so I can't buy the Show, and I don't own a PC so I can't play MVP08. 2K8 was my only option if I wanted to play a baseball game. I went and bought it today but I read some reviews and it sounds like it's more of the same crap that Take 2 has put out in recent years.

ok, i haven't played a baseball game since ken griffey jr on the super nintendo but i was thinking about getting this to play online

[MickeyDavis]

Let's keep this on topic.

I think for $50 you can't go wrong. And HD-DVD movies will be cheap too as they get rid of supply. Sure once that supply dries up you won't be able to buy any more but who cares? As long as HD-DVD has some of your favorite movies why not?

Once more companies start cranking out Blu-Ray those prices should come down to more reasonable levels.

[battier31]

Well if you do end up buying it be sure to pick up all the HD-DVD's you want NOW because they're not making those anymore either! Whatever they have already produced will be shipped to retailers but after that they're gone, thank god.

I know many people that have picked up a stand-alone HD-DVD player on the cheap because if for nothing else they do an excellent job upconverting standard DVD's, but in the case of the 360 add-on it doesn't upconvert well enough to justify the purchase with that reason.

I thought about it but it'll just be like buying a Beta player back in the day for $50, in the end you'll throw it away or sell it at a rummage or something...

[battier31]

I hear you but to me it's not worth spending $50 on something that is obsolete...I'll just wait for the Universal and Paramount movies to come out on Blu-Ray and buy those at that point...

[MickeyDavis]

I see your point about it battier. If HD-DVD movie prices get real cheap it may be worth it. Maybe not. I don't know.


What are Blu-Ray players now? $299 on the low end? That's not bad. Do you think they will be under $200 by the holidays? That's when I jump in.

[schweig]

Yeah it's kind of weird to have a whole other box plugged in to play 6 to however many movies without a growing collection, but if you like the movies enough and find them cheap enough, and are planning on waiting on BluRay at least a couple years until it's cheaper, it's not the dumbest idea ever. You get like 6 free movies just for buying the thing. Even if three or 4 of them suck, I don't think you could even get 2 or 3 BluRay movies without the player for $50. Comes down to how much you like the movie selection.

[paulpressey25]

I thought about this as well DB....the "sale" prices are very compelling.....

But in the end, the HD titles will be gone in the next 30-60 days and I figured I'd just wish I had Blu-Ray. So I'm just waiting for Blu-Ray prices to go down.

[BobbyLight]

This is one of those things that will have a different answer for everyone... If you can find enough titles to justify the purchase, I say do it. Otherwise wait. I am guessing in 2 or 3 years Blu-Ray will be very well priced and will continue to have content released.

[upnorthfan]

So I went to Best Buy today and picked up MLB 2K8 (sounds like it's going to be another disappointing edition).

But I noticed that Best Buy is now selling the HD DVD 360 drive for $50.00. It used to be quite a bit more, right?

I know that it lost the format war, but I don't have a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player despite owning a pretty nice HD TV. I'm thinking about picking one of the cheep ones up. HD-DVDs are also 30% off. Even if I never build up a library of movies, it's only $50.

Anyone think it's worth it?

Saturady wife and I went to Best Buy and picked up a DVD player that records to blank CD's and can transfer stuff from old VHS tapes onto to blank CD's as well. Cost $284 plus tax and another $40 for a cable.

[WRau1]

For any of you that are looking for cheap HD Movies, Hollywood Video is having a sale. All of there previously viewed HD movies are $14.99 each, or 2 for $20. Most of these movies have never been rented, so they're basically brand new. At my Hwy100 store, we only have about 10 diff titles left but all of our other stores should still have a good amount.

[battier31]

The place to look for these HD-DVD titles on the cheap is gonna be Amazon in a month or so... They already have outstanding deals from time to time on both formats, so much that it's better than my 5% above cost employee discount most of the time. I've gotten most of my Blu-Ray discs for free thus far, but the few that I have bought 9 were from Amazon and 1 was from my BBY store, lol...

As far as Blu-Ray players going around $200 by the Holidays??? It's entirely possible because the new round of units hitting the shelves soon will be like $299 and by that time there will only be a couple of months until the new Fiscal year which is in March and I would bet you'll see that $200 price-point.

I'm sticking with my PS3 as my blu-ray player though...Because of the Cell Processor it's already twice as fast as the best stand-alone unit and it can be upgraded at will via firmware... I absolutely love my PS3 for this reason. I still use the 360 for gaming unless there's a must-have Sony exclusive like Metal Gear Solid 4 on June 12th.

[Zeus LA]

I have the 360 add on and it is fantastic. I paid around $170 for it I think.

My strategy has been to get rid of all the movies I've already watched (around 30) and use the funds to supplement a Bluray purchase. I was hoping to get about $75 for the player, so looks like thats out the window.

I'll just hold onto it for now. Quite a few of the HD DVD exclusive movies may not be out on Bluray for sometime, so there is definitely some value if your favorite movies aren't on Bluray yet (eg Transformers/Batman Begins)

Man, though since the format war effectively ended there have been NO deals whatsoever on Blurays or players.

[Zeus LA]

Oh and if you are ok with buying second hand movies that have only been watched a couple of times, you can get HD DVDs on any of the major AV forums for around $10 each.

Either jump in or run away.

[battier31]

Not as long as you think for those movies...For instance, Paramount already has Transformers on Blu-Ray, but it was never shipped because they made the announcement on the switch about a week before Transfers was released. Also, Batman Begins is a WB movie which has done both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray from the beginning, they didn't jump ship over to Blu-Ray instead they just stopped making HD-DVD's...

The Universal titles will be the ones that end up being delayed more so, but that's really not a huge deal and I expect a ton to come out prior to the Holidays, to not put them out would be just ridiculous to their sales figures.

I had the Add-On but got rid of quite quickly after I made the decision to buy the PS3, and then I just crossed my fingers and hoped Blu-Ray would win...It just happened to work in my favor for a change! I say for a change because usually when I do something like that I'm screwed!

[ReasonablySober]

So, a recap of my nice little day.

At lunch I went out and bought MLB 2K8, despite not seeing any reviews yet. I had a 360 so it was my only option and baseball games are my favorite genre. I hate 2K Sports and I loved MLB: The Show 07 on the PS2 (which I sold months ago) so this was going to be painful.

Picked it up, went back to work, eventually read the bad reviews, felt crappy.

But then I thought about the 360 HD drive I saw earlier and figured that I might be able to salvage the day by picking one up and a few cheap HD-DVDs.

Went back to Best Buy. Had the HD-DVD drive (which comes with King Kong), season one of Heroes and American Gangster in my hands. Then I spotted a cute BB employee that tried to help me earlier when I was looking at DVDs. Walked over to her and asked her some question I already knew the answer to regarding the HD-DVD player add-on. Surprisingly she knew the answer and mentioned she had a PS3, which lead to a conversation about those.

So yea, long story short I put down the HD stuff, returned MLB 2K8, bought a PS3, The Show, Ninja Gaiden, Resistence: Fall of Men and got digits (she's a gamer too, whud-up!)

Outside of my #1 sports hero unexpectedly calling it quits, not a terrible day.

I love the three games I picked up. Ninja Gaiden is my favorite game of all-time. I would have paid the $40 just to play the Xbox version again. Seeing it with outstanding graphics and some new tweaks is a real treat. MLB - The Show 08..... Amazing game. Best baseball VG I've played since MVP05. Resistance is gonna be fun.