No, this is not the standard HD DVD vs. Blu-ray article that you may be used to reading. I am not declaring a "winner" because I think we are at a point now where neither camp is going away. Instead, this article explains which format I believe is the better choice for the consumer (you) this holiday season. Could that change a year from now? Sure, but I want to help you decide what to buy this year.

This article is not written in an attempt to convince anyone who has already made an investment one way or the other, for that is an almost impossible feat. It was written for those that are still "on the fence", as they say. It is for those who are either undecided, or are waiting to see which one will come out ahead (or which will be first to waive the white flag). It's time to hop down off of that fence.

Read the Full Article

In July 2007, I decided to go with the Blu-Ray technology. I bought a Sony BDP-S300 partly motivated by the 5 free Blu-Ray disk offer. I still haven't recieved my free disks even though their website says "In Process". This is completely unacceptable!

I find the player itself to be extremely basic, and often has trouble playing disks that are brand new - stopping, skipping... I went to the trouble to upgrade to the latest firmware ( a major hassle), and I really can't notice any difference.

The main reason I decided to go with blu-ray in the first place was I became convinced it was the format that would win and I was tired of waiting. Now, after reading this article, I am highly considering getting an HD DVD player and getting all of the titles that I want that are not on Blu-Ray.

I feel like, as an early blu-ray adopter, they have let me down. And I really want my 5 free titles that I was promised so many months ago!

I was leaning toward HD DVD after discussing at length with Dale, and reading Richard's latest article ... but I was holding out for another week or two to see if there was a "deal" announced on either side. After reading your article, I'm no longer waiting.

Thank you for pointing out the advantages HD DVD has over Blu-ray. I would have never thought about the "upgrade" process, or the fact that Blu-ray players come in several "versions".

Very nicely done.

- Miller

Let me restate your article in a much more direct way.

Why Choose Either Format?
I'll start by stating some general facts just to make me seem a little more neutral and therefore easier to believe.

Why HD DVD?
Standardization - All HD DVD players conform to an EXISTING spec (Uh... except the upcoming 51GB HD DVD players) although going forward all new Blu Ray players will also live up to basically the same spec except for region coding. So this point has an expiration date.

Less Copy Protection - Although HD DVD's lack of adequate copy protection is specifically why some companies chose to go with Blu Ray, I'll use this as a HD DVD plus. Then I'll add in something about load times even though many newer Blu Ray players load much more quickly than HD DVD counterparts.

Features - Although I don't much care about features, it might support my argument so I'll include them and leave out the fact Blu-Ray players will support the same features well before before the vast majority of consumers ever purchase a player.

Internet Updating - See above.

Better Price - I'll tell everyone HD DVD is selling so cheaply primarily because of low production costs rather than tell people Toshiba is heavily subsidizing it's hardware to gain market penetration. Hee hee.

From the That's-Not-Quite-True Department (I won't even give blu-ray a proper title)

Blu-ray has more studio support - TRUE. But we're thiiiis close.

More manufacturers support - TRUE. Uh... But they cost more! Dang... that point was supposed to go under the price heading for HD DVD! Oh well.

Higher Capacity/bitrate - What the... TRUE again? You don't need it! Wait, tell me again why HD DVD worked so hard to develop a triple layer 51GB disc?

Interactivity - TRUE. But I'll throw in that old blu-ray players don't have it
even though the people reading probably haven't bought ANY HD player yet and by the time they do, Blu-Ray players will have it standard.

Target - They sell HD DVD's too! (online that is - no stand-alone HD DVD players in the actual STORES. Unless you want to buy an XBOX add on.)

Blockbuster - TRUE AGAIN! But only in 9 out of 10 stores nationwide...

Paramount got bags of cash - TRUE. And the reason most people dislike the move is not because of the money per se. It's the fact that consumers were loudly voicing the opinion they want blu-ray with purchases and Paramount extended the format war by switching - effectively prolonging a winner.

Hard coatings - TRUE and I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

Conclusion
I like HD DVD. I don't like Blu Ray. Why? Because I can overlook the many advantages blu ray brings while trumpeting any advantage HD DVD may hold even though those "advantages" will disappear before most consumers make their choice.

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response.

Like I said in my article, I'm not trying to convince anyone who has already made an investment one way or the other, which you clearly have, but allow me to respond to a few "points" you bring up:

cohominous wrote:...all new Blu Ray players will also live up to basically the same spec except for region coding. So this point has an expiration date.

You will find this echoed elsewhere in my response ... my recommendation is for those buying this year, not at some point in the future when the formats are equal.

cohominous wrote:...many newer Blu Ray players load much more quickly than HD DVD counterparts.

Read the article again, I'm not comparing load times of HD DVD and Blu-ray, only stating that it would load faster without the additional encryption. And who likes additional DRM anyway?

cohominous wrote:Blu-Ray players will support the same features well before before the vast majority of consumers ever purchase a player.

Again, my recommendation is for those buying this year, not "some day".

cohominous wrote:Toshiba is heavily subsidizing it's hardware to gain market penetration.

Who cares HOW it's cheaper ... subsidize away if it means I can spoil my kids a bit more this Christmas.

cohominous wrote:Target - They sell HD DVD's too! (online that is...

HD DVD titles in-store as well.

cohominous wrote:...I can overlook the many advantages blu ray brings while trumpeting any advantage HD DVD may hold even though those "advantages" will disappear before most consumers make their choice.

Again, my recommendation is for those buying this year, not "some day".

Merry Christmas,

- Shane Sturgeon

I have just purchased the Toshiba HD-DVD for $199 at Best Buy.
Aside from price, I first and foremost prefer Toshiba products..I have a Toshiba HDTV and the standard Toshiba DVD player. For me, HD DVD wins over Blu-ray because:
1. Less copy protection (and I have no interest in trying to copy a DVD) means less complexity, which in turn, means less potential for DVD 'no play' problems.
2. Standardization. I don't have to worry if a given HD DVD will not play because of some standardization issue.
3. Region Codes. Again, will this DVD play or not play on my DVD.

dg~
I sent for mine after purchasing my PS-3 on Aug 20th and got the 5 disk on Oct 20 something. I was wondering what happened but they did come through. Seems like a long time to wait

flyboy34

Your article is not trying to convience anyone - then why write it?
Your "That's-Not -Quite-True Department" list 8 areas
Area 1: 3 of 6 are all for Blu-ray and Warner is stradling the fence so that makes 4 Blu-ray and 3 HD DVD
Area 2: You had to add a note that side steps this point. Sounds like Sentor Clinton side stepping her blunder.
Area 3: Again you had to add a note and bring in monitary comments.
Area 4: Here you go again with a "yes - but" comment.
Area 5: Give or take - they did go with a bunch of Blu-ray DVD's didn't they?
Area 6: Gosh only 87% of Blockbuster stores went exclusively with Blu-ray. That means HD DVD is behind by 13% if my math figures are still correct.
Area 7: Another "yes - but" answer. Is it true. Did they sell out;so HD DVD would have at least "2" exclusive manufacturers and 1 straddling the fence.
Area 8: Of course this has to be brought in as it seems to be the ONLY area where the HD DVD is ahead of Blu-ray. Cheaper is not always better. (Our gov't uses the cheapest bids and that has proven to be more costly in the long run!)

SO, let's see how we stand with these 8 areas. 7 are in favor of Blu-ray (without any excuses) and 1 is for the cheapest equipment.'

Believe Blu-ray is a WINNER!!!!!

flyboy34 wrote:Your article is not trying to convience anyone - then why write it?

As I said in the article, and as I told cohominous above, I'm not trying to convince anyone who has already made an investment one way or the other, which you apparently have. I state quite clearly that it is written for those who are either undecided, or are waiting to see which one will come out ahead.

Merry Christmas,

- Shane

I have both, BluRay and HD DVD.. by and far we chose HD DVD 90% of the time. I keep hearing how BRD has all this extra storage and
all the BD-J "WILL" be able to do, in the future. I have been an HD DVD early adopter for over a year. I have the HD-A1 and it still performs
flawlessly. We also have a PS3 for the BRD it works fine. We recently picked up the A30 and we have compared BRD and HD DVD side by side.
HD DVD wins out every time. But the key to all of this is which is easier for my wife to use. 100% of the time it is the Toshiba's and I believe
that is what Shane's article was about. Which is easier for the consumer to use. For MY family it is the HD DVD players.

Thanks for the good article Shane.

Gene

What I got out of this article, is that Joe and Mary Average would most likely choose HD DVD over Blu-Ray. For 3 really simple reasons.

1) an HD DVD player is cheaper than a Blu-ray player ($98.00USD to $299.00USD)

2) HD DVD's 1080p is the same as Blu-ray's 1080p which really doesn't matter anyway because most people will likely buy the cheaper 720p television, which also works at 1080i, and feel pretty good about their choice. Now I Know being a Blu-ray fan you'll want to beat a dead horse and say people will go for the 1080p because it's a better television. What I am saying is Joe and Mary Average either wont be able to see enough difference to justify the higher price or wont care because they got a killer deal at Wal-Mart on the 720p 42" flat panel.

3) Name... HD DVD instantly tells a buyer it's most likely a Hi-Def DVD, no brainer. Blu-ray actually doesn't mean jack unless you're an AV geek, but it refers to the blue laser in the device.

As for the stupid "Blu-ray has more disk space" argument... Get a copy of Superman Returns which comes in both formats and tell me that disk space made the Blu-ray disk look and sound better and had tons more interactive features than HD DVD. It didn't, which means Blu-ray isn't actually putting anything on the table that's worth the extra money.

OUT...

I have both a first generation blu ray player and an hddvd player. I say a prayer every time I load an hddvd and I would never have movie night for an hddvd title with my friends. They are just to unreliable. BTW - I stopped sending in my error reports to Netflix because all they would do was send me another disc that does not work.

Ok you are saying - this is one user experience. So I now own a Bluray and HDDVD 3rd generation player. What do you know - BluRay is near flawless. HDDVD - same problems.

Maybe some of the problem lies in the dual HDDVD format discs (hddvd/dvd). These seem to have the most problems. Therfore if you stay away from them - you are ok.

Now you may say - buy brand new discs and stop renting. Well - I rarely buy discs unless I think I am going to watch them over and over again. Therefore, for me, the hands down winner is BluRay for ease of use. For me -- ease of use is simply defined as: Put disc in and disc works 90% of the time. For BluRay I am about 95% (1 disc failure which was fixed by a firmware update). For HDDVD i am batting about 600 (taking an optomistic view).

Note: If its on BluRay I watch it. HDDVD is always second choice. Once in a while I choose HDDVD over BluRay - and I get bit. Disc freezes up.

One last note - HDDVD (i.e Toshiba) has the ability to update firmware on line, because they have so many firmware updates that you need a way to update easily. I am not sure this is a benefit. I can not remember having to do firmaware updates on my DVD players. Now granted these are more like computers than VCR's but to say that Toshiba enables you to easily download a myriad of firmware updates that never totally fix the problems is truly a weird way of charecterizing a benefit.

rtywonia wrote:One last note - HDDVD (i.e Toshiba) has the ability to update firmware on line, because they have so many firmware updates that you need a way to update easily. I am not sure this is a benefit. I can not remember having to do firmaware updates on my DVD players. Now granted these are more like computers than VCR's but to say that Toshiba enables you to easily download a myriad of firmware updates that never totally fix the problems is truly a weird way of charecterizing a benefit.

So you're stating a fact? Please provide a reference. Either that or rephrase is as "I think ..." or "It would appear ...".

C'mon, the internet port was not added to do updates, it was added for interactivity. So your assumption/claim that it is needed for updates is rediculous.

By the way, just wait until all the updates for profile 1.1, 2.0 start coming our over the next 12 months ... you'll be in upgrade hell.

- Miller

If you are a Toshiba owner - go to their website and check out any firware update they have done - there is a list of fixes described in each update. You are welcome to define for yourself wheter or not that is a fact.

These firware updates never seem to totally fix my problems with my $1000 first generation Toshiba player:

Remote does not work
Disc freezes

or my third generation $350 player
Disc freezes

This information can be charecterized as anecdotal - my opinion based on my individual experience. You may have different experiences and if so I would gladly trade you either of my two units that do not work very well.

Juxtapose that with my two BluRay players. The much maligned (for picture quality) Samsung. Two updates easily downloaded to my PC and burned on disc and fixed the minor problems. -- And the well received Panasonic which has 1 update which I have not downloaded as the player is flawless out of the box.

(Unlike Toshiba which forced me to string cat 5 to my movie room for updates that never resolved my problems). Note: I say the stringing of Cat 5 issue only as a joke as I needed to get my basement movie theater connected to the outside world any way.

Final note: If you have some "facts to share" or even anecdotal experience as a user of both units ( Blu and HDDVD) I would be anxious to get your perspective. I am just trying to share my real world anecdotal experience with 4 of these boxes.