I got on the HD bandwagon in August, 2004, with a Sony 50" plasma....just before the introduction of HDMI inputs. I currently
have Dish Network connected via DVI which gives a great 1080i picture. I'm very impressed with the ability to archive movies/shows
with an outboard 500 GB external harddrive which holds close to hd100 movies and over 250 hrs. of hd programming. My only dis-satisfaction with Dish is not offering the New Orleans locals in hd, while they offer local hd stations in much more obscure and smaller populated markets! However, I get mostly satisfactory hd reception of all networks [except Fox] via the Sony's OTA receiver. I record OTA hd shows on a JVC D-VHS VCR. I'm most impressed with PBS for OTA broadcasting. Strangely, since hurricane Katrina, the My and CW networks are only available here in OTA SD digital, not 16x9 hd. [yet they do offer hd video to Cox Cable] For these reasons, I rarely ever watch Fox, My, or CW.
My favorite satellite provided hd stations are HDNET movies and the new MGM hd channels. They continue to show classic and rare
films which will probably never see Blu Ray release.
On the subject of Blu Ray, it seems to be a running joke, how many firmware upgrades Sony keeps making....and how many phone
calls it takes to actually be sent the upgrade disc of the week [the latest being 4.40, or is it 4.30???] I would be happy if Blu Ray discs
would just play properly to avoid embarrassment when friends are invited over to see a film. I have absolutely no interest in ever
connecting my Blu Ray to the internet for posting my comments on a film or any of the other new gimmicks which require these constant
firmware upgrades...that should be left to gaming consoles! Now if the studios would just do justice to classic Hollywood product, instead
of re-releasing titles which many of us already collected on the Toshiba HD discs. How about 70th anniversary releases for many of the
great films of 1939? [GWTW; OZ to name a couple]