Personally, I think Blu-Ray is the better format because of the added capacity. I look forward to buying a PS3 for both movies and games. I don't agree with their copy-protection scheme, but that could change before release.

I read that Sony isn't going to prohibit 1080i/p output through component by default unlike originally reported. Which will mean alot to the thousands like me that have hdtv that don't have a dvi or hdmi connection.

I don't have a problem buying either format, but am in no rush to buy movies for either. First of all, neither format has anyting real compelling. Second, with all new technology prices will drop fast and universal players/recorders with be released.

Not too long ago the SACD and DVD-Audio formats were released, I waited for the reasonably priced universal player.

I just don't see consumers really supporting either format until prices drop dramatically. I'm sure there will be a bigger demand than for the high resolution audio formats, but there will still be a curve.

I can recall purchasing my PS2...well for games not for playing DVDs..even though I also got the MadCatz remote control.

I have a stand-alone DVD player...and I will b repeating this same strategy for any future DVD replacement format(s).

One thing that is bad for me...I have been ordering DVD movies from Amazon like crazy...maybe its time to slow down and start to looking at the other format(s)...

I am hoping to purchase a PS3, and it wont be for watching movies.

Mark Gillespie is a rabid Sony fanboy. In every thread about HD-DVD he comes in spewing vile about it and saying how wonderful Blu-Ray is and the PS3 and how we'll all run out and buy them because we love to kiss Sony's behind. Trolling Fanboys don't deserve any serious attention, and certainly not a reply.

No, not spewing vile..

Correcting people. for example "Sony = Rootkit = Virus". LOL The Rootkits are not viruses, they don't have virus like behavior, they are not even spyware..

When people spew garbage like "Sony Rootkit Virus, i'm not buying PS3", or "Blu-Ray with it's copy protection..." (which is actually virtually indentical to HD-DVD content protection, and in some areas less restrictive), you feel you have to correct these people...

The curious thing, is that most of the HD-DVD supporters here, are XBox360 owners, even thou Microsoft dumped on them, by dropping all the Hi-Def features from the XBox360, like HMDI and HD-DVD, and delivered them a low-def console.

Blu Ray = Sony = Rootkits = Virus = No Thanks

Rootkits AGAIN?

Drat! Thought we were over that by now ;P

Really though, the rootkit thing won't kill it--cost will.

errm, do you actually know what a rootkit is? Clue: It's not a virus, nor is it necessarily spyware, and it may not (as in Sony's case) be harmfull in any negative way (aside from enforcing DRM on you).

OH MY GOD....GIMME A BREAK...peace out y'all

Who cares who wins what? These discs are compatibale to the tray, and only need a different laser to work. Why MUST there be only 1 winner? Is that our mentality? There can be only one?

This was the same stupid thought between DVD+-R/RW, now they co-exist fine, and everyone is happy. LG already announced a player for both formats, so lets stop this fanboy attitude now, and enjoy some HD movies in both formats.

Oh, and BTW $1500.00 for two players that support both formats is not much for someone who spends 2K+ for a TV. I think its very possible the early adopters will buy both players for now ($500 for HD-DVD and $1000 for Blu-Ray). Heck I just plopped $600.00 for a game console.

PS3 might as well be titled Duke Nukem Forever, they may reach my house at the same time :)

Oh, and I support American companies (i.e. MS) before Sony any day!

You might like to believe that PS3 will not be here later this year, but I have insider knowledge that it's going to happen..

Actually last I checked it was public knowledge--November release I believe.

Sony have indeed said November, but many people (including yourself, I seem to recall) seem to doubt this date will happen. I know for sure, that it will.

Look, times are no different than it was when Betamax and VHS made their battling debut.

The format that will win is the format that the porn industry embraces. Now if one of the formats choses not to let porn use their disc format; you've just identified the loser.

Hell porn is more popular than ever actually.

Course none of this means anything if they both ban porn (they won't) or they both accept it (they might).

Porn made VHS reign supreme. Embrace its powers! ;)

I got a new format, it's called FU-DVD.

lol

I still don't get it...blu-ray, HD-DVD, DVD...If its all going to play on a backward compatibility player? how can this hurt anyone?..oh well, what da hell do I know about this stuff..PS3 COME OUT ALREADY!! and settle this problem once and for all ;)

damn, and i was just getting a good collection of dvd's too. :(
i don't have a 96" TV. dvd's look great on a 36" tube (i have a sony vega) or even a 54" projection.
guess i don't see the point in replacing my collection yet.
but i will buy a PS3 when it comes out, if only to play games.

Size doesn't dictate picture quality. I've got a 17" LCD that's likely a higher resolution than your 36" TV. Apple and Dell make a 30" LCD that is already far beyond the resolution offered by either Blu-Ray or HD DVD.

Some food for thought. People seem to miss this most obvious of factors when talking about these types of things. I remember people telling me the original XBox was better than the PS2, because it was capable of a higher resolution output. They then went on to show me the standard 68cm CRT they plug the thing into... :P

Mom and Pap will want to see a movie, they rented some place, but junior is playing a game in his room, the HD-TV is in the living room, so junior if he allow to let them see a movie will have to disconnect the console to connected to the TV.

Do you believe people will go to that hazard to watch a movie, because they decide to bye a game console instead of a player?

I don't believe a game console will help the sale of this player it will depend on $$$$$$$

I got one of these disks. Currently it's just collecting dust.

Sorry, I just always wanted to use that cliche.

I'm really having a difficult time understanding how Blu-ray is going to win in all this. They are behind and also double the cost. It's going to be difficult for consumer's to adapt to something like that.

But, this same thing happened with Betamax.. and I was probably wrong back then as well.

"But, this same thing happened with Betamax.. and I was probably wrong back then as well. "

Yeah, it did happen--Blu-Ray is Betamax and HD-DVD is VHS in this case. Betamax (Blu-Ray) is better in many ways but VHS (HD-DVD) is much less expensive. If history repeats itself, consumers will buy HD-DVD because it is less $$$.

The quality is superior to DVD with either format, they both currently hold more than enough data per disc--mom and dad want the HD-DVD because it costs less than the other, and they don't care THAT much for the difference in quality/size/etc. Sure, Mr. SuperGeek will want Blu-Ray, but there are more "mom and dad" folks around than there are "Mr. and Mrs. SuperGeek".

yup, well said

Mom and Dad also buy gaming consoles for Junior, and the largest console will probably be the PS3, given history, and it will contain the competitor to this.

In case you don't remember, the PS2 invigorated the stalled DVD market.

Home users don't care much for better technology. What really attracted them to DVD was that they could buy movies at a fraction of the cost they used to be able to. The rental market only just recently caught up to VHS.

They will win because Blu-ray will be built in to the PS3. Just like every truely successful product or service, it will appeal to multiple demographics.

"Mom and Dad also buy gaming consoles for Junior, and the largest console will probably be the PS3, given history, and it will contain the competitor to this."

IMO, it won't matter. Blu-Ray can exist independantly of HD-DVD, which I'm sure will happen, but in the end, only one will have the major movies released. PS3 is too little, too late IMO. I agree with your statements about Junior, although mom and dad may not buy junior the $500-$700 PS3 (http://money.cnn.com/200...column_gaming/index.htm) when the other costs $100 to $300 less...we'll see.

I respectfully disagree due to the reasons below. It's always about price for consumers.

Ok.. So here is my question: Do people really use a PS2 to watch DVDs? I would imagine the largest market comes from those Wal-mart $50 dvd players. In fact, every home I've been to with a PS2 seems to also have a DVD player. So, do we really think that a $500+ PS3 is going to be the movie player? I would be worried about a putting in Dusty, scratched media into it at that price.

Just a thought.

yeah, same thing with the UMD for the psp ....
just because the format was implemented into a popular device, didnt assure any success ...

It's pretty simple, A year from now, HD-DVD will be a small specialist blot on the landscape, and Blu-Ray will have an installed user-base of 2 million units, thanks to it being standard in PS3.

I'm really having a difficult time understanding how HD-DVD has any chance of surviving, what this this, and it's lower spec, and poor studio backing.

I was even in a Microsoft meeting last week in the UK, and the MS guy mentioned Blu-Ray several times, but HD-DVD got not even a whisper, and this is from a HD-DVD supporter!!

UMD and Blu-Ray are totally different, it's obvious to even the thickest person why UMD failed, as it had very little studio backing, and required consumers to purchase their existing films again, plus only the PSP supported it.

Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) have backwards compatability with regular DVD, so comsumers have a upgrade path, without losing their investment in their current DVD library.

ok.. so here's your answer:
6 years ago, when the PS2 debuted for $400, dvd players cost between $200 and $500 on average depending on name and quality. so it was a sweet deal to buy a "sony" PS2 that played games and dvd's.
the PS2 came first, the $50 wal-mart dvd players much later.

PS3 is a game console, games will come on Blu-Ray and that's all people will be buying for it. The general population is not going to buy a game console to watch movies on, they'll want a proper player that sits on top of their television. With HD-DVD being both cheaper and having a more self explanatory name (like your average Wal-Mart shopper is going to know what the heck a blue ray is) that's what people are going to buy. Besides the PS3 is becoming a joke, aside from the rabid Sony fanboys I don't see it being that big a deal. It certainly won't affect the outcome of Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD.

>>>In case you don't remember, the PS2 invigorated the stalled DVD market.

The PS2 did not make DVD's popular. What made them popular was the price dropping to affordable levels around that time and more movies becoming available. The myth that the PS2 had anything to do with promoting the DVD format is bulls***, I hardly know anyone who even has a PS2.

There also wasn't a competitor with DVD's either. There wasn't any other type of optical disc that they could have put in it.

Gillespie, you sure are dense. Whether one or the other truly "wins" this fight, your fanboyism is sour.

Your argument was exactly what was said about Betamax. Precisely the same.

Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it.

UMD didn't fail because of a lack of studio backing. UMD failed because consumers don't want to pay $20+ for media that won't play on their main television.

If you own a dvd player, and a PSP, and you want a movie, the odds are you'll buy it for your tv/dvd. Buying it twice is dumb. Buying it just for your PSP is unlikely; that's a rental scenario, since you won't ever watch a movie over and over on a handheld.

In addition, you could neither create nor rip from or to the medium.

DOA. Your business about studios is just factually incorrect.

"Your argument was exactly what was said about Betamax. Precisely the same."

Since when was Betamax bundled with any other product?

You seem to have trouble understanding the point. Because Blu-Ray is bundled with the PS3, there is a instant userbase of Blu-Ray players, please tell us how this relates to Betamax? We are waiting...

What makes a stand alone player any more "proper" than a game console that can play movies? A game console can sit on top of someone's TV and perform the exact same functions as a standard player. A game console doesn't look any less stylish sitting on top of a TV than a stand alone player. Media Center PC's (like Intel's VIIV) are the future whether they're in the form of Sony game consoles or PC's running Microsoft Windows Vista.

If you think PS3 will not have any factor in the HD-DVD/ Blu-Ray war, then you really are dumb.

Please explain wy PS3 is a joke? Personally, the fact that Sony are getting it right, instead of just rushing it to market, like some other consoles have done,

Again, Betamax was not bundled with any other product, so was on level pegging when VHS and beta launched.

This is totally different, as Blu-Ray will have a massive userbase from PS3 sales. HD-DVD really is doomed. It may well be 1st to market, it may well be cheaper, but fighting aginst large installed userbase of bundled blu-ray enabled PS3 it's already lost the war.

IF a Betamax player was built in to every televison made by the major Japanese manufacturers, today it would be a different story...

"Please explain wy PS3 is a joke? Personally, the fact that Sony are getting it right, instead of just rushing it to market, like some other consoles have done,"

You mean like the PS2? Obviously I realize you are taking a stab at the 360, but Sony is not delaying because "they want to get it right". They delayed because you can't sell something that just plain doesn't work.

PS3 will definetly help Blue-Ray, but it's no guarantee it will help it emerge as the dominant format. People will be buying it for games initially and unless they have lots of extra cash, they'll probably spend any extra money on those games, not movies.

True movie fanatics will buy stand alone players.

Well that's certainly a compelling argument. You are basically saying "I am right and if you do not agree with me you are dumb". Personal attacks are such a great way to get your point across.

Goodbye.

DivX discs were popular in the states though. Sorta like a competitor. Other than that, you're right on.