What now?

[mrSlush50]

New to the forums. If this is in the wrong place for this, I apologize.

Here's my story.

I'm an avid video gamer and I was finally able to pick up an Xbox360 last September. Didn't really have any interest in hd movies until the Bourne Trilogy came out on HD DVD and Amazon.com offered the xbox360 hd dvd drive along with the trilogy. I rushed to get in on the deal. When the dust had settled I had netted an hd dvd player and 11 hd movies for just a little over $200. Pretty good deal.

Now my problem.

I'm addicted to hd movies. There's no way I can go back to standard def now. But it's looking like a pretty sure thing now that hd dvd will be dead within the next year or so. (It's practically dead as it is.) I'm not opposed to blu-ray, but the drives are so expensive. Even the cheapest one I could find was more than the cost of a new xbox. I'd love to pick up an hd dvd/blue-ray combo player so I can continue watching my hd dvd collection after my xbox inevitably dies on me, but those are even more expensive. And forget about that giant piece of crap ps3. Even when you take off the cost of the blu-ray player, your still getting ripped off on the system as a game machine. (This may be seen as an irrational opinion by many, but that's just the way it is for me. I will not have a ps3 in my home. period.)

My question.

Will the price of blu-ray players ever come down? It seems that if they are the only format, Sony is unlikely to lower the cost in the foreseeable future. So should I get in now while blu-ray still has at least some competition? Should I continue soldiering on with hd dvd until the price of combo players comes down, so that I haven't wasted my money building an hd dvd library? What should I do!?

Help me Highdefdigest.com forums! You're my only hope!

[Chickengas]

Yes they will. Can you wait? If so, do it. If you just can't wait, buy now. There really is no answer other than your own.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by mrSlush50

New to the forums. If this is in the wrong place for this, I apologize.

Here's my story.

I'm an avid video gamer and I was finally able to pick up an Xbox360 last September. Didn't really have any interest in hd movies until the Bourne Trilogy came out on HD DVD and Amazon.com offered the xbox360 hd dvd drive along with the trilogy. I rushed to get in on the deal. When the dust had settled I had netted an hd dvd player and 11 hd movies for just a little over $200. Pretty good deal.

Now my problem.

I'm addicted to hd movies. There's no way I can go back to standard def now. But it's looking like a pretty sure thing now that hd dvd will be dead within the next year or so. (It's practically dead as it is.) I'm not opposed to blu-ray, but the drives are so expensive. Even the cheapest one I could find was more than the cost of a new xbox. I'd love to pick up an hd dvd/blue-ray combo player so I can continue watching my hd dvd collection after my xbox inevitably dies on me, but those are even more expensive. And forget about that giant piece of crap ps3. Even when you take off the cost of the blu-ray player, your still getting ripped off on the system as a game machine. (This may be seen as an irrational opinion by many, but that's just the way it is for me. I will not have a ps3 in my home. period.)

My question.

Will the price of blu-ray players ever come down? It seems that if they are the only format, Sony is unlikely to lower the cost in the foreseeable future. So should I get in now while blu-ray still has at least some competition? Should I continue soldiering on with hd dvd until the price of combo players comes down, so that I haven't wasted my money building an hd dvd library? What should I do!?

Help me Highdefdigest.com forums! You're my only hope!

Not true. All technology gets cheaper over time, and you forget, Blu-ray still must compete with standard-def DVD. The studios want to re-sell us their entire catalogs all over again, so they have all the incentive in the world to get people to buy into a new format. That being said, don't buy a Blu-ray player right now if you aren't willing to get a PS3. Blu-ray has an ever-changing set of specifications, and the currently available stand-alone machines will not be fully compatible with all the features of upcoming discs.

[mrSlush50]

jared,

seriously!? they would really punish early adopters like that? i wasn't aware of that.

thanks for the advice.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by mrSlush50

jared,

seriously!? they would really punish early adopters like that? i wasn't aware of that.

thanks for the advice.

Yes, seriously. Scour these forums before committing to anything. There is no such thing as a future-proof Blu-ray player yet (I would extoll the virtues of the PS3 to you, but I will respect your wishes).

[Vic Arpeggio]

I'm in the exact same boat. I have an Xbox 360 add-on and want a good combo player that's not going to break the bank and is going to be completely up-to-spec so I don't don't have playback problems. I've got 40 HD-DVDs and I'm happy with the format-- but I don't want to buy yet another freakin' console (and don't need a PS3, though I'm willing to suck it up if it's my only option).