Does HD-DVD have to be dead?

[DaveA]

I'm new to HD-DVD. I bought in after it died. The $50 Xbox HD-DVD player sold me. Since then I have picked up dozens of titles for dirt. Very cool.

As I think about the future, I wonder about recording to HD-DVD. There is blank media, yes? There are recorders, yes?

Why can't I dump high def satellite signals onto my computer and archive them onto HD-DVD discs? I understand there may be legality issues, but isn't it the same as recording to a VHS tape?

[themiz69]

very true! hd dvd will live on in my household until my players break and there are no more to be had. i have a decent amount of titles and still have about 70 more that id like... no turning back!

[Neutral101]

Yes, one format is good for consumers, less confusion.

[h0mi]

recorders and media appear to be difficult to find, and expensive. If you can continue to find blank hd-dvd discs, then it's a worth buying. If push comes to shove you could still make 3x dvds.

[bfocussvt]

Realistically you could, but keep in mind that as time passes HD DVD media will be harder and harder to come by. Try finding a Socket A motherboard, or a decoder box for a 480p EDTV plasma; probably harder than pulling teeth.

[JAC35]

Well if everyone keeps the demand up and Blu-ray doesn't grow, who knows what could happen down the road. Chances, slim to none...

[greenman342]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Why can't I dump high def satellite signals onto my computer and archive them onto HD-DVD discs? I understand there may be legality issues, but isn't it the same as recording to a VHS tape?

You can burn onto DL DVDs in HD-DVD format incase you do not already know.

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by greenman342

You can burn onto DL DVDs in HD-DVD format incase you do not already know.

Exactly; another advantage. With 8gb, you could probably get most movies onto 2 DVD-Rs. From someone that comes from the laserdisc era, I'm not all that opposed to this.

I'm not anti blu-ray per se, but I have no rush to add it to my home theater, either. And I may not go the way of HD-DVD recording, but it's nice to know the option is there.

[bruceames]

I heard that there's a stockpile of HD DVD-R blanks that will be mainly sold online. I don't know how they will compare price-wise over time with similar BD blanks, but they will be available for quite a while.

[jedi.master.dre]

Originally Posted by bfocussvt

Realistically you could, but keep in mind that as time passes HD DVD media will be harder and harder to come by. Try finding a Socket A motherboard, or a decoder box for a 480p EDTV plasma; probably harder than pulling teeth.

What is a decoder box for a 480p EDTV plasma?

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by bruceames

I heard that there's a stockpile of HD DVD-R blanks that will be mainly sold online. I don't know how they will compare price-wise over time with similar BD blanks, but they will be available for quite a while.

In Japan Toshiba has their own online shop and they started selling blank HD DVD-R discs there (at relatively good prices), but they only ship domestically in Japan and their idea is to serve owners of Toshiba's HD DVD recorders that were sold in Japan. I already bought one 5-pack of DL blanks from their shop (9980 yen). They sell 10-packs of SL blanks at 4980 yen but I can buy those at same price from one B&M store and recently SL blanks are available in some shop for 398 yen each (based on what I read in Watch Impress site).

I suppose availability of blank HD DVD-R's is much more limited outside of Japan.

[allargon]

Originally Posted by kannisto

In Japan Toshiba has their own online shop and they started selling blank HD DVD-R discs there (at relatively good prices), but they only ship domestically in Japan and their idea is to serve owners of Toshiba's HD DVD recorders that were sold in Japan. I already bought one 5-pack of DL blanks from their shop (9980 yen). They sell 10-packs of SL blanks at 4980 yen but I can buy those at same price from one B&M store and recently SL blanks are available in some shop for 398 yen each (based on what I read in Watch Impress site).

I suppose availability of blank HD DVD-R's is much more limited outside of Japan.

Blanks aren't that hard to find here in the States. Burners to use them are another matter.

[andunn28]

Originally Posted by allargon

Blanks aren't that hard to find here in the States. Burners to use them are another matter.

I agree discs are easy to find, but the burners....

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by allargon

Blanks aren't that hard to find here in the States. Burners to use them are another matter.

I see, I was assuming there wasn't much of market for the blanks outside of Japan because of the lack of burners. In Japan there were some tens of thousands of stand-alone HD DVD recorders sold so there's still a market for the blank discs.

There are no PC burners for HD DVD to be found in Japan either. I would have one otherwise. The top-of-the-line earlier Toshiba laptops that had them built in would be the only option to get a PC burner I know of and I didn't want to invest in one of those as I don't have so much use for a big & expensive multimedia laptop otherwise.

[Marky_D_Sahdd]

Originally Posted by Neutral101

Yes, one format is good for consumers, less confusion.

Yeah, consumers are mind-numbed idiots. Guess that's why BD won.