what is everyone buying blu-ray or HD dvd?

HD-DVD atm, there are a lot of great films on the format - I feel the BD library is being filled with a lot of rubbish films, but the HD films are of a better overall quality.

To be honest if there were any films on BD that interested me then I would think about it - Im a consumer, not a competitor, so Im not held into one format :)
 
I am surprised when people state there arent any films they like on either format - I fully appreciate that some arent as avid a movie watcher as I am, but even in my selection over both formats I would think I cover most genre's/ types of movie that the majority would enjoy.

If they have been found- but are just too expensive, then thats something we can all agree on in general (there are some really cheap movies on both formats but few and far between currently) but not to find any at all - unless they just cant be bothered to look - I always find very interesting.
 
FrankJH said:
I am surprised when people state there arent any films they like on either format - I fully appreciate that some arent as avid a movie watcher as I am, but even in my selection over both formats I would think I cover most genre's/ types of movie that the majority would enjoy.

If they have been found- but are just too expensive, then thats something we can all agree on in general (there are some really cheap movies on both formats but few and far between currently) but not to find any at all - unless they just cant be bothered to look - I always find very interesting.
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To answer the above.
I have looked through the HD-DVD selection several times. The problem I have is that I already have most of the releases on SD-DVD and am very loathe to buy them again. Don't get me wrong, there's some ace films amongst them, it's just that I can't bring myself to spend the dosh.
In the way of new releases in the last few months, I think I've only seen maybe 3 that I would consider buying. As such, buying a HD-DVD for just 3 films seems a little mad.
For reference, I have around 25-30 films on BD now.
 
Bluray here.

I've considered HD-DVD a few times as well, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I see bluray as being the technically superior format, simply down to the extra space allowing for higher bitrates / 7.1 PCM, and don't want to put any money into HD-DVD at all.

Actually, the nail in the coffin for me was the whole way the Transformers bribe was carried out.

As for rebuying films you already own on DVD, yeah, that does sting a bit.
I promised myself I wouldn't do it, and only buy new films on bluray... but I seem to have been buying quite a few of my favourites again in HD, as they really do look so good.

Currently taking advantage of the rainforest UK websites 3 for 2 offer.
Bought three more blurays yesterday for £30.22 (as I also get 10% off for being one of their rental members)

Also just ordered the Harry Potter years 1-5 boxset.... even though I own the first four on DVD already... I just can't wait to see them in 1080p ;)

V1N.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
To answer the above.
I have looked through the HD-DVD selection several times. The problem I have is that I already have most of the releases on SD-DVD and am very loathe to buy them again. Don't get me wrong, there's some ace films amongst them, it's just that I can't bring myself to spend the dosh.
In the way of new releases in the last few months, I think I've only seen maybe 3 that I would consider buying. As such, buying a HD-DVD for just 3 films seems a little mad.
For reference, I have around 25-30 films on BD now.
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That I relate to expense, and thats fair enough, I have no arguement at all.

Just out of interest out of the films you could buy again, would you if they were £10-£15 instead of £20-£25?

Just interested is all, because I think this is the most significant thing stopping people in general.
 
Bought HD at the moment. Might pick up BR at some point as well.

Given how cheap HD players are now, and that you can get a PS3 for a semi-reasonable cost, I see no reason to be forced to pick a format.

If blueray was a bit more consumer friendly, I might be more tempted by it, but so far it seems to be another typical sony standard like minidisc and UMD in the way it's handled...
 
people who one over the other based in its technical advantages are fools. im sorry, but you are. expensive - thats a given. but not because its technically superior. both formats have their own collection of movies that people should be watching. to turn your back on hd-dvd because bluray sound cooler is just plain daft.
 
V1N said:
snip

V1N.
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I know exactly what you mean - but there are a number of decent films apart from Transformers (which I have now watched 3 times at home - sad I know) like Face Off, Matrix, Batman Begins that may take some time to be released on BR even when the Paramount exclusive ends, and by that time I am happy that I will have got value for money from most of the discs I own - thats of course IF HD-DVD fails!!!

dont get me wrong, well done for holding out with what you believe to be right (I sincerely hope BR wins as apart from anything else its 2/3 of my 140 hd disc collection) but HD-dvd has given me a decent amount of entertainment for the money already, and they at least can get the interactivity aspects working (Im not too fussed at the moment, but this could be more intrigueing with some genuine thought put into it)

Dolph said:
If blueray was a bit more consumer friendly, I might be more tempted by it, but so far it seems to be another typical sony standard like minidisc and UMD in the way it's handled...
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Would love to know what isnt consumer friendly about the format - it does what it says on the tin (plays movies in HD) - the extras are causing problems for sure, but these dont make it unfriendly imo, few people actually look at the extras anyway (according to market research its about 15% max)
 
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FrankJH said:
Just out of interest out of the films you could buy again, would you if they were £10-£15 instead of £20-£25?
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At the moment, I guess I pay roughly £17-20 per disk as I buy all of them online.
Even if they were down to £10 a disk, I doubt I'd do it.

For one thing, whilst HD clearly is better, I don't find it to be enourmously so. I don't go back to an SD-DVD and think "that looks pants, I can't watch it".
So right now, I don't think I'd be too worried if HD didn't exist. However, that's based upon use of it with my fairly old (720p) projector. My guess is that at some point, high-end BD will come to market and I'll add a good 1080p projector. That's when I see the benefit really coming through, by which time BD disk prices will have dropped considerably.
 
FrankJH said:
I know exactly what you mean - but there are a number of decent films apart from Transformers (which I have now watched 3 times at home - sad I know) like Face Off, Matrix, Batman Begins that may take some time to be released on BR even when the Paramount exclusive ends, and by that time I am happy that I will have got value for money from most of the discs I own - thats of course IF HD-DVD fails!!!

dont get me wrong, well done for holding out with what you believe to be right (I sincerely hope BR wins as apart from anything else its 2/3 of my 140 hd disc collection) but HD-dvd has given me a decent amount of entertainment for the money already, and they at least can get the interactivity aspects working (Im not too fussed at the moment, but this could be more intrigueing with some genuine thought put into it)
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Yeah, I know what you mean with the other good movies on HD-DVD.
Despite what I've said, and when I read about the Transformers stuff, it did severely tick me off. Not only because of that one film, but for what it means, and the fact that payoffs stink of desperation to me.

In all seriousness, I am quite happy with bluray. Regarding The Matrix, etc, in a way, I'm quite glad they're on HD-DVD, as it saves me a few quid, as I just know, I'd buy all three, again. ;)

Truth be told though, I will stick exclusively with bluray for now. I'll be upgrading my amp and projector before I consider a HD-DVD player, and if after that time, HD-DVD is still going strong, and you can pick them up in Supermarkets in a similar way that you can DVD players now, then I'd consider it ;) Or better, a decent all in one HD player, that can handle both formats.

In an ideal world though, I would like to see HD-DVD dwindle and die. Not because I chose bluray, but because it is the technically better format, with more space, for higher bitrates/better audio. Of course, if bluray died, I'd get HD-DVD straight away, I was just voicing my opinion regarding the formats. More space for the win!

V1N.
 
FrankJH said:
Would love to know what isnt consumer friendly about the format - it does what it says on the tin (plays movies in HD) - the extras are causing problems for sure, but these dont make it unfriendly imo, few people actually look at the extras anyway (according to market research its about 15% max)
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Managed copy being optional is the most obvious (on HD it's compulsory), the fact that the standard has changed several times since it's release. The fact that sony feel the need to insert additional copy protection features over that shared by both formats, and even aacs isn't mandatory for HD-dvd, whereas you cannot relase a blu-ray disc without it, the fact that interactivity and additional content (delivered via the now very common broadband connection) is not part of the blu-ray standard, and so on.

And perhaps the most important one

HD-DVD is (certainly currently) region free.
 
james.miller said:
99% of blurays are region free, too.
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Actually, this is one point I'll be grateful to HD-DVD for.

I do import a lot of blurays.

I wonder if HD-DVD hadn't been region free, if we'd have so many region free bluray disks.

Still, always best to check before making a purchase.

For example, I purchased the Spiderman Trilogy boxset on bluray in the UK.

The US boxset featured a region free film 1 & 2, but a region encoded film 3.

:confused:

Or I remember reading about another movie (I forget which) where the movie itself was region free, but it's extras disk was region encoded!

Luckily, there are websites that state which are encoded or not

http://bluray.liesinc.net/ for example,

but I do wish they'd just drop it altogether!

V1N.
 
you are correct of course. but my expensive BR player is safe for quite a while yet:) its the same problem with hd-dvd players supposedly not supporting tripple layer's. the only difference is, none of the players out there do right now. now there's a worse situation to be in!
 
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Tax Evader said:
I'm holding off for now, as I want both. Some concerts I want are on HD only, some other stuff I want is on Blueray.

The Samsung BD-P5000 dual-format player should have been out this month, but seems to have slipped to Jan 08. It looks promising from what I've seen, and priced below £500 I think (at least according to one online retailer).
I'm waiting to see how it performs - don't want one piece of equipment per format.
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same plan as me, thou i'll be getting it asap when samsung release it
 
badbob said:
Not everyone uses a PS3 for BR playback.
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Yes we know this but PS3 owners wont have a problem.
My just installed LG PC drive with PDVD auto updates for the latest BD Java movies.

£190 for a BD and HD-DVD player drive with built in Blu Ray burning and Lightscribe.
Bargin !

Yet many standalone models can take a long time to get any such firmware updates. Its buyers that are paying more for their standalone players if any that will be more screwed over.
 
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