HD-DVD Player

[rorysl]

Hey guys, I recently picked up the HD-DVD Player. And yes, I know it's obsolete. I just bought a 32" Sony Bravia LCD and it's going to be awhile before I can afford a PS3 (I figure why buy a Blu-Ray Player when I can chuck out the extra $ and get a PS3) and I found a few dirt cheap HD-DVD titles around so I thought, why not? It's great and there is (surprisingly) more HD-DVD titles around than I thought there would be. Anyone else still rocking this piece of hardware and, if so, how easy are people finding it to pick up titles since the format war ended?

 

My HD-DVD Collection:

 

An American Werewolf in London

Breakfast Club

Children of Men

Hot Fuzz

Land of the Dead

[BSA Starfire]

I bought one about 8 months ago for £17.99 brand new with 3 free movies, it started making awful noises after 3 months and microsoft replaced it for free(they really took a loss on that sale). I think it's great, as you say the films are really cheap plus it also upscales regular DVD's so you can't loose! I highly reccomened you get Planet Earth boxset, it's truly stunning and we have watched it over and over.

Best,

Chris

[Hyper_Eye]

You can still pick them up from Amazon and they are pretty cheap:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1235750252/ref...&sort=price

[Tempest]

Norbit [HD DVD] ~Buy new: $39.99

 

If I didn't have my PS3 I'd probably have picked up a HD-DVD Player for the 360 and all the HD-DVD movies I could find. You really can't go wrong at $3-$10 a movie even if it's only so-so. I hear the drive is very loud though, much louder than the already loud internal 360 drive.

 

If I ever see a HD-DVD drive cheap I still might pick it up for the collectability aspect of it. It would sort of be like having picked up a Beta Max player for the 2600...

 

Tempest

[Hyper_Eye]

Norbit [HD DVD] ~Buy new: $39.99

 

If I didn't have my PS3 I'd probably have picked up a HD-DVD Player for the 360 and all the HD-DVD movies I could find. You really can't go wrong at $3-$10 a movie even if it's only so-so. I hear the drive is very loud though, much louder than the already loud internal 360 drive.

 

If I ever see a HD-DVD drive cheap I still might pick it up for the collectability aspect of it. It would sort of be like having picked up a Beta Max player for the 2600...

 

Tempest

 

No way. The drive is WAY quieter than the 360 drive. As matter of fact, when I watch regular DVD's I use the external drive because it is barely audible compared to the 360 drive. My 360 drive only gets used to play games. I don't know where you heard the drive is louder but that would be crazy. Nobody wants to watch a movie where it constantly sounds like a plane is getting ready for takeoff.

[Tempest]

No way. The drive is WAY quieter than the 360 drive. As matter of fact, when I watch regular DVD's I use the external drive because it is barely audible compared to the 360 drive. My 360 drive only gets used to play games. I don't know where you heard the drive is louder but that would be crazy. Nobody wants to watch a movie where it constantly sounds like a plane is getting ready for takeoff.

That's actually the main complaint I heard is that it was so loud it made watching movies annoying. Then again, I've never used one so I wouldn't know.

 

Tempest

[moycon]

I totally bought into the whole HD disk thing when it came out. The deals are great now, but they were pretty good when the war was going on as well. I bought a regular stand alone HD DVD unit, as well as 2 of the 360 add-ons. At the time the were offering free HD DVDs with purchases. I think I paid like $50 for one of the 360 add-ons AND got 6 free movies! The stand alone I paid quite a bit for, like $300, but it came with like 9 free movies. That was at the height of the HD "war" before Toshiba bailed out.

My HD DVD library has really taken off as of late, what with all the $5 HD DVD you can find. Totally worth it.

[Shawn]

I totally bought into the whole HD disk thing when it came out. The deals are great now, but they were pretty good when the war was going on as well. I bought a regular stand alone HD DVD unit, as well as 2 of the 360 add-ons. At the time the were offering free HD DVDs with purchases. I think I paid like $50 for one of the 360 add-ons AND got 6 free movies! The stand alone I paid quite a bit for, like $300, but it came with like 9 free movies. That was at the height of the HD "war" before Toshiba bailed out.

My HD DVD library has really taken off as of late, what with all the $5 HD DVD you can find. Totally worth it.

 

 

Here in Canada the chain store Zellers has HD-DVD's for $4 CDN and a very large selection of them at that.

[Shawn]

If I ever see a HD-DVD drive cheap I still might pick it up for the collectability aspect of it. It would sort of be like having picked up a Beta Max player for the 2600...

 

Tempest

 

 

There is only 436 movies (not including porno) released on HD DVD so it would also not be unthinkable to collect them all.

[Bilnick]

Norbit [HD DVD] ~Buy new: $39.99

 

If I didn't have my PS3 I'd probably have picked up a HD-DVD Player for the 360 and all the HD-DVD movies I could find. You really can't go wrong at $3-$10 a movie even if it's only so-so. I hear the drive is very loud though, much louder than the already loud internal 360 drive.

 

If I ever see a HD-DVD drive cheap I still might pick it up for the collectability aspect of it. It would sort of be like having picked up a Beta Max player for the 2600...

 

Tempest

 

Check Frys.com, I recently bought the 5 Harry Potter HD DVDs and the 360 drive (which comes with King Kong) for 60$. There were other bundles available too with different titles for $40 and $50. Frys also has a large selection of HD DVDs for 6-12$ each. I wish there were Frys stores in Michigan. I have bought maybe 30-40 HD DVDs from them recently.

 

I havent actually hooked up the 360 HD DVD drive though as I already own 2 Toshiba HD A30 players.

[rorysl]

Thanks for the tips -- wish I'd known about Fry's.com earlier -- I paid $60 for my player (shipping included so not horrible) but no hd-dvd's with it...great deals on Fry's. The amazon.com deals are great too but I'm Canadian and amazon.ca doesn't seem to have as low prices -- even with expected exchange rates.

 

In any case, mine isn't too loud and I use it for my regular DVD's too and the picture is great. I'd love to broaden my collection and probably will via ebay. If any fellow Canadian's are looking for HD-DVD's yes, Zellars is a good place to look. Also, check your local Dominion / Loblaw's / SaveEasy mega grocery store with an electronics department -- I've found tons of Hd-dvd's there in bins.

 

Anyone else got any interesting sources?

[Tempest]

The deal with the 5 Harry Potter movies looks interesting, I'll have to check it out. One reason I never got into Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movies is that I have a 1080i TV that's only 7ft away from me and I swear I can never tell the difference between a regular DVD being upscaled to1080i and a Blu-Ray movie. Maybe with one of those side by side comparisons, but if you need one of those then whats the point?

 

Tempest

[+Cobra Kai]

The deal with the 5 Harry Potter movies looks interesting, I'll have to check it out. One reason I never got into Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movies is that I have a 1080i TV that's only 7ft away from me and I swear I can never tell the difference between a regular DVD being upscaled to1080i and a Blu-Ray movie. Maybe with one of those side by side comparisons, but if you need one of those then whats the point?

 

Tempest

I thought the same thing until I spent considerable time with strictly hd dvd. After about a week of watching only hi-def, I popped in a DVD and the difference was plain as day. Sharpness was evident, but the difference in Color was off the charts. That's the best thing hi-def brings to home video IMO, the color.

[Tempest]

I guess I'll have to take another look. I honestly didn't think there was much of a difference between the two until you got into the 1080p range.

 

Tempest

[Video]

Sadly, HDDVD dropped completely out of the market around here when it went under.....and as I was only buying used anyways, I don't really understand that, people are like "just buy a blue ray" and I'm like "Uh, if I had that kind of money, sure" you donate a player and I'll start a BD collection, but I"m not starting a new collection starting with a $300+ player (I only payed $20 for my HDDVD on X-box.

 

Heh, that's Ok, that's what Ebay and Amazon were invented for , I've got a new credit card and see my collection as going to expand very quickly in a short ammount of time (only 4 moveis at the monment)

 

And truthfully, I've seen both Blueray, and HDDVD on my grandparrents very nice 52" 1080iHDTV, and honestly, I'm not impressed with either. It's so minor of an upgrade I'd say it's simply not worth it, Blue Ray vs HDDVD? Heh, DVD won. Maybe a 1080P tvwould make a difference, but I'm not paying for that either, and by the time I get to the point of needing one of those, inphaze will be in and Blue ray will go out.

 

I only have 4 movies for HD, Blue Plannet, Justice League Unlimited (with a standard DVD flip) King Kong, and Star Trek (with a DVD flip) When HD started comeing out with the DVD flipside that ran in a standard player, I really thought they would have it then, that was the best of both worlds, buy the DVD for $20, or the HD/DVD combo for $25 (a MUCH better deal than buying DVD for $20 or DVD+digitla copy for $25 which seems to be becoming more common now)

 

Oh, and to all the people that rave about the difference in HD to DVD, I just gotta wonderif they are watching DVD at it's highest resolution, remember DVD is variable, get you some good new movies, and compare that to the 70's karate movie ripped from 8mm, and yes, there's a HUGE difference in picture and sound quality. I just got a suspicion that people that are seeing this massive "obvious" leap between DVD and an HD format, are simply watching the wrong moveis to begin with (sorry, Porno doesn't tend to be in the best picture quality to begin with)

Edited March 1, 2009 by Video

[Bilnick]

The AVS forum is a good place to actually see some of the differences between Blue Ray/ HD DVD and a standard DVD, as some members do screen captures of identical frames of a movie in multiple formats and post them for comparison.

 

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1092791

 

The third comparison picture really shows the difference between a high definition disc and a standard DVD. The detail in the grass and surrounding scenery is amazing.

 

I will agree with you though that an upconverted DVD looks nice, and for many movies it is "good enough".

[Video]

That looks pretty good, but again, if a side by side is required to see the difference, then it's probably not worth it. But at least with the side by side, there is a slight difference.

 

Funny thing, someone in the computer forum told me that DVD's are all interpolated (dumbasses) which would make the thing running at 240 lines instead of 480, and those screens aren't anywhere close to that much of an improvement (240-1080)

 

Anyhow, I'll look into blue ray, when it becomes a $100 option (and movies I give a crap about start showing up on it) Till then, either hd format are really just curiositys and neither were ever intended as a replacement to my DVD collection.

[Hyper_Eye]

That looks pretty good, but again, if a side by side is required to see the difference, then it's probably not worth it. But at least with the side by side, there is a slight difference.

 

Funny thing, someone in the computer forum told me that DVD's are all interpolated (dumbasses) which would make the thing running at 240 lines instead of 480, and those screens aren't anywhere close to that much of an improvement (240-1080)

 

Anyhow, I'll look into blue ray, when it becomes a $100 option (and movies I give a crap about start showing up on it) Till then, either hd format are really just curiositys and neither were ever intended as a replacement to my DVD collection.

 

I don't believe a side-by-side is necessary. If you look at the third picture around the center-top portion you see in the DVD version what looks like a large stone. In the Blu-Ray version you can very clearly see that it is actually a set of steps. There is simply no discernible steps in the first pic. That is a big difference. On my 80" HD screen you can tell the difference. I watch upscaled DVD's and HD-DVD's on it all the time and the difference is clear. Even with a system with a fantastic scaler, which the 360 has, details can't simply be made up. Steps don't exist in that DVD footage and upscaling would have simply made it look like a stone that was less blurry looking. But you still wouldn't be able to tell it had steps until you popped in the actual HD version. The difference isn't hard to understand. Upscaling DVD's involves the display of duplicated and blended pixels. Actual HD material has unique details filling in those pixels. Anyone who doesn't see the difference needs to get their eyes checked or they need to see it on a different display.

 

Look at the sharp individual yellow flowers in the HD version of that pic and then look at them in the DVD version. They just look like a couple of blended blurry pixels in the DVD version. Upscaling will not fix things like that. I love upscaling DVD's as much as the next guy but it doesn't replace real HD content.

[Tempest]

Maybe you can see the difference on an 80" screen, but I really can't on my 36" one.

 

Tempest

[Bilnick]

Maybe you can see the difference on an 80" screen, but I really can't on my 36" one.

 

Tempest

 

I could see the difference between the screen caps on my 21" monitor. I would assume it would translate to a 36" HDTV. I have read that people cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080i or 1080p on screens smaller than 40" or so.

 

Prince Caspian is stunning in HD on my 73" screen. Stores should leave that movie playing in a loop to sell HDTV's.

[Video]

And I saw no difference on my grandparrents 52" either. Like I said, when buying a MASSIVE (and expensive) display spacifically to do 1080P is what you have to do to see it, then it's not worth it. Not all of us have a thousand + kicking around to piss away like that. Nice that you do, but to us normal folks, it's just not going to happen.

 

One thing I really do like about the HD's though, if the display supports it, it's now possible to actually view movies at a 1-1 framerate at their native 24 fps, rather than being forced to do a 5:4 upconversion to force it to 30 like a DVD player does (my tv's Don't support that, though I do hear some nicer DVD players will do this too, unknown though)

 

Now watch someone come jumping all over my ass insisting movies are actually always filmed at 60 fps or something else absurd like that

Edited March 1, 2009 by Video

[Bilnick]

I guess it depends on what you call expensive. I can buy a 73" 1080p set, deliverd to my door for (barely) under $2000. For comparison, my previous television was a 54" standard def model that cost ~$2500 in 1998.

[Hyper_Eye]

And I saw no difference on my grandparrents 52" either. Like I said, when buying a MASSIVE (and expensive) display spacifically to do 1080P is what you have to do to see it, then it's not worth it. Not all of us have a thousand + kicking around to piss away like that. Nice that you do, but to us normal folks, it's just not going to happen.

 

One thing I really do like about the HD's though, if the display supports it, it's now possible to actually view movies at a 1-1 framerate at their native 24 fps, rather than being forced to do a 5:4 upconversion to force it to 30 like a DVD player does (my tv's Don't support that, though I do hear some nicer DVD players will do this too, unknown though)

 

Now watch someone come jumping all over my ass insisting movies are actually always filmed at 60 fps or something else absurd like that

 

I didn't have to buy a massive set. I buy front projectors so there is no size variable in the display (other than limiting myself to the proper throw distance for the setup I have to work with.)

 

I was going to continue to have a conversation with you about this but I just changed my mind. You have formed your opinion and it isn't going to change. I completely disagree with your opinion but that doesn't bother me any. You don't have to buy something you don't want. But you don't know me personally and I doubt you know most of the people who posted in this thread personally. I take offense to you implying that anyone here is pissing away money. I don't piss away money and I doubt anyone here would consider their purchases to be pissing away money. I earn my money and it keeps a roof over the heads of my family and it keeps food on the table. I also manage it and from time to time I buy something nice for myself, my wife, or my kids. I doubt anyone else here would appreciate you judging them based on such trivial things. I am about as normal as anyone else and I am sure to know what I want among what will suite my situation and then make concessions to find a deal. How about I go through your belongings and decide what was worth your money and what constitutes pissing it away? I'm bound to find something I would consider a pointless purchase but it might be something you love in which case I would be wrong.

[Seob]

The xbox360 HD-dvd players are almost impossible to find here in the Netherlands. Looks like they have been cleared as soon as blu-ray won the battle.

[Video]

I would consider over 1000$ to be expensive (though my grandparents paid nearly $1500 for their set, but then, their retired so ) Oh, I forgot to say, I could see the difference, on my Asus (7" screen at 800x480) but then again, it's a computer screen, it doesn't perform any of the antialising smoothing or any of that bullshit that the average TV does (intentionally or not)

 

And to hyper-eye, what I call Pissing away money, is most likely the same as anyone else would call it.....Its not an offence to you, heck, that should have been a compliment. In my case, it's the roof or the (how the hell much does an 80" TV/projector cost anyways)TV, not both. Id love to have the money to get both, but it won't happen, not only through cost, but through real estate. I have an apartment, there's not a spot big enough for that size of set, though I used to use a projector, way back when, but that doesn't count as it was only a 640x480 but evne there, unless there's something you can do to change the focal point, the biggest I coud get an image would be around 52 or so. But a HDCP projector that does full 1080P would still cost up there with big TV's

 

Like I said, if you got the money, that's fine, but don't belittle everybody else just cause they wont get, (or cant) the rEqUiReD equipment to preform a spacific task that honestly isnt that important.