I'm the Idiot Who Bought an HD-DVD Player (A casualty of the format war tells all)

slate.com ^ | Feb. 28, 2008 | By Josh Levin

[Las Vegas Dave]

Interested in HDTV?
Please Freepmail (works best) me if you would like your name added to the HDTV ping list.

The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception. Broadcast specials, Blu-ray/HD-DVD, and any and all subjects relating to HD.

Las Vegas Dave

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list..

HDTV pings

[SlapHappyPappy]

At least we know who bought it now. One mystery solved.

[woofer2425]

Keep it...in 20 years it will be a collectors item:)

[MEpajamaMONSTER]

HA!HA!HA!

[Paleo Conservative]

It wasn't dumb to jump on the HD-DVD bandwagon: Toshiba's technology was cheaper and more consumer-friendly than Sony's.

Sony has dual layer 50 GB capacity now, but has demonstrated 200 GB 8 layer disks in the laboratory. Toshiba was going to develop a lame 3 layer 51 GB version of HD-DVD that's just a little bigger than the 50 GB Blu-Ray. As manufacturing costs decline, Blu-ray will become cheaper just as have all the previous new mass market formats.

[CarrotAndStick]

You're one of the idiots who bought an HD-DVD player? Well...

[Squidpup]

It was Sony's turn

[Still Thinking]

so you were the guy!

[kempo]

I’m glad I’m not the kind to be the first one on the block to have something. I usually wait and buy it for one tenth the original price.

[ThomasThomas]

“Keep it...in 20 years it will be a collectors item:)”

Would you like to buy a rare bata max?

[CholeraJoe]

In the same boat. Saving for a new system.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That’s no fun....

[MHT]

Does this mean that the dvd player built into the back of the HDTV I bought won’t work with any dvd’s made after 2008?

[varyouga]

I was thinking the same thing.

HD-DVD is almost half the capacity per layer as BluRay. How did HDDVD even stand a chance?

[MarineBrat]

I’ve got about 1000 of the best movies of all time in Video Laser Disks. They still play great!

[Yo-Yo]

There’s a reason why it’s called “Bleeding Edge Technology.”

All but the most rabid “gotta have it NOW” stayed on the sidelines until the format wars were over.

You’re just a casualty, buddy, but a willing volunteer.

[Snickering Hound]

The fire sale at Amazon.com for HD DVD players has a new in box A3 for $83.

It's a good upscaling DVD player at that price.

[I Drive Too Fast]

I bought mine too early also, but figured I could always use another dvd player (I have 4 tv's). I got it for the 7 free HD-DVD's which became 12 free HD-DVD's less than 2 weeks later. I also bought it mainly to rent HD-DVD's from netflix who chose NOT to rent those any more 3 months later.

At least the Sony Blu-Ray player I bought will be good for a while, unless it won't be upgradeable to the upcoming 2.0 format :-(.

I am curious how long the Blu-Ray player will last. My original "top of the line" Sony DVD player that I purchased back in 1998 or 1999 still works fine and I think I paid more than $500 for it back then.

[CarrotAndStick]

This is the best time for robot enthusiasts to buy up cheap equipment for complex parts like blue lasers and motor assemblies.