HiDef DVD vs. High End Legacy


I am looking at the new Levinson 51 which will not be upgradeable to HiDef. Levinson says this unit will be superior in sound and video to anything on the market and that HiDef won't be a factor in quality. I would like input from the group on these issues. Whether its Levinson or one of the other manufacturers of quality audio/video transports I am concerned about making the investment in light of changing technology. HiDef has been fumbled for years with the industry failing to reach consensus on a standard. It appears to be years before anything is worked out and reviews of equipment being marketed in the first generation are not encouraging despite the excellent resolution. With a high end video display system an excellent picture can be produced without HiDef. Weigh in.
ksales
In terms of price---If HD-DVD interests you,they are cheap to try,that is compared to high priced players.AND, I'm just guessing that PQ in HD is better than whatever hi-end SD-player. Right now software is limited and BluRay,not yet here will be incompatible with HD-DVD.--(sound familiar?)
The HD-DVD players are cheap right now (retail is less than cost to manufacture in order to gain market share). Why buy a super high-end DVD player EVER is probably a better question IMO. A very good DVD player can be had for less than 2K any day. Two more years of HD format war will produce a host of inexpensive players that will blow everything currently available out of the watter. At that point teh question will be which of these new players:
A) Makes the most of your old DVD's.
B)If serving double duty; sounds great with redbook CD
C)Squezes the most out of the new format WITHOUT glitches associated with new technology

Good luck!
Also heard that with a Hidef set Blu Ray is no Joke.Like wipe grime off your winshiled.Me I am upset now that I have found that CDR and DVDR discs are string to deteriorate after 3-5 years.First saw a guy hear on Audiogon said he got rid of his tape collection and now has data corruption (drop outs,distortion etc) aftyer 3-5 years.Then read article in wwwaudiorevolution.com where german chemist said that this was the case and that vinyl can last 100+ years and peoperly humidity controled and not played often enough so magnetic particles can wear off analogue tape can last 100 years.But think about it a regular CD that does not get a hole in it where this spreyed (or sputered on) aluminum is not oxidized you have a disc holding one and zeros that is physically punched through a plastic wafer but with recordable discs it is mere through a laser that chnages a chrystaline metal.To erase it all you need to do is heat up teperature of laser.Doesen't sopund to satbel does it?The manufacturers of players nd software couldn't give a rat's ass about us consumers but I am thinking when buinesses lose a project or data only say 5 years down the line (which hasn't been backed up on MAGNETIC tape) and they can't fijnd their data well maybe some (failed law suits) and customer complaints will make this a real priotiy to fix.A