Latest on Blu-Ray vs HD DVD ?

05-21-07: Hunglo
I believe it's the HD-A2. You can get the D2 (same as the A2+HDMI cable) for $249 and 5 mail-in free movies from Toshiba at Costco, if you have one in your area. I think that's a darn good deal to jump in the HD theater.

That's what I did this week--got the D2 at Costco for $249, but it didn't have any mail-in for 5 free movies. I'll have to ask Costco about that.

Originally, I bought an inexpensive ($119) upconverting Sony DVD player to get better pic quality on my 55" 720p/1080i display until the format wars settle out, but by trading it in and throwing in another $130, I came home with the Toshiba which does everything the Sony did plus will play the HD DVDs I can snag from Netflix.

I don't plan to buy any HD DVDs, so even if Blu-Ray wins in the end, my financial commitment has been small to enable getting some DVD-based HD content in the meantime. And it's an excellent upconverting DVD player and a good-sounding CD player as well.

Sony has a software advantage. It OWNs the movie libraries of Sony Pictures, Columbia/Screen Gems/TriStar, MGM, and United Artists--something like 55% of the movies ever made. You're not likely to see any of those show up on HD DVD anytime soon. There may be other affiliates or partners (Miramax?) that may stick to Blu-Ray only as well.

In the gaming market, Microsoft is in the HD DVD camp for future X-Box releases, if for no other reason than not to endorse the Blu-Ray format of archrival Sony PlayStation. But as big as Microsoft is overall, X-Box does not have the worldwide market share enjoyed by Sony PlayStation.

One thing nice in my current rig--even though it doesn't process HDMI, my Boston Acoustics AVP7 has analog 7.1 inputs (not 5.1), so I could extract the full sound quality out of a more evolved HD DVD and/or Blu-Ray player down the line when the time comes.

06-02-07: Johnnyb53
I ... got the D2 at Costco for $249, but it didn't have any mail-in for 5 free movies....

Update: I visited the Circuit City website and it looks like I can use the generic Toshiba form available here (http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/169466/rpem/ccd/RebateDetails.do?oid=177362 to get the 5 HD DVDs. I printed out the pdf. I'll select 5 of the 15 available videos, include the UPC and a copy of my receipt, and send away for 5 free HD DVDs. The form mentions the Toshiba HD-D2 (the Costco one) as a qualifying purchase. Basically, if you can prove purchase of a Toshiba HD DVD player between 3/1 and 7/31/07 and send back the form by 8/31/07, you qualify.

Cool.

No HD DVDs yet? Just join Netflix!

I got my Toshiba D2 a couple of weeks ago and don't intend to buy any HD DVDs for awhile. But Netflix carries Blu-ray and HD DVD titles as quickly as they are released. Sometimes there's an availability delay, but so far I've watched The Good Shepherd, Letters from Iwo Jima, Assault on Precinct 13, and Breach. Music and Lyrics is in da house for this weekend.

And I'll confirm that its upconverting capabilities are very good. The Harry Potter standard DVDs play as sharp or sharper than much HD cable programming.

HD DVDs look significantly better than cable HD because of the much faster transfer rate. There is no pixelation of fast-moving images with HD DVD. So far the digital transfers (especially from Universal) are very well done.