Time to sell my dvd collection?

Considering that lots of movies on dvd are now available new at retailers like wal-mart for just a couple bucks....where would you sell them anyhow and how much would you expect to get? I own several dvd's that I bought at $15-20...I sure wouldn't care to sell them now for a buck or two.

I agree with you Holeneck - HD will take over within some time (let's agree to look back at this thread and laugh on 2 May, 2011), but the process will be painful thanks again to Sony.
Elcasette, Beta, SACD - how many times do they need to learn the same lesson? As usual, early adopters will get burned when everything shakes out but that's the norm for an early adopter.
Even most HDTV's today don't have the 1080p required to use everything an HD player can offer.
But back to the original question, with upconverting DVD players available now, if you like what you've got, just keep it unless there's a have-to-have in HD like Cream, Royal Albert Hall, May '05 with uncompressed audio and video.

The reason the new HD formats will take over is simple, everyone will have an HDTV in the next 5 years. The reason DVD-A and SACD didnt win people over is because you have to spend a pretty penny to achieve the requirements to play the disks. The mass public will buy the new tv's. Only audiophiles buy the hi-res disks. Its really that simple.

In the end, I think the extra space on the new disks will benefit sound quality to a greater extent than the video. DVD has a good pic, it does get better in HD, but uncompressed sound, the way the sound engineer intended will be incredible. We may have to wait a few years to sort it all out, but it will survive and thrive.

Elizabeth,

I am somewhat in your camp. I have been buying up all the Superbit DVD's which my local Blockbuster has been dumping for $9.99. I just bought a new Meridian G98 DH, which really is a step up even from my Esoteric DV-50s.... I might buy a HD DVD (I pesrsonally think Blu Ray is the better format IMHO) but am in no rush to pay for the movies, and until their are rented by Netflix, will sit back and enjoy my new DVD's and player...

if you think the studios have alreadt invested in hd mastering for their films...think again. baby steps on some....up conversions on those which are probably not going to look any better in hd.....some won't make it to the new discs at all.....if it lost money on standard dvd, that's all she wrote.

I'd hang on to your collection.
Unless you're anal (don't really know what that means) and want everything "just so" (no bastard formats lying around).

The fact that you purchased these DVDs means you have some interest in their content. Even if you only watch them on a rainy afternoon, they will be there for you.
Also, I find OWNING something gives me an excuse for NOT watching it if I stumble onto it channel surfing. I can't tell you how many times I've been sucked into watching "The Alamo". Since I own it, cut WAY back!

Finally, new DVD players can upsample to 1080i.
This adds lots of value to existing libraries.
I watched "Road to Perdition" and was AMAZED by the detail and texture in the clothing worn by Tom Hanks & Paul Neuman in the church basement scene! Great stuff!

I have plenty of DVDs but can't really think of more than a score that would benefit from HD treatment.
The film source just isn't that good.
Shooting a film in HD is really an infant art form.
I.E., the really great HD films havn't even been created yet.

Keep them disks!

Sherod,

I have heard Meridian plans to have an upgrade for the 800 DVD player to oe of the formats, possibly the G98 as well, but that is the only buzz I've heard about updating players. I suspect we will all be replacing our older gear.

If you don't use the DVDs anymore, it might be best to get rid of them while you can. The movie studios and music companies make a lot of money by selling the same thing over and over again. You may have bought an LP, then a casette, then a CD (maybe even an eight track tape, a MD and an SACD or DVD-A), all of the same thing. Perhaps you have a VHS of a movie, which was then replaced with a DVD. So too, you can be sure that DVDs will be re-released in the "new and improved" format to boost sales of the back catalogue. Get rid of the DVDs while you can.

By the way, a DVD holds about 4.7 GB of data. A HD-DVD holds about 15 GB. A Blu-Ray disc holds about 25 GB. The new formats are therefore an improvement over DVD, but much more so for Blu-Ray. People who see both new formats side by side note that the Blu-Ray is far superior in picture quality, as it should be, since it holds more data. I hope that Blu-Ray wins the upcoming format war for this reason. HD-DVDs advantage is being first to market. However, it is so late that this advantage is being squandered. Also, Blu-Ray has a trojan horse advantage. The new Playstation 3, which is due for release before the Christmas shopping season, is supposed to be Blu-Ray capable. Given the dominance of this game console, that will be a huge advantage for the Blu-Ray camp as it will be in people's homes, unllike HD-DVD, which will necessitate buying a different disc player.

New HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players will be backwards compatible with current DVDs. However, it is my understanding that current disc players cannot be realistically modified to play the new format. The two formats are also incompatible with each other, as we all know. However, Samsung, who are in the Blu-Ray camp, have announced that they plan to make a player that will play both new format of discs. This is very far sighted in my view, because consummers are likely to sit out the format war in fear of choosing the "losing" format player, as occurred with Beta and VHS. If a manufacturer makes a player that can play both, it will get a huge jump in the market as consumers will choose a player that allows them to hedge their bets on the winning format.

I would wait a few years for this new craze to catch on.

Tvad, thanks for the heads-up, and that valuable link. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that when the upcoming Blu-ray format was first announced, it was NOT going to be back-compatible with current DVD's. Is this correct, or is the count 0-2 ?

I wonder if our current DVD players or Universal players can be upgraded to play the high-res formats without having to sell our current component/s.

I don't know guys, but I have a DVHS deck that i got as a floor demo from Best Buy last year, and a half dozen prerecorded DVHS tapes. The tapes are digitally mastered at 1080i native resolution (digital, not analog format). The improvement over the same title on DVD is unreal. Tons more detail, better shadow definition, totally eye-popping. Even my wife, who's ususally oblivious to such things noticed it immediately.

If HD DVD and/or Blu Ray are this good then I can't wait.

I bring this question up because what happened to me when DVD came out. I had a 250 LD collection and took a really big hit when I sold them because I waited too long. I'm trying not to make the same mistake twice. I'm thinking of buying the $499 Toshiba HD-DVD player. Blockbuster Online currently has about 13 HD titles for rental so I probably wouldn't need to purchase any until the prices drop.

Regards,
Danton

Can you please clarify? Is my assumption incorrect that hi def dvd has as good a picture as my hi def TV from the cable?

yes, the picture is better, but it isnt that much better to warrant buying new copies unless you watch the movie over and over again. not every movie will be released in a hd format. wait a while, it will all shake out. i will have one in for review in a couple of weeks when i review a new anthem processor, i will post here my experience.

a writer who is currently reviewing the hd-dvd's and he says there isnt that much of a difference to warrant buying the hd version

Can you please clarify? Is my assumption incorrect that hi def dvd has as good a picture as my hi def TV from the cable?

Tvad, I thought that Blu-ray was not going to be back-compatible with the current DVD's. Can anyone else confirm this?

I would sell anything I no longer had any use for.

Comparing CD vs SACD/DVD-A and DVD vs Hi Def DVD does not compute. The average consumer does not have a system capable of revealing the differences in the audio formats, doesn't even know they exist, and doesn't care if they do know. On the other hand most people have heard of high definition TV and can easily tell the difference. I haven't seen either one but if hi def DVD is as good as hi def TV then they are more than "slightly better" than today's DVD. On a large screen hi def TV blows away a regular broadcast and a regular broadcast is better than a DVD. Once the players are reasonably priced they will eventually replace today's DVD.

i have spoken to a writer who is currently reviewing the hd-dvd's and he says there isnt that much of a difference to warrant buying the hd version. perhaps you should spend the money on a newer processor or a newer receiver. the real advantage for audiophiles will be the uncompressed sound.

My advice is that if you definitely have NO plans to watch them in the future, sell them. However, I would not sell them just because HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are coming out.

That would be like selling your entire CD collection because SACD and DVD-A came out. (You know how that ended up. They are merely slightly better digital sources, and are, at the moment, pretty much niche formats just for us Audiophiles. And who knows if either, or both of them, will be around in a few years.)

However, my advice is that if you ARE planning to watch these again, I would hold onto them, and wait to see which, if either, of these two hi-rez formats wins the battle, and dominates the market.

It could be that Blu_ray wins, because it is the better format. Or, it could be that HD-DVD wins, because it is cheaper and is coming out first, albeit only by a few months. (Again, remember the Betamax vs. VHS video format wars? Betamax lost even though it was better and a smaller format.) Or it is possible, that one or both become niche formats, because people don't want to bother replacing their entire DVD collection, just to get a slightly better picture. Remember that the picture quality will definitely be better than regular DVDs, so it will be a leap forward. However, it will not be nearly so big a leap forward as the leap from VHS to DVD.)

I plan on waiting a good long time for the dust to settle before choosing. (Who knows, maybe a third format will join the battle and blow both of those two out of the water?)

My two cents worth anyway.

If you want to replace them with HD when they're available then sell.

If you don't watch them anyway then you've answered your own question notwithstanding the HD situation.

Hard to understand why you'd consider keeping them if they'll be obsolete, and you don't watch them anyway.