Blockbuster goes Blu-ray, HD DVD=beta?,

The Associated Press confirmed the Chinese HD-DVD player release at 199.99 for this fall; that's where all of the codec info came from as well.

Without an ethernet connection currrent Blu Ray players are going to be obsolete. The Toshiba players allow for online updating of software ( which is very cool) as well as use for online interactive features in the future. The HD-DVD players of course upscale standard DVDs wonderfully as well.

The memory requirements and processing power needed to make Blu Rays less efficient software writing means either a very expensive player or some lessor performance characteristics as far as speed of loading as well as interactive features.

I don't disagree that the "format war" won't go on for awhile for sure; and I don't know if either format will truely win as well.

I would stay away from Blu Ray players for now though- they will improve in a way that will make current ones obsolete very quickly. As has already happened.

Oh yea- alomost forgot, the writer of the Associated Press Article is Gary Gentile and it came out August 10th 2007. He writes out of Los Angeles but I saw the article on a Nashville News Affiliate website. The article is not totally focused on China by any means; but it does clearly state that HD-DVD players made in China are expected to be released for 199.99 in December.

Sorry Rysa,expected to be released, is the same old rumour spun once again with zero official backup.

You say hd dvd players are more powerful, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Upcoming releases of Face Off and Blades of Glory in both formats have uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray version and only core dd plus on the hd dvd version.
The Blu-ray version is also cheaper in both cases.

The PS3 remains far more powerful than any exsisting hd dvd players with plenty of power to spare.
I owned two hd dvd players and three BD players, and all the BD players were quicker at any function.
An hd dvd version of a movie can be ported to a BD version with additional HD audio lacking on the hd dvd version added.
The reason is not just the extra GB available on the BD version but mostly the extra bandwidth.
A Blu-ray version could never be ported to hd dvd because of both the 30gb limit, and mostly because it lacks the bandwidth of Blu-ray....ie there not powerful enough.
All Blu-ray players except the Philips and original Samsung play 1080p/24 which is something lacking on every hd dvd player.

Lets also not forget that Toshiba is really the only CE making hd dvd players compared to Panasonic, Pioneer Elite, Samsung, Sony, Philips, LG,and the announced Denons with their stand alone and Blu-ray transport arriving this fall.

Yes the future players will be able to do picture in picture but how many really even use that feature on their tv's, let alone during an HD movie?

What early adopters want first and foremost is 1080p/24 and actual HD audio as well as studio support, with picture in picture taking a very distant last place.

With Weinstein going neutral, this leaves only Universal or around 12% of current studio releases not available on Blu-ray yet.
Now whats more likely, Sony, Disney, MGM, Fox and Disney going neutral with Blu-ray outselling hd dvd everywhere in the world, or Universal going neutral?

And lets not forget that even though some hardcore early adopters reccomend boiling the hd dvd combos when they have playback problems, that the average consumer will be bringing his player and movies back to the store and certainly will not be boiling problem combo discs.

From experience and also from what I read all over the net, Blu-ray is ready now for average consumers with the exception of player prices needing to be under 99.00.
HD DVD is definitely not ready for average consumers at this point IMO.

There are pictures of one of the Chinese HD-DVD players now available. If you think about it, of course less expensive HD-DVD players are just around the corner. Obviously there is no blu ray answer on the hardware side. There never has been. Thats why I would stay away from Blu Ray for now.

Blu Ray hardware is simply lacking and faces early obsolescence. The DVD video quality is excellent on both Medias. Costco is selling HD-DVD players, and the entry level model is on sale online for 249. HD-DVD , if you had to pick one now, is the way to go, due to ethernet connectivity, upscaling, and ability to play standard DVDs.

I wouldnt be accepting any substitutes for now. Blu Ray marketing got ahead of the product.

OK this does not make me happy with the Toshiba HD DVD player I bought. About 5-6 weeks after sending coupon and bar code p-o-p for the 5 free HD DVDs, I received a notice stating stocking problems that will postpone my DVDs a few more weeks. This is not the part that pisses me off. Heres the kicker: They graciously included a form I can send in that "cancels my order" (for free DVDs!) if am annoyed by the added wait.

Im very satisfied with the D2 player, but 5 free HD DVDs was a real incentive to purchase. This delay and offer to decline the free DVDs sounds so incredibly BOGUS, I find it insulting. Not a smooth move for HD DVD format or for Toshiba.