Latest on Blu-Ray vs HD DVD ?

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.

Decided to get the D2. I have not even hooked it up as I have no HD DVDs yet. But $249 for a player that will play and upscale all my reg DVDs, plus 5 free HD DVDs, I think I can wait out the format wars in comfort. I will post a thumbs up/thumbs down after I have used it with a few HD DVDs.
Again, thanks for all the advice.

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.

Very happy with the D2 so far. The only HD DVD I have yet is Batman Begins, it looks great. I have a couple DVDs that never looked very good (Enigma, Angels and Insects, to a lesser degree The Constant Gardener) and the D2 did not perform miracles. But the upscaling proved its worth on other standard DVDs, such as The Prestige, Traffic, Memento and Mystery Men. This is about the extent of what I have viewed so far, and so far so good. No buyers remorse in spite of the uncertain future of the formats, glad I bought it.