Aren't there some players equipped with both formats?

LG has their BH100 dual format player, it plays both Blu Ray and HD DVDs, but it still retails for about $1000. And it is basically a Blu Ray player with HD DVD functions added. It can play an HD DVD, but cannot access most of the 'extra' features on an HD DVD disc.

Samsung has announced a dual format player that will be shipped later this year. Price has not been announced, but I think it will be in the $700 to $1000 range. Still expensive

I just bought a HDTV. I don't have a HD DVD player yet. Waiting for price to come down some more. Also which format will win.

As far as a winner in this battle, the jury is still out.

HD DVD players are less expensive, but there are more movie studios supporting Blu Ray.

As with ALL consumer electronics, price goes down and quality goes up over time. I'm satisfied with viewing regular widescreen dvd movies until the price drops and the HD vs Blu-Ray battle is over. I suspect it will happen within a year or so. I believe Blockbuster has already chosen Blu-Ray for their inventory.

Ballparkfrank

I totally agree, most consumer electronics gets cheaper and better almost every month. I only wish automobiles were on the same price curve.

I had both an HD DVD player and a Blu Ray player until a week ago. I returned a Toshiba HD DVD player because my local video rental stores, including Blockbuster, had Blu Ray movies, but did not rent HD DVD movies. Availabilitiy to content is king

We went HD DVR...love it. Blockbuster has a lot of movies avail. online. Because of price many end use retailers are swinging to HD DVD. It is more readily marketable to more people. Unless BluRay lowers prices considerably they will fade.

Waiting for the industry to decide which format is going to be the standard. Remember 8-Trak and the Edsel.

The industry in this case is Sony Music and Entertainment which owns movie studios and has produced major motion pictures. The Beta debacle was a huge embarassment to Sony and this time they will prevail because they have a clear edge. They learned from their mistake and did not keep the technology to themselves. Bet on Blu Ray .. especially because it already has a catchy name.

I have a habit of buying movies like a gambler in a casino. Technology continually changes and it's not only hard to keep up but expensive also. I will wait until someone decides what format they intend to use. I too was stuck in the 8 track era. I have also went from VHS now to DVD. HD and Blu Ray. What next?

Don Philipps, I too have bought a lot of movies. I have purchased several titles in VHS, laserdisc and DVD. I have a Blu Ray player, but don't own even one Blu Ray movie. I am renting until the dust settles.

Hi I am a retired CE Rep. and from my experience in the past, the winning format usually depends on several factors:
The quantities of MFG supporting the format.
The first format with the best software titles.
The cost of the product.
Last but not least superior quality of the format.

Ed Schatz, better known as Schatzee!

I bought an HD DVD player because I wanted to view the Planet Earth series on my new HDTV. So I spent $400 for about 8 hours of video. Perhaps this is stupid, but so is a cable bill of $150 per month. It's what we do for entertainment. I doubt the two formats will last much longer than the eventual market control that will come with downloadable movies. I see the end in sight for owning hard copies of any videos. Rather, we will all be getting our videos through the Internet.

Personally, I don't like the HD DVDs because they are prone to damage.

I have a full HDTV (1080p) and I just use standard dvds on an upconversion DVD player (about $90 at Costco). I have been satisfied with the results as I get a fairly consistant 1080i out of the upconversion unit. I do not plan to buy another dvd player until this one breaks, or a clear cut winner between the two HD formats emerges and the price drops down to about $150. We watched a Bluray movie on a friend's PS3 on my tv and I didn't notice a quality difference that would make me want to run out to the store and spend $1,000 plus re-buy all my movies.

TO BOB
I also have a 1080P and bought a philips up convert
player at costco for 70.00 this player gives me 1080P pictures not 1080i like the sony player
just to let you know

I get so upset with manufacturers of consumer devices with their "beta vs vhs", and now "blu-ray vs HD"; and there are other similar instances of the consumer being the biggest loser in manufacturer battles. I wish somebody would come along with yet another format and blue-ray and HD both go straight down the tubes. Don't the overpaid top brass in these companies realize that we are not buying either one of them until we know which one we will be using 3 and 5 years from now?

John Shelton,
I got a couple of press releases recently about another High Definition DVD format - the Versatile Multilayer Disc - HD VMD.
For more info, check out http://www.nmeinc.com/

I watched a Blu-Ray movie today in 1080p and the quality was amazing. I have seen movies on HD-DVD before also and I have to say that if and when I decide what player to get for my self I will more than likely go with a blu-ray player. It wins on the specs charts for amount of data stored on a disk 25 GB per layer (up to four 100GB) vs. HD-DVD at 18 GB per layer for 36GB maximum per disc. The video quality between the two seems to be identical right now. Another way to look at it is how it will be backed in the computer industry. Right now there are blu-ray and HD-DVD drives available for computers and windows supports both formats. Microsoft chose HD-DVD for the X-Box 360, while Apple is firmly in the blu-ray camp right now. Most of the rental retailers in my area have all gone to carrying blu-ray only. Blockbuster is selling off all of their HD-DVD's and carring only Blu-Ray. It looks to me like its just about decided, and unlike the great Beta/VHS battle Sony won this one.