In the DVD war over HD, most buyers are sitting it out

By Eric A. Taub
The New York Times Published: December 31, 2007 1:30 AM PST

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Even as prices fall, neither Sony's Blu-ray nor Toshiba?s HD DVD, has gained an advantage.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 204 comments (Page 1 of 7)

Who cares?
by lingsun December 31, 2007 1:51 PM PST: DVD quality is good enough for me. I don't even know when I'll get a Hi Def TV.; Reply to this comment View all 5 replies
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Who cares?
by lingsun December 31, 2007 1:51 PM PST: DVD quality is good enough for me. I don't even know when I'll get a Hi Def TV.; Reply to this comment View all 5 replies
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Blu-ray holds more
by tangokid December 31, 2007 2:31 PM PST: In the bad old days of VHS vs Sony's Betamax, VHS won out because the tapes could hold two hours, while Beta held only one hour. Beta's quality was better, but people didn't seem to care about that. Blu-ray's initial advantage was that the disks held more than HD DVD disks, reversing the original problem Sony had with Beta. It seems Blu-ray could take advantage of its greater capacity and win the battle on that alone.; Reply to this comment View all 3 replies
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Blu-ray holds more
by tangokid December 31, 2007 2:31 PM PST: In the bad old days of VHS vs Sony's Betamax, VHS won out because the tapes could hold two hours, while Beta held only one hour. Beta's quality was better, but people didn't seem to care about that. Blu-ray's initial advantage was that the disks held more than HD DVD disks, reversing the original problem Sony had with Beta. It seems Blu-ray could take advantage of its greater capacity and win the battle on that alone.; Reply to this comment View all 3 replies
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All a bunch of blatherskite!
by brian_real December 31, 2007 3:27 PM PST: Seriously this debate is bunk. HDDVD vs. Bluray. Whatever. I have HDTV and I really don't care for replacing my dvds with either format. I'd love to buy new discs for movies and shows I don't have, but until they make up their minds I'll stick with DVD. Truthfully speaking, I'm please with HDTV channels and tivo recorders. If I want a movie I'll go out, rent it, or even get it through my cable providerer. I got a PS3 for Christmas and while some friends of mine agree that the games are trash right now, I still can't agree with them about the whole bluray feature making it worth owning. Frankly I don't care about that at all. If I get a game system I get it for playing games. I have other game systems that allow DVDs to be played, but I rarely do that. I prefer my standalone DVD player.; Reply to this comment View reply
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All a bunch of blatherskite!
by brian_real December 31, 2007 3:27 PM PST: Seriously this debate is bunk. HDDVD vs. Bluray. Whatever. I have HDTV and I really don't care for replacing my dvds with either format. I'd love to buy new discs for movies and shows I don't have, but until they make up their minds I'll stick with DVD. Truthfully speaking, I'm please with HDTV channels and tivo recorders. If I want a movie I'll go out, rent it, or even get it through my cable providerer. I got a PS3 for Christmas and while some friends of mine agree that the games are trash right now, I still can't agree with them about the whole bluray feature making it worth owning. Frankly I don't care about that at all. If I get a game system I get it for playing games. I have other game systems that allow DVDs to be played, but I rarely do that. I prefer my standalone DVD player.; Reply to this comment View reply
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I agree Who Cares?
by jscott418 December 31, 2007 4:11 PM PST: This whole thing reminds me of Betamax vs VHS. Frankly I find very little interest in watching something in HD. Unless you have spent enough money on your HD TV to really capture the detail that HD or BluRay have. You will never know the difference except in your wallet. It's like those audiophile CD's that have come out over the years. Better sampling rates and so on. Yet down load music from a online service and anything is a improvement. Let's face facts. For most people they will never tell the difference between HD,BluRay or anything else.; Reply to this comment

I agree Who Cares?
by jscott418 December 31, 2007 4:11 PM PST: This whole thing reminds me of Betamax vs VHS. Frankly I find very little interest in watching something in HD. Unless you have spent enough money on your HD TV to really capture the detail that HD or BluRay have. You will never know the difference except in your wallet. It's like those audiophile CD's that have come out over the years. Better sampling rates and so on. Yet down load music from a online service and anything is a improvement. Let's face facts. For most people they will never tell the difference between HD,BluRay or anything else.; Reply to this comment

Not Format . . . DRM = No Sale
by Fat Drunk and Stupid December 31, 2007 4:18 PM PST: As stupid as the HD vs BR format war is... DRM is why I'm not buying. I don't want to buy into yet another closed format that prevents me from copying my HD or BR discs to another format. DRM? Sorry, no sale.; Reply to this comment View reply
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Not Format . . . DRM = No Sale
by Fat Drunk and Stupid December 31, 2007 4:18 PM PST: As stupid as the HD vs BR format war is... DRM is why I'm not buying. I don't want to buy into yet another closed format that prevents me from copying my HD or BR discs to another format. DRM? Sorry, no sale.; Reply to this comment View reply
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