<p>What the heck? well so long as playstation decides what machine us non gamers have to buy</p>
<p>egad</p>
<p>That didn’t really have anything to do with it, ps3 sales haven’t been all that stellar.</p>
<p>I’m disappointed HD-DVD lost, because its region free. But you have to give sony credit, they came out swinging this time. They knew they couldnt afford to repeat Betamax.</p>
<p>I dont think blu ray player prices are all that bad, but In sticking to DVD for now. The online “market” for them is a lot stronger.</p>
<p>Blue Ray had the advantage from the start. They knew where the television market was going, and they went there. Toshiba (HD-DVD) didn’t want to go there. While both movies push 1080p, the Blue Ray does it native and outputs 1080p. HD-DVD output 1080i. Now to many, that doesn’t seem like much, but there is a big difference between progressive scan and interlaced. All the new televisions are coming out as 1080p capable and scanning progressively is a better picture than interlacing the scans. The newer HD-DVD players like the Toshiba is good for 1080p, but I think it’s too late for them. </p>
<p>Blue ray, while more expensive for the discs, are thinner but hold 60% more data than an HD-DVD. That allows for a lot more languages, interaction, additional information, etc… For the majority of consumers who don’t travel among different countries and usually just buy/rent dvd’s from their local area, issues like region aren’t that important.</p>
<p>For all intent and purpose, it looks like Blue Ray has won the batter against HD-DVD. It’s native to the newer tv’s. It stores a lot more information. The prices are coming down to a respectable level. (They’re now under $400 and will probably drop another $100 by fall of this year). It’s a shame too, because HD-DVD players are down to $99. There’s a reason. I think they know they are through. Of course, if you want to pick up an HD-DVD player for $99, you could probably stock up on a lot of existing movies. I wouldn’t be surprised if those prices starting going down fast also. You could get a lot of movies for that extra $300 in savings. Of course, you risk no new ones. of course, there is the Samsung and some others that make a universal player that can play Blue-Ray or HD-DVD discs. Obviously, it’s more money. Around $800. Then again, you don’t have to worry about the format war.</p>
<p>eh, just add a cheap version to sit next to my dvd and vhs players!!!</p>
<p>Format war is over. A blu-ray buy is pretty dang safe at this point.</p>
<p>Sony lost the beta vs VHS war, but won the blu-ray war. My DVDs play just fine on my old DVD box, thank you.</p>