Cheaper hardware is in no way going to win this war for HD DVD, it's just stretching out the format war unnecessarily and encouraging people to buy into a dead-end format. With effectively only a single hardware manufacturer currently (Toshiba) and a single exclusive studio (Universal), not to mention the pasting the format is taking on software sales, I wouldn't buy the hardware at any price at this point.
Besides, why obsess about a price advantage on hardware when the truly expensive part of getting into next-gen DVD is the software? I mean, they keep pressing the point that HD DVD discs have lower manufacturing costs. You'd never know it when Paramount announces Star Trek:TOS on HD DVD with an MSRP of $217.99--for ONE season! Source: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/store/news/article/2303263.html
I was very close to getting into HD DVD via the XBox360 add-on drive, until I saw which way the wind was blowing.
No matter how much water they bail, Toshiba and Universal won't be able to keep the HD DVD boat afloat for much longer.
Not to nitpick, here, but while I generally disagree with you that HDDVD is a "dead format", I need to point out that if you buy HDDVD's, they're in no way going to be useless once the format "dies".
The media are the same size, can be read by generally the same hardware, and vary greatest in the software required to read them. It's not a "dead format", by any means.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr. E @ Jul 30th 2007 8:18PM
Cheaper hardware is in no way going to win this war for HD DVD, it's just stretching out the format war unnecessarily and encouraging people to buy into a dead-end format. With effectively only a single hardware manufacturer currently (Toshiba) and a single exclusive studio (Universal), not to mention the pasting the format is taking on software sales, I wouldn't buy the hardware at any price at this point.
Besides, why obsess about a price advantage on hardware when the truly expensive part of getting into next-gen DVD is the software? I mean, they keep pressing the point that HD DVD discs have lower manufacturing costs. You'd never know it when Paramount announces Star Trek:TOS on HD DVD with an MSRP of $217.99--for ONE season! Source: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/store/news/article/2303263.html
I was very close to getting into HD DVD via the XBox360 add-on drive, until I saw which way the wind was blowing.
No matter how much water they bail, Toshiba and Universal won't be able to keep the HD DVD boat afloat for much longer.
Serengeti @ Aug 1st 2007 9:15AM
Not to nitpick, here, but while I generally disagree with you that HDDVD is a "dead format", I need to point out that if you buy HDDVD's, they're in no way going to be useless once the format "dies".
The media are the same size, can be read by generally the same hardware, and vary greatest in the software required to read them. It's not a "dead format", by any means.