lower cost HD DVD-ROM @ compusa

[Heywould3]

you guys seen the HP HD DVD-ROM at compusa? under 250 with free shipping.. now thats a price i can deal with
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=hd+dvd&N=0&Dx=mode+mat..._USB_2_0_Drive
still not sure i want to get one though.. i saw a LG i think dual player for over a grand. damn thats pricey it would be chceaper to get the PS3 and a toshiba stand alone.. anyway i would be willing to get a BR and HD player if they cam down in price about 50bux more.. 199 for each and i might bite.

im thinking this war is gonna go on for a while..(years) longer and i dont really think ill wait that long. look at DVD-A and SACD neither really caught on but both are being made, that war has been around for a long time.

[TooLFooL]

why not get the xbox 360 player for $199?

[jman98]

A few random thoughts for Heywould3, who may not be aware of them...

There's been a strong rumor that WalMart is going to sell an HD-DVD player at Xmas for about $199. Based on the sources I've seen talking about it, I think it's probably true.

Do note that some HD-DVD players only output in 1080i. There are players that can output 1080p, but we've not seen much of a price break on them and talk about the 1080i players being able to output 1080p with a firmware upgrade is just that - talk.

If you decide to go the PC drive route for HD-DVD, be aware that both WinDVD and PowerDVD (your only choices so far for software HD-DVD players) have tons of problems. Some discs have playback issues where maybe only one version of the software player will work and none of the others will. It's really crazy. Going to a newer release of the player may actually make things worse for some discs and they may need an older version of the player to play at all on a PC. Be aware too that unless your video card can send HDMI out to a monitor that both PowerDVD and WinDVD will NOT allow you to view the HD-DVD in full 1080 resolution and instead downscale it to something like 900x500 or something close to that. I don't remember the exact resolution. This has nothing to do with the discs but is something PowerDVD and WinDVD built into their software to try to prevent people from copying the discs via non-HDMI output.

[gshelley61]

The Toshiba HD-A2 is already below $300 shipped street price and continuing to fall. Refurb and used HD-A2's are a little over $200 on eBay now.

I'd say the possibility of a $199 HD DVD player being available this holiday season is pretty reasonable.

As for the 1080i vs. 1080p output... it makes no difference for the most part. Film based 1080i content is simply de-interlaced by HDTV's to 1080p (or 768p/720p for displays with those native resolutions). It looks the same as a 1080p film source. It's still 1920x1080 pixels per frame either way.

1080p output can make a visible difference in video based 1080p content and games (theoretically).

[Heywould3]

As far as the 1080i or p issue i cant seem to find anything on the hp but seeing as how hd dvd is 1080p it should.

i know i need a good computer to view and i also know it needs to be complient with the new security. im gonna get the geforece 8800GTS its down in price enough.

now as far as monitor goes. i want this for computer only but im currently using a 22" crt. it does have dvi input but i think its dvi-a

i dont have a hdtv i just use my computer with an hd tuner for now. looks great btw

if i have to get a hdtv thats 1500-2000 that im not ready to spend so i might just wait. i do have quite a few versions of powerdvd including the latest one for playback.

i dont know what im gonna do. ill just have to wait and see


P.S. anything in progressive is gonna look a lot better that interlased any conversions done will degrade the signal. i have seen both p and i video and the p is very noticably better. just my opinion.. not wanting to debate it.