HD DVD at CES 2008

[rockymtnhigh]

So, with the Warner Brothers/New Line decisions to abandon HD DVD, I decided to check out the HD DVD and BD areas at CES. Well, it took me a while to even find them -- deep into the bowels of the South Hall of the LVCC, but I did eventually get there. The HD DVD Promotion group had a decent size display, showcasing hundreds of titles, and with space for many of their partners. It was not doom and gloom, but when I pressed them on questions about whether HD DVD truly will just become a toaster (or as one SatelliteGuy once said "a $300 brick" they had mixed responses. Shaking of heads; one woman who was an employee of the HD DVD Promotion group kept telling me that this war was not over by any means. Yet she also recognized that its the consumer who is hurt by this whole "highly politicized format war."

One thing they did do was focus on the interactive nature of HD DVD; and talked about a lot of titles coming out in 2008. We'll see.

BD had a larger display, although to be honest, more of it seemed to be focused on a 1/4 size replica of the pirate ship from Pirates of the Caribbean movies. And they kept saying, over and over, "the future is blu." But since they are riding on cloud nine, I didn't see any reason to ask them questions. Indeed, I didn't have any questions for them.

Wish I had something more substantial to report, but that's my take of the HD DVD booth.

Live from CES....

[jcrandall]

not a toster or brick....a $300 upconverting DVD player just drop the HD.

[luckycat]

not a toster or brick....a $300 upconverting DVD player just drop the HD.

Ha! Well my upconverting brick was $98!!

[caesar gdi]

yeah I am kinda pissed i just bought one last week for 179.99. It's already shipped and I should get it tomorrow... I might return it.

[geekboy2000]

yeah I am kinda pissed i just bought one last week for 179.99. It's already shipped and I should get it tomorrow... I might return it.

I would absolutely return it. It's hard to say how things will play out with certainty, but I just (yesterday) returned my Toshiba HD-A3, and bought a Playstation 3. Movies look great (and start-up/load is fast), and it does lots of other cool stuff too.

Mark

[allargon]

I have two. Both upconvert just fine. My A20 arguably does a better job than the Oppo.

You can return it if you want.

[motorcycle_rider]

yeah I am kinda pissed i just bought one last week for 179.99. It's already shipped and I should get it tomorrow... I might return it.

I got within a week ago also with 10 movies for the a little less. Well 10 once the 5 rebate ones get here. I have around 10 more movies on order and looking at a few more. I have absolutally no intension of returning mine. I feel for the price I paid I either got a free player or 10 free movies that are in HD. I also have a great upconverting player.

A person I work with who is pro-blu said this to me today. If i find the same deal for the A30 let him know because he will order it. He made a great point. There is no clear winner yet but it is heavily leaning to one side and enjoy both as long as you can if it fits your budget.

BTW my daughter looked thru my current dvd collection adn what I ordered. She estimated that about 60+ percent where universal, or paramont. It was quite interesting.

But as allargon said. You can return it if want. Ultimately it is your choice, and you need to do what is comfortable with yourself.

[motorcycle_rider]

rockymtnhigh

You noted that the areas where difficult to find. Was that statement for both BD and HD DVD? Also is that standard with different exibits there?

[rockymtnhigh]

rockymtnhigh

You noted that the areas where difficult to find. Was that statement for both BD and HD DVD? Also is that standard with different exibits there?

The Las Vegas Convention Center is massive. The South Hall, where the HD DVD and BD displays were is the size of several football fields (stacked two floors deep!). It wasn't any more difficult to find than anything else is -- because everything is a challenge to find. You walk for miles.

But HD DVD and BD were actually adjacent to each other. I found that a bit strange, but also a little amusing. The BD display was larger, but its entirely about how much money you pay for the booth.

[Don Landis]

Not much different perspective on the situation here. I saw the HD DVD booth first and spent some time there as I had a need to talk to a rep about some software bug issues.
As stated by rockymtnhigh, the booths were near eachb other and I would only say that were not hard to find at all if you understand how the convention is laid out. The one floor were this stuff is, is all Home theater related stuff. I always walk a pattern through the convention and begin one end and zigzag the asiles, stopping at the booths that interest me. Then make note of those I need to return to later in the week. These are the ones that have a rather large crowd on the first days. With this pattern, any particular booth is usually not missed.

The HD DVD group was not well populated when I was there. I spoke to one rep and it was obvious that the subject of HD DVD and Warner had sent some big shock waves through the organization. The attitude was that Warner's decision will really hurt the customers. If other companies start doing both, then maybe Warner will do the same.

The booth itself had lots of titles in foreign language. They were claimimg 1000+ titles altogether.