Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

Toshiba has announced their 3rd gen series the A3 ($299), A30 ($399), and A35 ($499 ?? ); all to be available with the next 30 days.

Sony has announced their next gen Blu-ray system. (not sure of date's) for about $599 (don't quote me on the price)

The A35 seems to be lesser than the A25 due to lowering (loss??) of the raved up-scaler chip. (adds 7.1 output. But, doesn't sound like a fair trade)

There don't seem to be much in the way of any reviews yet.

I personally have been holding off the HD upgrade, hating the whole format war.:thumbdwn: (more like a format slap fest)

But, I think I'm ready to jump in and vote with my wallet and replace my aging DVD.
Anyone else getting ready to jump in with these next releases? And for which format? (stand-alone HD-DVD, x-BOX 360 with hd-dvd, stand-alone Blu-Ray, or PS3 Blu-Ray)

I'm going HD-DVD. The A20 sounds like it fits my needs for a year or two, and I don't like the way Sony is handling their business model. (among other things) (and I don't care about the PS3)

How about you? What reasoning are you using for your choice?

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

i thought there was a combo coming out for pc :wtf:

damn.


if there is thats for me. :D

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

Good point.. I completely skipped the stand-alone combos and PC based home theaters.

Currently I discount SA combos. They are more expensive than any other dedicated format, and they always seem to be behind on features. (but I admit I don't follow them closely)

PC based systems: I do not have enough info to provide reasonable comments. In the end, to truly build a quality setup using the PC as a base, would cost (from scratch) several times buying both HD-DVD and Blu-ray SA players. IMHO (and definitely not spouse/family friendly.)

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

If you already have a 360, the add-on player does a pretty nice job.

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

once I can find it for below $500 brand new, I'm gonna buy an XA2. I really like the reon processor in it, and how it upscales DVDs.

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

I hate watching movies on the PC. For one the DVD drives on PCs are trash. They are not reliable and after a year will start to produce read errors etc on perfectly good discs.

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

wow, classic comedy, tell that to my 4 year old BenQ that can read disc perfectly

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

lol I have a dvd drive from my DVD player from 1998 :D

Still works fine ^_-

Well I have only tried Godzilla on it :o in the past year lol :D

new drives ftw

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

$199 HD DVD Players (Integra, Shinco, Venturer, Alpine) Q4 '07

Onkyo DV-HD805 HD DVD Player (Reon) October '07

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

BestBuy has the new Toshiba A30 in stores, but its sold out on-line and in many stores. (a good sign for HD-DVD?)

Amazon too.

Gotta point the wife to one soon. B-day in 2 weeks.

Can't wait to see the September and October sales stats (after comparing all the statistical jury-rigging) between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray sales.

time will tell...

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

I really hope the third generation of HD DVD players fixes most/all of the combo playback issues as well as improves (dramatically) startup and load times.

Re: Next gen HD players coming: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
 

Yeah. My 360 is very loud. Makes watching some quieter movies a real pain. :(

I'll probably sell the addon and grab a dedicated player in the near future.