to those on the fence about next gen dvd player...

mldennison

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193501688

looks like we might not have to wait all that long for a universal player! although who knows how long it will take to the finished product out?

Shizelbs

Only time will tell. That would be very nice though.

jhw59

I'm happy with my oppo. up conversion is very nice. lot of player for $200

Ron-P

Since HD-DVD streeted in April, and even before, there have been rumors about a combo players. While I'd love to see one to help get these new formats into Joe's house I don't think it will happen as soon as next year.

Licensing will be the toughest hurdle to overcome, I doubt either player in this war will want to give that up, but if they do, I can see the fees will be quite high which will keep the price of the players high. Also, as with every first, and even second gen players, you have bugs, imagine the problems with a player that will need to read 3 difference types of dvds.

The sooner a player like this hits the street the better but by next year, highly doubtful. Also, by this time next year you'll most likely be able to pick up an HD-DVD player and a BD player (both) for under $1k which I'm sure will be less then one combo-player.

MikeC78

jhw59 wrote:

I'm happy with my oppo. up conversion is very nice. lot of player for $200

Glad you are happy.:) However, that is not a HD or Blu-Ray player.;)

For maybe one Benji, two tops a HD DVD player can be had. Which upconverts even better than the oppo, plus plays HD DVD's.

My $300 Panny S97 DVDP is now for the kids.:eek:

Mike

MikeC78

IMO, there will NEVER be a combo player. One format wil be gone. One of my players will make a nice boat anchor.

Mike

Ron-P

For maybe one Benji, two tops a HD DVD player can be had. Which upconverts even better than the oppo, plus plays HD DVD's.

Yep. While upconverting produces a nice image it's not even close to that of hi-def. Plus, with the DD+ and TrueHD (lossless) you get sound that puts to shame the best dts track you've ever heard.

Ron-P

One format wil be gone

I don't see that happening anytime soon. If anything, like Warner is currently doing, combo-disks, HD-DVD on one side, BD on the other. A bad idea, yes, but more real then any combo player. If both formats are around for awhile, which I can see being the case, we'll see more and more studios supporting both formats before we see one fall off the map.

MikeC78

Thanks Ron! Forgot to add that too.

Mike

MikeC78

Ron-P wrote:

I don't see that happening anytime soon. If anything, like Warner is currently doing, combo-disks, HD-DVD on one side, BD on the other. A bad idea, yes, but more real then any combo player. If both formats are around for awhile, which I can see being the case, we'll see more and more studios supporting both formats before we see one fall off the map.

Yep, you're right. They will both be around for some time, but eventually one will be gone. Until then, I will enjoy both formats and the best HD ever!:D

Mike

PhantomOG

MikeC78 wrote:

Glad you are happy.:) However, that is not a HD or Blu-Ray player.;)

For maybe one Benji, two tops a HD DVD player can be had. Which upconverts even better than the oppo, plus plays HD DVD's.

My $300 Panny S97 DVDP is now for the kids.:eek:

Mike

Can you please give me a link to where I can buy a decent HD-DVD player for $100? I was planning on waiting until the format wars were over, but for $100, I'll jump in behind HD-DVD. Thanks.

MikeC78

PhantomOG wrote:

Can you please give me a link to where I can buy a decent HD-DVD player for $100? I was planning on waiting until the format wars were over, but for $100, I'll jump in behind HD-DVD. Thanks.

Let me clarify myself....

The one or two Benji is on top of the $200 Oppo price tag. In other words the Tosh A1 HD DVD player can be had for $300 - $400. Check Ebay and Pricegrabber.

If you wait until the format war is over, you'll be waiting an awfully LONG TIME! You will be missing out in the best HD possible! If you have a HD display getting one of these players is a NO brainer to me. The Tosh A2 (2nd gen) will be out in a week and can be had for in the $400 to $500 range.

Mike

PhantomOG

ahh... so that's what you meant. Sorry, but the small (albeit growing) selection of HD-DVD's does not warrant $300-400 of my dough for a player that could be a paperweight in less than two years. I'll wait for prices to come down and titles I actually want to come out, and hopefully a standard format in the mean time.

MikeC78

Guess you will be missing out then...

How do you warrant $200-300 on a stand-alone upconverting player when you can have a HD DVD player that does both even better for a little more?? IMO, the Tosh is the bargain of the century!

Mike

PolkThug

I'm waiting for a Denon combo. I really like my 2200.

PhantomOG

MikeC78 wrote:

How do you warrant $200-300 on a stand-alone upconverting player when you can have a HD DVD player that does both even better for a little more?? IMO, the Tosh is the bargain of the century!

Mike

I don't. I'm still pleased with my bargain bin Panasonic RP-56 Progressive Scan player going on 4+ years now. Especially with HD/Blu-Ray out I wouldn't waste money on an upconverting unit at this point. If I absolutely needed to buy a DVD player, my decision would be more difficult. However, I'm not in that situation so I have the luxury of waiting just a bit longer before upgrading. My personal belief is my dvd player isn't something that needs to be upgraded every couple of years. I can't buy either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and be confident about it being useful for more than a year. Combine this with the fact that the libraries are so small -- its just not worth it in my opinion. If you got the dough to waste, that's great. I don't, so I won't

Ron-P

The A1 at the $499 (I paid) is worth it just for it's excellent upscaling plus I get the added bonus of HD. It will never be a paper weight as I have HD-DVDs to watch and can watch all my SD-DVDs fantastically upscaled. It will always be used.

peteran

The initial combo player will be cost prohibitive.
It will be double the headache on working out the bugs from both camps.
I bet it will be 2009 before these players will appeal to the public with cost and perfomance. By that time a clear winner would have emerged.
I bet come January 2007 at the CES, there will some major CE mfg announcing their own HD-DVD player.
Toshiba could use some help.

MikeC78

^^
I can't wait to see/hear what CES 07 has in store for us!!

Mike

jhw59

MikeC78 wrote:

Glad you are happy.:) However, that is not a HD or Blu-Ray player.;)

For maybe one Benji, two tops a HD DVD player can be had. Which upconverts even better than the oppo, plus plays HD DVD's.

My $300 Panny S97 DVDP is now for the kids.:eek:

Mike

So you've done a side by side comparasion with your player and an oppo 971?

MikeC78

That would be a good guess!

There are also numerous threads over at AVSforum that the Tosh even bests Denon players that cost over $1500.

Mike

mlhm5

jhw59 wrote:

I'm happy with my oppo. up conversion is very nice. lot of player for $200

Second that! Hard to beat this player.

dholmes

Ron P how do you get the sq of the new hd disk, I thought you had to have hdmi audio! thanks

MikeC78

Nope. You can use the analog outs to take advantage of it also.

dholmes

Thanks, are you talking about the coxial input?

MikeC78

Nope, I'm talking about the 5 channel analog outs. Coaxial doesn't have the bandwith.

Shizelbs

Sweet, so I won't necessarily have to upgrade my AVR for the TrueHD and DD+?

MikeC78

Nope.:)

You can get DD out with coax and optical. For TrueHD you need HDMI or the use of the analog outs.

Home Theatre

MikeC78 wrote:

Nope.:)

You can get DD out with coax and optical. For TrueHD you need HDMI or the use of the analog outs.

Does a hmdi cable take care everything? DD, DTS, Ect.

MikeC78

Yes.

Home Theatre

Thank you. I dont know what I am going to do with my optical cords now.