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jokell82 · Feb 21, 2008, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

540p actually.

Is it definitely a part of the XP kernel, or can it be in the realm of video drivers alone? I never did quite understand this. If XP must support it inherently in the kernel, at what point was HDCP support added? Was it added in say SP1 or was it always present in XP?

It's present in XP as of SP2. It's also in Vista.

Eug · Feb 21, 2008, 10:56 AM

The Toshiba HD-A3 is now $99.99 CAD at Future Shop and London Drugs in Canada.

Apparently, they're still honouring the 5 free movie deal too (and I think it has 2 more free movies in the box too). Considering it's a good DVD upscaler, that's a killer deal, even for a dead format.

Chongo · Feb 21, 2008, 11:06 AM

All Hollywood studios now lined up behind Blu-Ray - Yahoo! News

aristotles · Feb 21, 2008, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

The Toshiba HD-A3 is now $99.99 CAD at Future Shop and London Drugs in Canada.

Apparently, they're still honouring the 5 free movie deal too (and I think it has 2 more free movies in the box too). Considering it's a good DVD upscaler, that's a killer deal, even for a dead format.

Uh... that free movie deal is not worth the paper it is printed on. People were already having to wait months to get their discs before all of the news and some never received theirs. I doubt Toshiba will continue to honour new requests at this point.

The free five disc offer is not connected with any retailer but rather Toshiba Canada.

With all majors now supporting Blu-ray, I don't see the point of trying to get people to buy into a dead format. Even at 99 dollars, you are wasting your money at this point.

aristotles · Feb 21, 2008, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Chongo

All Hollywood studios now lined up behind Blu-Ray - Yahoo! News

I read about that last night on hollywoodreporter and I had been hearing about Paramount coming over for a few days now from someone with a sibling that works at Paramount.

aristotles · Feb 21, 2008, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by goMac

According to sources Fox actually called Robbie Bach at Microsoft a few days before CES and told them that they were going HD-DVD.

We have yet to hear from either Robbie Bach or Fox on the issue so I would call it an unsubstantiated rumour AKA FUD.

Eug · 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by aristotles

Uh... that free movie deal is not worth the paper it is printed on. People were already having to wait months to get their discs before all of the news and some never received theirs. I doubt Toshiba will continue to honour new requests at this point.

The free five disc offer is not connected with any retailer but rather Toshiba Canada.

I got my 5 free movies no problem, and Toshiba told Future Shop that the deal is still being honoured. Legally they would be bound to do so anyway. (Actually, I got 9 free movies. 3 with the player, 5 more for the rebate, and then I got Transformers for free as part of a deal that showed up immediately after I bought the player.)

ie. You're just spreading FUD.

With all majors now supporting Blu-ray, I don't see the point of trying to get people to buy into a dead format. Even at 99 dollars, you are wasting your money at this point.

If you're in need of an upscaling player, not in the least. $99 is what upscaling DVD players cost already, and that's with no free movies. A $99 HD DVD player with 5 (or 7) free HD DVDs and good DVD upscaling is a no-brainer, if you're in need of a new player.

For those looking to buy at this price point, Blu-ray makes no sense at the moment. There are no Blu-ray players anywhere near this price range, and you don't get any free movies either.

So the choice for those looking for a new player is:

1) Buy an upscaling DVD player for $89, with no free moves.
2) Buy an HD DVD player for $99, with 7 free movies.
3) Buy a Blu-ray player for $399, with no free movies.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 21, 2008, 02:10 PM

Poll: What Blu-ray player will you be picking up? - Engadget HD

goMac · Feb 21, 2008, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

I'm sure all 3000 of those people will really be shifting the format war.

And don't tell me that it's a trend. The overall trend is that people aren't interested in Bluray players.

goMac · Feb 21, 2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by aristotles

We have yet to hear from either Robbie Bach or Fox on the issue so I would call it an unsubstantiated rumour AKA FUD.

Ah. So when rumors go around on a studio going Bluray only, those are credible. But when the rumor in any way involves something positive for HD-DVD, it's not. I see how it is.

climber · Feb 21, 2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

I

So the choice for those looking for a new player is:

1) Buy an upscaling DVD player for $89, with no free moves.
2) Buy an HD DVD player for $99, with 7 free movies.
3) Buy a Blu-ray player for $399, with no free movies.

Assuming the person has a high def TV, the blu-ray player makes a lot more sense than you suggest. Unless they just can not afford the extra dough. If they wait a year or two they might get that Blu-ray player for 200 bucks. That would mean total cost for your suggestion is 100 now and then 200 later. That makes purchasing the Blu-ray now only cost 100 more over the long term. For that they get to play all the current and upcoming HD disks for the next year or two.

Eug · 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by climber

Assuming the person has a high def TV, the blu-ray player makes a lot more sense than you suggest. Unless they just can not afford the extra dough. If they wait a year or two they might get that Blu-ray player for 200 bucks. That would mean total cost for your suggestion is 100 now and then 200 later. That makes purchasing the Blu-ray now only cost 100 more over the long term. For that they get to play all the current and upcoming HD disks for the next year or two.

That's still $100 more, with no free movies, and only a single player that is Profile crippled (unless you get a PS3). And that's assuming you actually want a Blu-ray player in the first place.

It might make sense for some, but I was just responding to the post by someone claiming it makes no sense to buy a $99 HD DVD player that also upscales DVD well and comes with 7 free movies. I completely disagree. $99 for all that in Feb. 2008 is absolute bargain IMO. And even if they do decide to get a Blu-ray player next year, that means they'll have 2 players, one of which will make a nice DVD upscaler for that second TV.

I personally am waiting for that half-decent $200 Profile 1.1 player (and am not interested in the PS3). If it means waiting until the end of this year, or sometime next year, then so be it.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 21, 2008, 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

I'm sure all 3000 of those people will really be shifting the format war.

And don't tell me that it's a trend. The overall trend is that people aren't interested in Bluray players.

Wait... what format war? HD lost remember?

And you still in denial that people use PS3's as BR players eh?

Eug · Feb 21, 2008, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Wait... what format war? HD lost remember?

And you still in denial that people use PS3's as BR players eh?

As always, Engadget is not a good source for facts.

Furthermore polls at gadget geek sites are of course going to be skewed towards a certain demographic. That said, the PS3 is a good value for what you get... if you're willing to spend $400 on a player.

The point though is most people aren't... and most people don't want a console for their primary player either. Engadget readers are not most people. The PS3 was Blu-ray's loss leader in the format war and continues to be Blu-rays best value entry-level machine. However as the hardware matures, you can be damn well sure the vast majority of Blu-ray players out there will NOT be the PS3. It will take a few years though, since it seems the CE manufacturers are milking the market as much as they can (as they should, for their bottomline). That's the sad part - price drops for Blu-ray are actually SLOWER than with DVD, even with the existence of the war. As a comparison: I bought a full fledged DVD player with component video within the first year of DVD's launch. It only cost $299, and it came with a free movie too.

goMac · Feb 21, 2008, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Wait... what format war? HD lost remember?

Sorry, I meant the gaming war.

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

And you still in denial that people use PS3's as BR players eh?

Hey, the statistics speak for themselves. If you can find a survey that counters that people do use the PS3 primarily for Bluray players, you're welcome to dig it up.

aristotles · Feb 21, 2008, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Ah. So when rumors go around on a studio going Bluray only, those are credible. But when the rumor in any way involves something positive for HD-DVD, it's not. I see how it is.

The difference is that the studios did go blu-ray while the opposite was not true.

Add to the fact that VPs at Fox (not some anonymous "source" did say that there were talks but no money exchanged hands. Fox was not interested in a payoff but rather getting HD DVD to improve the DRM on the HD DVD spec. Disney rumour was proven to be false by the blu-ray supporter that posed as the "source". Finally, Warner warned that they were considering going blu-ray exclusive back in November IIRC at the IFA in Europe when they showed up at the Blu-ray press conference touting sales numbers of 300 on blu-ray and snubbed the HD DVD press event.