Is it worth it to buy an hd dvd player?

Question

Is it worth it to buy an hd dvd player?

Answer 1

Well, it depends.

All the HD-DVD players in existence were made by Toshiba (a couple of companies sell re-labeled HD-DVD players, and two othercompanies made Blu-Ray players that also handled HD-DVD), so they're pretty similar. HD-DVD players all play DVDs, they all upconvert nicely (some people claim it's the best upconversion around, though IMHO the PS3 does at least as well). So, for the price of a DVD player, or less, the HD-DVD player will make a fine DVD player.

However, you may miss out on some "advanced" features.. many regular DVD players play MP3s, DivX video, show JPEGs, etc. from CD and DVD. If these things are important to you, double-check, since they are not likely supported in the existing HD-DVD players.

As for buying HD-DVDs, there you have a bigger question. The DVDs you buy today are likely to last well beyond the life of any single player, and there's every reason to believe they'll be playable on readily available hardware for the forseeable future. HD-DVDs, on the other hand, will only play on HD-DVD players, which are no longer made. So if you do buy any HD-DVD discs, they're probably good only for the life of your existing player. Some HD-DVD fans have bought-up extra units. While it's impossible to say for certain, your HD-DVD player should last at least 3-5 years, but when it's gone, it's not likely replaceable.

And of course, no one's releasing new HD-DVD titles. If you can pick some up cheap (like, for the price of rental), I see no reason not to if you have an HD-DVD player. But if you're really interested in high def video going forward, Blu-Ray is that future. .

BTW, there's only one or two layers in an HD-DVD disc or Blu-Ray, just as with DVD.  More layers are theoretically possible with Blu-Ray, perhaps up to eight, but none exist, and they would not necessarily play on all existing Blu-Ray players (maybe the PS3, with an upgrade.. Sony seems to use it to test out any new Blu-Ray option).

Answer 2

at the moment only if you want one, but eventually you will need to update to a hd player because they are going to slowly phase out regular dvds in favor of blue ray dvds

Answer 3

NO definitely not because it cost more to make hd discs than what the are sold for cause there are 5 layers in an hd disc 1 layer in a normal disc so hd will die out soon but blu-ray is not a expensive and is rising in popularity i personally would go for blu-ray like i did i also think blu-ray has better graphics but that's me and in the end it comes down to what you choose is best but i hope i helped you in your decision