[BadAss]

I myself will be going for the PC ROM option. It will be the cheapest and probably the safest option.

[RyanK]

Originally Posted by BadAss

I myself will be going for the PC ROM option. It will be the cheapest and probably the safest option.

To be honest i like the sound of blu- ray but hope that HD-DVD wins the war. I say this because the DVD consortium got it right when they launched DVD and it will be a shame if some other company comes and steals it from them.

From what i ahve read the region code for HDDVD should be easier to crack than blu-ray.

[Rasczak]

Voted for "I will buy a HD-DVD stand alone player on release day" which I will do. The launch range of titles and price of HD DVD have sold me on that format. I am remaining open minded on BluRay - although the launch titles being banded about for that format aren't enough to make me decide to purchase. So I'll probably re-assess the situation once BluRay has been out for a year or so.

I myself will be going for the PC ROM option. It will be the cheapest...option.

I not 100% sure on that. The HD drive will certainly be cheaper than a standalone but it's the extra gear you may need: a AACS compatible graphics card for example. Windows Vista (if this turns out to be a requirement then you're looking to December anyway)? DRM compatible CPU? Very little has been formally announced yet about High Def PC compatibility.

From what i ahve read the region code for HDDVD should be easier to crack than blu-ray

There is no region coding on HD DVD (based on announcements so far anyway - see the Sticky at the top of the forum). BluRay will have region coding: 1 for US/Canada/Japan, 2 for Europe, 3 for elsewhere.

[JagoPlasma]

i only want blu-ray for WORM as for video if it will be same quality on both il be ok with it (tho i see blu-ray holding more/better quality tbh)

i like hd-dvd for its mandatory managed copy but hate blu-ray for its optional managed copy

and they can all sod off if they think im hooking these up to a phone line

[Craig_E]

Pity you can only select one- I'm really glad the Xbox 360 and PS3 will cover all the bases next format wise. Already got the 360 at launch, will make sure I get a PS3 at launch too. Those 2 boxes, a Sky HD box and a HTPC will cover pretty much anything I care to do/watch/play :D

[TankTopLover]

I am going to wait until the 360 releases its drive,but i will not buy until i read up on all the pros and cons of users on the net

[nickeddle]

I hope HD win as the cost will be much lower and is backward compatible

[peejay2]

We'll wake up to the sound of a Microsoft CE wake up call, and turn on the lights with the Media Center remote, controlling the Microsoft Domotic Edition Home Center central computer.

Open the Microsoft Fridge Center fridge, get the milk bottle, and warm it up with a Microsoft Windows for Microwaves Edition device.

Shower using the Microsoft Embedded for Gas Heaters regulating the temperature

The Microsoft Windows Elevator Edition will take us to the parking, where our Windows Automobile Edition will navigate us automatically to work, twice resetting in the process...


Oh, sorry. I'll go the PS3 Blu-Ray way.

[Craig_E]

Where have you been the past 5 years peejay? XP is stable as you like. Windows was dodgy in '98, it's 2006- let it go!

And if I could turn the lights on and off with my media center remote that would be awesome :D

[Rasczak]

And if I could turn the lights on and off with my media center remote that would be awesome :D

LOL! Was thing the same myself!

Frankly I am amazed at people who are so anti-Microsoft. Whilst they have the PC OS market fairly well exclusive they have only managed so because there OS supports any programme/device. Compare this to Sony who are terrible for supporting their own technology at the expense of established formats. Look at the PSP as a prime example: Sony Memory Stick as opposed to the near defacto SD Card and UMD discs as opposed to HDD technology.

Ultimately both MS and Sony are massive companies out to make massive profits. But, as a consumer, I prefer the MS strategy anyday.

[BadAss]

You could say negative things about MS, how many people use Fire Fox instead of EI for instance. MS are a software co while Sony have allways been a hardware co. So I think MS stood on Sonys toes first with the XBox. Sony has also has Movie Devision to think about so why would they say hey we make the movies, we make the hardware, why dont we roll over and let MS who do neither run the show?

[Spinning Plates]

I'll supprt the option for the downloadable one.

For backing up purposes I'll go with a HD-DVD burner and the 360 add-on.

[BadAss]

MS have said that if Blue-Ray takes off then they will bring out a BD for the 360.

[geeWcee]

I'll buy both because Im a sucker for new gadgets..

[Inked]

Originally Posted by Craig_E

And if I could turn the lights on and off with my media center remote that would be awesome :D

If there are any unused buttons on the remote then you can. Just buy an infra red dimmer switch from a DIY store or John Lewis and set one of the unused buttons to control the lights

[inzaman]

Good post, hd-dvd drive for me as they seem very well priced; even at launch

Originally Posted by Rasczak

Voted for "I will buy a HD-DVD stand alone player on release day" which I will do. The launch range of titles and price of HD DVD have sold me on that format. I am remaining open minded on BluRay - although the launch titles being banded about for that format aren't enough to make me decide to purchase. So I'll probably re-assess the situation once BluRay has been out for a year or so.

That pretty much sums it up for me too.

[Rob20]

I'll probably be buying a PS3 for games anyway, so it's a bonus that it comes with a Blu-Ray drive. If they can economically manufacture 50GB discs and higher, it seems to make more sense to go with it's larger disc capacity over HD-DVD. However, at some point I'll be wanting a recorder, so I'll stick with the PS3 till one format succeeds and buy a dedicated player then. Or a dual format player I suppose.

[Craig_E]

Originally Posted by Inked

If there are any unused buttons on the remote then you can. Just buy an infra red dimmer switch from a DIY store or John Lewis and set one of the unused buttons to control the lights

That sounds awesome! Do you have any links?

[satinder]

If you ask that question in 5-6 years i'll give you an answer!

Sat

[RyanK]

One thing that puzzles me is why has HD DVD decided to launch with a play only format??

Surley with Blu-Ray launching with both a play and recording facility the DVD forum should have gone the extra mile to launch with a record facility as well?

[Rasczak]

One thing that puzzles me is why has HD DVD decided to launch with a play only format??

They haven't - HD DVD has a number of writeable discs:
- HD DVD-R - a write once format with 15GB and 30GB capacities
- HD DVD-RR - a re-writeable format with 15GB and 30GB capacities
- HD DVD-RAM - a re-writeable format with 20GB capacities

...the first PC HD DVD burner has already been announced for July and thus should appear within a few weeks of the first gen BluRay burners from Pioneer. It'll be interesting to see if PC consumers favour the backwards comaptibility of the NEC (i.e. CDR compatibility) against the high capacity offered by dual layer BluRay.

[Razor]

Both Blue Ray and HD dvd roms for my pc.