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[Norco]

Following up to this article, Costco is selling the Toshiba HD-D3 (A3 w/HDMI cable), for $79.99. On top of that you get the first 2 bourne movies, and then 5 free in the mail. People have compared this player's upconversion capability similar to that of OPPO players, so for only 80 bucks its a good deal, especially if you still have a decent sized HD-DVD library.

[prplehz]

Is there anything stopping people from copying a blu ray disc to an hddvd disc?  Forgive my ignorance on the subject,  but I don't keep up on all the logistics.

[spgurley]

There are physical differences between the discs and how they are read.

[BigSteel]

QUOTE(Xirix @ Feb 22 2008, 04:35 PM)

RMM, would you mind if I quote that somewhere? ^^

 

[bugman72]

QUOTE(RMM @ Feb 22 2008, 04:21 PM)

Ive often wondered since Blueray and HD DVD both use blue lasers (or violet actually) would it be possible for a firmware change to convert a HD-DVD player to a Blueray player?

Surely you aren't serious, RMM?  What rock have you been living under for the past two years?  HD-DVD uses a red laser (the same laser used in standard DVD playback) while the Blu-Ray uses a blue laser.  The "violet" term that you have probably heard is more than likely saying that someone or some company has gone "purple" or "violet", meaning they now have either one of each player or a dual-format player (red + blue = purple/violet).

So, to answer your question, there is absolutely no way that there can be a firmware upgrade to allow an HD-DVD player to play a Blu-Ray disc.

With that, I read a separate source this morning stating that within 7 days the price of the drive will drop to $50.  Has anyone substantiated these rumors with the names of actual stores or a concrete date?  I'm dying to jump on the bandwagon.  I'm planning on doing exactly what someone else mentioned.  I'm going to gobble up all of the HD titles I can when they clearance them for next to nothing, sit back and watch them in my theater and wait for the prices of the Blu-Ray machines and media to drop to an acceptable level.  Then, I will contemplate the idea of buying a new HD player.  I can't wait to get the Ultimate Matrix Trilogy on HD-DVD for less than $20 once they start the "firesale".

[Charbless]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Feb 22 2008, 11:55 PM)

yes it does... I still use my OPPO for DVD playback the 360 is literally worse than a PS2 for watching DVDs... and I f-ing HATE the PS2  

That's a load of rubbish the 360 is not the best at DVD playback but far better then PS2.

QUOTE(bugman72 @ Feb 23 2008, 07:26 AM)

Surely you aren't serious, RMM?  What rock have you been living under for the past two years?  HD-DVD uses a red laser (the same laser used in standard DVD playback) while the Blu-Ray uses a blue laser.  The "violet" term that you have probably heard is more than likely saying that someone or some company has gone "purple" or "violet", meaning they now have either one of each player or a dual-format player (red + blue = purple/violet).

So, to answer your question, there is absolutely no way that there can be a firmware upgrade to allow an HD-DVD player to play a Blu-Ray disc.

With that, I read a separate source this morning stating that within 7 days the price of the drive will drop to $50.  Has anyone substantiated these rumors with the names of actual stores or a concrete date?  I'm dying to jump on the bandwagon.  I'm planning on doing exactly what someone else mentioned.  I'm going to gobble up all of the HD titles I can when they clearance them for next to nothing, sit back and watch them in my theater and wait for the prices of the Blu-Ray machines and media to drop to an acceptable level.  Then, I will contemplate the idea of buying a new HD player.  I can't wait to get the Ultimate Matrix Trilogy on HD-DVD for less than $20 once they start the "firesale".

I think your missing the main point yes the hardware is different but you can rip blu-ray discs then convert them to be burnt to work on HD-DVD both players use same codecs but it's very hard to find hd-dvd burners and the media to go with them.

For $50 the player is well worth it saves using the drive in the 360 to run things like dvds/cds and it can be used on pc.

The thing that annoys me is why is all HD-DVD stuff still expensive in uk 360 hd dvd player is around £100.

[CesiumVirus]

QUOTE(bugman72 @ Feb 23 2008, 12:26 AM)

HD-DVD uses a red laser (the same laser used in standard DVD playback) while the Blu-Ray uses a blue laser.

ummm i dont know what rock you've been living under, but hddvd also uses a blue laser. and he is correct about the violet, as the wavelength is 405nm, which is approximately violet (~400nm) and not blue (~450nm)

directly from the HDDVD official site:
Laser wavelength:     405 nm (blue laser)

learn your facts so you dont look like a complete dumbass

[Norco]

QUOTE(CesiumVirus @ Feb 23 2008, 06:43 AM)

ummm i dont know what rock you've been living under, but hddvd also uses a blue laser. and he is correct about the violet, as the wavelength is 405nm, which is approximately violet (~400nm) and not blue (~450nm)

directly from the HDDVD official site:
Laser wavelength:     405 nm (blue laser)

learn your facts so you dont look like a complete dumbass

::applause:: nice follow-up

[spgurley]

QUOTE(CesiumVirus @ Feb 23 2008, 01:43 AM)

ummm i dont know what rock you've been living under, but hddvd also uses a blue laser. and he is correct about the violet, as the wavelength is 405nm, which is approximately violet (~400nm) and not blue (~450nm)

directly from the HDDVD official site:
Laser wavelength:     405 nm (blue laser)

learn your facts so you dont look like a complete dumbass

You stole the words right from my mouth.  I love the way bugman72 presented his case.

The two disks also have differences in layer thicknesses, track pitch, and numerical aperture.

[sjlee]

QUOTE(Z3n0 @ Feb 22 2008, 01:56 PM)

Feb 21 ?
Funny, eighter that was yesterday, or they're talking about 2009

Who knows, but one thing is for sure... they weren't right.

[RMM]

QUOTE(Xirix @ Feb 23 2008, 12:35 AM)

RMM, would you mind if I quote that somewhere? ^^

Not at all.  Quote it anywhere you like.

[RMM]

QUOTE(spgurley @ Feb 23 2008, 08:31 AM)

You stole the words right from my mouth.  I love the way bugman72 presented his case.

The two disks also have differences in layer thicknesses, track pitch, and numerical aperture.

Would the differences in layer thicknesses, track pitch, and numerical aperture be too much to overcome even though both Blu-ray and HD DVD both use 405nm lasers to read the data?

[kgn340]

Wow.

No price will make this attractive.  

Kind of like buying a betamax.

Oh, well.  People will still buy it.

[jorwex]

I know i've read that you can use the drive with your pc over usb, but is there a known, acknowledged way to simply remove the drive from its enclosure and use it as an internal PC drive?

or is it not just a sata drive on the inside?

[CesiumVirus]

QUOTE(jorwex @ Feb 23 2008, 01:18 PM)

I know i've read that you can use the drive with your pc over usb, but is there a known, acknowledged way to simply remove the drive from its enclosure and use it as an internal PC drive?

or is it not just a sata drive on the inside?

nope. here is a pic i found online of hte back: