Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Add one more to the HD-DVD camp

Yup, I went HD-DVD. While I didn't pick up the top end HD-XA2 (even though I would love the 5.1 analog audio outputs for use with my Pioneer Elite VSX-54TX), I think that I will still be pretty happy.

I ended up with a $198 HD-A2. I know it is a model year older than the A3, and doesn't do 1080p like the A30 and A35, and yadda yadda yadda...

The price was right for me, the specs and performance are about identical to the A3, and I have a 720p projector, so I don't need 1080p.

As some of you know, I wanted to get into HD-DVD "on the cheap" so to speak. I won't get 2 free HD-DVDs bundled like the newer models, but don't care about the movie 300, and Bourne I've seen so many times that it would go to waste. Yes, I will still have to pick 5 other free HD-DVDs that many of which I don't care about either, but so what. They are free.

I am sure that some place will have a great sale on some other model, and someone will say that I should have waited... I say, "Bah! I am tired of waiting." Someone will tell me that the player is slow to load, or that there are problems with some of the players "glitching"... HDMI is a big source of the slowness according to people that at least pretend to know what they are talking about, and that isn't going to improve a ton any time soon. As for glitching, I hear that it is hit or miss. I am homing to get a player that is a hit.... or is that a miss???? Whichever works right out of the box. If not, I'll get it taken care of.

I plan on having some "adoption" issues anyway, but was willing to deal with them for $200. Some poor folks have been dealing with them on players that cost them hundreds more.

Someone will tell me that Blu-Ray is going to win out, or that it is superior. I've been tracking this whole thing for a year prior to actual release, and I just like how HD-DVD approached it, and the real difference for consumers is just what movies you can get on what format. So what will happen if Blu-Ray DOES win? By then, I will have gotten my $200 out of this machine and be ready for an upgrade anyway!

Someone will tell me, "Good job Nick!" or "Have fun Nick!" and I will thank them!



Party on everyone!

Good job Nick!



*Note to self* I'm really, really....really going to have to give these HD DVD players a (really) good look now that just about everybody has one except for me.


BTW ... Have fun Nick!

Congrats, Nick! You know, I've given it some thought, the whole load time thing, and it isn't really much of an issue for me. I mean, how many times have you popped in a movie and said, "I've got to watch this right NOW! NO, NOW DANGIT!" My XA2 takes a while to get going but so what? According to the manual, the HD players are more akin to computers than DVD players and require some boot time. While a movie is playing there are no problems.

So what if an older player takes some time to get going. It's a great way to get into HD without breaking the bank. Think about it--who's in a hurry to sit for two hours?

Caveat--I understand if you have kids the wait time may not work so well.

Funny aside--I remember the interminable load times on some graphic intensive games on the old Commodore 64. I'd go outside and play catch with my friend while the game was loading.

Have fun Nick. I am close to pulling the trigger on one of these. If they drop a little bit more(black friday perhaps?) then I'm in.

If you have some photos to share I'm sure we wouldn't mind...

Thank you, thank you, and thank you....

Not sure how much cheaper they will be for Black Friday... Might not be any 2nd Gen left by then, and then you are dealing with discounted 3rd Gen, which even on sale would be hard to get for less than $200 like the A2 was today.

THAT is the game we play I guess...

I think that I am going to sign up for NetFlix (I know, it is amazing that I'm not already.) to get HD-DVD rentals. I will be sure to rent some movies that I already have and see if I can grab some photos of the difference.

You did good Nick, and welcome to the club. My A2 has been problem / glitch free, so no worries there. Just make sure you update the firmware (via ethernet). It's quite painless.

In a year there will be gen four players most likely, so don't worry about not getting a G3 player.

A good source for HD/BR reviews is at Secrets http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/main.html
You can read them and decide if it's worth the trouble of buying or even renting before you do. I've found them very helpfull.

Also, a good, cheap HDMI AVR that I had for a while is the Yamaha 661. I think you can find them for under $400. It might be worth a look when you get the itch to hear lossless sound (and I'm sure you will).

Good job Nick! Welcome to the HD-DVD club!

Thanks EFalardaeu.

And Thanks mdrew! I stumbled across that review site when trying to decide what movies I want to "wait to" get for free with the rebate. Most of them I could care less about, but I figure I might as well pick ones that show off the system.

I'll have to keep the Yamaha 661 in mind and if I get that "itch" I'll have to see if the Yamaha 661 with HDMI outperforms my Pioneer Elite VSX-54TX... I don't even want to look at the specs now since I don't have funds to get anything different.

Congratulations, Nick! I'm always happy to see another HD convert. More consumers means maybe they'll hurry up with releasing more of my favorite movies in high-definition.

Thanks!

I've been fighting to get HD in my home theater since I got the Sanyo Z3 a couple of years ago. I picked up an old ZOOM sat. receiver that also tuner OTA stuff, and I like that, but no ability to record (yet)... I am planning on getting the HD antenna mounted outside this weekend instead of sitting on the floor in my daughter's room where it gets knocked over.

Dish is running a promo for current customers to get them to get HD with DVR, and I am SO close to getting that too since I already have dish....