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

Welcome to the HD-DVD camp. Next year I'll go neutral, but for now I'm on the side where most of my favorite movies are.

I've watched 7 movies so far on my A35. Not one glitch to report. It seems like a decent player.

My EP500 really enjoys Transformers, especially the slow-mo scene where Ironhide jumps over the screaming chick on the street. That scene rocks the foundation.

Congrats. I had every intention of waiting for the war to sort itself out a bit more before jumping in, but near the end of this past summer, I jumped on a deal at Amazon where I got the HD-A2 plus 3 combo HD-DVD's(chose 300, The Departed and Happy Feet) for $210. Plus the 5 free HD-DVD's through Toshiba of course. This was too good to pass up. Since then I got the price reduced another $20 when Amazon reduced the price on the A2. So all that for $190.

I really love the A2. I use it with a Pioneer 1080p 60" plasma (6010), and it is stunning with HD-DVD's. Upconverted SD-DVD's look excellent as well. I do still keep my Denon 2900 connected for DVD-A and SACD.

I have over 500 SD-DVD's, and basically have no free time to watch them, so they mostly sit idle. So the last thing I really wanted to do was to start buying more DVD's (albeit in HD). But you know how that goes.

So I now have about 15-20 HD-DVD's, and although I really don't plan on going crazy buying HD-DVD's, it is fun upgrading some classics (like Goodfellas, Casino, etc.) or buying some fun new movies (like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead), or buying good movies that look fantastic (like Batman Begins, King Kong, Troy Director's Cut, Matrix movies). Documentaries like Planet Earth and Galapagos look amazing.

So have fun. At these prices, it is very hard to resist taking the plunge into HD.

I heard on AVS that sears in the USA is having a black friday HD-A3 sale for $169.

Really, how can BR compete with prices like that this holiday?

We shall see how much a sub $200 player will effect HDM in January I guess.

I read that too.

If you don't want to sit in a long line or fight with the masses for an A3, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Costco, and Amazon all have the A2 for a few dollars under $200 currently.

richey, that is how I got mine... Circuit City. Of course, there are no CC stores in Iowa, so I had to have it shipped. What a joke! I ordered on Friday, it shipped out today (not a BIG deal, but slower than most), but they sent it FedEx "SmartPost" which should be called "FedEx SlowPost" or "FedEx ItWillGetThereEventuallyPost"

I've gotten things from woot.com via FedEx SmartPost and it was TERRIBLY slow. My estimated delivery date is the 14th of November!!!

14th of November is an awfully long time to wait for a delivery. I didn't know the pony express was still in business?

Well, at least you'll have your camera batteries charged when it arrives...

Yeah... I gotta look at the positive...

I just read the A3 for $169.00 will be availble not only at Sears stores but online as well from 5:00am until noon, so no lines, it also comes with 300 and the Bourne Identity in the box.
If you are still on the fence waiting to jump and don't with these prices, I would say you were never really on the fence but were looking through a hole in it.

Gee, thanks! Now I have to wonder if I jumped the gun on my A2 for $199.00! If I returned the A2 (which hasn't come yet) it would cost me another $10 plus having to wait 2-3 more weeks. So is it worth "saving" $20 but waiting longer to get the A3 over the A2?

I know that the A3 comes with "300" and a "Bourne" movie, but I don't care for "300" and I've seen the Bourne series enough that I don't care there either. They are a "bonus" I guess.

300 is the worst movie ever to ship free with a HD player. I liked the movie itself OK but it was filmed with an inherent graininess that effectively adds to the overall ambiance, but makes it very disappointing if you wanted to use this as a movie to show off HD.

Close ups of things like Helmets and swords are very sharp but the picture as a whole looks like when they colorize old black and white films, with some extra pastel added.

One thing I do like in the movie though is the artistic scene choreography. You can take almost any second of the movie, hit pause, and it looks like an over dramatized, purposefully, posed painting of some epic moment.

Back to topic though, HD Ver. Free = OK, but don't bother paying 10 bucks extra for for a HD version. You'll get the same grainy effect in a regular DVD.