The cost of the players is coming down to where I will buy one but I'm not sure which way to go. I cannnot believe that Sony got it wrong twice in a row. (Betamax and Blu Ray)

The format war seems determined to stay muddy. If I had to guess on a winner, I'd either go with Blu-ray or neither of them (a la the DVD-A/SACD format war that was won by iTunes).

I've contemplated a Blu-ray player, but at this point I figure that I'll wait a while longer - at least until 2008, I think. Blu-ray has a good bit of potential, mainly due to studio support and disc capacity. Unfortunately what I've seen so far leaves me thinking that the only player I'd consider investing in today is the PS3. The Samsung and Panasonic players both look decent, but they're priced higher than I'm ready for and are still just Profile 1.0. It's going to be late this year before the Profile 1.1 players (with the Java interactive content supported) arrive, by which point at least TrueHD decoding - and perhaps DTS HD MA decoding - will become standard at a lower price point.

HD-DVD hardware definitely has come together faster, but even with the recent support from Dreamworks and Paramount the HD-DVD software library isn't as robust as Blu-ray's. My HD-A2 is a decent enough player, and $250 was a price that I felt OK about paying to dabble in the format war. I don't have any plans to invest in much HD-DVD software (I've spent less than $100 to date, I think, and don't know when I might buy another disc), but Netflix keeps a few discs coming my way.

I understood about half of that which for me is pretty good. WHat's a PS3? Once again thanks so VERY much for responding to me. I have been away for a while and it's nice to come back and see you still helping everyone out. You are a true hobbyist. (I had better be careful the paragraph police may be watching me.)

"PS3" is the Playstation3. Even though it's technically a game console, it is also a Blu-ray player (and possibly the fastest and most powerful Blu-ray player around at the moment). The version with a 60GB hard drive and wifi now sells for $500, which is comparable to the least expensive standalone Blu-ray players. There are a couple drawbacks to the PS3. For one thing, it lacks proper support for an IR remote, so you are left using the $25 add-on bluetooth remote even if you have a universal remote for everything else. (There's an IR-to-USB add-on available for the PS2 that is compatible with the PS3, but that add-on's remote doesn't include all of the functions of the PS3's bluetooth remote.) The other drawback is the lack of a multichannel analog output, something that the standalone Blu-ray players and the most expensive HD-DVD player all offer. My HD-A2 and the HD-A20 also lack a multichannel analog output. What that means is that output of the new audio formats (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS's "too long of a name" DTS-HD Master Audio) is restricted to HDMI. My HDMI FAQ goes into some detail about those issues.

I have somewhat less faith in Blu-ray than Gonk, although we agree in most other respects. (Still, for my film-viewing preferences, I disagree that the Blu-ray catalog is more robust.There are still more movies I'm interested in on HD DVD; but, then, I'm not the "Talladega Nights" demographic that IMO a lot of the Blu-ray catalog targets).

However, like Gonk, I do have the conviction that Blu-ray is definitely a bad bet for at least the next 60 days. Blu-ray will implement a new hardware profile at the end of October that will render current players obsolete for advanced special features (though all players will continue to play the film, itself).

So, as the Blu-ray software becomes more sophisticated, the past 12 months of player will not play those features. (As Gonk observes, the PS3 is a more likely bet because Sony can probably update the firmware to support the new hardware profile features.)

While I own an HD DVD player (and have had one for about a year), I'm not against acquiring Blu-ray, but the "moving target" aspect of the platform and its unsettled standards have kept me away.

For me, the undeniable truth here is that hi-def discs represent a stunning improvement in home audio and video quality, particularly if you're watching a large format display, and I sincerely hope that one of these formats gains favor with the mass market.

To hedge my bets financially, I've purchased an HD DVD player, reduced my disc purchases, and subscribed to NetFlix to keep up with the latest releases. So, I'm enjoying superb quality hi-def at home NOW with a relatively modest investment (because the cost of the player -- HD DVD or Blu-ray -- is nothing compared to the ultimate cost of building a software collection).

I think that Bob's hit on perhaps the best advise at this stage in the format war - neither format has earned the classification of a successful format or a sure bet yet, and I'm not sure when (or if) either will reach that sort of critical mass in the marketplace. Until then, investing in hardware or software (especially software) needs to be done with the awareness of that.

I too went the HD-A2 route as an inroads to HD.

I am very pleased with the DVD performance and joined Netflix for HD. I bought "Planet Earth" and "Serenity"

I figured both HD and BD will be around for a while, so maybe a cheap BD player at Christmas.

Interesting stuff on HDDVD vs Blue Ray:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/blu-rays-dirty-little-secret

Anybody reading this article should also read the discussion in the related forum that follows. It points out that this article, while mostly correct, does have some of its own omissions and half-truths.

For example, if you go to Amazon.uk to look for "Total Recall" as mentioned in the article, the Amazon.uk site lists it as a Region 2, PAL disc. If that's true, it's not going to look right on a player in the US.

Interesting read either way...

I will probably go with a PS3 to play Blu-Ray once the new series of Outlaws receiver comes out. Since i have such a great DVD player, I see no need for a full blu-ray unit so the Ps3 seems good.