I'm considering the Toshiba HD-A2 but how much better is high definition 720p vs. upconverted 720p?  Does anyone know?  I currently have a cheap Panasonic DVD-S52.

Native HD will always be better than up-converted video. (But why would you consider HDDVD now? It's getting "handed to" by Blu-Ray...)

 Edit:  My friend went out and bought a High End Denon upconverting player and it can't touch the PS3.  I felt bad for him knowing what he paid.

If I were you, I'd wait for the format wars to resolve themselves. It'd be silly to drop $250 on an hd-dvd player if it only lives another year or two. Plus, if a clear winner comes out (and it's looking like br) there will be many more movies out than there is now. As far as the quality of video issue, obviously, hd is going to look better, but it's going to depend a lot on your television (quality, size, viewing distance etc.).

True HD looks better, but, at what cost? I say buy a $69 upconverting DVD player and wait until HDDVD or Bluray is significantly cheaper.

ageed superchunk.

in my opinion (i have an HD-DVD player), if you don't have a 1080p TV, you're better off waiting another year or so, so the players are a little cheaper. A year ago, Blu-ray was $999. Now its $499. just wait, in my opinion. 720p is better, but not worth the extra cost and uncertainty of the HD player market.

 I use this.

 $150, but well worth it in my opinion and comes with an HDMI cable. Does an incredible job on my 50" Plasma, and comes loaded with features. Zoom feature is great for my rare copy of MST3000: The Movie which only came in Non-Anamorphic widescreen. Can be switched to Region free, has a card and USB reader. Most importantly movies look just fantastic. I'm sure actual HD players look nicer, but that doesn't change the fact they already look great with this thing.

 Best part, don't have to rebuy my DVD collection. Lot of the stuff I own will probably never got HD-DVD/Blu-Ray anyways, and DVD's are cheaper than thier HD counter-parts, so I'm saving money in that sense. More than happy with my Oppo. I'm not going near an actual HD player untill the format war is long over, and the price of the players and the actual discs come way down.

Heard with VGA cables, the 360 actually makes a pretty good upscale player. 
Wouldn't know personallly since I don't own one.

If you're in the market for an upscale player, Oppo has a new model coming out that's only $20 more than the one 
I got. Can get them right off oppodigital.com, that's where I got mine. 

1 stay away from hddvd unless you want to throw money down the drain.

2 What type of tv do you have ?

Just get a PS3 dude, 499 for the best SKu you can get.  The 5 free Br movies deal might still be on so thats basicly around $100 worth of free movies. (amazon)

i have samsung 37" 720p lcd. i want to get the high definition version of planet earth.

ps3 is 499. the A2 is only 250, therefore ps3 is double the price. There are currently no games i want for ps3 so for another year and a half, it's a definite no for a ps3 purchase. and in 1.5 years, ps3 price im sure would have dropped another 100.

the A2 is maxed at 720p so it's just right for my tv. i don't want to wait 1.5-2 years to watch planet earth. yes, i can watch the dvd version (10-12 dollras cheaper than hddvd i think) and upconvert it, but based on my other dvds, the upconvert quality isn't that good. thats' why i wanted to know if HD is really a lot better than an upconvert.

@brainboxltd. at 150, i think i'd spend 100 more for hd if indeed native hd is better than upconvert. :D (since i do have upconvert already.)

i dont mind getting ps3 in future, but i just can't justify an additional 250 for it over hd at this point in time. it doesn't matter if hd loses, cuz i dont buy many movies anyways. i only watch the ones i like (and that could be hundreds of times over and over). :)

What kind of upconvert player? I had a Samsung Upconvert DVD Player for a while, did a fairly poor job.  Got the Oppo, night and day difference from that lousy Samsung one.

Honestly, if I hadn't gotten the Oppo Player when I did, I probably would have just returned my stupid TV and
been done with it. For me, that's how big a difference it made. Check out some of the customer and professional
reviews out there before you ride it off. 

I remember looking at a comparison of Casino Royale upscaled vs. the Blu-Ray version and the difference was pretty noticeable. I seriously spent 30 mins looking for it to show you because it completely convinced me that upscaling is nice, but definitely not the real deal.

Don't buy an HD-DVD player. That is just a bad idea. If you want a high-def player, get a Blu-Ray one that has upscaling (I think the new Sony one does, the new Panasonic, and the PS3). It is still a useful feature and you can use 1080p if you ever get that kind of a TV. The 5 free movie promotion should still be going on if that is what is drawing you to the HD-DVD player. HD-DVD is dying, it is just a matter of when it will kick the bucket.

You do realize that only one major film studio supports HD-DVD exclusively, Universal. That means you can't watch Sony, MGM, Fox, or Disney movies. I would recommend looking into what films each has before you make a decision.

And can you honestly say that there is not one game between here and Christmas that you want on the PS3 out of Warhawk, Heavenly Sword, Lair, Folklore, Hot Shots Golf, SingStar, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, SOCOM, and including the stuff supposed to be here before March Killzone and Little Big Planet, not to mention all of the multi-plats with the 360? If you own a 360 I could understand, but if not, I seriously think you should look at the PS3's release lineup on IGN.

http://ps3.ign.com/index/release.html