There are no harder facts than sales figures, and HD movie sales are a mere drop in the bucket compared to DVD sales. I'm not sure where you get the idea that Blu-ray has "hordes" more titles than HD-DVD does, but obviously everyone's taste in movies will differ. Many supposedly Blu-ray-only titles are also available in other regions on HD-DVD, and thanks to the region-free nature of the players can be used anywhere.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/blu-rays-dirty-little-secret

As for the internet features, I'm not talking about paying more for movie-related content. For example, a user could watch a movie and then follow a link on the menu to an online store where they could purchase official movie merchandise or other related products. It's just another way that studios could find to provide supplemental revenue streams.

Is the Bluray-player you mentioned for $2 using BD-profile 1.0? Or the profile 1.1, that allows picture in picture? Early adopters of BluRay must be pissed, future BDs will not completely work for them. HD-DVD had Picture in picture features from the beginning, and also an internet-access for downloadable contents. So technically HD-DVD seems to be superior to BluRay. But - as always - the movies available for the different formats decide the race. And at the moment I would opt for ... DVD.

I was with you guys also until the $98 HD DVD player dropped in my lap (well, at my local walmart).  I was looking at getting an Oppo upscale player, but I must say that the A2 is a fantastic upscale player, so I pretty much got HD DVD for no extra cost.

As for the movies I can't get because they are only Blu-ray.  Meh, I can wait.  I really don't need it.  Especially for animated movies (Pixar, etc.), the difference between DVD and HD aren't as great.  At least I don't notice them as much for animated movies.

 Wow, did someone pay you to say that?

Hm, why would anyone pay him for stating an all-too comprehensible opinion?

HD DVD has:

- no region coding
- no BD+ protection
- a final specification since inception
- a better yield rate than BR
- lower production costs than BR
- cheaper play-back devices than BR
- the advantage of not being mainly controlled by a company that is part of the film industry

BR offers more storage space (that doesn't result in better picture quality though) and seems currently better suited for back-up purposes, other than that I cannot see any advantages on the BR side.

Since i'm not a "fan" of either side, i don't know if i should take part to this topic, but maybe i contribute another point of view. I, personally, am not interested about either format before rewritable recorders are available and in decent price range. Even the first DVD-player i bought was rewritable (which i still use). I think i'm not the only one who buys his/her new media player after it's available as recorder.

I think the question about switching was justified, since let's see what you have in your livingroom: TV (let's assume it has digital tuner), set top box with HDD for recordings or STB without HDD and rewritable DVD or rewritable DVD with digital tuner, gaming console, then you have HD-DVD player (or BD) and then you should buy the BD (or HD-DVD) player. And since you propably have your HTS in the same pile, it takes a lot of space.

About BD, it has one thing, which makes it a big question mark, it is a little too dependant from PS3. Unless PS3 really start to sell, adding BD-Player to PS3, may stab BD to it's back.

@Golvellius:

Nice summary. I like your style.

Here's a question for you Dallas. Do you think that perhaps there are people out there that actually think HD-DVD is the better option? and not just the cheaper but inferior one?

i think the heart of your question is, "if price were not an issue would i prefer the "technically superiour" blu-ray format"?

I put "technically superiour" in quotes cause as far as i'm concerned these are equvilant formats. Throw all the numbers you want at me but put the same movie on the same TV and I cannot visually tell a difference. I use stereo speakers so I couldn't care less about 7.1 tru HD sound.

The most important issues for me when choosing a prefered format...

1. price
2. content (i.e. which movie is exclusive to which format)
3. viability (even $100 for a player and ~$30 a disc is too much if the format dies)

HD-DVD is winning on price, as far as i care they are tied on content, neither is very viable to me yet.

my winner - upscaled dvd. best price, best content, best viability, and acceptable technical specifications.

If Blu-ray was slightly more expensive than HDDVD i.e. HDDVD was $100 and Blu-ray was $150 then personally I'd buy a Blu-ray player.

Cost has a place for consumers, but it's not the be all and end all.  Personally, I believe that BR has the better support, not only with the movie industry, but technologically player wise.

HDDVD players are primarily made by Toshiba, whereas BR has not just Sony, but Panasonic, Samsung and Philips making dedicated BR players.

Blu-ray has generally been the favourite to win the HD format war, but HD (Toshiba) has come out fighting.  Not only have they managed to persuade Paramount/Dreamworks to sign a 12/18 month exclusivity deal with HDDVD, but they have dropped their entry level players to ridiculous prices going as low as $98 recently.  BR is so much more expensive and this WILL dent some of their sales.  But by doing this, Toshiba has done 2 things IMHO.  They have cheapened their Brand in the market place and have pushed other "Big Name" player developers away i.e. Panasonic/Philips/Samsung won't make any profit making HDDVD players seeing as Toshiba has set the benchmark.

BR also is getting more film releases each month in comparison to HDDVD and only recently the movie sales were 2.35/1 in BR's favour.  (Yes it's down to the PS3).

Inevitably, Movies and their release will be the deciding factor on who will come out the winner.  Warner has made noises about watching sales and may decide to plump for one platform early next year.  If this happens to be BR, then that is the final nail in HDDVD's coffin, but if for some reason, they chose HDDVD exclusivity, then that would put another spanner in the works for BR.  Other big deciding factors are Disney, New Line and the magical combination of Spielberg/Lucas.  Spielberg has allowed Close Encounters to be released on BR alone and although there was rumours of Jaws, Jurassic Park and ET coming to HDDVD, this doesn't seem to be the case, even though they are Universal films.  Also the Paramount/Dreamworks deal does not include any Spielberg classic films.  And Indiana Jones doesn't seem to be moving HD anytime soon along with Star Wars.  New Line also hasn't picked a camp and there is no iminent release of LOTR either.  Disney have proclaimed their BR exclusivity, but they need to push out some more of the BIG titles.  Toy Story 1 & 2 should help push up big BR sales, but knowing Disney, they will only release the odd film every now and then.

2008 could very well be the deciding year for HDDVD or BR. 

On an end note.  If BR want to push this and bring it to an early close, then they need to bring down the price of their players dramatically.  Not the odd $50 or so, but they need to bring down their entry level players to $200 or there abouts.

Also on an HDDVD final note.  Their ethernet connection thingy is a bit out of date.  Surely they should have included some kind of wireless internet ability like WiFi as standard.  Who wants screeds of cables leading away from their TV and HD player?  The PS3's use of WiFi for updates and internet is the way to go IMHO.