Budget HD-DVD player en route...

[Rob Williams]

From our news:

Those of you who haven't made the high-def jump due to prices might have a reason to in the near future. According to reports, budget electronics manufacturer Venturer has plans to release an HD-DVD player by this holiday season that will retail for an SRP of $199. If specs prove true, the player will support 1080i via HDMI and Dolby TrueHD.

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According to a published report, Venturer has revealed pricing for its recently-announced SHD7000 HD DVD Player. As we first reported yesterday, budget electronics manufacturer Venturer plans to release a value-priced HD DVD player ahead of the holiday shopping.

Source: High-Def Digest
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If cheap HD-DVD players happen by the end of the year, will there be any takers here?

 

[madstork91]

Me.

And I might upgrade my audio for the living room when I do.

 

[MakubeX]

I'll wait for a budget HD player that can do 1080p.

 

[Rob Williams]

That's the downside, definitely, but I am assuming most people who are looking for a budget player will not have a 1080p television, though I could be wrong. I regret not getting a better TV last January. I wound up with a 720p TV, without realizing that 1080p was going to explode so quickly, heh.

 

[MakubeX]

That's the downside, definitely, but I am assuming most people who are looking for a budget player will not have a 1080p television, though I could be wrong.

Well you are. I've got a 1080p TV but now I have no money for an HD player.

Still using the Oppo DV-981HD upconverting DVD player. It's good but not as good as true HD.

 

[Merlin]

I'll wait for the BlueRay players to come down in price.
The HD DVD players are like Betamax, IMHO

Merlin

 

[Rob Williams]

Naw, HD-DVD is fine, really. There is no winning side, especially since Paramount has chosen HD-DVD as their side. It's a true bitch for the customer. They really do need to own both if they want EVERYTHING available.

 

[MakubeX]

Rob, now that you've had more personal experience with HD formats, if you had to pick one, which one would you pick?

 

[Rob Williams]

I'm not close to being an authority, because honestly, I am not a movie-goer. I enjoy movies, I am just not a huge fan like some people. I have a Playstation 3, so Blu-ray was a choice that just came to me. So far I am impressed overall... great quality and great choice. I wish I knew more about what each format offered in terms of choices prior to settling on one. I own Gone In 60 Seconds and Swordfish as classic movies, and I think both made the transition quite well. I also have Casino Royale and a few others I can't recall right now, which are also good.

If you wanted a console, I'd pick up an Xbox 360 and then an HD-DVD player. I think some good value is found there... the Xbox 360 is an incredible machine and when the HD-DVD add-on costs $200, it's not too hard to stomach.

If it were a decision between HD-DVD and Blu-ray as a $200 player though, I'd just go both ;-) I think both right now offer amazing bundles... if you purchase a player, you get something like eight free movies. I wish that existed when I picked up my PS3...

I should be able to settle on decisions more as time passes though. I'll be reviewing some TVs in the near-future, so that will force me to learn more about them.

 

[MakubeX]

If I were to get a console, I would get the Xbox360 first, I've had that in mind for sometime now. But sadly, I'm not even close to having enough money for it yet.

I really hope some decent 1080p HD players drop to the $200 range soon.

TV reviews... nice! *If there were a thumbs up smiley it would go here*