HD DVD Price Drops while Blu-ray Screws Early Adopters

January 12, 2008

HD DVD vs. Blu-rayNot sure if this is related to the news of Warner Bros. going Blu-ray exclusive, but Amazon has this Toshiba HD DVD player with seven movies for only $129 (the same one I thought I got a deal on a month ago for $174).

Blu-ray players, of course, are still well above $300. Amazon also has a bunch of HD DVD movies for $15. Interestingly, the site has a Blu-ray movie sale going on at the same time. But the difference between the two sales is a telling story:

The Blu-ray sale has a total of 51 movies on sale with only 8 as low as $15 (and most of them suck). The HD DVD sale, on the other hand, has 84 movies on sale with 63 (nearly 8 times as many) at the $15 price point. And there appear to be some decent movies in this mix. Check out the Blu-ray sale here and the HD DVD sale here and judge for yourself. For me, though, it seems like this could be phase 1 of HD DVD liquidation.

So the million dollar question is: how much is a high definition DVD player worth to you if it is the format that has lost the war?

To add to the irony of the less expensive, more consumer-friendly player dying, check out this news: Buyers Beware: Current Blu-ray Players Won’t Correctly Play Future Discs and Blu-ray: Early adopters knew what they were getting into. The titles alone are enough to get any Blu-ray owner frustrated.

The Playstation 3 (which has Blu-ray built-in) appears to be the exception, otherwise Blu-ray players on the market are designed without “future-compatibility capabilities.” This means that bonus features on titles released starting in October will not be playable on current Blu-ray players. Wow.

What makes it even more ironic is that Blu-ray is blaming HD DVD for its problems:

“When asked why current [Blu-ray] players were released to the market in such a primitive state, [Blu-ray] manufacturers blamed the release of HD DVD and said it forced them to come to market too soon. ‘We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation.’”

*Update* The price for the HD DVD player mentioned above was originally $147 when I first started writing this but is now $129. Amazon tends to play games with pricing; be sure to take advantage of the company’s 30-day price guarantee.

*Update 2* Commenters pointing out some interesting facts: this $129 HD DVD player is 1080i. All Blu-ray players are 1080p (a slightly higher picture quality), though Amazon now has this 1080p HD DVD player on sale for $171, which is still about half the price of any comparable Blu-ray player. Also, Amazon has another Blu-ray movie sale with a much larger selection (229 movies) while putting all HD DVD movies (currently 523) on sale now.

*Update 3* Check out the latest Netflix news of unlimited online movies, which supports the theory that we may be moving toward digital content before a new format (like Blu-ray) can gain traction.

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Filed Under: Amazon, Media, Netflix

Viewing 70 Comments

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    Interesting side note...that "cheap" HD DVD player is 1080i, and only cheap ones are the 1080i players. The 1080p HD-DVD players are usually about the same price as the Blu-Ray players (which are natively 1080p).

    Just wanted to point that out considering the comment that HD DVD was the consumer friendly :)
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    J,

    Your pointing this out helps prove my point that HD DVD is consumer friendly, actually. I'm generally for the standard that offers flexibility and options for consumers, not the one that forces you to overpay for equipment you can't take advantage of.

    I personally don't have a TV that can support any better than 1080i (and I'm not alone), so why should I be forced to pay more than twice as much for equipment I don't need?

    HD DVD had exactly what I needed at the price I wanted, hence more consumer friendly...

    And I'd gladly give up 1080p support for the more consumer friendly format (HD DVD) which has Internet connectivity and no region restrictions.
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    The reason for the massive price drops and the slash in the movie prices for HD-DVD is because they will be extinct soon. I think its more of a "screw you" to keep selling a format that has most of the nails already in its coffin and is on the verge of complete abandonment by all the majors studios. Now unknowing consumers are going to buy these cheap HD-DVD players thinking its a great deal only to find they were the unfortunate ones who helped buy-off the remaining stock of discontinued players and movies. If the HD-DVD Consortium has any room in their heart to be "consumer friendly" they'd say, "It was a good fight, but we lost. We are now offering rebates for people to upgrade to the new Blu-Ray drives when they arrive."
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    I agree with Aaron. Amazon is just trying to get rid of their stock before it is to late. Be prepared for lots of drops in HD-DVD prices. It's like a closeout sale, get it while it lasts.
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    J the 1080P is in the 170 range.
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    Bluray is out to screw the consumer for every last cent they have. Think media prices will slide quickly like DVD prices did for bluray? False. We need a more consumer friendly format such as HD-DVD's to update themselves to the newest firmware, and bring lower prices/better feature sets to the consumers home! http://www.tekbite.com/2008/01/5-reasons-why-yo...
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    Stop bashing Sony and Blu-ray. For $399 dollars you get a next gen console, a Blu-ray player, not to mention it plays media off your PC on its wi-fi. Stop crying and buy a Playstation 3.
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    Travis: Blu-Ray players can be updated to the newest firmware as well, especially the PS3. I'm just glad the better format won. More capacity means better quality for all ! Sorry to all the HD-DVD owners, you really should have seen it coming. There are simply more companies supporting BluRay than HD-DVD.
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    I guess HD DVD is going to sell off their stock before its worth nothing.
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    Only the most hardcore can notice a big difference between Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and a plain old up-converting player. Sure, if video is your life and you've spend half your salary on you're home theater, spring for the best of the best. Otherwise, why bother until whatever format of the week is standard.
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    Thats brilliant, lets lose even more money by refusing to sell the equipment thats already been manufactured and not attempt to cut our losses, and not only that but fronting costs for customers to upgrade to Blu-Ray drives. Why not just burn all their cash in oil barrels to warm the homeless.

    It's a good business practice to slash prices when something becomes obsolete. They're cutting losses, and customers are getting the technology at a cheaper price with a decent selection of movies. They didn't make a promise to the consumers to continue releasing movies in that format. They simply sell the product with the promise that it works with all movies that are currently out. Sony should not upgrade everyones last-generation Playstations for them because they no longer support the current PS3 release format.
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    I think everyone keeps forgetting one of HD-DVDs most consumer friendly features, STILL BEING ABLE TO PLAY NORMAL DVDS. Not everyone will want to spend hundreds of dollars to update their movie library immediately....
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    I just bought a Blu-Ray player and it rocks. They've got like 80% of the movie studios now. Who cares about the bargain prices on HD-DVD. I can get you a great deal on an 8-Track tape player too. The fight is over.
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    Stop spreading HD DVD lies already. Get over it. You lost. Consumers voted with their feet for more bandwidth and more capacity. Early adopters aren't "screwed". All Blu-ray players will play the movie and the audio. What about that mythical 51 GB HD DVD? Do you think early HD DVD machines would have played that? Of course not! And that would have meant not being able to play the movie!

    Early DVD players didn't support progressive scan, DTS, upconversion, etc. Were early DVD supporters "screwed"?

    Stop lying!
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    JE - Blu-Ray also does that... What's your point?
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    Will: Show a DVD and BluRay on a HDTV and only a blind person couldn't tell the difference.

    JE: BLURAY CAN PLAY NORMAL DVDS TOO !!
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    Someone who bought the Blu-ray was really unhappy with their purchase:

    This product is disappointing from Sony. It is a very low end product; the load times for movies are 2-4 minutes.
    Options for screen control are limited. Even though I have a wide screen T.V. (50 inch plasma), it does not fill the screen with the picture. You get the picture with a couple of inches of blank spae below and above the picture.
    I have worked with tech support and all options and no resolution to the problem.

    BluRay should be great, this is just another piece of junk.

    More reactions from buyers here:
    http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-676175-sony-blu-...
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    EmailC

    Consumers didn't vote with their feet. Consumers did not pick Blu-Ray. Consumers didn't pick 'more bandwidth and capacity'. Most consumers wouldn't know more bandwidth from their elbow. The studios picked Blu-ray for them. Sony's large pockets picked Blu-ray for them. Consumers didn't get a say in it.
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    Emma:

    Ther reason that the image doesn't fir your screen is because your screen isn't the same shape as a cinema screen - the screen that the film was shot to fill. If the image filled your screen it would either be stretched (tall, thin people) or the sides would have to be cut off.
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    whats wrong with having both and letting the market make its own mind up? ill just keep buying dvds.
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    These articles always start flame wars. EVERYONE preaches the death of the other format. I personally don't care which wins out, or they can both stick around and I will get a dual format player. My stance on these formats is this;

    Blu-Ray: A Sony format and is thus BAD. Little they have come out with in the past has been beneficial to the consumer in the past (hello memorystick!). Then to boot, Sony is basically keeping its "partners" from releasing players at a lower competitive price just cause they don't want the PS3 undercut. Guess what... the PS3 JUST HAPPENS to be the only Blu-Ray player that is basically future-proof due to its raw horsepower and firmware upgradeability. So my view is, as a format, its got a fair amount going for it that HD-DVD lacks (yet) but nothing that the average consumer will use(1080p is still rare). Sony backing it is a major negative (just in my opinion).

    HD-DVD: It's a more consumer "friendly" format in that it has features that most people will use and supports only what is commonplace. As an immediate format its merely ok, as it doesnt have the 1080p of Blu-Ray for longevity, BUT it does have a much lower price point AND the possibility for future improvements. It is region free for those international movie buffs.

    My personal opinion of both is that neither are really needed as movie studios could use decent compression and fit a 1080p movie on a dvd and still maintain fantastic quality which WOULD appeal to 90% of the population as it would allow a much easier transition. I get a lot of TV shows online from HD sources and they look fantastic, but only take up 700mb per 45 min (one hour show minus commercials). That makes a feature movie less than 2.5gb. Put it on a current dvd! Double the data rate, lose 90% of the artifacting, and the average movie is still 5gb, and all but the elitists will be happy.

    Here is the state of things tho. People who have already bought into either format defend it fiercely since either one at this point is still a moderate investment and no one wants to see that "squandered". I have not bought either format yet for the reasons listed above and the fact that I will not take part in a "format war". I AM however going out in the next 45 min to buy a new 42" 1080p LCD TV, 6ms response time, and 6000:1 contrast for $950. Honestly. The cost is coming down people, and in the next 2-3 years ALL channels will be HD in some form. I dont tho, get all wet in the shorts over 1080p. I currently have a 37" LCD that does 720p, but the mother in law has macular degeneration and a 20" tv. so my old TV will be a gift and I will get the HD package on my satellite I guess. Why not?

    Blu-Ray is a future orientated format, unready for today.
    HD-DVD is the format for today, unsure of tomorrow.
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