Vader- you are a MORON

Although you may be right that the offer may not save a lot of money, the gesture is nice. Something is better than nothing, in this case.

Oh, please. Most movies are DVD quality when they are converted to HD anyway. You are looking at the positive of a negative that had HD pixels, but by the time they create the positive, they lose so much you see nothing but grain. Don’t believe me, go to a digital movie theater (AMC?) and see the grain. It’s not that Blu Ray or HD DVD is the scam, but the actual movie that is scanned is the problem. You can’t make silk out of a pig’s ear. Oh, yes, there a are few that use the high quality original to scan, but very few. Remember this is a business, people!  Oh, well, we continue…

Dec 12,2008 **News Flash** Sony has now taken over the world. They will decide what you watch and when you watch it....

Im scared.

Bottom line is, you dont make illegal copies, you dont get stung. End of story.
MY PS3 still works with out internet conection.
Bye.

Mike c,

“Hey DUD Vader, sorry to hear you are stuck with a $700 future paper weight.”

On the contrary, I bought it because there is absolutyly nothing in blu world that even comes close as a movie playback device.  None of the other functionality you mention means anything to me, as I have no need to rip my CDs to the hard drive, or load pictures, or whatever.  It will only become a paperwieght if it stops playback and I cannot get it fixed.  Funny, My 13 year old LD player still runs just fine (never had it serviced), and should I need to I can get it serviced or even overhauled.  Not entirely sure where this “your HD=DVD movies will self-destruct come mat 31st.  For the blu side, I am looking at the upcoming Panny 50 to see if it measures up in quality to the Onkyo.

“Oh, it also plays a HD format that will continue for many years to come, along side of downloadable HD that is great for average movies where PQ is not so important.”

I will agree that if your primary source of HD is renting, then HD-DVD is clearly not the way to go at this point.  I only rent SD so I can guage blind-buys (I’ve gotten stung more than once).  I buy movies and build a library.  What is crazy is to re-buy those films I already have on HD-DVD on BR.... why?  There is no discernable advantage PQ-wise, and I prefer the HD-DVD experience.  And as far as DRM is concerned, what BR has right now is nothing compared to what downloads will be - I will have nothing to do with that.

“...$700 for a rebadged Toshiba, using a format that was greatly in doubt when you bought it Im sure. Very inteligent. :-)”

Yes, I bought it the day after the Warner announcement.  The format was not “very much in doubt” at that point, it was dead in the water.  The point is that I have a substantial library of films on a format with equivelent PQ, that in no way supports Sony.  If you are an adult, you will know that the primary backers of BR were also the same DIVX-cheerleaders from 10 years ago.  You will also remember that little thing called a root-kit that Sony tried a couple years back on certain music titles.  Try reading the EULA of the PS3.  It is nothing more than a CYA statement that grants Sony permission to track your every move (and by extension, look on your HD, “update” drivers, etc without your knowledge).  All this is done through the Java in the player.  Make no mistake, Hollywood’s dream is to maintain control over their films after you legally paid for them.  Their position is that you do not own the film, but are merely leasing the right to watch it.  If you want to play that game, that’s your prerogative.  However, I will not.  Neither of my players will ever be hooked into the internet (not that the Onkyo has to be), and the day is coming when a BR you legally purchased must be “validated” (read: ask Sony’s permission) before you can watch it.  Of course, Sony’s representative David Manning (hint: fake movie critic created by Sony 7 years ago to advertise their movies) says that is “poppycock”...;) So, yes, I knew exactly what I was doing when I bought it, and will only buy into blu so far as Sony crosses the line.

Peace, Vader