In the beginning... I was a staunch HD DVD supporter only.

I now own three Blu-ray drives. First, it was a Sony BDP-S300. Then a Pioneer BDR-202 Blu-ray burner. And now, a PS3.

I still have my Xbox 360 + HD DVD add-on... but the combination of the two is like a 747-400 droning in the background of any movie I play on it.

have to admit i was exactly the same, i'd give anything to see sony fail. but true to form they're really putting up a good fight. bluray is being marketed so much better than hd dvd. the whole "experience" is being portrayed really well. i guess i knew from the beginning that hd dvd would be the underdog, and i'm always a sucker for the underdog. but by the same token it was cheaper for a long time to get an xbox 360 plus hddvd addon. microsoft just shot themselves in the foot by not marketing it properly. i guess the studios thought the same way because they're jumping ship left and right. but i still see this as a game that anyone could win...anyone except the consumer, at least until around 2009 in my opinion.

blu ray has been likened to the next "betamax" here in japan.......

I recollect from somewhere that the DRM on HD DVD was RC1, a microsoft product.

From there it is obvious why apple chose to ally with blue ray. Anything to prevent MS lock-in, which would eventually have consequences for OS systems.

That said, I am not sure a Sony lock in is any better, apart from being anyone but microsoft

lol, can you say "root kit"...

i knew you could

HD DVD uses HDi for the interactivity components (menus, etc)... which is a Microsoft developed system.

I've gone the PS3 with Blue Ray. So far loving it for the games and movies, looks and sounds fantastic. Shopping for movies for Xmas i've found allot more Blue Ray titles then HD DVD titles in the shops.

I think it's a personal preference and there is no clear winner yet. Don't make a PS3 for Blue Ray your main focus. BTW I'm having fun with Linux on the PS3.

Interesting read here.

http://tinyurl.com/29yl93

Sales US.

HD DVD:

TOTAL: 750,000

481,000 Standalone
269,000 HD DVD Add On.

Bluray:

TOTAL: 2.7 Million Sold

702,000 Standalone
1,998,000 PlayStation 3

(info cut from whirlpool forum)

Apparently Warner Bros holds the balance of power. Currently the share of titles available is 70/30 in favour of Blu-ray. Warner is the only studio that supports both. If Warner chose to exclusively support one, it would be either a win for Blu-ray or a stalemate.

In Australia Blu-ray has 95% of the market.

these are us figures but also remember japan and Europe are huge players in who wins this. I think you will find Europe's figures vary quite a lot from the unites states ones.

I don't own a blue-ray player or an HD-DVD player.

I asked at my local dvd store which one was selling better. He said 'HD-DVD', but that he thought that blue-ray was the better product.

I've seen Sony pump out ads on tv for Blu-ray but none that I know of for HD-DVD. Also I dont like the naming convention for HD-DVD seeing that it's only a disc which happens to store HD video but not specific to doing so. Bluray on the otherhand is clearer to customers because it differentiates itself as a different format.

Buy one of those LG dual players. Sure they aren't the best but they play both.

My two cents....there will not be a winner. People are still too keen to see who will come out on top and DVD sales are still going great guns. In the meantime there is some other format on the horizon that will probably take over - probably some non-optical device like flash based movies that you simply plug into a player.

in truth theres no real difference as long as we have incredible quality hd who cares. all comes down to money and cents. Look at how vhs beat beta. Beta was a far far beta medium hence why it was used professionally but silly decisions and cold hard cash determined that vhs won the day. This time is different not the money and cents angle but really it doesnt matter who wins as there so close. It isnt as clear cut as the vhs beta argument was.

Europe shows an even bigger swing to Blu-ray, accounting for approx 73% of all HD disc sales.

This is correct. And Microsoft spat the dummy when HDi wasn't chosen for Blu-ray, hence it's backing of HD-DVD.