My system is loaded and current as can be. Mostly use it for gaming but Im thinking about getting a Blu Ray rom or burner drive since I meet all the requirements to play movies(minus the drive itself) and have home theatre hooked up as well. I dont want to spend over $400 on one when there are other options such as the Lite-On/Phillps BD Rom PLDS DH-4O1S reader for $209. I have 3 other dvd burners as well so thats covered. When I view movie trailers their always in 1080p. Will the Blu Ray movies look as good as those or better? Thanks for your input.

I don't know much, but a Blu Ray DVD player will allow you to view 'HD' DVDs at true HD 1080p quality if your 'source' (HDTV )will do 1080p res. If you do not have a true HD 1080p monitor, I don't how a 1080p dvd could produce true HD 1080p on that source. I'm thinking of getting a blu ray dvd player myself for my 40" HDTV 1080p. Maybe someone has more definitive, clear answers.

badge is right, you can never get higher level playback that what you're using allows be it video or music. Hardware may be able to simulate a certain level of playback but it's just that, simulated not the real thing. Same principle as the quality of the playback can never be at a higher level that the source itself. If you're using a good set of speakers, it will sound better but an mp3 file will never have the quality of a wav file.

I'd get this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136133

It plays both BlueRay and HD DVD and writes DVDs. So it will play whatever you put in it. At $300 it's not too bad for what it does.

I stopped supporting Sony video formats after Beta, further I no longer buy Sony products after the cd root kit issue.
As to HD video: HD/DVD now has the ability to ramp up to 50BG on current production equipment. My bet is with the non Sony HD/DVD.

I'm waiting a bit more to have a better idea of wich of the two, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will be the best choice, although I already placed my bid on Blu-Ray...

And secondly, I'm waiting until next fall to see price coming down a bit more and at this time I'll buy the HD computer screen and the Blu-Ray drive at the same time.

See here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id, [...] ticle.html

I have a PS3 hooked up to a 65" Toshiba 1080p DLP TV and Blu-ray looks phenomenal on it; while I haven't noticed a real difference between a downloaded 1080p trailer on PSN and an actual Blu-ray movie, I wouldn't be surprised if the disc version was slightly better as they may try to lower the bitrate of the download to make for a quicker download.

thats the same 1 i have, had it for a while have not used it because was looking for an external enclosure. But i have downloaded some 1080p stuff from the net and they play at the same bitrate as my PS3's blue ray. 1080p all looks the same in most cases from my computer , ps3 or my 360's HD drive. with that said there are some movies the just look crappy on each format.

this one is $142

http://www.h3dtech.com/index.php?m [...] rrency=USD

Not too sure about the site, but it seems like a good drive for blu-ray playback.

Read up on the new features and how these drives support them. Supposedly, early adopters are getting left in the cold since they cant access new features. Apparently the only safe bet as a blu-ray player now is a ps3, since its going to be so widely supported by the devil (sony)

lol I hear ya the devil, Sony does make the best screens though, cameras and tvs.

I plan on getting HD DvD and Blue Ray real soon for my new HDTV.

I play Blue Ray and HD-DVD on my PC driving a 70 inch HDTV @ 1080P: See details below

1) My Video Card and TV are HDCP compliant to display 1080P for Blue Ray or HD-DVD
2) PowerDVD from Cyberlink is what I'm using to play HD-DVD and Blue-Ray on my PC. Caution about new Video cards (e.g. 8800gt); Cyberlink is ~ 2.5 months late. It does not recognize 8800gt and latest driver from nvdia. They sent me patch to get buy. So I'm waiting for another software update from cyberlink.

Cyberlink process both Video and 5.1 or 6.1 Audio(whatever comes with the disc)
3) The Video output; i use DVI to HDMI. My sound is through optical-link going to my receiver (Not TV).

4) I use the NVIDIA control-panel to adjust my HD display settings. My current setting is 1080P.

5) My mobo has a built in audio 7.1. For now i'm using it, optical link to my receiver. So far its working fine.


Heres my setup:
CPU: Q6600
Mobo: Asus Maximus Formula
Memory: 4 gByte
Video: BFG 8800GT OC 512
PS: Antec Quatro 850
OS: Vista Umtimate 64
Display : 70 Inch HD TV (JVC)/// 2 HDMI
Optical Drive: LG HL-DT-ST-BD-RE GGW-H20L // Blue Ray Writer player/ HD-DVD Player; SATA Interface; No issue with this drive

Sound: I use my receiver and home speakers for the sound. I pick the signal from the optical link from the motherboard.

Cool. I am only running RGB atm but I got a DVI to HDMI cable on the way.

I'm not sure if we'll have time to see a clear winner between HD-DVD and Bluray. Both format are quite limited for delivering today's multimedia content (still being an optical disk doesn't help). They both seem to me as poor transition to the next real step.

I have a PS3 with a 1080p capable 24" LCD, and the quality with good footage is stunning. But beside that, I'm rather disapointed with the navigation, GUI, and multimedia aspect of Bluray disc. And loading time, both in PS3 games and film, doesn't impress me neither.

Downloading will wipeout this war before it settle. It blasted music, it'll blast movies too when bandwidth gets higher widespread.

They will be ok for a time for archiving purpose I guess, when price for media will go down. But it has to go low enough to justify price over fast and convenient hard drive and flash based drive.

For the time being, if it's your thing and already have some of the required equipment, I guess the hybrid player isn't a bad choice. PS3 also offer a good basic player and if you like console gaming, it might justify the cost.