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HD DVD owners try their hardest to sell used equipment to newbies
So Blu-ray has won the format war, sending HD DVD into the grave, where it'll join other failed formats such as Betamax, MiniDisc, Laserdisc, and the UMD. So long, HD DVD. We barely knew you. We, the people who follow these sorts of things, all know that to now buy an HD DVD player would be crazy. To laypeople, however, it's not that cut and dry. They might not know that no new HD DVDs will be coming out and it would be a terrible investment. That's not stopping people who got stuck with an HD DVD player from trying to make a quick buck off of them, however.
Currently, you can find HD DVD players littering every marketplace on the web, from eBay to Craigslist to the Amazon marketplace. It isn't pretty, and you just know that every one of those bids represents someone who's gonna be pretty pissed off at some point when the realize just what's going on. Let's take a peek at what these sales look like, shall we?
On eBay, there are loads of HD DVD auctions. In fact, in the categories, there are 39 DVD auctions, 117 Blu-ray auctions, and a whopping 4,936 HD DVD auctions. Seems like there are more weasels than suckers surfing eBay, however, as most auctions have zero bids at the moment. The movies themselves, however, seem to be getting more bids, probably from HD DVD player owners who are trying to build a collection up before there are no movies left to buy.
On Craigslist it's similar, with more than twice as many HD DVD sales going up each day than Blu-ray sales. None of them mention the fact that the format is dead, of course. And on Amazon, there are 97 Toshiba HD DVDs for sale starting at $65, a fraction of the initial sale price of $500.
Luckily for you fine folks, you won't fall for such trickery. You know that buying an HD DVD player now is like investing in Enron stocks; it isn't going to get any more valuable ever, no matter what. Just warn your parents before they get scammed, will you?
By polymath at 6:56 PM ON 02/20/08
Why is mini-Disc included in the list of dead formats?
I use them on a weekly basis for "in the field' recording. They are superb at it and will no doubt continue to be used in these kind of applications for a long time to come.
By dorri732 at 8:16 PM ON 02/20/08
You did a search for "hd dvd". Of course there are more hd-dvd auctions with that search term.
By captaingnome at 9:54 PM ON 02/20/08
I was able to shake mine 2 weeks ago, when I really noticed things getting rocky. Paid $400 for the player 5XHd movies + hdmi cable ($650 paid in all) Sold it all for $200 flat. I hurt, but not as bad as it would have this week, once the announcement was made to kill of HDDVD.
$200 that I made off the player went right to the store and got a blu-ray player. Geez... I hope this thing sticks around. But thats what I get for buying early on.
By Stephen Larkin at 8:30 AM ON 02/21/08
Emmm i dont get it?
i bought serenity and v for vendetaa a few months back. i bought a HD DVdp layer yesterday from a reseller at cost who didnt want to be stuck with it and i have orderded over 23 HDDVD tiles today all at rock botom prices, great TV shows like heroes season 1 BSG season 1 Star Trek TOS season 1, 15 or so random movies all at rock botom prices.
Enjoy paying truck loads of money for your bluray titles im never going near bluray because they now have to recoup loses from the format war not to mention that Bluray discs cost more to manafcture than HD DVD ones.
The wrong side won the war but i dont mind i have my player and all my titles at rock bottom prices :)
By voxtex at 4:59 PM ON 02/21/08
Stephen Larkin - your right you don't get it. the HD-DVD format is dead. yes your getting those discs at rock bottom prices today. But in six months when your new shows are released it will be in Blue-ray. When Iron man is released in all it's 1080P glory don't expect to be enjoying it. Yes Blue-ray costs more to produce today, but like in the days of old when dvd first cost 25 bucks a shot, the price for production will drop as more people have players in the home. Remember when dvd players cost more than $50. Stephen yes your getting a deal today and that's great but to say you'll never touch blue-ray it think is a niave statement just like when i said i'd never pay for a bottle of water. Written as i sip from my bottle of Niave oops i mean Evian.
By Omniblast at 5:25 PM ON 02/21/08
Stephen Larkin <-- ROFL
on your cellphone!
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Omniblast:
Stephen Larkin <-- ROFL...More »