What do *I* think? I think both formats are industry insiders-only over-hyped crap. That's what I think. I think this will be the biggest blunder easily out-doing the Betamax-vs.-VHS format blowing it out of the water. BTW, the people who can own a "sweet 61-inch DLP TV" are like, 2... maybe 4 percent! And they state themselves they aren't doing an apples-to-apples comparison so an apples (Blu-ray, HD-DVD) to oranges (good old regular DVD) isn't being done!

Which makes me wonder at what price point the media is actually going to be; and at what price the other manufacturers are going to release their players. Odd, doesn't it seem, that they can get away with charging double but not be concerned about it? Do I smell a little collaboration with those other eight manufacturers? Perhaps not, but it makes you wonder-and wonder whether or not they're all biding their time until people pay 700 dollars for a PS3 with the functionality built in. Hmm. Have to say though, it looks good and the features look right...if you're a super early adopter with a ton of cash. Yikes.

They definitely can't keep it at $1k long... I don't believe there are enough early adopters willing to spend that sort of money. I have a decent income and gravitate towards technology, but they're insane if they think I'll pay those prices. It almost makes the $600 PS3 (with blu-ray) look like a bargain! Hmmm... maybe that's the strategy! ;) Seriously, keeping that $1k price point long does nothing but help HD-DVD gain momentum. Between that and the PS3 pricing (paraphrase: we can charge whatever we want, the first 5 million who buy won't even care if we have games), I think Sony has lost touch with the American pysche and checkbook.

For those of you always whining about price, take a look back at the facts of the initial launches of new technology and you'll find that Blu-ray is right in line with how much CD or even DVD players cost initially. We are in an EARLY ADOPTION market people, and all of you are crying for like $200 players for state of the art technology. Manufacturers have to charge a premium price initially to recoup R&D costs. The only reason the Toshiba player is $499 and $799 is because both are subsidized, that is they are selling at a loss for Toshiba, because they know they have the majority of the CE, IT, and Hollywood industries working against them, not to mention the majority of the porn industry as well. Once the PS3 comes out, you will also have a subsidized Blu-ray player (this is expected though in the gaming market) that will match the $499 price tag and also provide a more capable player at $699 that the Toshiba $799 player ever hoped to be. I don't hear anyone whining that $499 is too expensive for the Toshiba? And for some reason it is for a Sony PS3 that is capable of both movie playback and game play? I think some people here are just jumping on the ol Sony bashing bandwagon. Blu-ray will come down in price soon after the PS3 is released, no doubt about it; but, in the meantime the 9 manufacturers mentioned will recoup there R&D costs just like they have in every technological launch in the past.

Correction, the more capable PS3 is at $599. Typo on my part.

Yes, the $1000 players are expensive. So are Ferraris and California real estate. It's the norm for products like this to launch at a high price and then drop fast. Nothing to get emotional about. Too expensive for you? Then just don't buy on launch day and give it six months for the prices to settle. Personally, I'll pass on the launch units. But those $600 decked out PS3's sound like a steal and I'll preorder as soon as I can.

Seriously; sounds like some more remnants of the Sony love around here. If you guys seriously think that a DVD player at a grand is price competitive, then you must be incredibly wealthy. In fact, the vast majority of people (please, check gaming sites like Shacknews, Kotaku, 1up, and IGN) around the globe think that the PS3 is vastly overpriced for having no significant launch titles aside from a ton of sequels. However, Krauss's point (aside from preordering a PS3, for which you could get an XBox360 AND a Nintendo Wii for the same price, both of which have games that people are actually anticipating) is most valid; as with all consumer electronics, the price will drop fast. The thing I'm curious about is whether or not Blu-Ray will take the BetaMax route and HD-DVD will go VHS; Blu-Ray might be better, but HD-DVD is cheaper. Only time will tell, but the cost is only going to come down so much. And if you seriously think that Toshiba and Samsung aren't selling their products both at a loss, you're crazy. Perhaps the only thing Tony's said that's making sense is that whatever format the major studios-and more importantly perhaps-the porn industry-chooses, will likely be the winning format, regardless of price.

I have seen Blu-ray and it is amazing. Its like comparing VHS to DVD's. For all thoose people who say Playstation 3 is too expesive, think about this: The going rate for a blu-ray player is 1K, PS3 is 500-600. And Ps3 is also an amazing video game system. Think again, also don't judge Blu-ray until youve seen it- I though "DVD's in HDMI upsampleing are incredable, how do you beat that?...well I think it will possibly look a tad bit better"...I was blown away when I saw Samsung's Blu-ray in action. I am sure that the Blu-ray format will be an industry standered, replacing DVD movies, DVD roms, DVD games, DVD r/rw, ect. As for Ps3 it will possibly have a rocky start, but-mark my words:at least 1 out of 3 homes will have a ps3 by 2008-09'.