Video Playback / Recording Devices

Since HD-DVD drives are in their third generation, I figured it would be pretty safe to purchase one. I got the add-on HD-DVD drive for my Xbox 360 a day before I got a Toshiba HD-A3. Bourne Ultimatum looked great, but since the eject button on the drive wouldn't work, I had to return it, and I didn't want to take the chance of getting another bad one. Target (where I bought the 360 add-on drive) doesn't price match, so the best deal I found locally was $249.99 (minus an additional 10% for in-store pickup) at Circuit City.

I've been following the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc since the days when each was on the drawing board. For the record, I'm not choosing sides in this debate, nor am I recommending that anyone buy into either option. Each format brings HD quality movies and advanced playback features to the table. In my mind, that makes them both good. However, mass adoption of either simply won't happen until one of two things occurs:

After reading this Article about the Blu-ray problems, this news announcement came as kinda a surprise.
It appears Blockbuster will rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores when it expands its high-def offerings next month

This could be a major blow to the rival HD DVD format and it could help to resolvethe format war that has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players.

Most folks are waiting until they can determine which format will dominate the market.