LG BH200

I don't know about these combo players; you can buy two players for less than the price of this combo. Let's just pick a winning format already. I say HD DVD, if for no other reason than the name "Blu-ray" sucks.

Both formats have their pros and cons, and both have about equal support from studios which seem to be fairly divided between the two (a very recent development). Just from a performance standpoint Blu-ray ought to win hands down due to its greater storage capacity and therefore greater potential for video/sound quality. However, HD-DVD has been generally acknowledged to have more movies which look and sound like HD ought to. That being said, your better single format players are still being priced somewhere between $500 and $1500 (although HD-DVD player prices are consistently lower), so you may actually spend less money overall on a multi-format player if your tastes run to the higher end of things. That being said, there are numerous good reasons to buy a single multi-format player: system simplicity, consistent ergonomics/usability, and using fewer HDMI inputs are all reasons which top my list.

Combo players need to exist, because that is the future of the HD formats. Similar to how DVD-/+ is no longer an issue the same will eventually happen with the new formats. However it has to start somewhere, and expensive players like this one are that start. In as little as 2-3 years you'll be able to buy a combo player for just a couple hundred dollars more than a single format, and it'll all be a no-brainer.

Conversely, there are professionals who argue that the existence of two formats along with combo players will only prolong and confuse the format war with neither side really winning. These industry pros point to the abysmal failure of SACD and DVD-Audio both and suggest that the entrenchment of various companies in either camp and the existence of combo players only contributed to the demise of both formats as opposed to the eventual success of only one (as with Beta vs. VHS). Personally, I disagree. I believe that both formats could have coexisted successfully but for poor marketing decisions and failure to differentiate themselves in a market which, at the time of their introduction was coming to be dominated by MP3 etc. Obviously, there are no comparable market factors for HD-DVD or Blu-ray (it takes far too long to download HD content and the notion of file-sharing is prohibitive). What would really accelerate the growth of both formats is a reasonable price structure for trhe disc themselves as well as broader support from video renters such as Hollywood or Blockbuster.

I remain skeptical about any streaming HD content over the next few years. We're not technology-limited anymore. The technology progresses faster than can be adopted by the consumer, and then you throw in annoying corporations (Blockbuster, Comcast, SBC, Roger's) trying to squeeze out every last buck while they scramble to fight illegal downloads you get stuck with antiquated tech. Video dystopia?