HD DVD or Blue-ray? It’s an important decision we all must make as we enter the world of high-definition DVDs. Anyone who’s seen either high-definition format on a high-definition TV will tell you it looks amazing. Regular DVDs simply do not compare to its crisp and colorful picture, hi-fi audio and cool special features. As the price of individual HD DVD and Blue-ray players decreases, we (the consumers) are still getting screwed because many high definition movies are still being released exclusively on one format. Regardless of who’s winning the war, it doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Luckily some companies are making dual-format players. Samsung recently announced their BD-UP5000 dual-format high-def disc player is now available for $799–making them the second manufacturer to market a dual player capable of playing HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. LG’s BH100 was the first to hit the market in January of this year. It also has a pricetag of $800 which might seem like a lot to spend but not when you consider most of us will probably have to buy a second player down the road–depending on who wins this frustrating format war.
Samsung BD-UP5000 dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD player
