Daily Blog – Ross Jones – April 10, 2008: MY HD DVD PLAYER: SHOULD IT STAY OR SHOULD IT GO?

Not only did I not take sides in the Blu-ray/HD DVD format battle, I was one of those “wait-and-see” guys that had every intention of waiting until the dust settled before jumping in.

The peer pressure from many of my colleagues, who went “purple” and immediately bought both formats, was intense. But I was determined to sit on the sidelines.

Then came the Wal-Mart HD-A2 $99 sale, and resistance was futile. I changed my Netflix subscription preferences to HD DVD, got the five free movies via coupon, and life was good.

We all know what happened next. The HD DVD player now sits forlornly in my rack, gathering dust except for the occasional showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Aeon Flux. My Oppo player handles upconverting standard-def DVD’s. But I still have a soft spot for the Toshiba, and have been keeping an eye on the discount deals for software. Now comes news that Wal-Mart is offering to take back the HD-A2 and refund the $99 purchase price, which would mean that my total investment in the failed format was, uh, zero. But the Toshiba really is a nice player, and I’m still not (quite) ready to jump into the Blu end of the pool (finished specs would be nice).

Thus the question: should it stay or should it go?