I finally upgraded to HD!

[Adam West]

I looked at my cable bill the other day and thought it was pretty expensive considering I only have standard cable plus the enhanced package which only includes the expanded cable channels like ESPN, History Channel, etc. and cable internet access. It was close to $100 a month!!!

I gave them a call and asked what they could do to keep me as a customer before I give the satellite company and Verizon Fios a call. Without batting an eye, they offered to give me HD expanded cable plus Showtime and HBO and drop my fees by $10 a month.

This prompted me to take a look at HDTV's and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had dropped significantly since I last looked at them around Christmas. I decided on a Samsung 650 series LCD since our room gets quite a bit of light.

All I can say is wow! We watched the MLS vs. West Ham United in HD and it was incredible. Can't wait to see the Olympics and football in HD.

Now I need to think about getting an upconverter for my extensive DVD collection. I will probably switch to purchasing Blu Ray discs when the prices become more reasonable but I was wondering what the opinions were on just purchasing an upconverter dvd vs. just going ahead and buying a Blu Ray DVD which I understand will do upconversion?

[EMCE Hammer]

I've seen upconvert players on sale for $60. I keep hearing that bluray players will come down in price more, but I haven't seen any under $300 yet. The real question is whether or not you think blu-ray will drop more than $60 in the next couple of years. I think it will, but probably not by much more. So if you factor in that you'll have to keep buying regular DVD until you get the blu-ray, it probably makes sense to make the switch now. Upconvert DVDs will look good on your TV; blu-ray will look great.

[cjefferys]

Upconvert DVDs will look good on your TV; blu-ray will look great.

That's a good way of saying it.

Blu-ray players (and the Playstation 3, which still stands as the best Blu-ray player currently on the market) have come down in price over the last year or so, but if you don't mind waiting a bit longer, standalone BD players might be even cheaper at the end of the year, as I think Sony, etc. are planning a big holiday push for Blu-ray this Christmas, which will mean even lower prices.

I know that many don't like investing in a "dead" format, but a possible stopgap measure is to find a HD DVD player for cheap, as they also do a great job of upconverting standard DVDs, and you can also pick up some HD DVDs that you are interested in for really low prices these days. If you are going to spend money on an upconverting player anyway, it's something to think about.

[spiderrogue]

im kinda waiting for blu rays to come down in price too, before i can get a HD tv..wife wont let me right now..but income tax return time is getting closer and closer...and every year we try to do one big "fun" thing with it....so this would be cool...

[Dave Mc]

Love me some HD! I bought mine last year with both Blu-ray and HDDVD. Both upconvert well, but the HDDVD upconverts better. Some of my regular stuff looks pretty dang sweet. Still, while it's hard to pay $30 for a movie, some films are just so much cooler on Blu-Ray. It's worth the cash to jump in and buy one if you can swing it. You might save $100 next year, but to me it's worth the $100 to be watching Blu-Ray for the next 12 months.

[spiderrogue]

to be honest...im waiting for the ps3's to come down a little in price..that way i can justify buying one..and then getting a new tv as well...and be able to play the BR discs....we have a nice tv right now..but im getting bored with it...and it's a pain in the *** to move..it's heavy...it's a 35"....newer..but still heavy...

[toys2cool]

wow i have the at&t bundle pack and I pay $100 for the phone,high speed internet and the dish network 200 channel pack

Blu rays should start coming down a bit,but it won't be anytime soon.I'd say maybe another couple of a years before the discs start dropping

[cjefferys]

The best time to buy Blu-ray discs was at the end of last year, when the format war was still going on. Amazon was having a bunch of BOGOs at the time. I ended paying about 10 bucks a piece for a bunch of my Blu-ray discs. Predictably, when the format war ended, so did those great sales. Amazon still has decent deals sometimes, but nothing like that. I wish I had bought more at the time!

Now I'm buying HD DVDs and paying $5-7.00 each for them.

[twilitezoner]

Discovery Channel in HD is amazing. You have to see Deadliest Catch in HD.

[Hector]

Once you experience the difference...there's no going back.

I never venture outside my HD channels...never...the analog ones look terrible now, lol.

Of course Mikey will come in and say it all looks the same, lol.

I know Mike like the back of my hand.

[Hector]

Discovery Channel in HD is amazing. You have to see Deadliest Catch in HD.

I LOVE the Deadliest Catch...awesome show...especially on HD.

[MegoSteve]

With HD-DVD gone, there's absolutely no incentive for Blu-ray to drop in price, which is a shame.

That said, the Xbox 360 does a great job of upconverting DVDs, especially if you use HDMI. The 360 add-on HD-DVD players, if you can find them, sell for around $40 these days, too.