I hate this whole HD race. HD DVD and BluRay is like VHS and betamax all over again. Screw manufacturers for this whole competition. Its almost like it comes down to Microsoft vs Sony. Both have a gaming platform that offers one or the other and you KNOW they are both pumping money into rights over distribution for home viewing. They can both catch a teabag from yours truly. The PS3 is a highly overpriced gaming system with a poor gaming support future that plays BluRay movies. XBox 360 is a highly used and more affordable system but with no initial HD DVD support unless you buy the player (separately), which then puts it more in the price range of a PS3 anyways. Then, regardless of the way you go, you can split your selection of movies right down the middle because of the HD exclusive movie race.
I landed an HD DVD player for the XBox360 last year for $120, which was unheard of and was and still am very pleased with it. Unfortunately, the selection of movies is rotten. HD has some good ones and BluRay has some good ones, but its one or the other most of the time.
Just something you might want to get used to. In the end, one will win, one will die. Currently, BluRay sales are leading that race worldwide. You can always drop some extra $$ and get the Toshiba BluRay/HD DVD player and get the best of both worlds, heh.
Also, as for upconverting, your digital signal has a lot to do with it. I have messed with some players that claim to upconvert and I swear that claim is a placebo. We toyed around with a couple players some time ago and it turns out that, the only way we could upconvert most regular DVDs on them was to use a VGA connection. Even HDMI wasnt working right on most. I think its a misconception that the manufacturers should explain some more to the average consumer before they take their word for it.
Gary Noonan
'01 S/C VX / '18 Forester XT