Every year in Calgary, there is a liquidation sale by soundsaround, they carry mostly higher end stuff (for example, they carry the RX-V line, not the HTR line).
Well, I was planning on getting an HD-A2 from another place for $188 the same day of the liquidation sale at soundsaround, but then I saw in the paper they were selling the HD-A20 for $244!!!!! I just could not believe that price (Today, bestbuy is having a sale on the HD-A20, for $579!!).
In any case, I got a good deal, and I must say that I LOVE HD DVD!!! I am not a big fan of sony, so I am choosing to stay HD DVD exclusive. I thought DVDs looked good on my 92" HD screen (sanyo Z5). But after getting to see some real high def stuff, I am completely hooked! It is so much more clear, I never thought my projector could go that clear!!! I am very glad that I am in the HD club now, and to boot, if HD DVD loses, I have an awesome upconverting player (they say its quality matches the oppos, if not better).
So ya, if any of you are hesitating to jump into the HD content, stop waiting! Its worth the money!
Congratulations on the HD DVD player. What else have you got besides Heroes? I've collected quite a few. I already gave several away to my sister when I gave her the 360 add-on, but I'm thinking of doing another purge. I'm really too good at spending money, though I can't say it's not fun.
ya, movies are quite expensive (so I found out), I traded in perfect storm and black rain at a used disc retailer, and suprisingly they have used HD DVDs too, so I traded up for Bourne Supremacy and Blood Diamond, and only paid $30 (so $15 for 2 movies, not bad!!). I got 3 free movies with the player...I plan on trading Tokyo Drift now that I have watched it and realize that the movie sucks, but the visuals are pretty sweet!.
I plan on getting Bourne Identity soon, and the matrix trilogy for sure, as well as transformers when it comes out.
It costs alot of money this hobby does!
I almost gave in myself this weekend, but with the HD-A35 only a month off, I decided to wait. I'm glad you managed to get one. That's one great price. I've pre-ordered an HD-A35 from the states and a whole slew of disks from Amazon, so maybe next month I too will join the club.
BTW, I've done some checking and found that the prices for HD-DVD's is Amazon.com. With the exchange rate so good--and getting better--and no duty, they may be your best bet.
It’s about time Rob….
You’re missing out being stubborn about Sony though. Why let politics and speculation rule your life?? Just enjoy what you can, while you can.
I have found that Kris’s HD/BR reviews at Secrets to be very accurate. I usually read them before I buy a disk. There are quite a few HD/BR movies that I’ve bought and later wished I hadn’t. For your reference, I buy all my disks from Amazon. I have not found them for less anywhere else.
There is a new firm ware out that allows the A20 and X2 to extract 1080P/24 off the disks, or so it believed to do this anyway. Even though your projector is only 720, it will have more raw data at 1080P/24 to work with than 1080i. I’d give that a try and see if you can see an improvement.
Now that you see the difference, wait until you hear it. It’s quite a treat.
And don’t forget Net Flix. They have HD/BR.
Welcome to the club!
See Mike for custom tailoring of your smoker's jacket. We meet the third Wednesday of every other month at tomtuttle's house to say "Neener neener". The third Wednesday of the other months we meet at MarkSJohnson's house to scoff at his bad room.
Last HD-DVD movie at Stately Swing Manor: Children of Men. Thumb up! Thanks, Netflix!
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BTW, I've done some checking and found that the prices for HD-DVD's is Amazon.com. With the exchange rate so good--and getting better--and no duty, they may be your best bet.
I would have ordered from Amazon.com, however, they do not ship electronics to canada. It is stated on their site. How did you secure a pre-order? I would check into that if I were you...
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There is a new firm ware out that allows the A20 and X2 to extract 1080P/24 off the disks, or so it believed to do this anyway. Even though your projector is only 720, it will have more raw data at 1080P/24 to work with than 1080i. I’d give that a try and see if you can see an improvement.
I am still waiting for my HDMI cables from monoprice.com. I am still using component right now, but the first thing I am going to try is setting the player to 1080p (since the Z5 is capable of inputing 1080p) and see if that makes any difference at all...
As for audio, I am using toslink right now...no lossless at the moment...
Robb,
Congratulations. It will be a while before I make that jump. I'm waiting for my Denon to croak so that I can upgrade to HDMI, Dolby HD, etc.
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Robb,
Congratulations. It will be a while before I make that jump. I'm waiting for my Denon to croak so that I can upgrade to HDMI, Dolby HD, etc.
Waiting for the denon to croak?? I have seen receivers that are 20+ years old...how long are you going to wait? 
If it is any consolation, I sit 10 feet from a 92" screen, the HD signal was noticed immediately, with the universal logo on the startup of the disc...I am not sure it would have the same impact on a 32"....how far do you sit from the 32"?
I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. The software I ordered from Amazon, the HD-A35 I pre-ordered from B&H Photo & Video (www.bhphotovideo.com). I've dealt with them before as they actually ship to Canada and their price (at least for the HD-A35) matches Amazon's.
Grats! I have an A2 in my setup and am still in awe by the picture quality. Check out King Kong - has the the best PQ in all of movies that I have come across.
Yeah, I know. I had my Yamaha for 17 years even though I seriously abused it. I may just have to take the plunge like you say.
Good point on the viewing distance. I sit 7.5 feet away and I can't see how it could be any clearer on DVD. And there's really no need for me to go bigger either.
Robb, It's good to hear we have another convert, like Mike I only buy the HD movies that have gotten reviews for stellar picture and sound quality for my home collection , the rest I get from Netflix.
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Last HD-DVD movie at Stately Swing Manor: Children of Men. Thumb up! Thanks, Netflix!
I enjoyed Children of Men on HD DVD! I thought the audio was handled really well. It seemed to be well-thought out, where all of the details that came through had significance.
unfortunately there is no netflix in canada...and the blockbuster down the street rents me HD DVDs...so I don't really care...
That's good that your Blockbuster rents HD DVD's, I think in the states Blockbuster only rents Blu-ray, at least that's how it is in my area.
Have you tried
Zip.ca ? I used them for awhile and it was nice to not need to go out to pick up the movies.
I tried them and found that I was watching too many movies.
And that's when you unzipped?
Too bad
Wow ... I thought *I* was slow.
I guess any innocent posting that anyone starts can turn into something like this with pmbuko and CV around...
Only guilty postings get the royal treatment.
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I guess any innocent posting that anyone starts can turn into something like this with pmbuko and CV around...
I don't know if should be offended or glad that you didn't include me in the list of co-conspirators. No, wait, yes I do. Thanks. And help me to get them to be more compliant with their treatment plans, eh?
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I guess any innocent posting that anyone starts can turn into something like this with pmbuko and CV around...
I don't know if should be offended or glad that you didn't include me in the list of co-conspirators. No, wait, yes I do. Thanks. And help me to get them to be more compliant with their treatment plans, eh?
Well I figured that you have a reputation to keep up on these here boards...you don't want to be grouped with "those" guys anyway.... 
Are you guys talking about
this movie?
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Are you guys talking about this movie?
Are you seriously still figuring that whole joke out?!?! And by the way, it wasn't in reference to that movie 
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Are you guys talking about this movie?
Read through the posts again, I think you just missed one very important one.
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Are you guys talking about this movie?
I now consider myself to be lightening fast.
KaBoom.
This reminds me of a time back in my long past Navy days wandering the streets in Napoli….. One of my buds was going to hook up with a very tall and strangely attractive woman with a deep voice….they wandered off around a street corner and while we were waiting for him, passing some Sambuca back and forth, we all heard him scream then run back toward us…. Still makes me laugh remembering the look of horror on his face.
And I presume her name was Lola?
Well, what the hell happened? You guys would make terrible technical writers. You can't seem to get your point across.
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Well, what the hell happened? You guys would make terrible technical writers. You can't seem to get your point across.
Yes, but the beauty of the story is in the inference. I can imagine, though, how frustrating a manual could be written in such a way. . .
Well, I'm guessing his friend mistakenly grabbed a trouser snake other than his own...
He forgot the cardinal rule: There can be only one lucky chucky.
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And I presume her name was Lola?
Or Lyle.
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I guess any innocent posting that anyone starts can turn into something like this with pmbuko and CV around...
I don't know if I'm worthy of being in the same sentence. At least, I hope not.
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I am still waiting for my HDMI cables from monoprice.com. I am still using component right now, but the first thing I am going to try is setting the player to 1080p (since the Z5 is capable of inputing 1080p) and see if that makes any difference at all...
As for audio, I am using toslink right now...no lossless at the moment...
That'd be an interesting test, to see if it looked better putting out 720p from the player, or letting the projector convert it down.
I got one of the A2's for $178 (looks amazing) because I figured I'm at 720p anyway so might as well go with that. I was impressed with the difference between the projector's upscaling of DVDs and the A2's upscaling though, the A2 was WAY better. And that's not even the one with the Reon chips.
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I am still waiting for my HDMI cables from monoprice.com. I am still using component right now, but the first thing I am going to try is setting the player to 1080p (since the Z5 is capable of inputing 1080p) and see if that makes any difference at all...
As for audio, I am using toslink right now...no lossless at the moment...
That'd be an interesting test, to see if it looked better putting out 720p from the player, or letting the projector convert it down.
I got one of the A2's for $178 (looks amazing) because I figured I'm at 720p anyway so might as well go with that. I was impressed with the difference between the projector's upscaling of DVDs and the A2's upscaling though, the A2 was WAY better. And that's not even the one with the Reon chips.
You have the Z5 too? I have always let the projector scale the image...if your report is this good with the A2, it must be just as good if not better with the A20, I am pumped!
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You have the Z5 too? I have always let the projector scale the image...if your report is this good with the A2, it must be just as good if not better with the A20, I am pumped!
Yeah, got the Z5 based partially on your (and others' here) pimping it
I switched back and forth between the DVD and the A2 with Disc 2 of Lord of the Rings, and the difference was quite noticeable, looked much sharper and cleaner on the A2.
Of course nothing compares to a real HD-DVD though, that looks amazing! And that's just projected on my wall, haven't mounted the screen on the wall yet (probably tonight).
Where did you trade in your HD-DVDs? I have the same three and want to get rid of them.
I think its called the "disc exchange" in Forest Lawn, right beside Pawnshop superstore (I think its called). If you're driving east on 17th ave (from deerfoot) it will be on your left hand side.
They have very good pricing for Hd DVDs as well (used). I got blood diamond and Bourne Supremacy for $20 each, not a scratch on either one.
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I think its called the "disc exchange" in Forest Lawn, right beside Pawnshop superstore (I think its called). If you're driving east on 17th ave (from deerfoot) it will be on your left hand side.
Sweet thanks! Yeah I live out in Chestermere so that's close for me.
Just received my HD-A35 from the states a couple hours ago. Boy does HD-DVD look and sound amazing. One scene in the Chronicles of Riddick made me jump. I heard some cannon fire in the surrounds during the invasion scene that I've never heard before--and this is with my 7 year old Yamaha receiver! When my Denon AVR-3808 gets here next week so I can get uncompressed audio it'll be interested to see how things improve even more.
Bayne,
that 35 must be nice!! I went for the sale, although I would love to have an A35 for sure...are you using analogue outputs for lossless sound to your receiver?
I am just using plain old toslink...and I think it still sounds amazing...watched transformers last night, I can honestly say, it was WAY more crisp than the theatre, and the sound was (obviously) way better than the theatre as well...
It was an amazing transfer...5/5 from me. For all of you in Canada, or Calgary more specifically, that shop for HD DVDs, you can get them pretty cheap at
HD Addcits based out of Calgary. There are no taxes and shipping to Calgary is only $2.50. Usually you get pre-orders before the release day (a day before). I bought Transformers from him and it went very smoothly...for a great price too...(I think $28 pre-order).
why oh why is transformers not on BR? I know why, just complaining...
why oh why is transformers not on BR? I know why, just complaining...
So you know then, the reason why is that BR is inferior to HD DVD??
Oh geeze...what am I doing...starting a flaming war!
I'm using toslink for now. I don't feel like pulling out the receiver to hook up the analog cables if it's just for a few days. My new AVR will hopefully be here next week and then it's HDMI 1.3 all the way.
I don't have Transformers yet. I ordered it from Amazon.com along with a couple other titles to save on the lower US prices. It should get here Monday or Tuesday.
why oh why is transformers not on BR? I know why, just complaining...
Yeah, but the Blu-Rayer's will get the Spiderman series...
Spiderman is coming out with the trilogy set in Blu-ray and the video is supposed to be awesome. That's why it's nice owning both formats.
Sony is introducing a new PlayStation 3 model with a 40-gigabyte hard drive for $399 in the US. The 40GB will be bundled with Spider-man 3 on Blu-ray.
It's still cheaper to get two players tha buying a combo.
I'm planning on going format neutral when Denon gives us a totally universal player next fall. I know it'll be a couple grand, so I'm starting to save my pennies now.
The reason why I went with HD-DVD first is that I could get a full-featured player now, as well as most of the high-def titles I'm interested in. Blu-ray won't deliver a profile 2.0 player until the spring, and I won't take a chance that the player I buy now may not work with the full-spec disks that are to come. Although the PS3 is most likely a safe choice in that matter.
I kind of went crazy with my HD DVD and Blu-ray purchases. HD DVD because I love to support the format, and Blu-ray because of the select Disney titles that were buy one, get one free. Plus with the 30-33% off at Amazon.com, and the additional 10% for buying a certain number of discs when they were first selling them, it was only $10.something per Blu-ray, and since I'm an Amazon.com Prime member, I get the 2-day shipping on all of my stuff, so it really works out to buy HD discs from them. However, it doesn't help that my pickiness goes on vacation when I think I'm getting a good deal. Now I'm sure I have many discs that I will watch once and be done with. Ha ha.