You could look at one of the low end HD DVD players like the toshiba A3. MSRP is $299, you may be able to find it cheaper than that.
These players only output 1080i or 720p. I have the A2 and find that it does a great job of upconverting standard DVDS, and HD DVD looks amazing even on my 720p TV.
I am hesitant about buying tons of HD DVD movies incase the format flops, so I use netflix.
If HD DVD does not make it on top of the 'format war' I still feel like I have a great upconverting DVD player out of the deal.
