I still like HD-DVD for a variety of reason, but I've already planned on getting a "universal" player in a couple of years even with my HD-DVD player purchase just 2 months ago. It only cost me $98 and gets me in to HD movies faster, so even IF HD-DVD doesn't stick around, I've not feeling like I am out anything. Without the $98 HD-DVD player, I would have to wait another year or so for a cheap Blu-Ray player.
Besides, LG and Netflix just teamed up to build a combo HD-DVD & Blu-Ray player that supports streaming and potentially downloadable movies from Netflix for no additional cost than you pay now for streaming movies to your PC. Netflix is claiming that they are going to "significantly" increase the number of movies available via download (their current selection of 6000 or so movies for download is kind of weak) and will have HD titles available. No real-world details yet, but it would a nice device if they get all of the technical details worked out.
So is HD-DVD dead? Heck no. Neither format has "everything" so this could still drag on for some time. It is too bad that the consumers are rarely considered except for the sole purpose of more money. These "agreements" between movie studios and the hardware/software manufacturers is getting old quick!
