It appears Blockbuster is backing Blu Ray. Seems a bit soon to pick one for them, but I guess they don't think it is worth it financially for them to stock both.

Blockbuster chooses Blu Ray

I think it will be really interesting if Netflix now announces that they are supporting HD-DVD.

It will be interesting to see how that affects HDDVD and Bluray, my local blockbuster doesn't carry either, I'll be happy to finally be able to rent something in HD rather than buying all my HDDVD and Bluray movies.

Now if Wal-Mart chooses BR, I'll know which format to side with .

There's still the rumor that they'll go with HD DVD. We'll see.

I think that Walmart backing HDDVD is a little more than rumor. They had Chinese manufacturers bid on making 2 million HDDVD players for them so that they could sell them for $200 each. Apparently there was a winning bidder but Walmart is trying to keep it quiet.
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blockbuster-stores-choose-blu-ray.html

Homedad: You can rent both formats at Netflix. Netflix seems to carry almost every release of both Hi-Def formats. I don't think that they charge any more money to rent the Hi-Def formats but I could be wrong. It doesn't get better than renting at least 3 movies per week and having them sent right to the mailbox for around $20 per month.

Since we are talking about Blockbuster, please do not support these scumbags. Several years ago they took over the business of pay per view movies on the satellite TV (they probably also do the pay per view movies on cable). The rentals used to be around $2 per movie. As soon as Blockbuster started running the pay per view they jacked up the prices to $3 or $4 dollars per movie. This is the same ridiculous price that they charge for rentals at their store. Many times you can buy dvd's for around $5 if you look for the ones on sale in the Best Buy ads for example. I got a copy of Batman Begins for $6 from Best Buy about six months after it was released on DVD. For the past few years now, Blockbuster has been trying to run Netflix out of business. If that ever happens then they will just jack up the prices again since there wouldn't be any competition and people are willing to pay such unreasonable prices for rentals.

- Nick

Well said. Nick. I am not a fan of Blockbuster myself. I am solidly in the Netflix camp. They have been great for me and my family for years. As is too often the case, they came up with a great, novel idea and are now having to fend off "me too" challenges from the corporate gorillas of the world. They vanquished Walmart's attempt at DVD-by-mail rentals and now are doing battle with Blockbuster.

Netflix has vowed from the start to strongly support HD discs in both formats, and there is no upcharge to access these discs. Just answer a few questions on their site to gain access to the HD content. I get 3 discs at a time for $18 something per month, tax included.

Question, I also have Netflix and I was looking at the HD option and it seems that you have to choose either HD-DVD or Bluray, what if I had players for both? Is there a way to get both? Most movies are available in only one of those two formats.

I dunno, good question. I'm just getting into HD-DVD - I bought a Toshiba D2 a coupla weeks ago (and have yet to hook it up, is that laziness or what?).

I've selected HD-DVD but have not tried to select Blu Ray also. Maybe if it won't let you do that online, you could call tech support. I'm sure there's been others in your situation.

Blockbuster will have both formats for online rentals, just not in store. For me, Blockbuster is a better deal than Netflix, so I have stuck with them. I get 5 movies a month for $6.

I couldn't keep up with the 3 movies a week plan...I just don't have that kind of time to watch movies. We normally barely make it through the 5 in a month.

Zarak,

You can do less that the 3-out-at-time plan. You can also do up to 8-out-at-time. I don't know the prices for less than 3-out-at-time though.

- Nick

Nice having them to your door, but I get new releases every Tuesday not Wednesday or Thursday and not two weeks or a month old. I treid that online rental and I got releases that came out two week earlier. in the meantime I went to Blockbuster and rented the new release so it was a waste of money with the online.

Just thought you'd guys would like an update on Blockbuster and the whole Hi-Def Disc deal. It seem BB will be supporting Blu-Ray more than HD-DVD. Personally I don't understand it I think HD-DVD has a better selection of titles in terms of depth. Even though Blu has more studios signed on for releases (which most still haven't done yet) HD has older and newer titles that really run the gambit. Sony/Blu has mostly the theatrical bombs of the past 2 years. In anycase the word amongst retailers and poll conducted is that even with price drops Blu seems to so far be leading the pack.

Here's a link to a retailers publication article.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6452855.html

My sis has BB online and their blu-ray movies are almost always never available. It's either long wait or short wait. I, on the other hand, has Netflix. And their blu-ray movie is almost always available. Some are short-wait but I usually get them after a week or so.

Apparently BlockBuster is not supporting HD-DVD at all, either on-line or in store. I picked up a HD-DVD player at Sam's for $243 (plus 5 free HD movies from Toshiba, bring the cost down to ~$100). Sam's had a whopping 5 HD movies to choose from, BestBuy had a nice selection, CC had ~10. Not finding anything on line at Block, I went into a local store and they had lots of empty shelf space ready for BR movies, but not a one ready. Netflix had a great selection of both formats, so I joined and so far not a problem getting what I want.

Scott

I just joined Netflix today, very nice that I can rent both HD formats as well as get some movies my small local Blockbuster doesn't carry.
I really like the search feature, now I can watch some Sundance and award winning Foreign films also.