Netflix to Drop HD DVD Discs, Will Only Rent Blu-ray

Shall we say HD-DVD is down for the count?

James, it sure looks that way, doesn’t it?

Interesting. I bought both formats so I could watch movies from all studios. Now I won’t be able to rent HD movies from Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks. From what I read they won’t acquire any of the new releases on HD-DVD at all. It would have been nice if they would have waited until these studios migrated to Blu-ray to make their move.

I am in the same boat as Kevin. I really don’t care who wins or if anybody wins. It would just be nice to continue to get new release HD DVD titles from netflix until there is one format…

This is BS!

Hopefully, this will hasten the adoption of a single unified format, and clearly now, that is Blu-ray.

I understand those who say they should have waited, but in reality, with Toshiba’s position seemingly being “better to hang on to a losing battle with no hope of winning than to solidify HDM in consumers’ minds” it takes this kind of action to hopefully bring about the end of this crazy situation and have a single format where all movies are available to owners of a singe device.

I GUESS NETFLIX LOST A CUSTOMER. IT WILL SNOW IN SOUTH GEORGIA BEFORE I PAY BIG BUCKS FOR BLU[RIPOFF,JUNK]RAY DVD PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very good decision on the part of netflix. It just goes to show you why they are leading blockbuster in the monthly dvd rental battle as well. Hopefully others will follow in their footsteps and make things a whole lot easier for those of us that want to watch our movies in high-definition and not have to settle for specific releases from individual studios.

I was wondering when this would happen. I have both formats, and was enjoying renting HD DVD rather than buying, with the handwriting on the wall and all. I guess the only thing to look forward to is when the HD DVD’s go on sale from Netflix for $5 each!

Now I have to buy a overpriced Blu Ray player?...I don’t think so!
You just lost a customer Netflix!

THIS MEANS THEY WILL LOSE MY BUSINESS. GOODLUCK

Confused,
To play devil’s advocate for a moment;
No, you don’t have to buy an overpriced player. You can either watch SD DVD upconverted on your HD DVD player (unless its the Xbox add-on via Component) or continue to rent from the existing HD DVD library they offer.

The fact that a lot of studios have gone Blu-Ray exclusive is not Netflix’s fault. The discs they would buy to rent to you are diminishing in numbers (more and more each month, sadly).

And to be fair, the BR players only feel overpriced in relation to the competition. We all know for the most part the hardware is a loss-leader and even at $400 they make little if any money. I’m happy I got an HD-A2 for $99, and got a good deal on a PS3, but I agree, the BR players seems pricey still.

So, until you feel comfortable buying a BR player (and right now I’d only recommend a PS3, due to ease of updates), just keep doing what you’ve been doing. I bet you’ll have a BR player before the movies you want are unavailable on HD DVD (exclusively).

There will come a time, unfortunately that regardless of any of us pining for HD DVD to prevail, that the movies we want in HD will be BR only. Netflix is really just trying to keep costs down so the majority can enjoy their pricing structure. Every $ invested in (what they feel) is a doomed media will affect sales/rentals in the near future.

It’s sad, but there was a time a few years back when the ONLY place in town that carried LaserDiscs closed up. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Eventually I bought a DVD player. So here we go again.

Netflix has definitely lost my business. Who wants to buy such an overpriced player. And not to mention the format is not even final. No legacy support when 2.0 starts selling. Warner is still release in both formats. What are you thinking Netflix???

Boo-hoo. Don’t get all belligerent about it. You can stop doing business with Netflix but things aren’t going to get any easier anywhere else.

You can throw a tantrum that you can’t afford Blu-ray but eventually it will come down in price to the cheap-o prices of the last round of HD-DVD players. Be patient for pete’s sake!

Sell your HD-DVD stuff on eBay now while the going is still decent. Buy a PS3 and join the rest of us.

HDDVD sales is nonstop at amazon.com while blu-ray froze since late january 2008
hmmm. doesnt make sense.