Engadget HD Podcast 070 - 01.30.2008
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Jan 30th 2008 11:00AM
posted Jan 30th 2008 11:00AM
The ripples from Warner's HD DVD exit are still being felt, which means another format war-laden session at EHD studios. If you were hoping to put the whole mess behind you with the Samsung BD-UP5000, you might be disappointed to hear our review impressions of the unit. So much promise, but a lot of bugs right now. But then again, maybe a universal player isn't necessary, as a stream of analysts are calling it "curtains" for HD DVD (despite the upcoming Super Bowl ad). Speaking of Super Bowl, we talk a bit about making sure your big game experience is a HD one, especially if you'll be watching at someone else's home. Finally, we wrap up with some talk about new offerings of old content: MGM HD, Vudu, Apple TV (still waiting for the 'Take 2' version), and the now shell-accessible MovieBeam.Get the podcast
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh and Steve Kim
Producer: Trent Wolbe
00:40 - Comments from Engadget HD Podcast 069 - 01.23.2008
10:05 - Samsung BD-UP5000 review
13:14 - NPD clarifies Blu-ray's market share the week after Warner went Blu
18:35 - Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending January 20th, 2008
20:55 - Gartner: Blu-ray to win in 2008, HD DVD price cuts are "useless resistance"
22:51 - HD DVD ad to air during Super Bowl XLII, BDA sez it's futile
25:14 - How to make sure you're watching Super Bowl XLII in HD
25:43 - Check for HD before RSVP-ing that Superbowl party
29:35 - MGM HD coming to Verizon's FiOS TV in late 2008
32:20 - Vudu price slashed to keep up with Apple TV
35:14 - MovieBeam hardware gets hacked for shell access
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*chuckles* Ben's voice reminds me of some cartoon character, can't think who though =[.
Good point on the HD DVD/Blu Ray, agree totally with the both great sucessors bit (I myself got a HD DVD player... what can I say? I'm a poor student, £100 was all I had).
Thanks =], interesting discussion.
I kinda think Ben's voice is sexy
I hope DSJ is a woman!
I own both, but I like HDDVD because it's easier to author an HDDVD on standard dvd media.
Still having trouble with Hauppauge, NY? :) Origin is Native American, not German. If you really care, which you do not; go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauppauge%2C_New_York
"At the headwaters of the Nissequogue River it derives its name from the Native American term for 'overflowed land'."
I used to live in Hauppauge, NY and there was another translation. It was thought that it was Native American for "sweet waters", so much so that there is a restaurant there with Sweet Waters as its name.
There you have it.
I ought to just smack you two. :) BD is in beta. That's a fact. It's not a standard yet. Stating that doesn't make me an HD DVD fanboy. :P Although, I will admit that I was shocked to hear that you thought that HD DVD is the superior technology.
Anyway, I'd offer myself as that "red balance" that you talked about, but I don't see where that would matter. I think that the most that Toshiba can do at this point is to go into maintenance mode to support HD DVD as a legacy format. Unless Toshiba does something completely unexpected and innovative to spur sales (by something other than a Super Bowl ad), I don't see how it can recover. So be it.
As for reviews, how about reviewing one of those new dual-format drives for PCs, like the LG model GGC-H20LI? People who are looking to building a high-def HTPC might be interested to see what you think about that, especially now that they're less than $300.
i still think it will be an interesting comparison between vudu, xbox live and appletv and whenever the ps3 gets going.
http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/2...omparison.html
http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/w...y-with-hd-dvd/1
I know its a still picture vs motion but the quality is pretty close (and much closer than it should be imo). to me the quality is good enough if they can get the user interface right (netflix subscription model) the quality is good enough that it could take over for my netflix with hd-dvd and bluray (which has been god awful as of late).
I look forward to seeing a massive "roundup" where you compare vudu, appletv, xbox live and screenshots of all of them (compared to hd-dvd or bluray).
What's going to happen to the podcast (hell the site) after HD DVD dies? I guess the site will have to rely on Apple news to generate interest.
I've been wondering that myself. If they don't start doing a lot of reviews for components needed for an hdtv setup, I don't see where this site is going to go. Just look at the most viewed topics, all format war. Maybe review some blu-rays for quality, review hd video cameras, sound systems (hell, you did remotes), tvs, etc.
I'm already seeing the effects of the Warner switch on retailers. The two Best Buys in my area both started moving the HD DVDs to a less strategic position -- not by much, but it was noticeable when I was browsing... especially seeing it in two stores.
Funny you should mention about the pictures of you guys... I couldn't find any images either when I looked about a year ago... was gonna suggest at CES that you take a group shot... I guess I'll check the Flickr page.
This might not be an Engadget HD-worthy review, but I keep looking at my lame HTIB setup and Ben's mention of the Onkyo 605 has me looking at my tax return. But I would like to hear Ben's take on the Samsung HT-AS720 as compared to other audio systems... (if no review, just a few words on the 'cast would suffice?).
ok, don't listen to anyone that thinks you guys aren't doing a good job in the podcast. You both have very distinct personalities and its fun to listen to.
you say you want a guest hd-dvd supporter, but i think at this point, you'll end up with someone who's either stubborn, a blind zealot, or maybe not playing with a full deck.
Hell, even i prefered hd dvd a couple months ago, but you gotta be reasonable.
and i just flickered engadget. steve, thats a cool leather jacket. And I know NOW, but i always used to think you were white ;) I would love love love a fake asian accent, if only brief ;)
"...As for reviews, how about reviewing one of those new dual-format drives for PCs, like the LG model GGC-H20LI? People who are looking to building a high-def HTPC might be interested to see what you think about that, especially now that they're less than $300."
Right on. I have one and love it. Has played every movie so far (It really just streams the data to PowerDVD Ultra). PDVD 3516 has given me no trouble (Some have had problems with it: AVS). From closing the tray to video is about 10-15 seconds. I integrated it into SageTV pretty seamlessly, remote codes included.
The podcast is great, guys. I thought the "regular" Engadget podcast was excruciating to listen to...gee you say there's 10 new cell phones out this week? It was like a CTIAcast.
PaulF
You mentioned an Onkyo receiver with HDMI. What model was it?
I just wanted to share with you why I initially chose HD-DVD over Blu-ray. This wasn't based on internet opinions as both formats are very similar, but facts that affected me directly.
Firstly I already had an Xbox 360 so HD-DVD was the most affordable format with the extremely reasonable HD-DVD add-on. I use DVD Profiler to catalogue all my DVD's which allows you graph your collection. This showed me that around half my collection were from Warner (who at the time, although neutral were favoring HD-DVD with better content and exclusive titles), next was Universal (Red - around 25%) followed by Fox (Blu) and Paramount (Red) in joint 3rd. The other studios were way down with only a handful of titles owned from each. So based on my personal buying trend over the last 10 years, as well as cost to buy into a format, HD-DVD was the obvious choice. My intention was to then buy a dual player when they became more affordable and stable.
I can't help wondering that people get so wrapped up in internet chatter and fanboy talk, as well as twisted facts from both camps, that they fail to sit back and work out which format is truely (or was since the warner switch) better for them, whether it be Blu-ray or HD-DVD.
I just have to say Ben, that Dirty Jobs is a bad ass show. You're officially cool...well...
Great work on the podcasts. It's definitely my favorite podcast out there, mostly because my love of the subject matter, but also because of the high production quality.
My question/request: I use a PSP to listen to my podcasts, and I noticed that I was not able to use the RSS feed to get the podcasts. I can do this with other weblogs inc. podcasts, but not yours. Would it be possible to make the changes to your XML schema that would allow this.
Thanks
Ha, did you listen to the last episode? They can't even get IT to respond to their email.
HD Etiquette,
10 things (you must try) not to say whilst watching someone else’s HD setup
1 I didn’t know this was available on VHS
2 I’ve seen this one at home; only it was slightly clearer and it had ‘you tube’ in the corner of the screen
3 i didn’t know that there was a lego version of this film
4 i never knew that DVD players could downscale
5 I've got the urge to watch a movie on my phone
6 I see you’ve used the ‘S.Wonder Calibration Company’
7 on my copy the credits are in Helvetica not Wingdings
8 if we’re going to have the Klingon audio track, I'm going to need subtitles
9 I see your amp goes up to 11
10 (on leaving) thanks, from now on HD will only ever mean ‘horse dump’