Where are some free HDTV calibration resources? I looked for a couple, but they cost money. And I'm not interested in paying for $20 one-time use DVD's, or Bit Torrent either.

It seems that Cable and Sony are doing their darnedest to keep me from getting excited about their product.

Cable - too few HD channels, or too many stuffed into too little bandwidth
Sony - BD is too freaking expensive

The only media avenue I feel totally comfortable with is DVD via Netflix. I'm thinking of dropping my Cox digital and going only Netflix for DVD's and streaming via Xbox 360.

Does anyone know if it is easy to mod a 360 with a new DVD drive?

Yeah, one-layer DVD doesn't sound like it'll cut it. Personally, I think a combo BD/DVD ends up being an expensive product that doesn't deliver on the full potential of either side. It ends up having to do two jobs; and poorly. Stick with one or the other.

Yuck...

...and no.

Wow, these are the most level-headed "XB360 vs. PS3" comments I've ever read. Did only the grown-ups get online today?

Not one flame, and I like it.

Did they actually recreate those Apple icons, or just copy-paste them from the SDK?

...at least some part of the iPhone has copy-paste.

Allowing a poorly transfered BD to enter the market should be the #1 thing studios dread. The WHOLE thing going for BD is improve picture and sound, there is NO other reason to invest in this new technology. If consumer's opinion is tainted by poorly transfered BD's into believing that the picture/sound quality isn't as good as advertised, then no one will line up to spend the money for a BD player. Transfers need to be consistently of BD quality (first rate), anything less breads uncertainty, which will keep people from making the investment and possibly tainting their impression of the media forever.

The saying "you never get a chance to make a first impression" is even more true when there's a $400 purchase attached to it.

Couldn't agree more. You want to get consumers to embrace BD? Then give them more features to justify the higher price point. Add multiple versions of the film (.mp4, divx) for loading onto your iPhone or streaming to your media center. For the higher price point, consumers expect to get all the extra's thrown in. And I'm sorry to say, for the average consumer BD's improved picture and sound doesn't justify the price when compared to up-converted-DVD, or even standard DVD for some.

It's really up to Sony and the BD consortium to decide if BD fails or not. There's now no longer any direct competitor. It's really only a matter of how much profit they want to make. If they don't let go of their misconceptions about the dangers of piracy, or relax a little bit on their usually accepted profit margin, then it will be no one's fault but their own when BD fails to be adopted by consumers at large.