X-Box 360 HD DVD @ Sam's Club-$72.60! Gigantic YMMV!

Oxybeles

Oxybeles

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While taking a short vacation in Palm Desert, CA; I stopped by a new Sam’s Club in Palm Springs. Sure enough, there was a display box for the X-Box 360 HD DVD with the price of…$72.60. Yes, $72.60! I had little choice but to procure the item. They only had the one left, but I also noticed that in the wired rack case, there were a two or three WIIs and numerous DSs of all colors.

Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one!
 
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HD DVD and Blu-ray have about SIX TIMES the resolution of standard DVD - 1920 x 1080 vs. 720 x 480 - thus has the potential for far better visual quality. However, just because the potential is there doesn't guarantee every movie will benefit. It comes down to the quality of the mastering.

For example, the HD DVD versions of The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon and Lucky Number Slevin are almost imperceptibly better than their standard DVD counterparts. The Departed looks pretty bad, but better than its DVD sibling. King Kong is better, but the standard was no slouch.

OTOH, A Scanner Darkly is free of the terrible compression artifacts that plagued the DVD and Children of Men is like the poster child (no pun intended) for the future of home video. Absolutely remarkable clarity. Rent it and give it a look, then flip it over to the standard DVD side and tell me you can't see the difference.

A well-master standard DVD can be quite satisfactory. It may've been a so-so movie, but Find Me Guilty had a transfer that made me question the need for HD formats. However a poor HD/BD disc can make you think that next-gen video is just hype. Just as the first DVD discs had problems because people had to learn the new tech - the same happened with the shift from vinyl records to compact discs - these new formats are going to have a learning curve. I hear the Blu-ray of The Fifth Element - a showcase on standard Superbit disc - looks craptacular with bad compression and it's a Sony title!

Watch some more examples before raining on the parade.
 
King Kong made me question my HD add-on purchase as well. But then Serenity amazed me and showed me why I NEEDED the HD add-on. It varies a lot from movie to movie.
 
I'm gonna go check my Sam's I work at. We haven't sold any since we got them in so they should have taken some sort of price drop. The people controlling the "No Movement" don't really take price drops on video game related items liek so other Sam's Clubs.
 
[quote name='DirkBelig']HD DVD and Blu-ray have about SIX TIMES the resolution of standard DVD - 1920 x 1080 vs. 720 x 480 - thus has the potential for far better visual quality. However, just because the potential is there doesn't guarantee every movie will benefit. It comes down to the quality of the mastering.

For example, the HD DVD versions of The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon and Lucky Number Slevin are almost imperceptibly better than their standard DVD counterparts. The Departed looks pretty bad, but better than its DVD sibling. King Kong is better, but the standard was no slouch.

OTOH, A Scanner Darkly is free of the terrible compression artifacts that plagued the DVD and Children of Men is like the poster child (no pun intended) for the future of home video. Absolutely remarkable clarity. Rent it and give it a look, then flip it over to the standard DVD side and tell me you can't see the difference.

A well-master standard DVD can be quite satisfactory. It may've been a so-so movie, but Find Me Guilty had a transfer that made me question the need for HD formats. However a poor HD/BD disc can make you think that next-gen video is just hype. Just as the first DVD discs had problems because people had to learn the new tech - the same happened with the shift from vinyl records to compact discs - these new formats are going to have a learning curve. I hear the Blu-ray of The Fifth Element - a showcase on standard Superbit disc - looks craptacular with bad compression and it's a Sony title!

Watch some more examples before raining on the parade.[/quote]

however you want to justify, you shouldn't have to "experiment" with a movie selection to see good quality. Kind of like eating at a restaurant where the chef only makes his meals top notch every 1 in 10 tries, but you keep going back hoping for that 1 great meal.
 
[quote name='wadeshaqwalker']however you want to justify, you shouldn't have to "experiment" with a movie selection to see good quality. Kind of like eating at a restaurant where the chef only makes his meals top notch every 1 in 10 tries, but you keep going back hoping for that 1 great meal.[/QUOTE]

But its still a relatively new format, and you still have DVDs coming out today that have terrible transfers.
 
what kind of TV are you using this with? King Kong on my TV (sony bravia 32" LCD) looks absolutely real. there are some hits and misses as far as quality goes, but king kong is generally considered the best looking hd-dvd on the market.
 
The Sam's Club and Wal-Mart here in Greensburg, PA NEVER have the deals people post here. As of Sunday, the HD-DVD add-on was still $181 at the Sam's here. I'm always disappointed but I still keep checking when I'm there.
 
[quote name='Heavy-Sixer']The Sam's Club and Wal-Mart here in Greensburg, PA NEVER have the deals people post here. As of Sunday, the HD-DVD add-on was still $181 at the Sam's here. I'm always disappointed but I still keep checking when I'm there.[/quote]

same in Pittsburgh...
 
[quote name='wadeshaqwalker']however you want to justify, you shouldn't have to "experiment" with a movie selection to see good quality. Kind of like eating at a restaurant where the chef only makes his meals top notch every 1 in 10 tries, but you keep going back hoping for that 1 great meal.[/QUOTE]

A more proper comparison would be 10 chefs preparing 10 different style meals with drastically different quality ingredients each time.

When it comes to video quality, garbage in = garbage out. It depends on the equipment, who is doing the mastering, whether it was compressed, etc...

As was stated earlier, there are truly amazing DVDs out there with stunning visual detail and there are DVDs out there that look like a video tape that someone's three year old decided to use as streamers. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are no different in that respect and you'll always see a disparity in the quality of the final product based a lot of factors that have nothing to do with the media it is presented on.
 
[quote name='wadeshaqwalker']however you want to justify, you shouldn't have to "experiment" with a movie selection to see good quality. Kind of like eating at a restaurant where the chef only makes his meals top notch every 1 in 10 tries, but you keep going back hoping for that 1 great meal.[/quote]Not exactly the best comparison to make. HD-DVD media is more the distributors in the back end of the restaurant industry with the chefs as the movie studios. They can deliver great ingredients to get a great meal to you, the customer, but if the chef doesn't take the time to take advantage of the ingredients, the results won't pan out.
 
The hook-up I have consists of a 40 Inch Samsung LCD 720P/1080i TV, Model LN-S4051D and a Yamah a Receiver. Audio is optical for both. HDMI from the Sony DVD Player to the TV and Component from the 360 to the TV.
 
Here's where you realize how much better Blu-Ray is than HD-DVD = )

Just kidding, but transfers determine all. I only know the Blu-Ray side of it, but Rocky Balboa and Happy Feet are leaps and bounds beyond The Punisher and Kiss of the Dragon, while Punisher and Kiss of the Dragon are better than their DVD's, but not as blatant as it should be...

And of course, the type of film makes it better or worse too. Happy Feet and Bikini Destinations look AMAZING because one is straight CG and because Bikini Destinations is shot in HD, so they look absolutely pristine and clear. On the other hand, something that has been filmed on regular film is going to look gorgeous [because film's resolution is very high and goes to 1080 easily] but because it is film, it will not be as "clear" as the straight digital is

If you need a good example of this, the best I can say would be watching Star Wars Episode II in the theatre and then at home on DVD, even if you don't have an HD/progressive scan capable TV, the DVD looks a lot better because it wasn't converted to film.
 
[quote name='Oxybeles']While taking a short vacation in Palm Desert, CA; I stopped by a new Sam’s Club in Palm Springs. Sure enough, there was a display box for the X-Box 360 HD DVD with the price of…$72.60. Yes, $72.60! I had little choice but to procure the item. They only had the one left, but I also noticed that in the wired rack case, there were a two or three WIIs and numerous DSs of all colors.

Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one![/quote]

I've been fairly happy with the HD-DVD player (which I wish I could've bought for $72.60). I haven't bought any HD-DVDs, so I also only own King Kong, but I've been renting HD-DVDs from Blockbuster.com and have been happy with the quality difference on my 61" 1080p TV. I also have an Oppo upconverting DVD player and the difference between that and an HD-DVD is definitely appreciable for me. DVDs still look great, but HD-DVDs simply look much better and sharper to me. The size of your television probably makes a big difference as to whether you'll see an appreciable improvement from an upconverting DVD to an HD-DVD.
 
[quote name='DirkBelig']HD DVD and Blu-ray have about SIX TIMES the resolution of standard DVD - 1920 x 1080 vs. 720 x 480 - thus has the potential for far better visual quality. However, just because the potential is there doesn't guarantee every movie will benefit. It comes down to the quality of the mastering.

For example, the HD DVD versions of The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon and Lucky Number Slevin are almost imperceptibly better than their standard DVD counterparts. The Departed looks pretty bad, but better than its DVD sibling. King Kong is better, but the standard was no slouch.

OTOH, A Scanner Darkly is free of the terrible compression artifacts that plagued the DVD and Children of Men is like the poster child (no pun intended) for the future of home video. Absolutely remarkable clarity. Rent it and give it a look, then flip it over to the standard DVD side and tell me you can't see the difference.

A well-master standard DVD can be quite satisfactory. It may've been a so-so movie, but Find Me Guilty had a transfer that made me question the need for HD formats. However a poor HD/BD disc can make you think that next-gen video is just hype. Just as the first DVD discs had problems because people had to learn the new tech - the same happened with the shift from vinyl records to compact discs - these new formats are going to have a learning curve.
Watch some more examples before raining on the parade.[/QUOTE]

So true - I recently played some of my early generation (issued around 1997 or 1998) dvds on my High def TV - the results were not pretty. Terrible compression - blurry, full of "noise". The same movies released in the last few years - huge improvement. It's just like games - compare PS2 launch titles to recent releases like God of War II, and see if you notice any differences.
 
[quote name='Oxybeles']While taking a short vacation in Palm Desert, CA; I stopped by a new Sam’s Club in Palm Springs. Sure enough, there was a display box for the X-Box 360 HD DVD with the price of…$72.60. Yes, $72.60! I had little choice but to procure the item. They only had the one left, but I also noticed that in the wired rack case, there were a two or three WIIs and numerous DSs of all colors.

Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one![/QUOTE]

Do you even have an HDTV?! Some of those NYC background shots looked great!
 
The HD DVD player alone will not magically give you superior picture without a decent TV. HD DVD and regular DVD will look the same on a regular TV. You need a high def television to see the real difference (especially on a 1080p HDTV).

Closest analogy I have is this: a Hyundai and a Ferrari will perform almost the same if you drive on a road with 5 mph speed limit. Once you get to an open road, then you will see the difference.
 
Hey OP,

Did you even compare King Kong DVD to the HD DVD? I have the standard dvd and that same upscaling dvd player. I put SD in the Sony and the HD in the 360 player and went back and forth between inputs and the difference is drastic.
 
I checked my Sams in Eau Claire, WI last night and they were $170. I passed at that price.

I'm going to keep checking for the next few weeks and see if the price drops at all from there.

I did find all the seasons of Highlander on DVD for $16 each when I was there though, so the trip wasn't a total loss.
 
[quote name='Oxybeles']While taking a short vacation in Palm Desert, CA; I stopped by a new Sam’s Club in Palm Springs. Sure enough, there was a display box for the X-Box 360 HD DVD with the price of…$72.60. Yes, $72.60! I had little choice but to procure the item. They only had the one left, but I also noticed that in the wired rack case, there were a two or three WIIs and numerous DSs of all colors.

Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one![/QUOTE]get The Chronicles of Riddick and prepare to be blown away.
 
No HD-DVD drives at Sams in Apple Valley, MN last night - at least, none that I could find and I REALLY looked.

Too bad - $76 would have been awesome but I would have jumped on this at $150 too.
 
[quote name='velvet396']man this almost seems more like "your mileage will be massive"[/QUOTE]

Yep. All Sam's deals are like this. When I do find things there I don't even post about it because it will only lead to lots of wasted gas and disappointment. There needs to be a "Super YMMV Deals ONLY" section of the boards for these deals. Then you create a rule for the board software that says "if somebody posts anything that has Sams or Sam's in the title in the main deal section, move it to the YMMV section".

Or at have a policy where any Sam's deals must specify location in the thread title.

Anyway, Anderson and Greenville SC stores are both still full price. If your store doesn't seem to have them, look in the "lock-up" around or behind the customer service area. They will often have them piled up there with a bunch of other stuff. You'll have to ask for a price check.
 
[quote name='Oxybeles']
Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one![/QUOTE]

I'm thinking either your settings are off, or your tv isn't that great, because the difference for me is almost night and day.
 
^is that a joke or are you being sarcastic? My sarcasm detector is broken


Anyone its an okay deal since Im going with bluray but since I have a 360 this could be worthwhile
 
[quote name='Oxybeles']While taking a short vacation in Palm Desert, CA; I stopped by a new Sam’s Club in Palm Springs. Sure enough, there was a display box for the X-Box 360 HD DVD with the price of…$72.60. Yes, $72.60! I had little choice but to procure the item. They only had the one left, but I also noticed that in the wired rack case, there were a two or three WIIs and numerous DSs of all colors.

Whereas the HD-DVD was quite a buy at the price, I am not overly impressed with its alleged superiority over an up-scaling DVD Player. I only have the movie, King Kong, which came with the drive and in a comparison to the Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS75H, while HD the HD DVD looks clearer, it does not appear to be markedly superior.

Therefore, for $72.60 it is only marginally worth it, considering the scarcity of rental options for HD DVDs, as well as the cost of HD DVDs; and at $199; I would indicate that the HD DVD add-on is not that wise of an investment for your hard earned gaming or entertainment dollars.

As for searching Sam’s Clubs for the huge YMMV deals, I would check each and every one![/quote]

heres an offtopic question....i have that same dvd player and for some reason a lot of the time the quality it displays on my plasma is crap. i have the hdmi hooked up and all. the dark colors look very grainy sometimes and off color. i messed with a lot of the adjustments and cant seem to get it to look good. the hd tv stations look amazing so i know its not my tv set up. any help qould be appreciated. thanks.
 
$149.99 at the Greenwood/Indianapolis Sam's Club. I would have gotten one at the $80 range but now I'm just going to waiste it on an Elite.
 
[quote name='nativetongue88']heres an offtopic question....i have that same dvd player and for some reason a lot of the time the quality it displays on my plasma is crap. i have the hdmi hooked up and all. the dark colors look very grainy sometimes and off color. i messed with a lot of the adjustments and cant seem to get it to look good. the hd tv stations look amazing so i know its not my tv set up. any help qould be appreciated. thanks.[/QUOTE]

It sometimes looks like crap cuz its still not HD. Upscaled DVDs will not look as good as the HD stations. There's only so much you can do with a source thats originally 480p. If you want movies that look as good or better than the HD stations than you need an HD DVD player or Blu-ray.
 
Just goes to show, if MS dropped the price HD-DVD could be a real contender.

I was in my Sam's on Sunday hoping to find the $130 price. They didn't even have any.

They did have GHII (360) for $75 though.
 
Finally saw the HD-DVD add-on at Sams today, and it was listed at $181 - not a terrible deal but not low enough for me to bite.
 
Honestly, I see no real need for a high def disc drive right now. If I want to rent a movie in HD, I've got the 360 for that.
 
[quote name='mkelehan']Honestly, I see no real need for a high def disc drive right now. If I want to rent a movie in HD, I've got the 360 for that.[/QUOTE]

It is $6 bucks a pop and is only 720p and with most movies being about 5GB it gets kinda cramped on some peoples HDDs.


I just wish one formate would win so I could go out and buy the winner, I personally don't really care. Though Blu-Ray seems to be getting an edge with the PS3, so I am wearying about buying HD DVD.
 
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