The HD DVD

Many tech geeks are wondering, "What happened to the HD DVD?" If you were one of the unfortunate buyers to get caught up in the format war, then you're probably feeling frustrated and angry about your purchase. Since Toshiba announced that it will halt production on its HD DVD players, conceding defeat to Sony's superior Blu Ray DVD media, many buyers are left with a useless machine that won't be able to play any new movies coming out.

Surely you've heard the saying, "Buyer beware." Regardless, most consumers assume that if they're paying $300 for a new high-definition film playing machine, it's not going to become obsolete in less than a years time. That's exactly what happened to people who bought into the hype surrounding Toshiba/Microsoft's HD DVD players last year. They were told that new competitors would change the way consumers saw/heard movies in their own living rooms. However, Sony's Bluray player won the war in a surprisingly short amount of time. Despite HD DVD's short-lived life span, retailers are offering some reprieve for disgruntled shoppers.

Toshiba and Microsoft aren't the only big losers with the fall of HD DVD. An estimated 1.3 million customers are now stuck with these useless machines. To make it up to buyers, retail giants like Wal-mart, Circuit City, Best Buy and Amazon are offering to offset some of the cost. Additionally, manufacturers like Samsung and Sony are looking to win buyers' affection with machines that cater to both Blu Ray disc and HD DVD owners.

"The format war was confusing for buyers," says a Samsung insider, when talking about Sony Blu Ray format vs. Toshiba/Microsoft's HD DVD. When the dust settled, 1.3 million consumers had dropped hundreds of dollars on an obsolete machine. Despite being able to play old DVDs and purchase roughly 386 titles on HD DVD, people won't be able to get any new movies coming out. "Now there are still HD DVD discs that people want to read; but no one wants to write to that format," the Samsung insider revealed. To console the losers of the format war, Samsung is developing a Blu Ray disc/HD DVD combo drive that will read both formats. Many other retailers and manufacturers are following suit.

Best Buy is offering a $50 gift card to people who purchased an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox360 unit before February 23rd. The gift cards should all be automatically mailed out by May 1st to "Reward Zone" customers or people who bought warranties. Other customers must call 1-888-BestBuy and have a receipt or credit card information ready, as proof of purchase. Best Buy also offers a trade-in center to scrap the old player, although you will not be getting a particularly good return on your investment. For example, a Toshiba HD XA2 unit, originally priced at $1,000, may fetch you $148.50 and HD DVDs $2.70 each.

Similarly, Wal-Mart shoppers will receive full refunds on returns of HD DVD machines, provided that customers still have their receipts. Anyone who purchased an HD DVD player on or after November 1st can return their player by April 30th to receive their money back and dispose of the old machine. Customers who were unfortunate enough to lose their receipts may want to turn to Best Buy's trade-in center for a reprieve.

Similarly, Amazon is the most recent retailer to jump on the $50-Giveaway bandwagon. Some Amazon customers received an email, stating: "New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com." Any HD DVD purchase bought before February 23rd is eligible for the refund and the product can be turned in any time before April 9, 2009. It should also be noted that Amazon has consumer-friendly Blu ray sales as well.

Circuit City is now accepting HD DVD returns in-store only. According to Gizmodo and Digg readers, Circuit City is offering to give a store credit or a same-price, "trade-up" refund to consumers who would rather own the Blu Ray player. This is one of the best deals offered but it hasn't been widely promoted. Additionally, Circuit City has slashed the price of the LG BH-200, a combo player that will read both Blu Ray discs and HD DVDs to $599.99, after the instant savings.

Combo Blu Ray disc/HD DVD players may be the hot-ticket item for the next few years, as manufacturers and industry leaders scramble to regain some of the diminished consumer confidence. Both Samsung and LG have developed Blu Ray/HD DVD combo players that can read both formats. A consumer's best bet, then, would be to return the old player for credit towards this new player, unless he or she hasn't purchased many HD DVDs, in which case, simply buying a new Blu Ray disc player wouldn't be such a bad idea. There is yet another option on the horizon: Sony is looking at a TV/Blu Ray DVD player hybrid, although the release date is not yet scheduled.

What about all those XBOX360 users who hoped HD DVD would make their machines more updated and with better quality? Microsoft hasn't exactly been bashful about their bitterness and contempt for the Blu Ray disc format, but they've at least agreed to offer an XBOX360 firmware upgrade, via the internet, that offers "compatibility improvements" and "additional support for network features." One can only hope they get with the times and sign on with the winning team, which has been Sony's Blu Ray DVD.

Surprisingly, in a statement from Toshiba, that is the manufacturer of the inferior HD DVD technology, the company has refused to make any concessions to the 1.3 million consumers who bought the players. "There is nothing wrong with the products," Toshiba argues, "So we aren't accepting returns from customers. Customers understood that there were two competing formats and understood that one of them would probably prevail, so they made the decision to go with HD DVD." Despite their lack of sympathy, at least confidence in the generosity of retail giants can continue. Though it has cost retailers thousands, if not millions, they have done the right thing to keep consumers happy and coming back to the store for Blu Ray media, if nothing else.

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