What to do after Toshiba has stopped producing HD DVD's

Advice on purchasing DVD Players and using what you have.

Toshiba has announced that it will stop production of HD DVD's.  What does this mean to you?  Well, if you already have a Toshiba HD dvd player you have to learn how to maximize what you have.  And if you don't have an HD DVD player yet there are more options open to you than just to go buy a Sony Blueray High Definition Player.

OK.  First off, if you have a Toshiba HD DVD player ( like I do) then don't panic.  Toshiba has promised that it will continue to offer support for your dvd player.  Also if you have HD DVD movies, you will need the player to continue to watch them. 

And realize that there are still plenty of movies and music videos still working their way through production.  So this is the time to expand your library.  Watch for deals on HD format DVD's in the near future.  My plan is to grab as many great music videos as I can.  For me, they are the most usefull since my wife will let me play them during parties, but groans if I put on an old movie.  But hey, for you movie collectors out there this may be a great time to add to your collection.  Sony has made some amazing partnerships with big studios, but it will be some time before they get to converting the HD DVD library into blueray format.  So if your favorite movie is on HD dvd, then you might as well buy it now.

And yes this will mean that there will be another black box sitting in your AV cabinet.  Welcome to  audio visual hell.  For those of you with HDMI hookups, you can at least feel good that the mess of wires in the back is minimal.  You can buy an HDMI switch with a remote which acts like a hub.  Here is a link to one offered by Dell  3 x 1 HDMI Switcher with Remote Control - HDCP Compliant    For those of you with conventional component wiring....I feel your pain.

How do you handle the wiring of HD DVD's and Blueray?  With HDMI this is easier, but it also shows an important factor in purchasing Your audio system.  IF you are just purchasing an audio system, make sure that it has plenty of ports to hook up HDMI cables AND is backward compatible so as to accept digital and analogue component hookups.  That way you can keep a lot of the older technology hooked up and available.  ( I still have a great collection of Christmas VHS tapes and am not ready to toss them and buy $30 dvd replacements!) 

If you have limited input jacks on your audio/video systems you may be forced to eliminate a component.  The obvious choice, if you haven't already done it, is your standard DVD player.  Both the HD DVD and THe Blueray can handle all the older technology.  You can play standard DVD's as well as CD's and ( in some cases ) MP3 and WMA encoded CD's.  

Also look at your specs on your HD DVD player ( or your new Blueray player) and see if it supports an input for an MP3 player ( like an iPod ).   Also take a look at your receiver/ amp and CD player.  Find as many ways to route your cabling through existing units.  For example, my cable box accepts audio inputs.  So I hooked up my Toschiba HD dvd player to the cable box and routed the signal through it.  That way I saved using an input on my Amp.

I'll post more on this article in the near future.  For now I just wanted to assure those who have HD DVD players that they don't own a worthless piece of junk.   In fact, this might be the time to pick one up at a bargain!

Later on, I'll comment on the following points:

• what makes the difference between a $200 and $1000 DVD Player
• What traps to avoid when buying a DVD player
• The specs you need to look for
• And more......

Colin