Making use of an obsolete HD DVD player

Now that HD DVD is officially dead, some of the early adaptors are starting to wonder what to do with their players.  At the moment, regardless of which HD DVD player one got, the player will still have some use by being able to play one’s existing HD DVD collection, since the HD DVD functionality is not suddenly going to stop working just because the format has been killed off.  It will also be possible to buy HD DVD titles for another short while as shops are selling out their existing stock, many at a discount also. 

Those with set-top HD DVD players can still use these to play DVDs and upscale them to high definition.  Unfortunately, those who got the HD-A1 or Xbox 360 will not be so well off, as some HD-A1 owners may want to replace their bulky 80’s VCR style player with a slim HD upscaling DVD player, especially if they want to play XviD and DivX content on it or make space for a Blu-ray player.  The Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on does not really offer any benefit other than playing HD DVD titles, since the Xbox 360 itself can play DVDs.  It remains to be seen whether Toshiba faces any class action suits from unhappy early adapters.  The same goes with Microsoft since they heavily pushed their weight behind the HD DVD format and refused to develop a Blu-ray add-on drive for its Xbox 360 until now. 

While those who forked out on the LG HD DVD / Blu-ray multi player may now feel out of pocket knowing that a Blu-ray player would have been much cheaper after all, they did have the advantage of being able to play all HD titles from the very start unlike those with just a Blu-ray player up until now.  Even though the HD DVD capability will no longer be of any use for upcoming titles, at least it’s still there to play existing HD DVD titles, so it saves cost in replacing these with Blu-ray versions.  These owners may even be able to recoup some additional cost by buying HD DVD titles (where available) now that stores are selling them out and some HD DVD owners are selling off their collection to replace their player.  Those with Blu-ray only players still need to wait for these titles to be later released on Blu-ray, not to mention them likely being sold at full price again.