HD-DVD's - why none in the supermarkets?

C

chemically_used11

New member
with the players soon to be launched in the UK and the XBox 360 add on due out on Dec 1 why are the supermarkets not holding/ preparing to hold stock since there should be a large demand?

from what i have seen only HMV have HD-DVD's and Blu Ray

i have rung customer services at Tesco/Morrisons/Sainsburys/Asda etc and you'd think i was asking to buy plutonium :D

they are useless and cannot even be bothered to investigate my request :mad:

i've asked instore also to no avail - apart from one rude 'customer services advisor' in Tesco who said the players were not available until January and were too expensive for ordinary people :eek:

mind you she was not too pleased i interrupted her conversation with her mates to ask my question!!

hopefully somebody on the forum is a senior manager at one of these stores and can investigate the situation?
 
Well it's new technology and as you say the players aren't in the shops so what's the point of stocking discs now?
The launch line ups are hardly stellar either so I think your prediction of 'huge demand' is pushing it a bit!
If you're holding out for supermarkets to stock them because you're expecting to save money on discs I'd say that discounts are unlikely for a while anyway. Best look on t'internet instead.
 
i've had an American Toshiba player for a while and have bought online

i just thought that one of the supermarkets might stock them as a marketing ploy over their rivals - particularly Asda given their tie up with Walmart
 
I was asking that question my self. HD-DVD has about 50 titles out and whats the harm of having one or two new releases in supermarkets. Especially ASDA as being part of walmart.
 
yes

high on candy - as you say Asda should be in a better position than the others to offer HD-DVD and Blu Ray with their Walmart tie up!

especially as there is no region coding issue!

i'm also told that Walmart items bought in the USA are covered in respect of warranty issues in the UK through Asda?
 
If it's anything like DVD was like in the early days then you'll probably find them in places like PC World this year, doubt supermarkets will touch them until late next year.
 
Supermarkets like to sell in mass market quantities.

Even if there was no format war to dampen sales,HDDVD will not be mass market for quite some time,if ever.
 
I think you will find that the competing format issue will put many people off buying an HD player, so in turn the supermarkets could well see no demand for discs.
 
They're probably waiting for a format to emerge as the victor. Not sure which it'll be.

There's also a belief (and one I hope is what happens, it's too soon for another new format!) that HD and BluRay will never take over the mainstream in the same way that DVD replaced VHS, but will merely remain for collectors and film enthusiasts, much in the same way as laser disks were.

Seems like so long ago when I walked into Woolies and saw a rack of about 12 DVRAB for the first time, now they've got more DVRAB than they ever did videos.
 
Agreed.

With HD ,not only do you need a compatible set,that set will also display your Standard Def stuff with a grotty picture.

So HD does not really have much going for it beyond the gadget freaks at the moment.

I was an LD buyer and got into dvd from day one but HD leaves me cold for all sorts of reasons
 
Yes indeed Walmart in the US are stocking a few titles on Blue Ray and HD DVD. It's clearly already creating confusion as they have put up a sign to remind customers that they need the right player.

There are also dual format HD DVD/DVD disks.

The range in the US is poor at the moment so I don't expect Tesco to be interested for quite a few months yet. the player prices need to come down too.

I can't see on the disks any indication of region coding yet.

Personally I can't see blue ray making an impact if they can't produce players at sensible prices and won't or can't make dual format disks to get people into the format gradually.
 
99% of tv's IN THE SHOPS (where new ones are :confused: ) may be HD ready but the majority of tv's in peoples houses are not.

If you read up in the Equipment forum you will see plenty of threaRAB ,both from owners and non owners of LCD/plasma sets who verify that SD pictures are NOT as good as they are on CRT.
Check out posts from some of the more technical people who explain the reasons why SD on flat panel is lacking.

My son has an LCD,and a friend also has one,and they both agree that SD is inferior compared to its display on a CRT.

You sound like the typical flat panel owner who has spent so much time watching SD dross on your screen that you get excited because HDDVD finally brings your pictures back to CRT level

Personally (don't know about Marshal) I have had lots of HD demos,and all fail to excite.

The US market is obviously much larger than the UK one.
Even if supermarkets don't hold out,the buyers certainly are,especially when HDDVD's are being sold without the extras included on the dvd.

Regarding the Xbox upgrade---sure,everyone will be buying them and running out to invest in a format where at least 50% of your favourite movies will (currently) never be released on it :eek:
 
I'm not good with the technical things, so got confused a bit... but are you saying that playing dvRAB, in a dvd player not hd player, on a HD ready flat screen lcd television is inferior quality compared to the normal televisions...
 
You're confusing CRT/LCD/Plasma with SD/HD - they are independet concepts. You can have a HD CRT just like you can have an SD LCD.

CRT/LCD/Plasma refers to the method of displaying the picture, whereas HD/SD refers to the resolution of the picture.
 
It's more than just that those two points though. We have HD and think it is fantastic. However, we will not be buying an HD DVD player until we see how the platform war pans out - at least for a couple of years.

I think that is a big issue for many people. Especially those of us who remember the whole VHS/Betamax period.
 
Buying now will simply limit your choice in the future, wait a few years until cheap triple format multiregion players are eventually sold. Both HD formats are here to stay, one may dominate in certain continents but neither will die.

There's an additional low cost HD format launching in Germany next month and parts of Asia too, so if you regularly import DVRAB from Asia like I do and this format becomes popular then the HD player would need to support it too.

Basically stay well away unless you have money to waste...
 
I would say they are about the same. If you look at the actual movies and not the list of supporters it evens it self out, HDDVD has lord of the rings while blu-ray has star wars etc
 
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