Alice Zhang, In-Stat analyst. "In-Stat believes that the universal combination player, which plays both HD-DVD and Blu-ray technologies, will not be a sustainable solution as it exists today, as its current price is higher than the price to purchase the two players separately."

Well Alice you certainly are a rocket scientist aren't you? I mean come on, most new technologies are not sustainable as they exist when they are first released for the exact same reason. I wonder if she rememebers how much those large, lunky VHS players cost back in the mid/late 70's? And anyone remember how much a mobile phone (you rememeber the ones that were as big, or bigger, than an external 3.5" HDD) cost when they were first out? Remember the initial price of ALL current and now common (and sustainable) tech 'solutions'?

BUT as the HD format continues to be taken up by consumers the prices of these units will continue to drop, as will their individual format counterparts.

I for one think that the longer this format war continues more consumers will see a dual player as the only path that can guarantee that THEY (the consumer) can win it.

And while it is true that it is cheaper to buy BOTH players seperately let us not forget the cost of running out of HDMI ports on the back of your home entertainment system....and the personal cost of having to reach around and swap out plugs. Of course one could also comment on the cost of a quality 1080p HDMI switcher as well...

Duh! All new technology is expensive. I started burning DVD's when they were about $3.50 each for a disk. That didn't stop me from embracing the technology, but I knew the costs associated with my choice to move from CD to DVD for my storage medium.

As time moves on, the cost will lower and then more people will adopt a format.

THIS IS BECAUSE OF PIRACY! The pirates are buying recorders to burn their pirated software! Then again, nobody will probably try to attribute it to piracy because it would actually be helping the sales of recorders.

duckNrun, maybe Alice is an idoit or maybe she was underlining the obvious, why should dual players cost more than 2 units?

The Chinese will come out with a cheap one in the next year or 2. They are now at the point Japan was in the 60s. They are targeting lucrative industries, then producing a better product instead of just a cheap knock off. All the old fat and happy companies are too greedy to give the consumer a break. I love seeing a new company kick some serious ass because they give the consumer what they want, even if they a Chinese.

Hell, I cant find a single DVR (with a hard drive) that isnt criticized for something in some forum or other, for something or other. I keep waiting to buy a decent recorder for under $500.

Hell, I cant find a single DVR (with a hard drive) that isnt criticized for something in some forum or other, for something or other. I keep waiting to buy a decent recorder for under $500.

We are supposed to be surprised at this ofcourse players would drop why would u buy a player when now u can by a recorder that can play and record at the same time. Not rocket science.