European HD-DVD add on, now comes with 5 HD-DVDS !!

stereo_steve

For those of you guys keeping an eye on the High Def War...

As you may know, there has been a very big upswing for HD-DVD recently in the States. Turns out that us Europeans can now order the free 5 HD-DVD's.

Not bad. Looks like Microsoft + Toshiba are getting ready for Christmas.

Finally, the HD DVD Promotion Group also announced that anyone purchasing the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive will now receive five HD DVD movies free. That's a pretty good deal considering that the drive only costs around £110 in the first place. Obviously you have to choose your free discs from a specified list, but even so, it looks like a pretty attractive offer.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/news/2007/08/31/Toshiba-and-HD-DVD-at-IFA/p5

RuggieBear

any idea what the 5 movies are?

mathias

http://assets.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddvd/Xbox360_HDDVDOffer.pdf

According to the above link , the 5 movies are for the US only ( in terms and conditions ),The movies are listed by the way. The offer expires at the end of Sept.

The UK site here , mentions nothing about 5 free movies.

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm

Where did you get the info for the offer in europe ?

stereo_steve

Well heres the American form...

http://thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/perfectoffer_advert.pdf

I assume we'll be the same. Pick one from each category.

Category A

Apollo 13, Seabiscuit, The Chronicles of Riddick

Category B
Casablanca, Constantine, Dukes of Hazzard

Category C
Four Brothers, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Sky Captain and the
World of Tomorrow

Category D
The Rundown, Blazing Saddles, U2: Rattle and Hum

Category E
U-571, The Perfect Storm, We Were Soldiers

stereo_steve

mathias wrote:

http://assets.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddvd/Xbox360_HDDVDOffer.pdf

According to the above link , the 5 movies are for the US only , the UK site here , mentions nothing about 5 free movies.

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm

Where did you get the info for the offer in europe ?

It was announced yesterday at IFA. http://www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/MesseBerlin/htdocs/www.ifa-berlin/index_flash/index.jsp

Give it a couple of days for amazon etc to list it on their site.

mathias

I can find nothing about it on the IFA site , I'll keep an eye on the microsoft UK site for the form , as you have to send your receipts to them for the movies I guess thats the site to watch.

arch_stanton

There's a report on the presentation available on dvdtimes

The main points are;

"The free movies bundle promotion is coming to Europe! 5 free movies free with each player. The titles are still being chosen - but MIGHT include Miami Vice, Batman Begins, King Kong, Chronicles of Riddick, and Troy"

and from Jordi Rivas, Microsoft General Manager for HDDVD;

"They'll be offering 5 free discs with HD DVD drive in Europe. Says the promotion in the US had "outstanding" results and caused the player to jump in sales by 7 times!"

Blu ray is still in the lead:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=459

stereo_steve

The Blu-ray site says they are in the lead? Thats weird! I wonder if the HD-DVD site say they are in the lead :rolleyes:

If you want a more independent look, take a look at http://amazon.highdefdigest.com/history.aspx?TYPE=100&SPAN=45

Its by no means accurate but its a better indication. FWIW HD DVD + Blu-ray are only about 0.3% of the market. Because one side proclaims their side to have sold more players/ discs etc. means nothing at this stage.

For those that want Hi-Def movies on their tv, the xbox add on is a nice price.

Personally I believe that if a high definition medium prevails over DVD it will be HD DVD.

mathias

The Blu-ray site says they are in the lead? Thats weird! I wonder if the HD-DVD site say they are in the lead

Your better off ignoring all that nonsense , as you say , the real figures are how well both are selling combined against DVD , and the long and short of it is , they are not ! They are absolutely no competition to that format. Without a significant gain against DVD they are both as good as dead.

In any case , like with DVD audio and SACD , Pioneer have a dual player coming on the market , and so do LG , so get either one of those and it matters not a jot , you can buy and play any title you want then.

In the meantime , the xbox and ps3 are the cheapest way to get into either format.

Sidane

Judging by that list of HD DVDs, Blu Ray is definitely in the lead.

Not a single movie there I would want to see twice or spend money on...

mcgovern

Heard they've reduced the price by €20 also.
Its starting to get tempting..

Scruff

price cut but no mention of 5 free movies
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=82701

gar

Bought my HD-DVD drive when in America and only heard about the offer when I got back. I had left the packaging behind because of bulk. Have since taken mates barcode and sent off copy of receipt yesterday. Lets see if i get the DVDs...

I know they wont ship to Ireland so given address of friend in the US. Hope they dont mind its a European barcode sticker...???

Gar

ALS

Got e-mail confirmation today from Microsoft that this deal is open to Ireland also. . . .happy days

Dear Customer,

This offer is valid for Ireland.

Sincerely,
5 Free HD DVD Promotions Team

AnCapaillMor

stereo_steve wrote: »

The Blu-ray site says they are in the lead? Thats weird! I wonder if the HD-DVD site say they are in the lead :rolleyes:

well in al fairness, HD-DVD have paid a bucket load to paramount to make their movies HD-DVD exclusive and now they're giving away HD-DVD's. Hradly done by someone who's leading. At the moment i reckon for every 5 hd-dvds sold, 6 blu-rays are sold. Well in my place it's that way.

Anyway FFS why did'nt they announce this 4 weeks ago when i got mine.

Chardee MacDennis

so what movoes would ya buy? i'm thinking apollo 13, constantine, tomb raider, rattle and hum and we were soldiers. oh and i need an xbox and hd-dvd first but there on the list. any talk oon when the offer expires?

AnCapaillMor

Riddick looks absoluetly amazing on HD-DVD, as does constantine.

mcgovern

ALS wrote: »

Got e-mail confirmation today from Microsoft that this deal is open to Ireland also. . . .happy days

Dear Customer,

This offer is valid for Ireland.

Sincerely,
5 Free HD DVD Promotions Team

Sweet, thanks for the update!

Vyse

How do you apply for the free DVDs?

ALS

link here

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hd-dvd/default.htm

Fingleberries

Possibly some of the most obvious questions and will earn me a well deserved 'Duhhh', but I figure if I don't ask, I'll never know - so here goes (with a little backkground to why I'm asking)

I've downloaded HD Video content from the Marketplace before (accidentally, because I don't have a HD Ready TV), and the XBOX displayed it OK on my TV.

- Does the Xbox downscale video to display it on a regular TV?
- If so, would it also do the same for a HD-DVD if it was played using this add-on?

I'm just curious because this offer seems too good to pass up, and would do as a stop gap until I get myself a HD-TV.

- Also that link seems to be for the UK, not Ireland - would they still accept applications from Ireland?

... (pause for howls of derisive laughter) ...

bucks73

If you dont have a HD capable TV nothing that you are watching on it will be in high definition.

Am tempted to avail of this offer myself but my 360 is hooked up to a normal CRT so wouldnt be making use of the HD until I bought a HD TV.

Fingleberries

Cheers Bucks - I understand that it won't be in HD as my TV is not a HD one. What I was more curious about was would it:

1) Automatically downscale the picture and display it in SD on my CRT TV.
2) Show a black screen with sound only.
3) Try to show it in HD and blow up my poor old Telly because it's really not able for the high resolution.

mathias

CRT's will always scale any picture down to fit the screen , you can watch them no problem. Obviously it still has to be PAL , but as the HD-DVD plays through your xbox that will be no problem. If you can see output from your xbox you'll see the movies.

Fingleberries

Nice one - thanks all for the info.

bucks73

Fingleberries wrote: »

1) Automatically downscale the picture and display it in SD on my CRT TV.
2) Show a black screen with sound only.
3) Try to show it in HD and blow up my poor old Telly because it's really not able for the high resolution.

Yeah as Mathias says theres no problem actually seeing the picture but it will just be SD on your CRT.

Great deal seeing as any HD DVDs Ive seen are about 30 quid each and Smyths do the player for 170. Was thinking of upgrading the TV in new year anyway so this is very tempting.

TakeTheVeil

So this offer is definitely open to Ireland and not just the UK?

Was thinking of picking one up soon.. and i'm thinking I might buy it this week and beat the rush and long waits for the HDDVDs to be posted out around Christmas

Ravenholm

ALS wrote: »

link here

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hd-dvd/default.htm

yeah I saw that but the Terms and Conditions on there state that this offer is only valid in the UK. If you go to the Irish page :

http://www.xbox.com/en-IE/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm

there is no mention of any offer

TakeTheVeil

He did mention he got a confirmation e-mail from Microsoft about this offer being available to Ireland.. If so, I assume we need an Irish PDF form rather than the UK one.. and we need an Irish Address to send it to

Dman001

I was reading the Mirror and they are saying that you can get it in Ireland.