From your posts, it looks like you don't have a dvd player anymore? I don't know, maybe you might as well keep the A30 for dvd playback.

I've jumped to both formats since early last year with a Blu-ray/ HD DVD burner on my dedicated home theater PC and later a PS3. I am enjoying both formats on my plasma HDTV. Saw all the glory of high definitions. Even my older son, everytime we watch a movie together, he would ask "is this hidef?". No this is DVD.

A lot of people is waiting to jump into the high-def. They got HDTV and no players. But this confusing war just make things more difficult. The industry and retailers are sick with it and they want the transition to go smooth and as soon as possible.

I've had netflix (not anymore) and I had to wait for weeks to get both my HD and BD movies. Tried blockbuster and the movie selection is worse. Nevertheless, I have about 50 movies from both HD and BD, that's about $1K++ invested.

At this point, I wouldn't recommend a friend getting a HD DVD player (or even a Blu-ray player unless s/he wants a PS3). I would seriously wait. If you think spending $160 on a A30 and "that's it", wait until a few months and look again at your high def collections.

On the other hand, I had a friend called and I know that he's making good money (a professor at a univ). He has a huge HDTV in his living room, a projector in his "theather" and a 40" LCD in the bedroom. I recommended him both formats! That was last year btw.