Re:That settles it... (Score 1)

see my post above on why hddvd/bd require so much processing power. Watch a movie like bourne supremacy or dukes of hazzard (they knew their movie sucked, so the interactive extras are extra funny, like a countdown to when jessica next shows, and suggestions on how to spend that time). To answer your point, hbo-hd is usually lower bitrate, lower resolution and possibly transcoded. it looks & sounds like ass compared to hddvd on my setup.

if you're really an early adopter and care about HD, then the 400-500 you spend on the toshiba hddvd player should be chump change. runs linux to satisfy your anti-windows sentiment.