Tips are circulating on the Web detailing how to transfer your now-obsolete HD DVDs onto Blu-ray Discs. But I have to agree with Lifehacker in thinking that this process is way more trouble than it’s worth. First, consider what you need:

• A Windows machine with a fast processor
• An HD-DVD drive
• A Blu-Ray burner
• 30GB of free disk space, at least, though 40GB or more is recommended
• An internet connection to download all the software you need

Then, you need a blank Blu-ray disc, which sells for $15 to $20. Many Blu-ray movies can be bought in online sales in that price range.

But, more importantly, as several Lifehacker users note, who says you need to replace your HD DVDs in the first place? It’s not as if the discs suddenly stopped working when Toshiba decided to abandon the format, conceding the high-def disc war to rival Blu-ray. What’s more, there are several hundred HD DVD titles out there, and they’re likely to be sold at severe discounts in clearance sales. The coming months will provide the best time ever to stock up on whatever you want.

The original how-to article notes that the laborious, expensive HD DVD-to-Blu-ray process will guard against your player dying, rendering your discs unplayable. But in the same way that HD DVDs will be clearanced out, so will the players. You will probably be able to buy a backup player for the same price as it would cost to buy two or three blank Blu-ray Discs. I don’t even think it’s that likely that the player will die anytime soon. None of my DVD players has died. Heck, I have a colleague who still has an unopened laserdisc player from when they were phased out, because his original player is still going strong.

There is the practical aspect of how much room one might have for an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player — the only good one to date being the PlayStation 3 — which assumes current HD DVD owners will switch to the rival format. But that’s a small inconvenience, if it’s even a problem, to keep enjoying your HD DVD library.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm and is filed under DVDs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.