I've been doing some thinking about all of this. Since I am format neutral it's a certainty that I will end up with a format that is no longer supported. In a way, I didn't take a 50/50 gamble, I made sure I have the format to lose!
Seriously though, here is what I decided and plan on doing. I am going to pick up another HD DVD player, probably on black Friday and I'll shelve it. If Bluray was down in price I would do the same, maybe after Christmas prices will be down a bit, but I think it will be awhile before they break the $200 barrier.
Sooner or later one of these formats is going to have the bottom fall out of it. Currently Amazon shows 405 titles for HD DVD and 450 for Bluray. That's a lot of titles for each format. Both will be around for some time (Amazon still has VHS listed, I honestly can't remember the last time I watched a VHS tape and I haven't had a VHS player integrated with my system for a couple years now, but they are actually still around).
Eventually one of the two will be having some clearance sales that's for sure! A movie listing of around 400 plus movies... that's a lot to pick from and the losing format sure isn't going to be garnering full retail that's for sure. (eBay has laser discs, tons of them for $5) It's kinda nuts talking about snatching up a defunct format this early in the game, but one of the two is bound to go belly up, and like I said, I have a 100% chance of having a format that doesn't make it!
As crazy as this sounds, I see merit in both formats. Picture Quality (for properly mastered discs) is far superior than the average SDVD and unlike Laser Disc, these don't take up a warehouse of space to store. So as long as a person has a working player, there is eventually going to be some good deals to be had. Of course if the player breaks... hence snatching up a spare when prices finally come down to where that is realistic.
I think even after we see one format officially 'lose' it will still be around for quite awhile. Like I mentioned, VHS is still hanging around believe it or not and that format was snuffed by DVD years ago.
Right now though it is nice being about to go back and forth and watch what I want no matter what format it's on.
