Customer Reviews

HDscape Sampler (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I picked up this HD DVD Sampler for its great price and my interest in nature and whatnot. I also have Planet Earth on the way, but this came first so I will let people know about it.

Regardless to what people have said, this HD DVD DOES WORK with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. Simply sign-on to Xbox Live before inserting the sampler, insert the movie and it will prompt you with an update. At this point I'm brought to the menu to view the 10 HD products they have to offer. I had the option to select all and that's exactly what I did.

I was quite surprised with the length of the sampler (About an hour)... it definitely gives you a good idea of what each product has to offer. After watching the whole thing, I can say without a doubt that I will be buying a few of the full length HD DVDs, and staying away from some as well.

The HD quality seems to vary from each product, with some ranging from the average to good quality, while others are average to below average. Some of the videos in the latter category have some flaws, such as compressed video, so it looks like a compressed video commonly seen on the internet. Last time I checked, HD was about clarity. Secondly, some of the videos looked like they used fake backdrops or computer generated content in some of their scenes. I can't confirm it, but there were definitely two of the samples that could have done it. But hey, that's what a SAMPLER is all about right?

Bottom Line? Being a big nature show lover and an outdoorsman myself, I am generally content with what I watched. As I stated before, I will be picking up at most 4 of the full length HD DVDs that were shown from this sampler. They aren't something to watch with popcorn, but its great ambience to play. Glad to I spent the $4.95 to preview these, because had I bought one of the full length HD DVDs with the flaws I mentioned earlier, I would never buy anything again from the HDscape collection. Buy this FIRST if you are interested in their other products.

This is an ideal disc to have running in the background when you're entertaining friends. Set it on repeat and it will showcase your high definition display with its stunning images and video footage.

Audio is best through a 5.1 surround system, with a great, enveloping sound field.....

Just be prepared for your friends to be a bit "distracted" for awhile....

This HD DVD is great to show off your 1080p TV. Makes a great backdrop when the family is over and captivates the toddlers. You can't beat the price for the serenity it can provide.

***Info update now avalible to work on Xbox 360 HD-DVD player, thats how I play my HD-DVD's*** The picture and sound from this sampler is amazing it is great to show off with especially when you flip it to show them the standard def. side which when compared looks horrible. Must buy if you want to show off or watch a bunch of nice samples.

If you are looking for some beautiful views to demo your TV, this is your disc. Just be forewarned that it's a sampler of full-length titles that are available from HDscape.

Well, I had the same issues as other people did with this HD-DVD. (When I put it in the drive, the DVD side worked fine, but the HD-DVD side did not. It wouldn't let you choose any of the menu options.)

Thank goodness HD-DVDs are upgradable over the internet, though. Microsoft put out an update for their HD-DVD drive and something in the update fixed this issue with that minor update. (All that is necessary is to be connected up with an Xbox Live account and to put in ANY HD-DVD movie and you will get a warning that there is an update available and asked if you want to install it.) After the update, the HD side worked perfectly.

Most HD-DVDs have a note included that says an upgrade to the firmware on your HD-DVD drive may be required to take advantage of all of the features on the disc. That is the case with this disc. So if you do not have the ability to connect your HD-DVD drive to the internet for the latest firmware update (or if you can't get the firmware update from a disc somewhere else) you should avoid this disc.

I'm happy with it since I got the firmware update automatically through my Xbox 360, though. =) The repeat all, or repeat one features are great.

This is a great cheap HD-DVD to quickly show off your high definition AV equipment to the friends and family, nothing more and nothing less. It's perfect for that, but how can anyone give 5 stars to a demo disk?

P.S. Our infant loves the colorful salt water aquarium footage.

A good demo to show off your new HDTV without getting into a Movie.

The pictures are nice, but the music is sounds like something you'd hear on those training videos they make you watch on a new job orientation. The price was low enough for me to want to give it a shot. Then again, I guess you get what you pay for.

In my opinion the HDscape Sampler should be distributed at no cost to encourage people to purchase the regular ones.