Add to that unless your personal hardware meets some VERY high specs you wont have the horsepower to watch a movie even if you successfully rip it. I'm in the computer hardware business and have pretty high end stuff yet to get into HD & BD I had to invest over $1000 on drives and a new Video Card. Thanks to AnyDVD/HD at least the hardware doesn't need be HDCP certified but the rest of the requirements remain.
For the time being unless you have considerably more money than I suspect you might, just sit things out on the sidelines till prices and availability come down to reasonable levels.
The price of entering the HD scene is not as high as people make it out to be.
As the other thread about
nero covers well at this point, a capable video card can cost as low as (now) $79.99 at Frys if all you plan to do is watch movies. If you only want to watch/rip movies, the XBOX 360 HDDVD drive runs on PCs also, costs less than $200. For Bluray liteon makes a player that can be had from Amazon or frys (and a few others) for around $299. LG, arguably one of the best electronic makers, has an external theatre-style Bluray player for TV/PC use that's only $399. Most PCs sold in the last year to two years can handle the playback. The only real major expense is a compliant monitor/tv. $200+ for TVs and $300+ for computer monitors. The + price goes up real fast though for anything larger than 27" 16:10 screens.
Yes, anything better than bare minimum costs alot. I also work in the electronics field, as an electronics and entertainment reviewer. My recommended upgrade path from SD/ED to full high def is more expensive than the bare-minimum but it breaks down like this with average prices:
Low end:
AMD 4200+ cpu (or Intel 3.2 GHz equivalent) $79+
512 Mb system ram $39+
GeForce/GForce HDCP 7900 series+ graphics card (not sure what the ATI equivalent is) $79+
XBOX 360 HDDVD drive $99+ (used from Amazon)
Liteon blueray drive $299
BenQ FP202HW $299
Total price $500-$900+ depending on where you shop.
Middle road assuming you already have a middle road computer
AMD 64X2 5000+ (or Intel) $149+
2Gb system ram $99+
GeForce/GForce 8800 series (or ATI) $199+
XBOX 360 HDDVD drive $99+ (used from Amazon)
Liteon blueray drive $299
BenQ FP202HW $299
Total: $900-$1200+ depending on where you shop
High end: Buy/build a new system, plug it into your TV. Anyone willing to take the plunge for more than $1200 should go all the way with it. Price: $2000-$10000 plus. Burners start around $600 for Bluray and $800 from most places for HDDVD. Any HD Monitor over 40 inches (with or without a TV tuner) will cost at least $1000.
Yes, you can spend thousands; even tens-of thousands on the HD revolution, or you can do it for $500 or so.
The biggest thing to keep in mind with looking at that list, other than it's nothing more than a guide to get people started, is the low end system will NOT be able to burn HD media (other than HVD/HiVD) even if you buy a burner later. The software required will not run on that system. It also won't play the latest games in many cases. But it WILL play your HD movies just fine. Secondly, the monitor does not include a tuner. To watch TV you will need an HDTV tuner card or separate box. You will also need a separate card/box if you get satellite; beyond the tuner. Blue laser HD blanks cost cost $15 up depending on the size and brand. Currently the average bluray movie is 12-18GB and the average HDDVD movie is 8-15GB. Some movies do get up into the 30-40GB range though, or more, for BR. Not a real problem in the near future though as a 500Gb drive costs lest than $100 now with rebates and sales.
BTW: for the sake of honesty, much like wdgoldstein; most of my setup is comped. I "work" for the equipment, regardless of the manufacturer. There are some things I refuse to review out of personal experience/history with that particular product/manufacture (one of the perks of doing this volunteer); that's not to say that it's a bad product (as in ATI video cards), just that they don't work for me. I have my own views on some things that others may disagree with. I accept and welcome that. I encourage you to try things out and play around with different ideas. And let me know with you think.