personally, i'd wait until the end of this year if you are seriously thinking of getting an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player. rumours are a combo player will be released for around $650-ish. just do what I do. open a seperate savings account without her knowing and stash the money there. see no evil, hear no evil. when the time comes, get a good player. plus the HD players that are out now only support 720p. not enough for the price they are asking, imho.

now if you are looking for just a player that plays all regions without spending mondo dough, get one of those cheapo radioshack dvd players. i won one from work and it works dreamily. the price is only 30-40 bucks.

just a suggestion.