Current Blu-Ray recorders are only recorders. Prerecorded Blu-Ray discs will not play on them. Toshiba seems confident that they can get HD-DVD released in Japan in the first half of 2005 and America in the second half. Also yeah codecs can be changed. The point is HD-DVD has already finalized the better codecs into the spec. Blu-Ray has not. If its officially announced that Blu-Ray will definutly use the better codecs I will change my mind on this issue. If Blu-Ray sticks with MPEG-2 it will suck. HD-DVD will be better in every way. Blu-Ray will have nothing to go on and will have no chance of winning. If Blu-Ray does adopt a better codec it would then be the better format but still might loose like Beta since HD-DVD seems much more of a consumer friendly standard.