How would you like to read a comparative review which ends in no conclusion whatsoever? If you like that kind of thing, then this article by High-Def Digest will be your cup of tea. It first discusses the HD DVD Xbox 360 addon, and its use. Then it discusses the PS3’s BD capabilities. You’d expect at the end of the article for some kind of conclusion to be draw. Like “If you’re looking for A, then get this. But if B is more important to you, get that.” At least, that’s how the writers that don’t want to offend their advertisers would do it. Writers that throw caution to the wind would just say something like “Product A is better, no doubt. Get A.” Sometimes they might add a “But in the tiny circumstance XYZ, B might be a better option.” Well, none of that in this article by High-Def Digest.

They take a look at the HD DVD addon and say that it’s a mighty good addition to the Xbox 360. Except, well for that whole lack of HDMI output. Which means you don’t get TrueHD or DTS HD Master sound. Or a digital link to your TV.

Then they discuss the PS3, and complain about the fact that if the PS3 is on when you put in a BD movie, you have to select it to play it. And that for those sets that don’t accept a 720p signal, the PS3 downconverts 720p to 480p. Which is a big deal, but only to those people who don’t have 720p-accepting HDTV’s. Which is actually a small number these days. Picture quality is great, blah blah blah.

Well, if you’ve been reading this space for any length of time, you’d know that I’m a BD fan and therefore I’d recommend the PS3. But really, these are both excellent players, and your choice, if you just had to choose a console based on movie playing, would have to come down to the format war, and who you’d think would win. But if you ignore that issue, I personally think the PS3 is a better machine, because you get to benefit from all of what the HD disc has to offer - video and sound. That’s just not true of the Xbox 360.

In the Spotlight: PlayStation 3 vs. Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-On