Update: The victor is Blu-Ray. So long HD DVD.

How to decide on Blu-ray or HD-DVD

Do so in just 5 simple steps:

1. Go to a store or friend's place with your favorite standard format DVD and ask the store or friend to get an HD copy of the same movie (most stores will allow this kind of comparison if they think it will help them sell a couple grand in HD equipment). Watch several different parts of the movie back to back to compare the quality. If you still cannot tell the difference or if you don't care, then stay out of the format war until it has been won.
2. If you're thinking of getting a gaming console, pick the console you want first (because it has the games you want to play) and then use the console to play HD movies.
3. Don't care about games, then go look at the movies you would be most likely to purchase in the next 6 months. If they are produced by a BD only studio (Disney, Sony, Weinstein or anything Steven Spielberg makes, or any number of smaller indies), choose the BD player. If they are produced by an HD DVD only studio (Universal, Paramount (kind of) or some foreign indies), then go for HD DVD. But in either case, wait until the holidays when the influx of consumer-priced models kicks-in.
4. If you have a contemporary HDTV (i.e. one with High Definition Media Interface (HDMI) and capable of 1080p) and want to see an improvement with your current DVD's, get an up-converting DVD player to hold you over until this war is over.
5. If you don't care what you watch and don't buy a lot of DVD's or don't have a contemporary HDTV then don't bother yet. Wait for the dust to settle.