I've never seen bluray yet, at least not on a real tv in someones home and I don't trust the ones in the big stores cuz you never know how they're really hooked up. From things I've read though, they're pretty equal. It seems that bluray is taking off now that the shortage of ps3's is over as more movies are coming out for it and their sales are going up.
I've read that a new larger storage version of hd dvd is coming out though later this year and that the players will just need to update their firmware in order to play them. I guess that will take care of the disadvantage of the smaller storage on them.
I've read that Walmart is buying a ton of $300 hd dvd players to sell and promote in their stores, however, I also read that they currently have one for $350...so its not that big of a deal really.
Personally, I'd wager that next year at this time you'll be able to get a combo player that does both formats for under $200 and burners that do both for under $400.
John, you're right, both are 2.35:1