Go buy that HDDVD player, it's a great deal. The only downside is that HDDVD is a dying format. It has lost the war. So buy it and you can be like my friend with his Betamax player with his 20 moves, or the friend who bought the Laserdisc player.
Comparing the Apple TV price to the HDDVD player price is about as smart as telling someone to buy that cheap Betamax player the days after SONY announced they were going to start making and selling VHS machines.