*Opinions* When will we see a Toshiba Blu-ray player?

[Antny]

I'm thinking next Xmas. I have to say that this boards passion for blu got my ass off the fence. Hats off to Warner for making the right decision. I sleep much better now.

[hc666]

Depends on how deep they are in it with MS.

I would guess and say late 2009. HD DVD may have to totally die off for good.

This will occur after they release season 1 of Charles in Charge. Sort of a contract breaking party

[jling84]

I hope it's soon. It will mean that Toshiba has given up HD DVD and that everyone will be able to get behind one format as it tries to dethrone DVD. No one should have to watch that blurry shiznat.

[hc666]

Hey now Toshiba makes nice stuff, I can guarantee they would make a very nice BR player.

Their TVs are rock solid, laptops are among the best!

[Antny]

I can't wait to hear news from Paramount and or Universal. Egg on their faces. And oh, *&^%$ Microsoft

[lildawgryan]

Its funny how I would never think of buying a toshiba blu ray player yet I never saw any problem buying a Sony DVD player. If you dont get it, you dont get it.

[Pellaeon]

Originally Posted by lildawgryan

Its funny how I would never think of buying a toshiba blu ray player yet I never saw any problem buying a Sony DVD player. If you dont get it, you dont get it.

LOL, great point !

[Eddie who?]

The day after they announce the discontinuation of HDDVD. They would be idiots not to jump on the money bandwagon that is Blu-ray.

[Uxi]

Q4 08, most likely dual format and ~$300-400

[Antny]

I was on the other forum *ahem* red just to see the threads and I must say I almost feel bad for the people that dumped a ton of money in HD-DVD. I guess that's the risk we all took........well I said ALMOST

[Clark Kent]

Toshiba will be making combo players by Christmas of this year.

[Batman00]

Originally Posted by hc666

Hey now Toshiba makes nice stuff, I can guarantee they would make a very nice BR player.

Their TVs are rock solid, laptops are among the best!

THAT IS STR8 UP B.S!, I have one of their laptops, the idiots put the plug on the back and its the flimsiest thing ever, so you have to replace it like every 3 months or so, I bought 3 plugs so far. TIME TO GET A MAC!

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Toshiba will be making combo players by Christmas of this year.

I agree. Toshiba's initial press release... as well as their cancellation of the CES event, leads me to think Toshiba realizes it has two choices now:

1) Attempt to sue Warner for breach of contract. This was kind of hinted at in their initial press release. It also explains why Warner is obligated to release HD DVD discs through May. Toshiba may or may not have a valid legal case here, but it won't matter... their format is dead. It's just a matter of attempting to sue to recoup some costs. If they go this route, they will likely continue trumpeting HD DVD for a little while, in order to make their case better. Also, if they're successful, they could start pulling a RAMBUS and start suing everyone else in the world for patent infringement... in order to try to get a larger slice of the Blu-ray royalty pie.

2) Throw in the towel with dignity. Announce that they will be producing Blu-ray players and the current HD DVD-exclusive studios will be free to start releasing Blu-ray movies. They will likely bring out a dual-format player almost immediately after clearancing out the remaining stock of HD DVD players, and may follow with a Blu-ray-only standalone as early as holiday season this year. Similarly, they'll ask Universal and Paramount to continue releasing HD DVD discs until their contracts run out, but will allow them to start releasing Blu-ray discs as well.

Any other play at this point would just be madness. There's no money to be made in a niche format that offers nothing or a mainstream product, and the studio support for Blu-ray is now far too much to continue competing against.

Just my $0.02

[cartman781]

In September just in time for my B Day

[krispyjala]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

1) Attempt to sue Warner for breach of contract. This was kind of hinted at in their initial press release. It also explains why Warner is obligated to release HD DVD discs through May. Toshiba may or may not have a valid legal case here, but it won't matter... their format is dead. It's just a matter of attempting to sue to recoup some costs. If they go this route, they will likely continue trumpeting HD DVD for a little while, in order to make their case better. Also, if they're successful, they could start pulling a RAMBUS and start suing everyone else in the world for patent infringement... in order to try to get a larger slice of the Blu-ray royalty pie.

Unbeknownst to them, the deal with BDA already assures Warner they will also pay any lawyer fees if any litigation were to occur

[TigerShark]

Ces 2008

[rdodolak]

Imagine if Toshiba already had a blu-ray player design in their back pocket.

The next thing you know with their reshuffled plans for CES, they announce the discontinuation of HD DVD and introduce their first blu-ray player.

[TigerShark]

Originally Posted by cartman781

In September just in time for my B Day

I guess just in time for my B-Day too. I like Toshiba’s laptops; I would love to get a fully loaded Toshiba laptop with Blu-ray.

[BTBuck1]

My guess is, if Universal goes neutral or switches outright, we will see a combo player by Toshiba by Summer or the 4th quarter of 2008. They made their bed, now they have to lay in it. My other thoughts are that they now shift their focus out of the format war and into the PC drive/Blank media arena with HDDVD's.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Uxi

Q4 08, most likely dual format and ~$300-400

That's my guess too. They will want to save some face and do the double dipping.

I think its safe to bid farewell to the LG and Samsung dual-format initiatives.

Prediction: LG will probably pre-announce a Blu-ray only deck at CES.

Gary