Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[blu2]

Originally Posted by miro

is it just me but isn't it the same old story. A format is about to die so comes out with a ultra cheap player that sucks. happened with beta and divx. this looks like the end to me .

It may be a last big push... but one cannot discount it working. Toshiba is going to be cut throat this holiday season. Warner has clearly indicated they are going to be looking at 4Q results, and Toshiba is going to get as many players sold as possible. And they seem to be working hand in hand with Walmart now.

[sodrock]

Originally Posted by blubloodz

Dammit im going to go into overload. There lying there is no way Walmart is selling HD DVD for $98. HD DVD is dead.

Troll

[WickyWoo]

They're simply clearing out these old A2s on a firesale.

This should tell you something. When it came time for the A3, Toshiba still had 50,000+ A2s still in stock.

[UltimateFighter]

No he means $98. There are a couple threads on this already. It's only a one day sale at Walmart, but it's still damn smart on their part. There is no doubt that this is going to hurt us.

[wisper9999]

Come on guys you knew this was coming. This is WAR!!!! Too bad the folks who bring it home and try it on a big screen tv will say. HD-DVD SUCKS. What a piece of $hit hd is. Then they wonder how come the screen at bestbuy looked so good. So they go into BB and look to find out it's connected to a Blu player. I don't think the prices for the BLU players will comedown soon. However, I think the price of BD will come down more. Possibly under $15 a pop and $21 for the 50gb disks. You will see.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by blu2

That's their plan.

I agree their plan is definitely to sell some players to people who wouldn't otherwise buy one. But, I really doubt they want to sell these to Blu-ray supporters who would only ever buy a few HD DVD-exclusive titles. Then again... I 'm still trying to rationalize my feelings on this. I may end up with one... but I'll feel very dirty about it.

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

They're simply clearing out these old A2s on a firesale.

This should tell you something. When it came time for the A3, Toshiba still had 50,000+ A2s still in stock.

Very true. But a genius move nonetheless.

[toocheezy]

Like I said before, people will soon realize that you are getting what you paid for. A cheap price for a cheap ass crappy syatem

[matts]

Originally Posted by clyon

Not true almost ALL tvs have some trouble deterlacing

if true, then there are still a lot of people with either 720P and 1080i sets. This player is perfect for them. There's no reason to discount it as many do simply because its 1080i.

[Dyana B]

I'm sorry... even at the $98 price, I am not going to line Toshiba's pocket. This is a blatant, desperate attempt at saving face when they know that they are on their way out...

[yakman]

Originally Posted by fitprod

Well, at least we know that, aside from possible combo players, no mainstream CE company that makes BR units will ever make a stand alone HD DVD player.

Why would they bother at this point? The product has been completely de-vauled after 18 months.


fitprod

Yeah, that is why Denon etc. can sell DVD players that cost in the multiple hundreds when you can buy a $30 DVD player at most big boxes,

[matts]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

They're simply clearing out these old A2s on a firesale.

This should tell you something. When it came time for the A3, Toshiba still had 50,000+ A2s still in stock.

Does the reason really matter? Its still a good player. Trying to justify the reason doesn't make it any less of a plus for HD DVD.

[ziggy66]

I think the BDA needs to step up and get some more competative pricing on the players. Toshiba is literally tossing these things out for nothing, and people will buy them up. With the HD DVD players going sub $200, Blu Ray needs some players out there to be sub $300 soon!

[UltimateFighter]

Originally Posted by wisper9999

Come on guys you knew this was coming. This is WAR!!!! Too bad the folks who bring it home and try it on a big screen tv will say. HD-DVD SUCKS. What a piece of $hit hd is. Then they wonder how come the screen at bestbuy looked so good. So they go into BB and look to find out it's connected to a Blu player. I don't think the prices for the BLU players will comedown soon. However, I think the price of BD will come down more. Possibly under $15 a pop and $21 for the 50gb disks. You will see.

If this is war, they just hiroshima'ed our asses. Look I'll never ever buy HD-DVD. I don't care if everybody switches to it. But this is really really bad.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by Dyana B

I'm sorry... even at the $98 price, I am not going to line Toshiba's pocket. This is a blatant, desperate attempt at saving face when they know that they are on their way out...

people are going to see hey a $98.00 player..but than look $30.00+ movies except for 3 movies at $14.95...wow what a deal..$30.00 movies

[Zyclone]

Originally Posted by Dyana B

I'm sorry... even at the $98 price, I am not going to line Toshiba's pocket. This is a blatant, desperate attempt at saving face when they know that they are on their way out...

if im not mistaken its $98 for discounted models , its not a sign of desperate i imagine its quite a common practice. and it will clear alot of HD players out which no matter how you spin it is good for the HD DVD community.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by UltimateFighter

If this is war, they just hiroshima'ed our asses. Look I'll never ever buy HD-DVD. I don't care if everybody switches to it. But this is really really bad.

wow another upconverting DVD player its $98.00...

[matts]

Originally Posted by joeorc

people are going to see hey a $98.00 player..but than look $30.00+ movies except for 3 movies at $14.95...wow what a deal..$30.00 movies

I'm not sure I understand. Blu-ray movie prices are pretty much the same.

Only times you can get them for less are when they have the specials, but the MSRP between the two formats seems to be pretty equal, except with combos.

[matts]

Originally Posted by joeorc

wow another upconverting DVD player its $98.00...

I like reading your posts, they make me laugh

Even if you disagree that good TV's will display 1080i and 1080P the same, you can't argue that the majority of HD owners have 720P and 1080i sets. All those owners will get the same PQ out of the HD-A2 as the will any of the lower priced blu-ray players.

[LeoneFan]

This is what I was ranting about earlier. Toshiba will stop at nothing to win this thing. By January they will be right back in this war. It looks like Warner will have no trouble choosing HDDVD come Q1 '08. The BDA just doesn't want to compete and they will lose. Simple as that.

[HDTV1080P]

As of November 1st 2007 a 1080P/24 3rd generation HD-DVD player is only $51.50 cheaper compared to a 3rd generation 1080P/24 BLU-RAY player.

A factory new Samsung BD-P1400 with HDMI 1.3, Ethernet port, and 1080P/24 support can be purchased as low as $369.
http://www.streetprices.com/Electronics/Other/Samsung-BDP1400-SP16695513.html?query=bdp-1400

A factory new Toshiba HD-A30 with HDMI 1.3, Ethernet port, and 1080P/24 support can be purchased as low as $317.50.
http://www.streetprices.com/Electronics/Other/Toshiba-HD-A30-SP16591039.html?query=HD-A30

When one compares the cheapest factory new 3rd generation BLU-RAY player with 1080P/24 support to the cheapest factory new 3rd generation HD-DVD player with 1080P/24 support then one will discover that HD-DVD players are only around $51.50 cheaper when compared to BLU-RAY players. When the difference in price between a BLU-RAY player and a HD-DVD player is so small the smart decision is to choose a BLU-RAY player since many movies in BLU-RAY are mastered at high bit rates using 50GB discs. BLU-RAY high bit rate movies look better then HD-DVD movies since the bit rates for video and audio are higher then what the HD-DVD format can provide. Maximum Video and Audio bit rate for BLU-RAY is 48 Mbits and the HD-DVD format offers only 30.24 Mbits for maximum Video and Audio bit rate. BLU-RAY is the smarter choice since Disney, 20th Century Fox, Starz, and Sony Pictures are exclusive to the BLU-RAY format. In the end player prices are not going to matter much, which format is the best in picture and sound quality with the more exclusive content will be the most popular format with consumers. The only reason to own a HD-DVD player is for people that want to watch exclusive Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures movies in HDTV. BLU-RAY has more exclusive studios compared to HD-DVD.