Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by ArkGuy

Y'all keep chanting your mantra of "HD-DVD movies cost $30" but if you check out Wal-Mart's web site, you see lots of popular single titles and trilogy's priced for about $20 per disk.

Early adopters may shape the layout of the format war but which format is perceived to win over the masses will decide the format war.

Getting several of the 1.0 BD players down into the $300's before Christmas to entice new purchasers is very important in my opinion. You can't buy a movie, regardless of price, until you buy a player.

and before they buy that player people may want to find out how much these new Movies cost.....after the sale price goes right back up..than what they get to be under the same attachment rate as Blu-ray unless Blu-Ray could lower the disc's first. not just for a sale but lower the cost to DVD price

haveing a sale on a few disc's is one thing and What is that the HD DVD supporters said about haveing a BOGO IT TOOK ALL THOSE BOGO just to offset the sales of one HD DVD movie.. how long will this movie sale go on a week, 2 weeks a month...unless the movie studios of Universal, paramount/dreamworks want to do that to just so they can court Warner Bros. over to the HD DVD side to be exclusive....what then the formats are still split for Studio support..one little Q: of sales is not going to offset the sales data for a whole D@MN YEAR...

They gave HD DVD a full year to over come a 2 to 1 lead and HD DVD failed . how long would every one give THE BDA..O'L I MEAN SONY..because everyone knows it's just Sony trying to cram another format down people's throat.

THIS so called format war is 100% asinine and that is a fact.

[Blu-Light]

Originally Posted by Go Blu

720 is considered EDTV (Enhanced Def)

HD starts with 1080i

This is incorrect. HD is above 480p. EDTV IS 480p. 720p, 1080i and 1080p are NTSC specs for HD.

[arm711]

I as well as others on this forum am confident in Blu Rays success as the next generation format leader. But make no mistake about it the sub 100 HD player is a bad thing for Blu Ray. Simply put it's cheap and consumers care more about price around holiday time than quality. Reasons are simple, people aren't just buying things for themselves but they have to buy things for friends and family so the cheaper the better. As much as I hate to say this, I was one of those late adpoters to DVD for the same reasons... price. The BDA needs to make an entry level player or sell a player sub 200 if they want this war to be over any time soon. If they don't at minimum that 2 to 1 in discs sales lead will slowley diminish as these cheap HD players hit the market and enter peoples homes. 97 dollars for an HD DVD player, yeah it's only 1080i/720p but lets not forget that alot of HD TV's out there are 1080i/720p. Warners will wait this out to see just how well the HD DVD players do and if they do well (which I personally think they will due to price point) Warners can just as easily commit to HD DVD. I know we like to talk about superior format and technology but the reality is HD DVD is a big step up from DVD and with 97 dollar players hitting the shelves over the crucial holiday period along with Transformers and Shrek the 3rd being HD DVD... not good, not good at all. Consumers educated and uneducated in the format alike will decide and Walmart is a heavy stomping ground for these cheap players.

So please BDA drop 1st gen players down to 150...

"You can't make an Omelette without breaking a few eggs"

[Chuso81]

In the last week and a half, I know 2 people that have gotten a HD-DVD and a third that is going to try to do the Wal-Mart sale tomorrow. They all have mid-size HD-TV's that only do 1080i so that is not a big concern for them. When I asked what they will do when the get a TV that does 1080P they pretty much told me that wasn't going to happen for a long time and when it does, they will see who won the war. To the average consumer that don't under stand what all the specs are, they just see a cheap price on a HD-DVD player by a brand that they know and see a great deal. I think these might sell better than a lot of us thought. Hopefully the new PS3 price will help keep the ratio where it is.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by iceperson

Feel free to search AVS for my posts (same username), I've been beating down HD-DVD fanboys over there for months. That doesn't change the fact that Blu-ray needs a low-cost player that people can pickup for second and third units for rooms that might not have reference level equipment. For instance, I have a cheap 32" hd lcd in my bedroom that I'd love to be able to watch my blu-ray titles on, but for $400 it's not worth it.

what price do they need to be at i am just wondering...?

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by iceperson

So what you're saying is I should buy 2 copies (1 bd and 1 dvd) of every movie if I want to watch something in my bedroom or my den?

If that works for you , then of course.

Of course you can buy a HD-DVD player for $98 and guess what?
You're going to need to duplicate those same purchases because your blu-ray copy wont play on it either.

Kind of defeats the purpose here doesn't it? Especially considering you're such a blu-ray supporter you must have a large library of movies. How fun will a "bedroom" library of movies be and a "living room" library of movies.

Now, please explain to me how that $98 player is going to help.

[JTK]

Probably already mentioned, but I'm reading around in the papers that the retail industry is expecting this to be an incredibly lukewarm holiday season.

Their expectations are low enough that a lot of retailers are essentially going to start Black Friday three weeks early which means starting tomorrow from my writing this post.

So start keeping a look out now, folks.

People may stop at the $98 firesale price on the Toshiba player, but then they're going to be looking for what movies they can buy and play on it, especially as Christmas gifts.

That's when they're going to come across Pirates, Spidey, Pixar movies, Disney movies, and stuff like that and guess what they're going to find out?

No worries.

[SS316SRV]

Ok calm down. Let's do some math here. On this 3 day $98 HD DVD sale Walmart is selling what 1 million players nation wide. Walmart is losing $40 per player sold. Take 1,000,000x(-40)=(-40,000,000), wow that is a sweet deal. Toshiba is losing close to $100 per player sold to Walmart do the math. The industry knows this. They know that the only way to sell HD DVD players is by taking HUGE loses. This is not a good thing. Yes, I am spinning this for blu-ray, but it is not in any way good for HD DVD to sell at this much loss.

Open you're GD eyes. This isn't about players in homes, this about business! And Toshiba is getting its ass kicked on the business side of this.

[PrinceLH]

Originally Posted by LeoneFan

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense. Do you really think walmart and k-mart shoppers are going to be the target consumer for these $199 players? No!!! It's the same guy who was going to buy from Best Buy or CC for $299 that is going to go to walmart and get it for $199. I never set foot in a walmart or a k-mart but you think I wouldn't go there just to take advantage of this $199 player? Keep dreaming.

As I said, at this point Toshiba is too determined and it shows through their actions. Come April '08 they'll probably be selling these players for less than $150 everywhere and that's when the BDA will really have to pack up and go home.

I agree with you Sir. A lot of my compatriots here are looking at the format war through early adopters eyes. I too am starting to get nervous on how this is playing out. The BDA got lazy last summer and lost Paramount. Can the BDA take another major body blow and survive the format war? I don't think so. Now is the time for aggressive marketing and carpet bombing of HD DVD. Keep them on the defensive and bury them over the holiday season. Were giving them time to regroup right now and that is a bad move. All we hear about are cheap A2's and A3's during Black Friday. We hear nothing from the BDA! We all need to get objective here and push the BDA to victory. If not, then we end up with the second place format and get finished off by Warner. Time to ante up BDA!

[mdm1699]

Originally Posted by mj23007

Simply put hd a2 is 199, and this week at walmart 98. Blu ray cant even compete with that pricing. Also, the movies need to come down in pricing to 19.99 at least! Oh and where is my dts hd support for the ps3!

The very reason that you are not home enjoying your HD-A2 is the very reason why the BDA and exclusive Studios isn't concerned. You should be a lesson for all those considering HD-DVD (POST-PURCHASE BLUES) , the lack of software. THANKS FOR THE REMINDER. I can use that money for more blu-rays. I can't imagine buying that player for a couple of movies.

[WarCraft]

in my opinion posts like these are becoming rampant and are rant threads.

we already know that pricing doesnt make any difference ever since blu came out.

FUD. period.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

Ok calm down. Let's do some math here. On this 3 day $98 HD DVD sale Walmart is selling what 1 million players nation wide. Walmart is losing $40 per player sold. Take 1,000,000x(-40)=(-40,000,000), wow that is a sweet deal. Toshiba is losing close to $100 per player sold to Walmart do the math. The industry knows this. They know that the only way to sell HD DVD players is by taking HUGE loses. This is not a good thing. Yes, I am spinning this for blu-ray, but it is not in any way good for HD DVD to sell at this much loss.

Open you're GD eyes. This isn't about players in homes, this about business! And Toshiba is getting its ass kicked on the business side of this.

exactly:
and yet even Q4 will not change much at all WoW they get more player's into homes what is the other CE companies going to say...

Toshiba: want to make HD DVD players...?
CE company: with that kind of loss just to sell those players...um no thanks but thank you for asking..he bob we still have 20,000 Blu-Ray players shipping this month again ...we sure do dave...

[thrlride]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

Ok calm down. Let's do some math here. On this 3 day $98 HD DVD sale Walmart is selling what 1 million players nation wide. Walmart is losing $40 per player sold. Take 1,000,000x(-40)=(-40,000,000), wow that is a sweet deal. Toshiba is losing close to $100 per player sold to Walmart do the math. The industry knows this. They know that the only way to sell HD DVD players is by taking HUGE loses. This is not a good thing. Yes, I am spinning this for blu-ray, but it is not in any way good for HD DVD to sell at this much loss.

Open you're GD eyes. This isn't about players in homes, this about business! And Toshiba is getting its ass kicked on the business side of this.

I haven't heard of the losses, can you post links to substantiate the claims?

[Spankey]

Their expectations are low enough that a lot of retailers are essentially going to start Black Friday three weeks early which means starting tomorrow from my writing this post.

The $98 dollar HD-DVD players are also being offered the same week Disney is advertising Cars, Ratatouille, and Pirates. Think people will buuy a cheapo player thinking they can play Disney Blu-ray on them?

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by mj23007

Simply put hd a2 is 199, and this week at walmart 98. Blu ray cant even compete with that pricing. Also, the movies need to come down in pricing to 19.99 at least! Oh and where is my dts hd support for the ps3!

Here's an idea. You might have jumped into HD a little too soon. Apparently the early-adoption pricing is too high for you.

[iceperson]

Originally Posted by joeorc

what price do they need to be at i am just wondering...?

I wouldn't spend more than $150 for a stand-alone player for either of those rooms (1 has a 40" 1080i set and the other has a 32" 1080p set, neither has surrounds setup.) If I could pick up PS3s for $299 I'd buy 2 and throw them in those rooms in a heartbeat!

Originally Posted by bdrex28

If that works for you , then of course.

Of course you can buy a HD-DVD player for $98 and guess what?
You're going to need to duplicate those same purchases because your blu-ray copy wont play on it either.

Kind of defeats the purpose here doesn't it? Especially considering you're such a blu-ray supporter you must have a large library of movies. How fun will a "bedroom" library of movies be and a "living room" library of movies.

Now, please explain to me how that $98 player is going to help.

Here's my options as I see it
1) Do what I'm doing now, buy only must have HD-DVD exclusives on HD-DVD and grow my 40ish blu library.
2) Pick up a couple $98 players for my extra rooms and still lean blu, but at least be able to watch my limited number of HD-DVD titles in the other rooms.
or
3) Pickup a few $98 players and buy only blu-ray exclusives on blu-ray and trade/ebay the neutral titles I have on blu for the same titles on red that I can watch in any room I want.

Paying twice as much for better tech one time was an easy decision when I went blu, but not being able to watch movies because my kids have friends over playing the PS3 on the big screen has been a bit of a sore spot at times (I'd rather have them bring friends to our house, so kicking them out to watch a movie is not an option.)

[mdm1699]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

Here's an idea. You might have jumped into HD a little too soon. Apparently the early-adoption pricing is too high for you.

I hope that he missed his return policy period by 1 day. LMAO.

[Teramere]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

Well maybe Sony or one of it's many partners can make a watered-down piece of crap and sell it for the same price. Afterall, that's all the A2 is.

I sure wouln't mind see lower prices for BR players that were in the neighborhood of HD-DVD players. Yes, you get what you pay for--- for the reality of the situation ,as someone previously mentioned, is those not in the know see ONLY the HD-DVD player price tag and go "Hmmmm. Good price". and then zone out. Selling BR dics is great but the prices HAVE to drop more...

[JTK]

I wonder how many of these panic/doom and gloom threads we're going to see on through the weekend?

Who wants to bet the over or under on that?

The only reality that matters is this: People can buy the cheapest POS all the want but then they're going to be looking for movies to feed it.

They'll be looking at Spideys, Pirates, Pixar, Disney, Die Hards...and therein lies the rub.

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by BigB88

Prediction: Warner is waiting out 2007 to see how many HD-DVD cheapass players sell over the Holiday's. If its enough (they probably have some algorithm or formula to figure this all out), they will stay neutral, if not they will go exclusive Blu-ray. This is what will happen and you will probably know by mid January where they stand.

It's easier that that. They'll see how many of their HD DVD titles sold vs their Blu Ray titles. If their Blu Ray sales are still vastly ahead of their HD DVD sales then they'll pull the plug on HD DVD. It don't matter to them how many HD DVD players have sold, what matter to them is how many titles they move.

Paladin