XDE - Toshiba still hasn't given up

[PaulGo]

Considering the price drop of Blu-ray players and the fact that they do an excellent job in upscaling DVD movies, I do not think the XDE players are competitive.

Toshiba may have blown yet another large amount of cash in developing a product without a real consumer demand.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

Considering the price drop of Blu-ray players and the fact that they do an excellent job in upscaling DVD movies, I do not think the XDE players are competitive.

Toshiba may have blown yet another large amount of cash in developing a product without a real consumer demand.

IDK, does smoke and mirror development really cost that much?

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

Considering the price drop of Blu-ray players and the fact that they do an excellent job in upscaling DVD movies, I do not think the XDE players are competitive.

Toshiba may have blown yet another large amount of cash in developing a product without a real consumer demand.

The XDE500 is now available online for $89. But, you're right, when people see all the sub $200 Blu-ray players they will jump at the Blu-ray, or wait a while more, rather than dumping ~$100 on just another DVD player.

Funny how it used to be about hitting $199. And now Blu-ray players are there the number has magically been reset down.

Apparently the key price point for consumers is always $100 less than what Blu-ray sells for. How conveeeeeeeenient.

Gary

[Bobby Henderson]

That "XDE" DVD player is available from Amazon for $89. Nevertheless, the MSRP for the player is still $149.99. It wouldn't surprise me to see some retail stores selling it for over $100.

$90, $100, etc. -it's all good money thrown after bad at this point in buying a replacement DVD player with just another DVD player. Back in 1999 when DVD was picking up momentum in mainstream adoption the player prices were in the $300-$400 range. Blu-ray is at that same developmental point in time and the standalone player prices are coming in for less in real dollars, and significantly less when you factor in the rate of inflation between 1999 dollars and 2008 dollar value.

Blu-ray players are affordable now. Even sub-$300 prices for the newest BD Live players from Panasonic and Sony are affordable. The popular notion that Blu-ray players have to cost under $99 or even less before anyone will buy them is just plain silly.

[Anthony P]

Well a little more than that. I'm in the electronics industry and one of my specialties is estimating the manufacturing cost of competitors products. But then again common sense is all thats required. You have the same old $30 (retail) DVD player with a new plastic facade and a new scaler chip selling for $99. On the other hand you have a brand new cutting edge technology Blu-Ray player, which shares almost nothing with DVD approaching the $200 price point. Add to that the Blu-Ray development and tooling cost is not nearly paid for as yet. You do the math.

Once again you got the Blu Glasses on. You keep thinking of Blu-Ray with a scorched earth mentality. Like everything else was going to go away when HD-DVD died.

1) using your simplistic analysis BD is just a disk player with no upscaler so it should be cheaper

2) on the other hand the MRSP is 150$ and not 100$
3) if it is sold for 99$ then the store purchased it for much less, it is in it to make money.
4) profits are not only based on "cost" of parts but also quantity and quantity affects costs of parts as well.
5) no I did not expect DVD to disappear in a day but investing large sums of money into a tech on the way out (except if it is a bit of R&D to cheapen manufacturing) is dumb.
6) I also did not expect HD DVD fan boys like you to disappear as well (just check much older posts of mine even before they hit the market). But I was hoping I would not have to deal with such complete BS on a daily basis

[Anthony P]

my talk about "experts" taking the threat from Toshiba seriously isn't directed to this thread, but rather to industry-leader voices who now, and in the past, have continued to cast doubts on Blu-ray by acting as if Toshiba's upconverted DVD approach actually produced 1080p images competitive with native high-bit-rate BD encodes.

aren't they the same? people paid to push Toshiba's agenda?

[Mr. Hanky]

I saw it at Fry's this weekend, now at $99. Toshiba must have that diving hd-a1 pricepoint technique down pat!... They should just employ the full plan and include some pack-in hdvd (liquidation stock) movies with the player. Yes, I know the xde doesn't play hdvd's (the hd layer, at least), but think of it like an homage to 2007.

[PaulGo]

J&R is now selling the XDE at $79 (on sale). I guess Toshiba must be having a hard time in unloading this units (reminds me of HD-DVD ).

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by PaulGo

Considering the price drop of Blu-ray players and the fact that they do an excellent job in upscaling DVD movies, I do not think the XDE players are competitive.

Toshiba may have blown yet another large amount of cash in developing a product without a real consumer demand.

Very good post. Tosh just keeps baging its head against the door ...well kinda off. Remember, Tosh gets royalties from DVD sales and it is in their best interest to keep DVD going. However, their latest attempt is nothing but a silly, futile effort.