Cheap Chinese Hd Dud Player

[The Guardian]

Great post jason_grumpy! I particularly liked this part:

As far as the BDA, I think Toshiba caught wind of something and is scared to death. Don't you think it's rather odd that Toshiba is showing all it's playing cards now and going all out months before Black Friday?

It's very odd that they felt their announcements couldn't wait for CEDIA...

[Spankey]

I agree with Jason. Toshiba/MS usually has two times a year to make an impression. CEDIA and CES. Last year there was boast after boast, and did any of their predictions or statements of fact come to pass? Nope. Disney is still Blu-ray. What happened to those million HD-DVD players sold? Hardly. Meridian HD-DVD player. Anyone see it?

Paramount was the smallest of the big six and they took the pay-off. I would much rather have Universal than Paramount to honest. Other than Star Trek, and, until now, Transformers, there was not much coming down the pike from them. Top Gun? Meh. Two Jack Ryan films worth owning. Maybe. If Coppola is angry there is a good chance we see The Godfather on Blu-ray.

There were player firesales throughout the summer that did nothing. It really seems like HD-DVD is going all-in right now. I don't think they have a better hand than Blu-ray.

[scragham]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

I guess THAT is what would have some in these parts concerned.

If this interested me, I would want to wait to read about the build quality, user experience, and reliability with the various discs.

To me the $500 player is far more intriguing than the cheap stuff. But, there is no choice for HD DVD. You can get Toshiba (which never has appealed to me) or an Onkyo (which will probably be absolutely insane here).

if i were convinced that HD DVD were here to stay, then i'd be interested in the mid-high end range. as it is, the only reason i'd be buying this player would be for transformers and bourne in HD... which is why i might be interested in this player. just to tide me over until either those movies come out in BD (i.e. BD victory) or quality dual-format players become affordable (i.e. stalemate).

but absolutely, soooo many questions yet to be answered about this player re: quality/price/specs/whatever.

Where are the profitable players? There are players from Toshiba. Player(s) from Broadcom/Microsoft via the Chinese. And one high-end from a company that says it will probably release a Blu-ray player too.

Where are the HD DVD players in the Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, Sony price range?

Gary

that is indeed the billion dollar question. where are the mid-range players from CEs that are not toshiba?

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by The Guardian

Great post jason_grumpy! I particularly liked this part:

It's very odd that they felt their announcements couldn't wait for CEDIA...

I agree with that too Guardian. Why couldn't the Paramount announcement wait for CEDIA? Why couldn't this cheapo player announcement wait for CEDIA? Why show your hand this instant?

Everything about the last week regarding HD-DVD has shown panic. Paramounts press releases are comedy gold, as obviously the CTO was the entire time.

The only thing I can think of is that Toshiba is trying to buffer themselves for "Black HD-DVD Day".

[The Guardian]

Of course there IS the alternative that they might have a "knock-out" blow of some sort coming. I don't see what it could be but it would explain the "more minor" announcements of the last week...

So they either don't want these announcements (like Paramount) to be forgotten amongst the larger announcements at CEDIA.. or they're afraid of what BDA has in store for CEDIA?

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by The Guardian

Of course there IS the alternative that they might have a "knock-out" blow of some sort coming. I don't see what it could be but it would explain the "more minor" announcements of the last week...

So they either don't want these announcements (like Paramount) to be forgotten amongst the larger announcements at CEDIA.. or they're afraid of what BDA has in store for CEDIA?

I would have thought that too if the Paramount announcement didn't have the air of panic surrounding it. The two big announcements possible have already been made. Studio exclusivity and cheapo Chinese players, which according to the HD-DVD faithful should have been the knock out blow. Perhaps Paramount forced Toshiba to have this company announce early due to all the flak they've received from the community.

Any further announcements studio wise can only be Warner, which doesn't seem to be in the works, at least not for HD-DVD. Them losing their 13 year Toshiba guy at the helm didn't help matters much either. The rest of the exclusives are sitting tight for Christmas.

Conjecture only, but this might be the quiet before the storm.

[Rup_Muk]

Originally Posted by Spankey

... It really seems like HD-DVD is going all-in right now. I don't think they have a better hand than Blu-ray.

I like the poker analogy better than the chess analogy that was bandied about in an earlier post. We really can only speculate on what HD-DVD has "in the hole". Personally, I believe all their "aces" are showing, there are no more wildcards left in the deck and we are sitting on a Royal Flush.

I purposely use Royal Flush as an analogy because the only thing that can beat it is 5-of-a-kind. Does Tosh have a 5-of-a-kind? I think not... but,... stranger things have happened...

My $0.02.

Rup.

[Blu-Light]

LOL,
This thread is funny. HD-DUD is junk. Put it in an even worse player than the Toshiba crap and it is still junk. No worries, I doubt this will have a significant impact unless they sell it for 29.95.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by BigB88

I agree with all your points, the problem right now is perception and the perception is that Blu Ray is folding their tents and going home. All these things keep popping up and they are all pro-HD-DVD and all HD-DVD "good news". Yes, I know this has only been recent and before that time it was all Blu Ray "good news", but the BDA has to counter with SOMETHING, if they don't they just dig themselves a deeper hole.

More FUD, whether you intended to or not.

Where are you getting this doom and gloom from?

It's been months and months of nothing but Blu-Ray kicking ass and then the Paramount news happens, rattles a bunch of people's cages, and then the sky is falling.

Ridiculous.

You need to also remember the worldwide perspective where HD-DVD is literally DOA in a good number of countries.

C'mon now...

[Longshot]

Remember what our good friem kjack has said "an entire infrastructure is being built around bd". Seriously think about that and the implications for a minute before pushing the panic button.

CEDIA will be very interesting. Let's wait and see what the BDA has to say. Heck we should here something in the next few days from the show in Berlin.

As far as a knockout blow for HD DVD at CEDIA as some have suggested what could it possibly be? The best news they could get would be WB's going exclusive but that seems highly unlikely based on the insiders posts. Even if WalMart went HD DVD exclusive it would not tilt the outcome besides I doubt WalMart would do that as their number one seller of DVD's is Disney.

Many or most of the "sky is falling" posts seem to be coming from the newer members here. It is very easy to get caught up in all the BS especially if you visit AVMS with any regularity. Life's too short to get caught up in that nonsense. So this holiday weekend buy a bd or two or three and sit back and relax. The best is yet to come.

[gandley]

you can build it but will they come?. we have a format war, people with money can afford to take a loss. people who cant wait and see. the market chinese players go for are the ones that will be the wait and see group, or will look at the player and think its reasonable then look at the Media price and walk away.

the problem here is the combination of a new player, a new TV and then higher media pricing. not exactly the group cheap chinese players sold to in the days of DVD. Lets not forget they paid $100 for a player got bargin bucket dvds and it all worked on there current TV. This is just not the same market this time around.

i think it will be interesting to see how these players sell, and if they do, will media for HD-DVD rise as well.

im not convinced just yet

[The Guardian]

Also do they include a HDMI cable? Those are really expensive if you don't know where to get them...

[LynxFX]

This is what I don't get about the HD DVD group. Their entire mantra is about how 'cheap' we can get our product. That is fine, but technology takes a bit of time until it becomes cheaper to manufacture. In order for HD DVD players to sell they need to get the price down quickly, but it is faster than the natural price reduction new technology goes through. So that means they cut corners, remove parts/features and what you end up with is a 'cheap' player, instead of a low-cost player. That's exactly what these Chinese players are, that's even what the low end Toshiba players are. They are cheap, half-assed products, and that's what they want to win the war?

Sure BD players are a bit more but every single one of them is from a namebrand CE company and are of high build quality. Hell, one of the best built players is the PS3 and that came in at the same price as Toshiba's first 'cheap' player that couldn't even do 1080p and was quickly replaced with 2nd gen, and now 3rd gen players.

BD players are dropping in price every month. They are following the natural curve of technology pricing which will continue to fall without sacrificing quality. HD DVD is creating an artificial price curve by pulling features and skimping on quality. Sure it may only cost $150-$200 right now, but is it worth that knowing you'll need to buy another one after it craps out in a year?

I still have my 2nd gen DVD player that I got in 1998. It still plays great and cost $400. I've replaced those cheap chinese noname DVD players multiple times until I realized it just isn't worth it and spent another $150 in 2006 on a quality DVD player.

HD DVD is playing to the lowest common demoninator and in my opinion that is what ruined the DVD format. If HD DVD actually manages to win this format war, expect it to have 'fullscreen' cropped titles within a year of its victory.