As of May 1 2007 here are some of the cheap street prices that can be found on HDTV

[HDTV1080P]

One of the effects of this so called format war between HD-DVD and BLU-RAY is player prices are falling faster over a shorter time period compared to having just one HDTV optical format to choose from. In one way this is good for the consumer and bad for manufactories. When prices fall too far to fast companies profits suffer. For example there are several standard DVD players selling between $20-$50 at various stores from time to time. The markup on these standard DVD players are so low that both manufactories of standard DVD players and stores that carry cheap DVD players are lucky to make a profit.
If BLU-RAY and HD-DVD player’s prices start to fall to fast and there is no money to be made on either BLU-RAY or HD-DVD players then some name brand manufactories might decide not to make any type of HDTV player. So if BLU-RAY and HD-DVD players are not profitable and Sony and Toshiba start selling players below manufacturing cost then the consumer can suffer since there is a lower selection of brand name players to choose from.

As of May 1 2007 here are some of the cheap street prices that can be found on HDTV players

BLU-RAY PLAYERS

In an earlier post several weeks ago I mentioned that a factory new Samsung BD-P1000 most likely could be purchased for $399 toward the end of April. It is May 1st and the only place one can purchase a factory new BD-P1000 for around $399 is from various EBAY dealers. This player use to sale for $1000 a year ago. The player is less then half price now.

Online dealers not including EBAY

The Samsung BD-P1000 can be purchased for as low as $454.99 which also includes free shipping.
http://www.pricerunner.com/pl/4-587357/DVD-Players/Samsung-BDP-1000-Compare-Prices

The Samsung BD-1200 can be purchased as low as $599.99 (Currently the cheapest 1080P/24 HDTV player on the market).
http://www.pricerunner.com/pl/4-894708/DVD-Players/Samsung-BD-P1200-Compare-Prices?q=bd-p1200

HD-DVD PLAYERS

The Toshiba HD-A2 can be purchased as low as $311.
http://www.pricerunner.com/pl/4-752299/DVD-Players/Toshiba-HD-A2-Compare-Prices

The Toshiba HD-A20 can be purchased as low as $393.99
http://www.pricerunner.com/pl/4-872467/DVD-Players/Toshiba-HD-A20-Compare-Prices?q=hd-a20

The Toshiba HD-XA2 can be purchased as low as $580
http://www.pricerunner.com/pl/4-754338/DVD-Players/Toshiba-HD-XA2-Compare-Prices?q=hd-xa2



So currently when one compares the cheapest BLU-RAY player to the cheapest HD-DVD player that are currently on the market one will discover that HD-DVD players are only around $143.99 cheaper then BLU-RAY players. Also the Samsung BD-1200 which cost around $20 more then the Toshiba HD-XA2 is a much better HDTV player. The top of the line Toshiba HD-XA2 is around $20 less but does not support 1080P/24. If Toshiba was smart they would start making HD-DVD players with 1080P/24 support.
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 some movies in BLU-RAY are mastered at high bit rate quality using 50GB discs. BLU-RAY high bit rate movies looks better then HD-DVD format especially when played on a display that refreshes 1080P/24 material at multiplies of the original frame. The only reason to own a HD-DVD player is for people that want to watch exclusive Universal Studios movies in HDTV. BLU-RAY is the smarter choice since Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures are exclusive to the BLU-RAY format. In the end player prices are not going to matter much, which format has more exclusive content will be the most popular format with consumers.