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Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 12:51 AM

New PR site, with one of the new HD DVD commercials:

hddvdnbc.com

Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 07:17 AM

The Wal-Mart $99 Toshiba HD-A2 is available for purchase NOW, at least in certain stores.

Somebody went early, and was told that in the system it could be sold as early as 6 am, even though the ad says 8 am.

pman68 · Nov 2, 2007, 08:30 AM

Does anyone know if it comes with the newer 2.5 firmware? Or does it have to be downloaded? Anyone confirm?

Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by pman68

Does anyone know if it comes with the newer 2.5 firmware? Or does it have to be downloaded? Anyone confirm?

No confirmation yet.

However, it comes with an Ethernet jack for updates, etc. if you need to get the new firmware. (Alternatively, you can download the ISO to your Mac and burn it a CD with Disk Utility. I did the download method with my A2 though. Took about half an hour for the full update.)

Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 09:53 AM

Some are reporting it comes with the 1.3 firmware. Wow. Old. That's even older than the firmware I got with my A2 a month ago.

P.S. For those of you who missed out on yesterday's Best Buy and CC deals as well as today's Wal-Mart deals, Best Buy's business site now has them for $99.99 and in stock.

ort888 · Nov 2, 2007, 11:08 AM

Got mine at Walmart this morning. They had about 30 and they were all gone by about 8:20.

Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 12:44 PM

Now at Crutchfield for $129.99.

Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD high-definition player at Crutchfield.com

pman68 · Nov 2, 2007, 01:15 PM

At my local Walmart all the players are gone as well as all HDDVD movies.

I wonder if this the watershed moment we've been waiting for????

Dakarʒ · Nov 2, 2007, 01:33 PM

It certainly looks like its going to make 2008 a lot more relevant then it was looking.

Stogieman · Nov 2, 2007, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

P.S. For those of you who missed out on yesterday's Best Buy and CC deals as well as today's Wal-Mart deals, Best Buy's business site now has them for $99.99 and in stock.

Not anymore. Sold out.

goMac · Nov 2, 2007, 02:16 PM

So much for Blockbuster making a difference in the Bluray vs. HD-DVD war. Sounds like the company is on the way out:

Say goodbye to Blockbuster | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

goMac · Nov 2, 2007, 04:37 PM

According to Nielsen, last weeks totals show Bluray and HD-DVD at nearly 1:1 for that week.

Chongo · Nov 2, 2007, 04:41 PM

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: a Solution Abroad - WSJ.com

Clever movie buffs have discovered a workaround: Several dozen titles out in the U.S. exclusively on Blu-ray are available overseas on HD DVD. While studios like Sony, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney Co. tout their unswerving allegiance to Blu-ray stateside, in other countries titles like Sony's "xXx," Fox's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and Disney's "The Prestige" are available on HD DVD.

pooka · Nov 2, 2007, 04:53 PM

Not being cocky at all, and Bluray can still totally win this, but 7 peeps from our office jumped at this today. Only 3 scored. From what they were told, each of the 9 Wal-marts in the area received 20-40 units and all have sold out within 4 hours. Sony could still have an ace up it's sleeve, but I agree that this just got really interesting. Booyah.

Eug · Nov 2, 2007, 05:56 PM

Sony's ace is its $399 PS3... with maybe a free copy of Spider-Man 3 and a free Bluetooth remote.

They'll sell a fair bit of units, but I don't think it's gonna be enough.

pman68 · Nov 2, 2007, 06:15 PM

Yep. everyone I know who was sitting on the fence jumped in. Even fellow co-workers saw the commercials and got excited.

I just updated all my netflix Q's to reflect HD-DVD.

pman68 · Nov 2, 2007, 06:20 PM

Here we go again!

OK BestBuy just announced the A3 for $199! Not too shabby.

Sounds like momentum to me.

Chongo · Nov 3, 2007, 12:19 AM

HD DVD players hit $99 at Wal-Mart, Best Buy | Crave : The gadget blog

The $99 price tag is sweet, but the deal is even better than that. Toshiba continues to give away five free movies to anyone that buys an HD DVD player--all you need to do is fill out this form (PDF link) and mail it in. If you're not thrilled about Toshiba's selection of free movies (we're not either), Wal-Mart is also running on a sale on HD DVD movies tomorrow, priced at $14.96 each. That's a pretty significant discount, as most of the HD DVDs we saw at Amazon were priced from $20 to $30.

Eug · Nov 3, 2007, 12:43 AM

Dunno if this is true or not, but here ya go:

Gentlemen, the correct number of players is 40,000. This from our Toshiba Rep. Probably not many left on the shelves at this point, either at Wal-Mart of the Big Box competitors.

There are Toshiba promotions in place to sharpen the price of the Gen 3 products for the holiday season. Won't see $99.00 again, but sub $200.00 is a done deal. Pricing similar to Sears Black Friday sale is likely for specific time frames during November and December. It will be short term, and limited to certain dates and models at specific times.

pman68 · Nov 3, 2007, 09:07 AM

Just watched "Planet Earth" HD-DVD. Looks amazing! Very pleased with $99 A2!

jokell82 · Nov 3, 2007, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by pman68

Just watched "Planet Earth" HD-DVD. Looks amazing! Very pleased with $99 A2!

Nice! I tried to get one to give as a gift but they sold out too quickly for me.

mduell · Nov 3, 2007, 11:30 AM

People who ordered a backordered A2 from BBY are getting the A3 instead.

Kenneth · Nov 3, 2007, 10:35 PM

Who's going to get Ratatouille and/or Cars on 11/6?

icruise · Nov 3, 2007, 11:34 PM

I have them ordered at Amazon. Looking forward to it. Cars is probably one of the weaker Pixar films, but it's still great. And I really enjoyed Ratatouille.

Eug · Nov 4, 2007, 12:18 PM

Yeah. I was unimpressed by Cars. It was better than I was expecting, but that's not saying much.

I really enjoyed Ratatouille though. That would look glorious in hi-def. Mind you I think that's one that will upscale really well too.

powerbook867 · Nov 4, 2007, 12:28 PM

Jumped on the 9 free movie deal at Best Buy yesterday. Awesome deal for 199.

Plan on ebaying a couple of the titles I'll get for free to negate some of the cost..

Image quality is outstanding. I do wish the Pixar movies were coming out on HD-DVD...

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 01:01 PM

Agreed. The Pixar movies are the only ones I want in HD but can't get. Everything else on Blu-Ray doesn't appeal to me enough to bother me.

aristotles · Nov 4, 2007, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Chongo

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: a Solution Abroad - WSJ.com

LOL As if the price of HD media was not high enough, only the biggest/richest HD DVD fanboys are going to import titles at such a high price premium. For the price difference of several imports those same niche fanboys could have bought a blu-ray player instead of their crappy HD DVD player. Americans with their weakening dollar would be better off buying them on blu-ray.

Toshiba is basically paying people to buy their hardware now. I doubt most new buyers will use them for anything other than an upscaling DVD player. Without content, there is little inventive to invest in HD DVD.

Blu-ray has the content and content is king. Blu-ray is winning because the titles are cheaper and there are more studios supporting it.

With the most recent comments from Disney, there should be no doubt that Disney is not going to got neutral and without Disney content, I don't see how HD DVD is going to make it big with families this christmas season.

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by aristotles

LOL As if the price of HD media was not high enough, only the biggest/richest HD DVD fanboys are going to import titles at such a high price premium. For the price difference of several imports those same niche fanboys could have bought a blu-ray player instead of their crappy HD DVD player. Americans with their weakening dollar would be better off buying them on blu-ray.

Toshiba is basically paying people to buy their hardware now. I doubt most new buyers will use them for anything other than an upscaling DVD player. Without content, there is little inventive to invest in HD DVD.

Blu-ray has the content and content is king. Blu-ray is winning because the titles are cheaper and there are more studios supporting it.

With the most recent comments from Disney, there should be no doubt that Disney is not going to got neutral and without Disney content, I don't see how HD DVD is going to make it big with families this christmas season.

If Blu-Ray has the content why are there fewer movies released on Blu-Ray (not even counting imports)?

As for families, here's how HD DVD will make it big: the gift buyer in the family will head to Walmart/Best Buy/whatever and see a $499 Blu-Ray player or a ~$150 HD DVD player. Guess which one they'll pick.

I still don't understand the fanboy argument about Toshiba subsidizing HD DVD player sales. Even if it is true (I have yet to see hard numbers on costs for the A2 or A3), Sony does it with every PS3 sold, so what's the big deal?

TETENAL · Nov 4, 2007, 04:10 PM

I think it's pretty obvious that Toshiba is subsidising HD DVD players: they are the only ones selling them. Nobody else has an interest in selling subsidised hardware, and nobody can compete against subsidised hardware. That's why you don't see HD DVD players sold by anybody else.

Sony is subsidising the Playstation 3, but it's not undercutting the price of an unsubsidised BluRay player and it's a different target audience. So there is still an incentive for other manufacturers to make BluRay players.

Chongo · Nov 4, 2007, 04:25 PM

you have Happy Feet, The Shrek series, and don't forget Harry Potter and many other Family features

exca1ibur · Nov 4, 2007, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

I still don't understand the fanboy argument about Toshiba subsidizing HD DVD player sales. Even if it is true (I have yet to see hard numbers on costs for the A2 or A3), Sony does it with every PS3 sold, so what's the big deal?

Nothing to do with being a 'fanboy' (God, I hate that f*cking word).

Think about it. If your cost to make an HD-DVD player is about $200 (Who knows what it really is. I doubt its $99), and you enter the market to sell players, you now have to sell at a loss to compete right at launch. Why do you think you see Toshiba as the ONLY one having the big sale of $99 players? Come to think of it you rarely here of ANY other company but Toshiba for HD-DVD. Nothing is wrong with that, it helps them get market penetration but to sit back and think they are making money on a $99 player is crazy. Much less another company that is helping you with the format, that is forced to sell under their cost to compete.

powerbook867 · Nov 4, 2007, 05:12 PM

The Toshiba A3 is back up to 299 today at Best Buy.

That was short lived...I am sure it won't be the end though. Black Friday is rapidly approaching...There has all ready been some talk on some of the deals boards about a 169 A3 for Christmas.

Eug · Nov 4, 2007, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by aristotles

LOL As if the price of HD media was not high enough, only the biggest/richest HD DVD fanboys are going to import titles at such a high price premium.

I bought Harry Potter for £11.04 plus shipping.

This was my Amazon.co.uk order (for 2 discs), shipped to Canada:

Originally Posted by Eug at the end of May, 2007

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire [HD DVD] [2005] - Daniel Radcliffe
£11.04 - Quantity: 1 - In stock
Condition: new
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk
Gift options None

La Haine [HD DVD] [1995] - Vincent Cassel
£12.75 - Quantity: 1 - In stock
Condition: new
Sold by: Amazon.co.uk
Gift options None

Subtotal of Items: £23.79
Postage & Packing: £4.07
------
Total for this order: £27.86

(At current rates, that's US$55.26 or CAD$59.70.)

Lateralus · Nov 4, 2007, 05:23 PM

Best Buy has the A3 this weekend for $199 with 5 free movies instantly (two in the box) and 5 by mail-in. I'm seriously considering it.

Two concerns though;

1) I haven't found out definitively whether or not the A3 supports DivX discs. Does anybody know for sure? My current $50 Phillips player does and I'd rather not give up that ability. I'd also rather not have to keep both units hooked up to retain it.

2) Unlike the A2, the A3 does away with the S-Video port. I'm still not in the HDMI realm yet. So without S-Video I'm left to composite. How much of a real world loss will I experience going from S-Video to composite?

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

I think it's pretty obvious that Toshiba is subsidising HD DVD players: they are the only ones selling them. Nobody else has an interest in selling subsidised hardware, and nobody can compete against subsidised hardware. That's why you don't see HD DVD players sold by anybody else.

Sony is subsidising the Playstation 3, but it's not undercutting the price of an unsubsidised BluRay player and it's a different target audience. So there is still an incentive for other manufacturers to make BluRay players.

Sony's PS3 is $399, the cheapest Blu-Ray standalone is $499. How much lower would the PS3 have to be for it to be undercutting?

But regardless, that still doesn't explain how Toshiba's subsidies are a bad thing.

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Best Buy has the A3 this weekend for $199 with 5 free movies instantly (two in the box) and 5 by mail-in. I'm seriously considering it.

Two concerns though;

1) I haven't found out definitively whether or not the A3 supports DivX discs. Does anybody know for sure? My current $50 Phillips player does and I'd rather not give up that ability. I'd also rather not have to keep both units hooked up to retain it.

2) Unlike the A2, the A3 does away with the S-Video port. I'm still not in the HDMI realm yet. So without S-Video I'm left to composite. How much of a real world loss will I experience going from S-Video to composite?

1) As far as I know it does NOT support DivX.

2) Not a whole heck of a lot, depending on your setup. Why not use component, though?

icruise · Nov 4, 2007, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by Lateralus

2) Unlike the A2, the A3 does away with the S-Video port. I'm still not in the HDMI realm yet. So without S-Video I'm left to composite. How much of a real world loss will I experience going from S-Video to composite?

I'm not sure if I understand the question. Why would you even consider using S-video or composite connectors? Do you not have component? Unless of course, you don't have an HDTV at all, in which case I don't think there's much point getting an HD-DVD player at this point in the game.

Lateralus · Nov 4, 2007, 05:50 PM

...there's a difference?

I never knew. Just been using my composite connections all along because I never thought to do otherwise. But both my TV and current DVD player have component.

And no, my TV isn't HD capable. I just wanted to jump in to start building up a library.

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 05:54 PM

If it's not HD capable use Component if possible. If not there isn't a whole lot of difference between S-video and composite.

icruise · Nov 4, 2007, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by Lateralus

And no, my TV isn't HD capable. I just wanted to jump in to start building up a library.

I'm not sure that this is the best time to be building up a library on either format, considering that nobody knows who's going to win. And it's particularly true for you, since without an HDTV you're not going to be getting much benefit from HD-DVD as compared to DVD. If you wanted a new DVD player, you could do worse than to get the $99 HD-DVD player and use it primarily for normal DVDs, but I wouldn't really recommend that someone in your position jump headfirst into HD-DVD.

mrtew · Nov 4, 2007, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Lateralus

...And no, my TV isn't HD capable. I just wanted to jump in to start building up a library.

Wow, we're the opposite... I've had HDTV for almost a year now and I haven't got a HD player yet because I'm don't want to jump in and start building up a library! (and because 99% of movies totally suck.... it seems like I either see a movie at the theatre and that's enough, or I forget it was ever made by the time it's released)

Lateralus · Nov 4, 2007, 06:29 PM

Well, normally I wouldn't even be considering jumping in. But 10 free movies is quite a treat. And I'm sure that in addition to the obvious HD ability, the A3 offers a few other benefits over my $50 Phillips player.

powerbook867 · Nov 4, 2007, 06:57 PM

The upscaling of regular DVD's seems to do a pretty great job.

We watched 2 episodes of The Unit last night and the wife an I both agreed that the image quality was better when we were watching them on the A3. Mainly, we did not see the pixelation in backgrounds (namely walls) that we did w/ our standard dvd player on our HD set. Not that it was horrible before, but it looked a lot better now..

IMHO a great upgrade (especially w/ the free movies!)

aristotles · 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

If Blu-Ray has the content why are there fewer movies released on Blu-Ray (not even counting imports)?

As for families, here's how HD DVD will make it big: the gift buyer in the family will head to Walmart/Best Buy/whatever and see a $499 Blu-Ray player or a ~$150 HD DVD player. Guess which one they'll pick.

I still don't understand the fanboy argument about Toshiba subsidizing HD DVD player sales. Even if it is true (I have yet to see hard numbers on costs for the A2 or A3), Sony does it with every PS3 sold, so what's the big deal?

I don't know where you get your facts buddy but there are more titles for Blu-ray than HD DVD released and about to be released (even without counting imports).

If they have an HDTV, are aware of the two formats and are looking to invest in HD Media, they will buy the one that has Disney. Otherwise, they will either buy a cheaper upscaling DVD player or buy the HD DVD player for a hundred bucks and use it as an upscaling DVD player for their Disney DVDs.

The A2 started out at 499 USD and now they are selling units that were manufactured about a year ago for 98 USD (retail) at Walmart and including a bunch of free HD DVD titles with an MSRP of over 400 USD. You do the math Toshiba boy.

Most people who purchased the cheap HD-A2 at Wal-mart said they did not plan on buying HD DVD titles any time soon and were picking one up as an upscaling DVD player. They also said that they believed blu-ray would eventually win but they were waiting for the christmas season when prices should come down before investing in a player.

BTW. This product dumping by Toshiba is precisely why you will never see anyone besides Toshiba come out with a low to mid range HD DVD player. There is zero profit in it with Toshiba dumping their product like this. Consumers would ultimately be hurt by this if Toshiba won and we were left with a hardware monopoly for Toshiba. Look at the blu-ray side and you will see a number of companies involved in the production of consumer devices. People want quality and hardware choice for consumer electronics.

pooka · Nov 4, 2007, 09:15 PM

uh huh. Apex had nothing to do with DVD players hitting critical mass.

jokell82 · Nov 4, 2007, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by aristotles

I don't know where you get your facts buddy but there are more titles for Blu-ray than HD DVD released and about to be released (even without counting imports).

When Paramount jumped ship HD DVD had about a 30 title lead. Maybe that's changed, but it still isn't like Blu-Ray has a vast majority of titles released. The studio support they have isn't realizing itself into a substantial lead in titles (if they have one at all, because last time I checked they didn't).

Originally Posted by aristotles

If they have an HDTV, are aware of the two formats and are looking to invest in HD Media, they will buy the one that has Disney. Otherwise, they will either buy a cheaper upscaling DVD player or buy the HD DVD player for a hundred bucks and use it as an upscaling DVD player for their Disney DVDs.

And buy Shrek 3 on HD DVD. But they're damn sure not spending $500 on a DVD player.

Originally Posted by aristotles

The A2 started out at 499 USD and now they are selling units that were manufactured about a year ago for 98 USD (retail) at Walmart and including a bunch of free HD DVD titles with an MSRP of over 400 USD. You do the math Toshiba boy.

WTF? Feel like keeping this civil or not?

And what math? The math that they just sold a whole bunch of players?

Originally Posted by aristotles

Most people who purchased the cheap HD-A2 at Wal-mart said they did not plan on buying HD DVD titles any time soon and were picking one up as an upscaling DVD player. They also said that they believed blu-ray would eventually win but they were waiting for the christmas season when prices should come down before investing in a player.

Anecdotal evidence for the win!!!

At the Walmart I went to today every single HD DVD was sold out, yet the Blu-Ray section was filled with discs. Guess that means Blu-Ray just can't move their discs according to your logic.

Originally Posted by aristotles

BTW. This product dumping by Toshiba is precisely why you will never see anyone besides Toshiba come out with a low to mid range HD DVD player. There is zero profit in it with Toshiba dumping their product like this. Consumers would ultimately be hurt by this if Toshiba won and we were left with a hardware monopoly for Toshiba. Look at the blu-ray side and you will see a number of companies involved in the production of consumer devices. People want quality and hardware choice for consumer electronics.

You mean like the low-end Venture that has already been announced?

And on the Blu-Ray side I see a few hardware manufacturers selling the same out-dated hardware (where's the new spec?) for the same high price. Not much of a choice there...

smacintush · Nov 4, 2007, 10:07 PM

I got one A2 for me and one for my mother at Walmart late this afternoon. They had three left and the guys in the electronics dept. didn't even know about any sale. Gotta love living out here in the black hole of Indiana!

Adam Betts · Nov 4, 2007, 11:42 PM

It's hard for anyone to ignore a deal like this (from Circuit City weekly ad) especially when two competing hardware are listed next to each other with one clearly being the better deal:

12 free HDDVDs that includes high quality movies like 300 and Bourne Identity. I'd have jumped at that deal if I didn't own a HDDVD player and 300 + Bourne Identity.

Eug · Nov 5, 2007, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Well, normally I wouldn't even be considering jumping in. But 10 free movies is quite a treat. And I'm sure that in addition to the obvious HD ability, the A3 offers a few other benefits over my $50 Phillips player.

Are you actually being serious about the S-video and composite?!?

If so, this is one of the few times I'd say don't even bother. You'd probably be better off with a $50 Philips anyway, since they're region free and play DivX.

OTOH, if you plan on getting an HDTV very soon, the sub $200 HD DVD players are a great deal.

Originally Posted by Adam Betts

It's hard for anyone to ignore a deal like this (from Circuit City weekly ad) especially when two competing hardware are listed next to each other with one clearly being the better deal:

12 free HDDVDs that includes high quality movies like 300 and Bourne Identity. I'd have jumped at that deal if I didn't own a HDDVD player and 300 + Bourne Identity.

$399.99? What model HD DVD player? It's impossible to tell from that pixelated picture.