http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/release_tosh112007.html
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Paramount/High-Def_Disc_Marketing/Toshiba/Star_Trek_HD_DVD_Phaser_Remote_Details_Revealed/1195

I just pulled the trigger on the A3 from Amazon.

$30 more than Sears but I got 3 extra movies worth $75 for my $30.
$197.22 plus tax, free shipping and 10 movies.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_20890_7374510_fe_exp_1/?ie=UTF8&docId=1000167901

Konrad

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/release_tosh112007.html
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Paramount/High-Def_Disc_Marketing/Toshiba/Star_Trek_HD_DVD_Phaser_Remote_Details_Revealed/1195

[dripping-sarcasm]Hmm, now THERE's a deal![/dripping-sarcasm] (targetted to the ad, not to Paul!) I guess if you're a serious Trekie, it might be worthwhile to trade your programmable remote control that controls 9 or 10 devices for a nice, sleek phaser remote that's a 3-in-1...

Now, maybe if they offered a serious discount on the boxed set, or on the higher-end players...

I think I agree heartily with the few posts wishing for a dual-format player.

ciao.

I just pulled the trigger on the A3 from Amazon.

$30 more than Sears but I got 3 extra movies worth $75 for my $30.
$197.22 plus tax, free shipping and 10 movies.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_20890_7374510_fe_exp_1/?ie=UTF8&docId=1000167901

Konrad
$100 for the A2 + 5 movies made more sense for me, because most of the free movies are not worthy watching.

I still wish I did the $100 deal. I'm kicking myself. Maybe the A3 will be discontinued by next year...

heath

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/release_tosh112007.html
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Paramount/High-Def_Disc_Marketing/Toshiba/Star_Trek_HD_DVD_Phaser_Remote_Details_Revealed/1195

According to the reviews on Amazon it's the phazer OR the 5 free movies as both offers require the UPC and there is only one UPC and it seems Toshiba support has confirmed this.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, for those that have picked up either the A2 or A3, you should really check out the "planet earth" documentary if you haven't! It is the most beautiful thing I have watched on my A2. I am putting it on my christmas list and someone better get it for me! LOL

But seriously, this one, is definately great and it has come down in price also! But a "must have for the quality of the images alone! Not to mention the documentary is pretty good also!

Damon

PS: I'm a trekkie and a bit of a geek(never be ashamed of your geekiness! LOL), and the remote offer is just a bit too corny for me! I would rather have a few more dvd's than that thing. Just imagine, you have someone over and your watching a movie and possibly want to rewind or pause and you grab that thing! Definate loss of all cool points IMHO! LOL

I have to say, one of the biggest advantages of HD DVD is Paramount's library, particularly Star Trek. I'd buy an HD DVD player to watch Star Trek on HD DVD.

For Blu-Ray, it's probably Disney's stuff (and James Bond movies, too). Honestly, I'm just scratching the surface on both. Universal's classic monster films on HD DVD, awesome 80s action films on Blu-Ray (Die Hard, Predator, RoboCop, etc.) and more.

heath

Well, tomorrow is the day! I do hope I can get one of these HD DVD units. I understand that you can burn short HD content on standard discs with red laser burners and play on these units? I need to learn this process. I don't need hours, just 15 minutes or so.

Star Trek is definitely a big plus!

Mike

I probably will eventually pick up the Trek series on HD DVD, but I have every Star Trek movie, so I am not too eager to plunk down that cash on Shatner.. LOL But I am sure I will sooner or later.

But one of the favorites that is coming out soon that I will pick up on HD DVD is the Harry Potter series! Or I may just buy them one at a time. I am not sure yet, but I am slowly beginning the transition to HD DVD(very slowly). I think they also have Van Helsing on HD DVD, I am not sure. But Transformers is probably the best I have purchased to date! Megatron was awesome! LOL

The new, remastered versions of Classic Trek seem worth buying on HD DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Original-Complete-Standard/dp/B000VDDDY6/ref=s9_js_pop_title?ie=UTF8&pf%5Frd%5Ft=101&pf%5Frd%5Fm=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf%5Frd%5Fp=278841901&pf%5Frd%5Fs=center-4&pf%5Frd%5Fr=16P3DX80N19XMHMV7QQB&pf%5Frd%5Fi=507846

heath

Heath, have you purchased or rented them? How do they look? Better than the originals? I guess I could just Netflix them if they have them to see for myself, but these days for a remaster, it has to look good(like extremely!) for me to plunk down 130.00. I will have to check Netflix to see how it looks! If they look good, thanks for the link!

Damon

No idea, because I don't have an HD DVD player. I SERIOUSLY wish I'd bought the $100 player...

heath

Ok, got ya. For the 100 sale, well, thats of course a done deal, but I looked online(I believe best buy and circuit city have them for that price, but definately circuit city, better jump on it!) and they are running some 200.00 sales for the A3, which according to my friend actually starts up better and has the(I believe this is the correct name) renasis chip in it. I know he said it doesn't take like a minute to start like my A2(with the 2.5 firmware) but I am not 100 on the chip. Actually if I could find another A2 for cheap, I would pick it up myself. I like the unit that much. I actually looked at the A3 last night with a friend and I don't care for the remote. Toshiba shrunk it down compared to the A2!

Also, I read a few reviews on Amazon about the Trek, and they had good things to say! A few naysayers, but that is always going to be the case. But for the most part good things. I may wait on that one for the price to drop like that planet earth series. That one for example was 100 when I first rented it, but now, on newegg they have it for 69 and at my local best buy for 79. I figure by Christmas I may be able to pick the sucker up for like 50! Its a great time to be a consumer and "able" to buy a few things! This is going to be a great christmas season!

I didn't see it at Circuitcity.com...Do you have a link? They have up to 30% off on HD DVD and Blu-Ray players.

heath

Something just hit me as very funny, as I sit here waiting for Black Friday and my chance to get the A3.

I just took delivery this week of a SL-HF400 Sony Super BETA hi-fi VCR! I have a friend/client who is an actress and needs a new demo reel. Most of the stuff she has is on BETA and so I needed the unit to capture them.

Believe me the BETA units are a hot item and cost sometimes more than they did new. So, as I sit waiting to buy the A3 on Friday, I am cleaning and hooking up my 20 year old VCR technology!

Go Figure! :)

Mike

Heath, here you go(if my linking capabilities are good today.. LOL):

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshiba-HD-A3-HD-DVD-Player-HDA3/sem/rpsm/oid/191903/catOid/-16221/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

And I still have a S-VHS deck sitting on my desk also! I don't use it, but it's still functional.


Damon

They also have it at best buy at that price when you add it to your cart, but it shows them out of stock(which is a typical move for best buy)...

Oh, I thought you meant more $100 A2s. I had a thought, btw, of looking on auction sites for the $100 A2, but then I'd have to buy HD DVDs that I'd normally get for free.

So buying a $200 A3 and getting a ton of free movies is probably cheaper than buying a $100 A2 online somewhere and buying the films.

heath

Oh no. I haven't seen more at that price for a bit. I can't remember the site, but I think it was newegg that actually had the A2's but they wanted like 269.00 for them. And definately, if it were me, I would buy the A3 at 200 and get the 7 free movies versus buying a last generation unit and having to buy the additional titles.

Even if you factor in say 20.00(which is the cheapest I have seen a HD DVD) for the seven movies, which I know the two in the box are 30.00 movies, your basically getting at least 140.00 worth of movies for free. From there, I am sure you see the math between the two scenerios.

A couple things to keep in mind that I had to find out the hard way is that it "definately" takes 8-10 weeks to recieve the discs through the mail, and also if you have to call them, there is a separate little number that you have to call for these rebates. I was soo angry when I contacted them regarding my discs, that I vowed I would never send in another rebate and actually "wait" for it. I normally don't, but I really wanted to see these movies. Not that they are the newest discs, but hey, they are free... LOL

Anyhow, yes, I would definately suggest getting the A3. I think someone posted a link on here for Sears having them tomorrow for 169.00. I am also checking walmart to see what they have. If I find anything I will post links.

Damon

Even if you factor in say 20.00(which is the cheapest I have seen a HD DVD) for the seven movies, which I know the two in the box are 30.00 movies, your basically getting at least 140.00 worth of movies for free.
Who cares is it seven or twenty free movies, if they are no good? I don't see how they can be worth anything. Let see what Toshiba offered with A2:

Category A: "Aeon Flux", "Babel", "The Italian Job" -- I ordered "Babel", not interested in the flux, neither in the remake of another good movie.

Category B: "The Hulk", "Pitch Black", "The Thing" -- I ordered "Pitch Black" as the one that may be even remotely interesting. This whole category is out of interest for me.

Category C: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Swordfish", "Full Metal Jacket" -- the last one was worthy ordering, but I am not the only one in the family who watch movies, so I ordered the first one. "Swordfish" is notable only for its soundtrack by Paul Oakenfold.

Category D: "Firewall", "The Frighteners", "U2: Rattle and Hum" -- I have "The frighteners" on the DVD, it is a director's edition, even more boring than theatrical release. I bought it only because of Michael J. Fox, I am a big fan of him. "Rattle and Hum" does not do full justice to U2 music, so this is no go. I ordered Firewall because I haven't watched it yet, but judging by reviews it is a so-so movie.

Category E: "Black Rain", "Darkman", "Troy" -- Computer effects and no real semblance to Greek drama? Thanks, but no, "Troy" is not for me. "Darkman" is just a B-movie, sometimes funny but ordering it in HD? "Black Rain" is poorly scripted, but at least it has no computer effects, so I decided to give it a shot and to re-watch it in HD.

All it all, only two movies worth considering: "Babel" and "Full Metal Jacket".

The Thing is worth it for me. Some of these deals include picking your own films.

heath

"Who cares is it seven or twenty free movies, if they are no good? I don't see how they can be worth anything. Let see what Toshiba offered with A2:"

What your saying is completely subjective. And obviously some care since there were alot of these units sold. Maybe not you, but you are not the only person on the planet. I don't really see your point. Honestly, the movies you stated are worth watching are probably the last I would ever select as "worthy" or entertaining(and I already have both movies you stated you selected on standard dvd, with me watching the first five minutes of babel and falling asleep twice). But then again, you and I are two different people.

Heath did you find any better deals for tomorrow?

I just looked at the friday deals posted on BB, CC, Sears, WM and Target web-sites. No Toshiba A2s. I found A3 at CC for $199 + tax. Therefore, I purchased A3 + 10 free movies (2 in the box, 3 from selection and 5 by mail) from Amazon for $187. That seemed to be a good deal.

P.

Edit-1: Now the price at Amazon is $159 and they don't allow me to cancel my order and reorder at the new price.

Edit-2: Also you may be eligible to buy Toshiba HD-A35 for an incredible $149 if you vote:

http://promotions.amazon.com/gp/holiday/amazon-customers-vote/002-1304086-7830442?_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1874ZYEQQ218F33KN3NT

Was just cruzing the sales and found the good deal at Amazon. Two HD
DVD's in the box (300 and The Bourne Identity), chose 3 others and will print out the rebate for five more.

The price was even better than they advertised when it was totaled up, see below. So that's a total of 10 DVD's with the A3, and shipping for $176.42!

I don't think that's bad at all!

OK, I have officially taken sides-------GO HD DVD!


Item(s) Subtotal: $243.83
Shipping & Handling: $16.44
Promotion Applied: -$83.85
-----
Total Before Tax: $176.42
Estimated Tax: $0.00
-----
Grand Total: $176.42

Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me!

Mike :)

PS: That is basically a free HD DVD player and I totally agree with Heath, The Thing is one of my all time favorite movies! Now I can throw away my old copied off of the TV VCR copy!

M

Nice find Mike,

I am looking at the same thing and not seeing anything about the three and five other free movies you can get with the A3.

Where is this info, and what sort of choices are they?

Here's the link to the page, it's kind of hard to find. You kind of have to click around in circles to get it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_5902742_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000167901&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=1TKA78Z5M1JXNAH9NMTM&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=330620501&pf_rd_i=B000U62N1S

You click on the player, click and choose your three movies from that page and then add it to your cart.

You don't see the final price until you buy then it gives you the final price. It was actually cheaper than it said. Those prices I listed are copied right from my invoice and I have already received the email confirmation. So I know it is legit. It is like 4 to 5 weeks for deliver though.

Mike

Also, don't click on the info for the player, just click the box next to the picture, then click on the boxes next to the movies you want. Then add to the cart. I have bought from Amazon.com many times and you can cancel your order anytime too, so if was not right, I would have just canceled the order. Turned out if was even cheaper than advertised.

Mike

Also, I think you click on the picture above the model you want I think. I chose the first picture, the one above the A3 description.

Mike

Thanks a bunch!

He He You guys crack me up! I am sure you all will love the player! BTW, happy black friday dudes and dudettes! Lets see how the sales add up today!!

Damon

I just looked at the friday deals posted on BB, CC, Sears, WM and Target web-sites. No Toshiba A2s. I found A3 at CC for $199 + tax. Therefore, I purchased A3 + 10 free movies (2 in the box, 3 from selection and 5 by mail) from Amazon for $187. That seemed to be a good deal.

P.

Edit-1: Now the price at Amazon is $159 and they don't allow me to cancel my order and reorder at the new price.

Edit-2: Also you may be eligible to buy Toshiba HD-A35 for an incredible $149 if you vote:

http://promotions.amazon.com/gp/holiday/amazon-customers-vote/002-1304086-7830442?_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1874ZYEQQ218F33KN3NT
just email them and ask for the price adjustment. I did when I bought mine at $199 and then I saw the $159 price. I emailed them asking for a refund and they checked the price and it had gone back up to $179. They then gave me $20 back.

Daniel Weber

Thank you Daniel. I did the same thing and they refunded me the difference based on their current price ($179).

P.

Category B: "The Hulk", "Pitch Black", "The Thing" -- I ordered "Pitch Black" as the one that may be even remotely interesting. This whole category is out of interest for me.
I agree with Heath and Mike : "The Thing" is a classic film, one of the best of the horror genre, John Carpenter builds tension well and the special effects from 1982 (no CGI of course = good!) were fantastic.

Just saw that Best Buy is advertising a $400 Blu-Ray player, which includes 6 disks and a $100 Best Buy Gift Card.

Just go for a Sony Playstation 3. I have the Sony Blu-Ray player, and it's just SLOW to startup and eject. I don't have a PS3, but I'd be happier to wait that amount of time for startup.

My Sony BDP-S300 Blu Ray player takes about 45 seconds to startup, 4 seconds to eject the disc, 30 seconds to insert disk and play. Chapter advance takes a few seconds . Painful. What is it doing? Running Linux ? I'm not sure if the PS3 is fastert, but I'll ask my friend. The PS3 also offers a photo viewer and Internet browser. The DVD upscaling is of the BDP-S300 is touted to be great. Blu Ray movies look great. I didn't notice anything other than the expected softness for SD DVDs until I watched a horrible SD DVD of Ocean's Thirteen . There was major blockiness, almost as if there was no filter on the interpolation to 1080p. My TV is a Sony LCD 52" and generally delivers stunning HD quality from the BluRay disks as well as from HD content from Comcast cable.

Here’s the best way to receive a PS3:
http://www.us.playstation.com/EP/Promotions/296
Maybe one of you will try this out.

I don't own a PS3. My friends tells me that startup time is a few seconds and DVD insert/eject lag is minimal.

On my PS3, I’ve only played 1 Blu-Ray film so far but I didn’t see that much of a difference in the start-up time compared to DVDs. A lot of people won’t even notice it.

My A3 arrived from Amazon today. Having done my homework the first thing I did was plug it into my ethernet router and update to software version 1.3. Version 1.3 is reported to fix a lot of problems.

HTH

Update,

I expected to be waiting a while for my A3, but I was notified that it will be here tomorrow via UPS! Dang, I will have to wait to test it out, as I'm leaving for the weekend tomorrow afternoon.

Mike

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Hardware/Wal-Mart/Venturer/Venturer_HD_DVD_Player_Surfaces_at_Wal-Mart/1217

If they intend on competing against the Toshiba A3, this thing should be around 50 dollars less.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Retailing/Wal-Mart/PlayStation_3/Toshiba/New_Wal-Mart_Secret_Sale_Details_Confirmed/1244

I really regret not buying the $100 HD DVD player.

heath

"Planet Earth" looks absolutely stunning on my plasma TV, watched from the HD-A2! The absence of a digital sound output is a downer, audio is output either via HDMI or via regular stereo analog pair. I don't have an HDMI receiver yet, so I have to make do with analog stereo. Still works for me, I don't have a 5.1 setup anyway.

"Planet Earth" looks absolutely stunning on my plasma TV, watched from the HD-A2! The absence of a digital sound output is a downer, audio is output either via HDMI or via regular stereo analog pair. I don't have an HDMI receiver yet, so I have to make do with analog stereo. Still works for me, I don't have a 5.1 setup anyway.

What a coincidence!

I just got the series on HD-DVD from Amazon yesterday and took a look at the first two episodes on my early Christmas present, a Panasonic 1080p Plasma. [The series is also available on Blu-Ray.]

Wow! [How many times have you heard that expression before?]

The combination of viewing it on a large screen plus the detail afforded HD really allows these incredible nature images to shine.

Short of seeing it in a theater, or IMAX, this is about as close as I think I've ever "experienced" something so visually compelling at home. I know the series was shown on the Discovery Channel, but since I don't have cable, this was a real eye opener.

One of the coolest things about the show are the wide landscape shots that feature a bear/wolf/puma/impala moving about that one can still make out clearly.

Very cool.

For anyone that hasn’t checked yet, Amazon has lowered the price of the Samsung BD-P1400 to $297.95 and the Toshiba HD-A30 to $249.98.

From IMDb:

"Even On Biggest Day, Hi-Def Players Can't Beat Ordinary DVD Players
Putting those reports of huge sales of high-definition video players on Black Friday in perspective, Video Business magazine said on its website Friday that while 57,000 HD DVD and Blu-ray players were indeed sold the day after Thanksgiving, 600,000 standard definition DVD players were sold on the same day. The trade magazine, citing research by market analyst DisplaySearch, also observed that while 62 percent of the high-definition players sold on that day were in the HD DVD format (largely as a result of a $99 one-day only deal initiated by Wal Mart), Blu-ray players, because of their higher costs, accounted for 52 percent of the total revenue."

Guess that explains everything!

heath

What would be interesting is how many HDTVs are sold compared to HD disc players. I suspect people aren't buying HD players in anything remotely close to HDTVs.

I suspect many people who spend $1000-$3000 on an HDTV won't spend $200-$400 on a player.

I'm a guy who has owned an HDTV for 3.5 years, and I don't own either player (though I wish I'd bought the $99 HD DVD player, as I've said a thousand times already, lol).

heath

For anyone that hasn’t checked yet, Amazon has lowered the price of the Samsung BD-P1400 to $297.95 and the Toshiba HD-A30 to $249.98.
Update:
The current Amazon price for the BD-P1400 is now $269.98 and the HD-A30 is now $239.98.