$100 HD DVD player

[David Parks]

Toshiba SD-H903A HD DVD burner...

Whatever happened to this product. Did it ever ship?

I saw a Toshiba Laptop with an HD DVD burner. It only cost $3,000.00...Chump Change huh.

[Heath McKnight]

And Sony Vaios offer a basic laptop with a 1.5 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Blu-Ray burner for under $1500! That's not including a rebate.

www.sonystyle.com

heath

[Heath McKnight]

This reminds me of when I received my first DVD player in late 1998; it came with 5 free (albeit crappy) DVDs, plus 12 free rentals from Hollywood video (one per month). Now you can get the A3 (1080p, I think) for $199, and others have jumped onboard + 9 GOOD HD DVDs:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34674

heath

[Thomas Smet]

Originally Posted by Kevin Shaw

<Yawn> Wake me when the HD-DVD consortium ships a burner...

Most consumers don't really care about that yet which is why a lack of burner may upset us but it isn't going to mean anything in terms of which format wins with the consumers.

Burner or not we all better find a way to make HD-DVD discs soon with this many people having players. At least we can still use dual layer DVD discs for now. At least we can give something to our clients.

[Lawrence Bansbach]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

Now you can get the A3 (1080p, I think) . . .

Nope, HD is 720p and 1080i only (specs here).

[Heath McKnight]

You're right, the HD DVD A3 is indeed 1080i/720p! I thought I'd corrected that.

heath

[Kevin Shaw]

Originally Posted by Thomas Smet

Most consumers don't really care about that yet which is why a lack of burner may upset us but it isn't going to mean anything in terms of which format wins with the consumers.

That makes sense, but ever since the Playstation 3 started shipping Blu-ray movies have been outselling HD-DVD movies by a substantial margin. That either means more people are buying PS3s than HD-DVD players in spite of the price difference, or it means people who are buying cheap HD-DVD players aren't buying many HD movies. It will be interesting to see what happens to movie sales after this season's wave of super-cheap HD-DVD players...

[Tony Tibbetts]

Originally Posted by Lawrence Bansbach

I disagree. It's not necessarily a desperate move. It was only a matter of time before a low-end model was priced accordingly. The Blu-Ray camp will have to respond eventually. And high-def DVD won't really take off until HD TVs and DVD players are priced what their SD counterparts were a few years ago.

From $399 to $99 in what a years time? It's not a low end model. It's the same model that has been out for awhile. This isn't a matter of manufacturers from china mass producing cheap players. It's a one day only sale. It's not like those players are going to stay at that price. It's a move to counter encroaching blu-ray sales.

Originally Posted by Thomas Smet

Yeah and that is why a few Studios switched to HD-DVD right? Because it is failing. Just piece together all the news reports about support that is building up. Studios know more then any of us do about what is going to happen and a few have switched for a darn good reason. Maybe they knew this massive price reduction was going to happen and they wanted to jump in and be part of the huge buying frenzy that could very well happen this holiday season for HD-DVD.

Look the way I look at it the price has already come down to the price point when DVD really took off. My first DVD player was $280.00 and I bought that when I was in collegeand trust me I did have a lot of money back then living in San Francisco. That was an open boxed item as well. My first DVD burner which I bought two years after that was $250.00. Good up conversion DVD players still cost a little bit today. Sure you can get cheap ones for $35.00 but the people who want good quality for a low price are going to really look at these things.

I talked with a bunch of people in other cities and they all said all the Wal-Marts were sold out within 15 minutes of the players going on sale. That is a lot of HD-DVD players that are now in the hands of consumers just in time for holiday shopping so they can load up on HD-DVD movies. Sure that is only 10 to 15 players per store but how many Wal-Marts are there in this country.

I would say it is the other way around. Blu-Ray may not be in trouble yet but this really does start to turn the tables and when the movies start flying off the shelf and other stores follow Wal-Mart's lead that is going to equal an even mroe advantage for HD-DVD. If every person gets loaded up with cheap HD-DVD players guess what kind of movies they are going to buy. That and Studio funding is what is going to make the money for Toshiba.

All I have to say is Target better reverse it's decision to only sell Blu-Ray players or they may be hurting this season.

You're forgetting that the few studios that are now HD-DVD exclusive were paid off to be HD-DVD exclusive for a certain amount of time (18 months I believe). It has nothing to do with format support. They were paid for their allegiance to the format.

As I stated before this isn't your normal price drop. It took DVD players over 5 years to reach the same price drop. and they didn't drop from $500 to $100 overnight. It was gradual. This is a one day only thing. The price will come back up.

So the facts are, a few months ago a couple of studios are paid off to be HD-DVD exclusive, then around x-mas Toshiba decides to drop all of their unsold overstocked HD2's for $99 (keep in mind these players only do 1080i). If no one is buying the hardware no one is buying the software. They are getting rid of these devices at that price because nobody is buying them. If that's not desperation then I don't know what is.

The Blu-Ray camp hasn't had to resort to these measures... I wonder why?

How many hardware manufacturers are making HD-DVD players (Toshiba... and uhh...who else?) compared to the manufacturers making Blu-Ray players (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic)?

Again... I wonder why that is?

[Heath McKnight]

Good points, Tony. I didn't bite the bait of an HD DVD player, but I kinda wish I had. I wish the format war would end already.

Btw, Paramount was paid $50 million and DreamWorks (part of Paramount) was paid $100 million to go exclusively HD DVD. Sometimes that bit of info is left out of the story; glad you brought it up.

heath

[Tony Tibbetts]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

Good points, Tony. I didn't bite the bait of an HD DVD player, but I kinda wish I had. I wish the format war would end already.

heath

I agree completely Heath I wish it would end. My bets on Blu-Ray, but even I was tempted to get an HD-DVD player at that price.

Another desperate offer I heard of (which I cannot confirm as fact) that if you bought the X-Box HD-DVD Drive from... I think it was Best Buy... they were giving away 5 HD-DVD's and HEROES Season 1 on HD-DVD with it. Granted I don't know this for fact and if it's true it's an insane deal... but just hearing it didn't shock me one bit.

Did anyone else hear about this offer?

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

I wish the format war would end already.

That's my sentiment. I don't really care which format does win - just want a single out and out winner.

My feeling is that the player price is much less significant than being pretty certain that your (expensive) collection of films isn't going to become obsolescent because you backed the wrong horse. At least SD DVDs will be playable on any machine, so whilst not HD, they will still remain playable.

[Heath McKnight]

Combo players are coming out, but sheesh, they cost upwards of $1000!

You can get a Blu-Ray player for around $400-500, and an HD DVD player for $100-300. Or a PS3 and Xbox 360 + the HD DVD add-on for around $1000 or so.

heath

[Lawrence Bansbach]

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

From $399 to $99 in what a years time? It's not a low end model. It's the same model that has been out for awhile. This isn't a matter of manufacturers from china mass producing cheap players. It's a one day only sale. It's not like those players are going to stay at that price. It's a move to counter encroaching blu-ray sales.

It is, by definition, a low-end model, at least as far as Toshiba's HD-DVD line stands (actually the A2 is being discontinued). I agree that it's a move to preempt Blu-Ray sales, and in some ways the generally lower prices of HD-DVD players are working to the format's favor -- at least one large chain, Kmart, is reportedly dropping Blu-Ray over the price difference. And, true, the price won't stay $99 forever. It will go back up, but nowhere near $399. And it will undoubtedly drop again. But it's hardly a desperate move.

[Harrison Murchison]

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

From $399 to $99 in what a years time? It's not a low end model. It's the same model that has been out for awhile. This isn't a matter of manufacturers from china mass producing cheap players. It's a one day only sale. It's not like those players are going to stay at that price. It's a move to counter encroaching blu-ray sales.

Other than the PS3 Blu-ray sales have been fairly static.

Jordi Ribas, General Manager of HD-DVD, Microsoft. "I can't speak to specific numbers, but based on recent NPD data, there have been more Xbox 360 HD-DVD players sold than all Blu-ray standalone players combined. The Playstation 3 simply hasn't been the gamer changer Sony had hoped it would be."

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

You're forgetting that the few studios that are now HD-DVD exclusive were paid off to be HD-DVD exclusive for a certain amount of time (18 months I believe). It has nothing to do with format support. They were paid for their allegiance to the format.

Paramount has made no such statement about the length of the Exclusive deal with HD DVD other than "indefinite". Sony has subsidized production of BD50 discs for studios which is why Warner ships the same encode <30GB regardless of whether they deliver on HD DVD 30GB discs or Blu-ray 50GB

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,13...y/article.html

If this exclusivity arrangement holds for the long-haul--Paramount executive Alan Bell (see below) says it's "indefinite" at this time--

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

As I stated before this isn't your normal price drop. It took DVD players over 5 years to reach the same price drop. and they didn't drop from $500 to $100 overnight. It was gradual. This is a one day only thing. The price will come back up

Of course because there will always be higher end units with more expansive circuitry. Reon processing cost more. Eventually we'll see units with HDD for larger local persistent storage.

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

So the facts are, a few months ago a couple of studios are paid off to be HD-DVD exclusive, then around x-mas Toshiba decides to drop all of their unsold overstocked HD2's for $99 (keep in mind these players only do 1080i). If no one is buying the hardware no one is buying the software. They are getting rid of these devices at that price because nobody is buying them. If that's not desperation then I don't know what is.

Facts are bits of information proven by 3rd party sources. You've presented nothing but subjective opinion.

HD-A2 top DVD player for Amazon Best Seller. HD-A35 ranked 5th

Seems to refute your commentary about no one buying the hardware or software. 1080i outputs mean nothing if the orginating data is encoded in 1080p/24 the players chipset simply encapsultes the data for transmission in 1080i/60 interlaced format for compatibility with a wide range of TV. The TV then deinterlaces back down to a progressive signal (always if the monitor is an LCD)

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

The Blu-Ray camp hasn't had to resort to these measures... I wonder why?

"clearly tongue in cheek" it's clear that you're not interested in logical discourse. You've chosen your champion and everything you see has a strong Blu tint. If you can't see the paradoxical elements this statement then I'd say that's quite amusing. Sony "packed" a Blu-ray player into game console that didn't need the extra space in order to bolster the chances of Blu-ray becoming the DVD successor. Asking gamers to finance your avaricial goals for a DVD successor smacks of pretty "extreme" measure IMO.

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

How many hardware manufacturers are making HD-DVD players (Toshiba... and uhh...who else?) compared to the manufacturers making Blu-Ray players (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic)?

Again... I wonder why that is?

Toshiba
Venturer
Onkyo
Samsung
LG


In summary:

Your post was hardly difficult to deconstruct and tear apart. But most posts from people who lean too heavily in a certain direction have that same weakness. Once Blu-ray is down to an affordable level I will either buy a standalone player or wait for an affordable Universal Player. It has always been about the movies to me and I'll gladly support both formats for the right price.

[Craig Seeman]

Toship HD DVD HDA2 is holding at $129. It's not a 1 day sale.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshi...oductDetail.do