LasVegasDave purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD player (new in the box) for $195 at a east coast electronics store (HHG****) three weeks ago, and Toshiba is sending us 5 free HD-DVD's. The player is 1080i and the picture is great!
Posted on 10/18/2007 2:47:12 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (October 18, 2007) -- An HD DVD player could be available for the new low price of $199 this holiday season.
Internet message boards are buzzing with the possibility after a Wal-Mart employee posted an upcoming store notice about a $199 Toshiba HD DVD player.
The price has not been confirmed by Wal-Mart or Toshiba, but the drop would not be surprising. Toshiba's entry-level player is now $299, but industry analysts have forecast that a sub-$200 player is likely for the holidays.
Additionally, Blu-ray manufacturers are expected to lower the price on its players. Sony's Blu-ray player is now the lowest with a suggested retail price of $499.
However, Sony announced today that it will launch a new Play Station 3 for $399 on November 2. The PS3 has a Blu-ray player inside.
Lower prices for both Blu-ray and HD DVD are expected as supporters of the two high-def disc formats battle it out during the holiday season.
The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception. Broadcast specials, Blu-ray/HD-DVD, and any and all subjects relating to HD.
Lasvegasdave
Ive seen it for $169 for ages now. Comes with 5 free HDDVDs too. Works on any xbox 360, PC or Mac:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874103051
LasVegasDave purchased a Toshiba HD-DVD player (new in the box) for $195 at a east coast electronics store (HHG****) three weeks ago, and Toshiba is sending us 5 free HD-DVD's. The player is 1080i and the picture is great!
Do you know what the differences are between the entry level and upscale players?
>>Ive seen it for $169 for ages now. Comes with 5 free HDDVDs too. Works on any xbox 360, PC or Mac:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874103051<<
That is definitely the one I would buy.
I bought that one for my youngest son last Christmas. It was $199 then and came with a free HD DVD. He uses it with his XBox 360.
199 or 499 .... this is why HD-DVD is going to win the version war.
Since the two formats are still fighting it out for market share, I wonder if it would be wise to buy one right now?
I thought so too until a knowledgeable person in an electronics store showed me the difference. If you can find a big screen with a wand dividing the HD DVD from the Blu-ray side which moves back and forth as the film plays, the difference is dramatic. I don't mean dramatic like you can see with a magnifying glass, I mean dramatic like the difference between a dot matrix and an ink jet printer.
HD DVDs are being unloaded for cheap now because they will be even cheaper once Blu-Ray becomes the standard format. Blockbuster was not stupid when they made the decision to stock Blu-Ray format exclusively.
Before long, HD-DVD players will not be a whole lot more valuable than my standard DVD player sitting in a box in my basement. It has been used for less than 10 hours. For $20, you can have it.
If you own an xbox. ??
I’m sitting it out until somebody wins. On the one had it would seem like BluRay has the inside track, most reviewers like the end result better, it’s got the market advantage in buys, it’s got more available media. But Sony historically is incredibly skilled at screwing up a clear market advantage. And the fact that both WalMart and the porn industry have both sided with HD-DVD could be the chink in BluRay’s armor.
I did quite a bit of homework on this. I finally decided on the Blu Ray.. far more titles.. better picture, in my opinion.
my understanding is that 80% of the purchases in this war are now Blu-Ray..it appears Sony is winning this one.
I did quite a bit of homework on this. I finally decided on the Blu Ray.. far more titles.. better picture, in my opinion.
my understanding is that 80% of the purchases in this war are now Blu-Ray..it appears Sony is winning this one.
I did quite a bit of homework on this. I finally decided on the Blu Ray.. far more titles.. better picture, in my opinion.
my understanding is that 80% of the purchases in this war are now Blu-Ray..it appears Sony is winning this one.
double post.. sorry.
That’s not a genuine HD player. That’s an X-Box 360 accessorie. A true HD player has all the video circuitry on board. The X-Box 360 add-on is just a drive that interfaces with the 360 which does all the work.
Well for those of us that don’t have (or don’t care to have) an Xbox (not into gaming), that is not an option. Now if I could hook it directly to my HDTV, it would be a deal.
That’s not an HD player, that’s an X-Box 360 accessory. Huge difference. The HD add-on is great for everyone who already owns the other half of the hardware. To mom and pop, it would mean the purchase of both a 360 and the HD drive which would be much more expensive than a mere HD player.
As for the gaming platforms, the 360 is vastly superior to the PS3. Xbox Live content and connectivity is years ahead of the Playstation Network. Of course the true story is in the game titles - again, the 360 wins hands-down.
It may be that Sony makes great strides and ends up with a great gaming platform and hi-def movie format. We'll see.
Until then, my 360 will reign supreme and I'll be watching HD-DVD movies when I can.
Much better off avoiding the XBOX 360 Add-On and getting a Toshiba stand alone HD-DVD player.
If you have a 1080i TV get the A2, if you have a 1080p TV get the A20, those are for the budget consciuous. If money is no object you can get the XA2 or the A35 for around 500.
The PS3 is a great blu-ray player and is now down to 400 as well. Don’t forget to get HDMI cables, NOT MONSTER!!!!!!!!” You can go to monoprice or bluejean cables and get “Monster Quality” for less than 10 dollars instead of 100 or 125.
bump
And when I get Guitar Hero III with my wireless controller I’ll be a HD Transformer watching / Halo 3 playin / Wireless Guitar God
I think my son is embarrassed of me.
Then again my wife hated video games / big screen TV’s and all that crap and then along came Guitar Hero. Life has been good since then. She’s an addict.
Paramount’s recently released movie Transformers was issued on a 30gb disc (HD DVD's largest)... and according to a Paramount rep quoted on AVS Forum, the reason that no Dolby True HD (Dolby Labs lossless compression technology that unzips and becomes uncompressed... same as PCM), was that 30gb was not enough room to hold all of the extras and lossless HD audio.
Since the 51gb disc is going to have to become reality for HD DVD to have a chance at winning the war... it is a real possibility that most if not all of the HD DVD players sold to date “could” have compatibility problems. There have been no compatibility tests to date... but at least one Toshiba employee stated that the lens itself may have to be changed and firmware updates may not be enough. Informed buyers should at least know about this concern. Also no matter what size the discs are... BluRay has a peak bitrate of 49mbs... and HD DVD is limited to 30mbs.
LLS
Well, whatever. It plays the HD DVD’s and he’s satisfied.
Since the two formats are still fighting it out for market share, I wonder if it would be wise to buy one right now?
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No one is going to win the “war” anytime soon that much is guaranteed, they’ve both released about the same amount of films, both have exclusives with about the same amount of studios, etc.
You’re totally safe getting either or both format, if you’re going budget go HD-DVD, but DEFINITELY join in.
If you think the picture on your HDTV is great on sport and movie channels wait until you see the BEST or what HD-DVD and blu-ray have to offer.
If you don’t have HD-DVD and/or blu-ray and you have a HDTV, you’re not really seeing what your HDTV is capable of doing. It’s like having a big canvas and not letting an artist paint on it. Disclaimer: Your TV needs to be 50 inches or bigger to REALLY see the upgrade.
I did quite a bit of homework on this. I finally decided on the Blu Ray.. far more titles.. better picture, in my opinion.
my understanding is that 80% of the purchases in this war are now Blu-Ray..it appears Sony is winning this one.
—
The only thing POSSIBLY accurate in your statement is you did quite a bit of homework. EVERYTHING else you say is demonstrably wrong. I have both formats,what you’re saying sounds like it came from some 16 year old website with a PS3. Not even the biggest Blu fans will claim “better picture”, it’s absurd.
Are you sure you weren’t seeing a Blu-ray vs regular DVD demo disk — these are in stores everywhere. I have never seen, or even heard of a Blu-ray vs HD-DVD demo like that, and I doubt that any of the box stores have them, since they most are selling both types.
There is not that big a difference between the two high definition formats, and even if you could spot it, it’s certainly not as dramatic as you claim. When you show two screens side-by-side very few, if any, can tell the difference, and both are a dramatic improvement over regular DVDs.
Actually, the Xbox 360 addon HD-DVD drive doesn’t require the 360 to use. You can play it through a PC.
BluRay has a peak bitrate of 49mbs... and HD DVD is limited to 30mbs.
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Which means......ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, go to AVS Forum and see the “bitrate nonsense” thread.
Neither format is going anywhere, they are both capable of breathtaking video and audio. This cheerleading for faceless corporations by individuals all over the internet is mind-boggling.
NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS, NO ONE’S DOOM IN THE FORMAT WAR IS IMMINENT, ENJOY HD-DVD AND BLU-RAY AND IGNORE FORMAT CHEERLEADERS.
Full 1080p Blu-ray DVDs on the right screen are stupefyingly good. But Betamax was better looking than VHS. I went for Blu-ray, myself, but we'll have to see if the American public is willing to pay more for quality - historically, they haven't been.
I want to know if the Toshiba HD-DVD player for under $200 plays SACDs and DVD-A discs?
>>That is definitely the one I would buy.
If you own an xbox. ??<<
I do own an Xbox360 but I have a home theater - I watch all my movies off hard drive on a big screen TV. For that you need to be able to get the movies onto a hard drive and the XBox 360 HDDVD will do that since it works just as well with a PC.
What an absolute lie, there is no dramatic difference in the formats, Apacalypto on blu-ray is mind blowing and King Kong on HD-DVD is equally mind blowing.
Why is it that most of these elaborate lies and tall tales come from blu-ray owners or supporters???
Buy both formats, they’re both great.
If you’re new to HDTV, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray you can go to the AVS forum and find out tons of info on buying a new TV, surround system and what movies are worth getting, etc.
But it anyone tells you EITHER side is “much better”, “better picture”, etc. rest assured they have NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT.
I want to know if the Toshiba HD-DVD player for under $200 plays SACDs and DVD-A discs?
Get the model number, (likely HD-A2) and go to AVS forum and do a search there, you’ll find an owners thread and the answers, etc.
I'm sure he is. There is nothing wrong with it, it's just useless to anyone who doesn't already own a 360.
Same thing.
Maybe I’m late to the party, but does this thing ship with drivers and HD viewing software? Neither newegg nor Microsoft states that this works with PC’s or Mac’s. A quick search yeilded such titles as “How to hack your 360-HD-DVD player to work with your PC.” That’s not what I’d call compatible if you have to hack it to work.
I can see little old ladies getting trampled at the Wal-Mart come christmas shopping season.
>>Maybe I’m late to the party, but does this thing ship with drivers and HD viewing software? Neither newegg nor Microsoft states that this works with PC’s or Mac’s. A quick search yeilded such titles as “How to hack your 360-HD-DVD player to work with your PC.” That’s not what I’d call compatible if you have to hack it to work.<<
Hmmm for somebody that doesn’t already deal with DVD ripping and hacking it may be a bit overwhelming because it involves a driver that Microsoft does not provide and a third party app for playing and/or ripping.
It also needs a pretty powerful home theater PC.
For my purposes, storing all my movies on hard drive it will take an HD DVD ripping program like AnyDVD. there aqre choices for software to play the DVDs if you don;t want to rip them (ripping means taking the movie off DVD and onto a hard drive.)
This is the best thread I’ve found that explains whats involved (except AnyDVD which is not allowed to be discussed there)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748426&page=1&pp=30
1080I REMINDER BUMP. ;-)
While it may be hard to notice the difference on a standard living room television, 32" or so, very easy to see the difference when you get up to 50".
The Blockbuster decision is the first major battle in this war. It may not be Gettysburg, but it is at least Shiloh.
There is no huge advantage to upgarding to HD-DVD when Blu-Ray only costs a little more. The industry in which I work sells to both types of replicators. While we aren't the only one in the business, we are one of the largest. So the sales by type of replicator which I see everyday offer more than a few clues to which direction the HD-DVD & Blu-Ray wars are heading.
Don’t forget 1080p, my 1080i went to the bedroom, now the big deal is 1080p/24, don’t ask.
hile it may be hard to notice the difference on a standard living room television, 32” or so, very easy to see the difference when you get up to 50”.
The Blockbuster decision is the first major battle in this war. It may not be Gettysburg, but it is at least Shiloh.
There is no huge advantage to upgarding to HD-DVD when Blu-Ray only costs a little more. The industry in which I work sells to both types of replicators. While we aren’t the only one in the business, we are one of the largest. So the sales by type of replicator which I see everyday offer more than a few clues to which direction the HD-DVD & Blu-Ray wars are heading.
___
Nothing personal, really, but, STOP.
You have been so wrong with just about everything you have said in your 2 posts that it’s not even funny, or even close to being correct.
Blockbuster is not exclusive to blu-ray, never has been and likely never will be, and their support for blu-ray sent zero shockwaves anywhere. I rent blu-rays and HD-DVD’S at my local Blockbuster, both Blockbuster online and Net Flix have a large selection of both Hi-Def formats.
There is a ton of factors that go into what a movie looks like on either format, the same movie can look like CRAP on one format and STUNNING on the other.
NOT EVEN THE BIGGEST FANBOYS make the crazy claims you’re making.
They are both great formats, GOD HIMSELF can not tell which is “better” with the naked eye because one ISN’T “better” than the other no matter what you say. Anyone with any knowledge will agree that your 2 posts are from someone either : A. A Big Sony Fanboy B. Repeating nonsense and FUD someone told him C. Someone totally just talking out of his arse with ZERO knowledge.
I have both formats, they’re both great and worth owning they both have their strong points and weaknesses, their’s not a dime’s worth a difference between the 2.
PLEASE - noting personal, but I will not buy anything from Toshiba after they sold restricted milling machinery to the USSR to quiet their subs in the 1980’s.
And when I get Guitar Hero III with my wireless controller I’ll be a HD Transformer watching / Halo 3 playin / Wireless Guitar God
You could always get a Les Paul and a Peavy Amp.
Just saying...
BTW... How do Spiderman 1, 2, and 3 look on HD DVD? Oh yeah... that is another deadly weakness of HD DVD... No Snow White... No Mickey Mouse... at least you do have Transformers to watch... but then it is a truncated offering... but you can buy Transformer marketed products online with that nifty interactivity thing.
I hope you enjoy surprises... I think you will be surprised by this time next year. We will have to wait and see.
LLS
You can find HUNDREDS of advocates for BOTH SIDES at AVS.
I have BOTH formats and enjoy both.
YOU ARE A BLU-RAY CHEERLEADER, splitting the same hairs, parsing the same nonsense. It’s people like you who ruin AVS, it used to be a great forum, now all of a sudden there’s 1000 technical geniuses.
Spiderman movies aren’t very good but remember I OWN BLU-RAY too, I’m not stuck watching only one format or arguing for one format LIKE YOU.
Yes, bitrate means nothing, not every film is coded the same way, your argument is totally worthless.
You, (and the HD-DVD fanboys like you) make me sick, people like you have brought down the AVS forum to the level of video game fan boys. It’s not a discusssion about currrent/future capabilities and enjoyment of the format, it’s silly fanboys with their silly rallying cries of “Good Enough” etc., PATHETIC
I can afford both formats and they both have delivered amazing home movie experiences. I want blu-ray AND HD-DVD to get better and better to entertain ME.
How someone can be a big hd movie fan and not have both is puzzling to me. Maybe some of you guys were never on a team sport or something that only now do you take up arms. If you love video games how can you love Playstation and hate X-Box????? It’s just as childish. This is what people like you have reduced home theatre to, congratulations.
Having been on the losing end of format wars before I and many others refuse to become the willing pawns of others. http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_index.html
It is the best upconverting DVD player on the market and it does a fantastic job turning regular DVD's into near 1080p HI Definition quality. Don't take my word for it, here are some upconverted screen shots I took off of our Sony Pearl 1080p projector and 100" Stewart Firehawk SST screen. They speak for themselves, enjoy:
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/Jmouse007/
If the picture is that good on a 100" screen think how good it will look on your 50" HDTV :o)
Like I said, save your money, invest in an OPPO 981, sit back and enjoy your extensive DVD library all over again. Believe me it is like seeing them for the first time, the image quality is that good. Let the numbbots beat their brains out and spend their money fighting over Bluray and HDDVD. When the dust settles, someone is going to lose the war and a lot of money and it won't be me, or you if you are smart.
OPPO 981
Having been on the losing end of format wars before I and many others refuse to become the willing pawns of others.
Do yourself a favor, save your money and buy an OPPO 981 upconverting DVD player:
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv981hd/dv981hd_index.html
It is the best upconverting DVD player on the market and it does a fantastic job turning regular DVD's into near 1080p HI Definition quality. Don't take my word for it, here are some upconverted screen shots I took off of our Sony Pearl 1080p projector and 100" Stewart Firehawk SST screen. They speak for themselves, enjoy:
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/Jmouse007/
If the picture is that good on a 100" screen think how good it will look on your 50" HDTV :o)
Like I said, save your money, invest in an OPPO 981, sit back and enjoy your extensive DVD library all over again. Believe me it is like seeing them for the first time, the image quality is that good. Let the numbbots beat their brains out and spend their money fighting over Bluray and HDDVD. When the dust settles, someone is going to lose the war and a lot of money and it won't be me, or you if you are smart.
OPPO 981
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