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First HD-DVD Player Goes On Sale

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the vhs-or-betamax dept.

An anonymous reader writes "If you live in Japan, you can get your hands on the first commercially available HD-DVD player as of today. Toshiba has launched the HD-XA1, and hopes for sales in the next year to exceed 600,000 units. The device is set to debut in the states in April. From the article: "The player will sell for 110,000 yen (US$936) in Japan. In that market there will also be a cheaper player, the HD-A1, priced at $500. Toshiba said the price in Japan is based on its expectation that video enthusiasts will be first to adopt the technology, while in the United States, the prices are aimed more at average consumers who are more price conscious." Update: 03/31 18:45 GMT by Z : Quoted article updated, quote updated to match the article.

7 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Or you can wait until the PS3 ships by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And buy essentially the same thing for less than $500 US.

    Remember, the first rule of marketing - early adopters of electronics pay $1000 to $2000, people who can wait for the bug-free version pay $500-$1000, and people who can wait until more than fifty percent adoption pay $300-$500, at the zero, one, and two year marks.

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  2. not a investment worth making, yet... by yagu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Man, the first people who buy these babies are either crazy, stupid, or just like to spend their highly expendable capital.

    For the consumser's cool $1000 he (or she) gets:

    • a DVD player that may or may not play DVD's at their rated resolution.
    • possible negilible improved quality picture on HD tv's (how many tv's out there are capable of 1080p yet? For that matter, is this unit capable?)
    • a tepid pool of possible available selections
    • a potentially incompatible format and a worthless future library of media (I know lots o' slashdotters will be too young to remember, but I'm not -- think Beta).
    • an unknown quantity -- how onerous will be the DRM on this unit (scary considering this paragraph from the article:
      The player was originally due out late last year, but delays in completing a content protection specification meant Toshiba had to push the launch back a few months. The player goes on sale just over a month after a preliminary version of the specification, called the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), was completed.
      )
    • total isolation in the support world -- good luck trying to troubleshoot these puppies... you're not going to get the help you need at Circuit City, Best Buy, et. al.

    This new unit is not for the faint of heart, but I know the consumers are out there to break ground for the rest of us. God Bless them and their expendable income.

    1. Re:not a investment worth making, yet... by jonnythan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They will play HD-DVD's at high res. There's no argument over this.

      Also, there is *no doubt at all* to anyone who owns an HDTV of any size that DVD's are significantly inferior to broadcast HD programming. When American Idol has a sharper picture than the newest $20 King Kong DVD, something is wrong.

      "Early adopter" gear has never been for the feint of heart. This applies to HDTV's, DVD players, VHS decks, CD players, you name it. You don't buy the first generation of a technology expecting it to work just fine for Joe Schmoe or if $1000 breaks the bank.

      HD-DVD offers *clear* advantages to the techie/early adopter bracket, and I'd buy one if I had a spare thou to throw around.

  3. Re:techie by SIGALRM · · Score: 2, Insightful
    i wonder if the people who actually buy it at this point know what's coming...?
    Yes, and I wonder if the people buying also realize that today, there are virtually zero movies available in that format...
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    Sigs cause cancer.
  4. Average Consumer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Toshiba said the price in Japan is based on its expectation that video enthusiasts will be first to adopt the technology, while in the United States, the prices are aimed more at average consumers who are more price conscious

    Since when is $500 an afordable price for the 'average' consumer being that the 'average' consumer still doesn't own an HDTV (thus gets no benefit out of a HD-DVD player)?

    Honestly I hope people reject HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and stick with Progressive scan DVD players for one reason, I'm sick of having to "upgrade" every couple of years so that a entertainment company can re-sell the exact same product in a different format. Maybe I'm the only one but (even though HD is nice) I don't see a big enough improvement in quality to from progressive scan DVD to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray to justify $30-$40 for a movie and $500-$1000 for a player.

  5. Wake me up when ... by chmilar · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Wake me up when:
    1. I can get a player that will play all formats: BD, HD-DVD, DVD-movie, VCD, Audio CD, Divx on ISO/UDF, MPEG-TS on ISO/UDF, and the new Chinese format (EVD).
    2. The DRM scheme has been cracked, so I don't have to worry about getting locked out from media I have purchased.
    3. There is a decent selection of movies, especially foreign/indie/arthouse titles.
    4. It is affordable.
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  6. Buy it for its future rarity by dpbsmith · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The sooner the format tanks, the rarer it will be, and the sooner the early units will become valuable.

    Buy it now and put it in your garage next to your jar of mint-condition Susan B. Anthony dollars, your Coleco Adam, and your Gemstar REB-1100 eBook.

    Bound to be worth a fortune; your grandchildren will be so grateful.

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