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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.

9 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. techie by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 4, Interesting

    even for a techie early adopter, somehow the knowledge that there's a war brewing makes these things quite undesirable. i wonder if the people who actually buy it at this point know what's coming...?

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    1. Re:techie by AeroIllini · · Score: 4, Interesting

      even for a techie early adopter, somehow the knowledge that there's a war brewing makes these things quite undesirable. i wonder if the people who actually buy it at this point know what's coming...?

      Especially since crippling DRM limiting the fair use rights of paying customers for the sake of stopping a phantom piracy threat are included right there in the spec.

      Yeah, this should go well.

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  2. no region coding by spazoidspam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From TFA: The HD-XA1 has no region coding for the HD-DVD content

    I guess thats a slight incentive to buy this early, but not enough to justify the rest of the horribly crippling DRM features it will have.

  3. Math? by AeroIllini · · Score: 5, Funny

    The player will sell for 110,000 yen (US$936) in Japan, which is less than the $800 price tag it will carry in North America.

    $936 $800.

    Smooth.

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    1. Re:Math? by AeroIllini · · Score: 5, Funny

      Curse that Preview button!

      My post, with the correct characters:

      The player will sell for 110,000 yen (US$936) in Japan, which is less than the $800 price tag it will carry in North America.

      $936 < $800.

      Smooth.

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    2. Re:Math? by kraada · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, he was making a subtle joke: less is more.

  4. 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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  5. 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.

  6. Not worth it by Brix+Braxton · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thinking about this the other day - I looked over my DVD collection and made a mental note of how many times I watched each of the movies I paid for. My logic was that I would have to watch most movies more than 4 times to really benefit from ownership (guessing I pay about $20 per DVD). In the end - my entire collection was a loss - most of my movies I haven't watched more than twice - not that I don't like them, I do - but there are so many other things to watch between the Tivo and DVD that it's not possible. Using this logic - $900 for an HDDVD player = I could watch 225 HDTV movies via PPV or On Demand before it even became a consideration - not to mention all of the content I would get on Showtime or HBO HD. I know ownershp has it's merits but I think I'm ready to kick the habit and leave the spot empty on my home theatre rack. Just my opinion.

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