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$99 HD-DVD Player Coming Soon?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the first-one's-free dept.

Frank writes "Rumors of the high definition holy grail persist. The latest is that Toshiba will be offering their basic HD-A2 player at $99 for one week only, beginning July 22. An added bonus is three free HD-DVD's."

23 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Thats nothing.... by streetphantom · · Score: 5, Funny

    Blue Ray is being given away with Cornflakes soon.

    1. Re:Thats nothing.... by Traxton1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you new here?

      --
      Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
  2. Nice loss-leader... by Bob+Gelumph · · Score: 3, Insightful

    but will there be enough units to give HD-DVD a good enough foot hold to claw back marketshare from bluray?

    --
    I'm gonna need a spec.
    1. Re:Nice loss-leader... by dunezone · · Score: 5, Informative

      Marketshare? Ill be honest, I haven't seen one Blu-ray or HD-DVD player in someones house yet nor do I know anyone that owns one. Wait, I take that back Ive see one Blu-ray player and thats a PS3.

      Is it just me? Is it the Chicago area and we just refuse to buy into it? Ive read countless articles on which one is better, which will win, and that the Blu-ray has already won. And I still haven't seen one outside a store yet.

  3. Free as in no one will pay to haul these away? by magarity · · Score: 5, Funny

    An added bonus is three free HD-DVD's
     
    Pink Flamingos, Alone in the Dark, and The Star Wars Holiday Special.

  4. I wouldn't buy it by Durrok · · Score: 5, Informative

    I might use it if they give it away. This player has numerous issues, highlighted here.

    For those of you who don't like to click links:

    The HD-A2 is the least capable of the current crop of HD-DVD players available from Toshiba. Both of the other two models, the HD-A20 (Buy now) and the HD-XA2 (Buy now), support 1080p video. In fact the HD-A20 is nearly identical to the HD-A2, it just adds 1080p for an extra $100 more on the MSRP. So the odds that a firmware upgrade will ever be available for the HD-A2 to allow 1080p are pretty slim. How would you explain that to someone who bought an HD-A20? The HD-XA2 also comes with HDMI 1.3, better video processing, and gold plated input jacks. But the HD-A2 is the one that's getting all the hot sale prices, so it appears to be the most popular right now. But if you shop around, you might find a great deal on the HD-A20. For example, right now it's only about $25 more than the HD-A2 at the HT Guys store (as of 6/22).

    --
    I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
    1. Re:I wouldn't buy it by John+Betonschaar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So if you just have a 720p TV (like I do) and don't care about 'HDMI 1.3' (whatever benefit you might get from that) or gold-plated connectors (for *digital* signals??), it's actually at least a half-decent player?

    2. Re:I wouldn't buy it by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Especialy since the cheap player does output 1080i (following the above link). Personally would not pay double to get the "p." There are hardly any 1080p movies out anyways, and I don't think the difference from 1080i would be noticeable. Paying double for a small degree of "future-proofing" is not a good value in my book.

    3. Re:I wouldn't buy it by santakrooz · · Score: 5, Interesting

      1080p vs 1080i is a non-feature when it comes to HDDVD or BluRay that Sony has "invented" for marketing purposes. Here is why. Movies are filmed at 24 frames per second. They are displayed at 30frames or 60frames per second on high def DVD formats. All HDDVD and BluRay content is stored on disc in "1080p" meaning 1080x1920 full frame non-interlaced. Your 1080p display can take 1080i input from a 1080i source such as the A2 and will recombine fields to create full frame images. 1080p displays don't actually display anything interlaced. So when you're watching a 1080i source on a 1080p television you are actually effectively seeing 1080p 30frames per second instead of 1080p 60frames per second. You will not see a single bit of difference because the content is 24fps to begin with. Even 100% digitally filmed/produced movies such as CG cartoons (Nemo) or movies (Star Wars Prequels) are still mastered at 24fps...

      1080p is good for displaying 1080 content that is higher than 30 frames per second - such as video games. Basically with 1080i you're limited to 30 frames per second at 1080 vs 60 frames for 1080p. Playstation has 1080p because it's a game machine and 1080p provides potential for higher framerates at 1080 for gaming which is advantageous. But for movies? the difference betweek i and p is meaningless.

    4. Re:I wouldn't buy it by Shabbs · · Score: 4, Interesting

      1080p is marketing hype. Feeding a 1080i or a 1080p signal to a 1080p TV will be EXACTLY the same if the source is HD DVD or Blu-ray.

      Now, 1080p/24 is interesting. The HD-A20 and XA2 are going to be getting firmware updates to allow 1080p/24 output. The HD-A2 will not get this update. That is cool, if you have a 1080p/24 device you can watch HD film as it should be. But, how many people have a 1080p/24 display device? How many are even out there? Very few.

      Cheers.

      --
      Mark
    5. Re:I wouldn't buy it by JonXP · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I thought the granparent poster had a point until I read this. Of course! How stupid of me to forget that while I'm watching movies, I like to see single frames at a time, so I can get FULL enjoyment out of it. It took me a MONTH to finish the first Star Wars movie, but I sure as heck liked it better than the rest of you losers.

      --
      Still IMing in the stone age?
  5. To show attendees by the sounds of it by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The blog makes it sound like only show attendees may be able to apply for this. I don't see how they could offer it to the general public unless Toshiba was prepared to lose hundreds of millions in a last gasp bid to win the format war.

  6. Dammit by Durrok · · Score: 4, Informative

    The link was there in the preview, I swear! Here it is

    --
    I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
  7. $50 by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 3, Funny

    If only we could get $50 HDI cables to go with it!

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    1. Re:$50 by anakin876 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Did you mean HDMI? how about this? $4.79 http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id =102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=2412&seq=1&for mat=2&style=

  8. Just a marketing SCAM! by jsldub · · Score: 4, Informative

    Did you read the fine print in the press release?

    Questex Media Group provides certain customer contact data (such as customers' names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who with to promote relevant products, services, and other opportunities which may be of interest to you...

  9. Re:That's it, Blu-ray is toast by toleraen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow, a little hopeful are we? If all it took was a one week sale to kill Blu-Ray, they would have done it months ago. This sale isn't going to do jack other than get rid of the lingering inferior toshiba HDDVD player (compared to their other HD DVD Players, see an above post explaining why it sucks) so they can make room for the next revision of their hardware.

  10. Re:wow by toleraen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, and the R&D probably cost 'em $50, a couple pizzas, a case of beer, and a long weekend.

  11. great deal... by mustafap · · Score: 4, Funny

    > HD-A2 player at $99 for one week only, beginning July 22.

    What, and then we give it back after the weekend?

    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
  12. Optic storage is losing the format war by BlueParrot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We know for sure that SONY cannot win a format war because then the universe would implode. We also know that Toshiba is not winning this format war. The logical conclusion is that the whole HD-DVD concept is about to fail miserably in favour of increased internet bandwidth and magnetic storage. Heck, the standard offers over where I am is already in excess of 5 mbit. By the time either HD DVD format has a chance to overtake DVD ( guessing 5-10 years at least ) it will be more than enough to doom the entire HD-DVD concept. Unless the MPAA can cripple broadband deployment in key markets ( read US ) sufficiently of course.

  13. Re:$99 Betamax Player? by Reapman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm I just googled to confirm what you said about Serenity... here's something that I thought was rather funny:
    http://www.amazon.com/Is-Serenity-on-Blu-Ray/forum /Fx2OBJXPD8AAL2V/Tx3HBJ73B4L8NHR/1?_encoding=UTF8& asin=B00005JO0J

    "No, Universal is still in the HD DVD-only camp. Annoyingly, Fox is in the Blu-ray camp so if Firefly ever comes out in high-def, it will be a different format from Serenity." :D

  14. Annoying intros,trailers by zymano · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I will be pissed still if we can't FF through those damn things.

    If i buy it I should be able to CONTROL MY DAMN MACHINE.

    Sue the manufacturers?

  15. Re:Won't buy till... by dpaton.net · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sorry, you're delusional. Asking for HD output on a commodity composite connector is like asking for GB ethernet on a cat3 cable.

    Component can only do 1080p over short distances without the addition of expensive repeater boxes or expensive cables.

    VGA is the same.

    An F connector could, if you got people to change to expensive high grade coax and got all the TV manufacturers to put GOOD ATSC tuners in their sets.

    DVI is dead as a consumer A/V interface. It's still great for computers, but it offers no A/V connection capability. People don't like dealing with a mountain of cables. Yes, the change to HDMI was industry driven, but it was also consumer driven. It was generally good thing, despite the inferior connector that HDMI came with.

    If you're really intent on complaining about the HDMI/DVI issue, spend $20 over at Parts Express and get a DVI to HDMI adapter cable. I use two, they work just fine.

    Honestly, your bitching and whining post struck me like someone asking their computer to support dual layer DVDs and magtape at the same time. It's just lame and uneducated.

    I'm not going to get into the DRM argument, but suffice it to say that for the short term, if you want 1080p, you need a digital connection. That means DVI or HDMI. You don't get any other choices. Put up or shut up.

    --
    This is not a sig. this is a duck. quack.