Blu-ray Still wins the Week of Transformers

[space2001]

looks like even though Transformers did amazing on HD DVD, Blu-ray still one the week,

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/index.cfm

[Dennis M]

Quite honestly Space, I could care less either way.
And I think most people here feel the same way.

[space2001]

yah I know me to but I just find the irony of HD DVD buying paramount for 150 million and they still can't get the sales back in there corner.

[Dennis M]

It's just part of the back and forth game in this format war.

The BDA did a BOGO sale that week to offset the sales of Transformers. And it worked. I took advantage of it myself.

Walked up to the counter with my copy of Transformers on HD DVD and 6 Blu ray movies.

Personally I don't think either of these formats are going away anytime soon. So I bought a player in both formats and am enjoying movies. Which is all that really matters.

Don't see Toshiba or Sony cutting me a dividend check when this thing is over. So really, why should we care?

[HDFan01]

yah I know me to but I just find the irony of HD DVD buying paramount for 150 million and they still can't get the sales back in there corner.

How sad. This guy is trying to turn this in to another bickering Blu-Ray/HD DVD forum. There are already plenty of others out there.

Blu sold more discs last week. Yipee.
HD DVD had twice the revenue. Yipee.

Transformers had the best first week of any other single format HD film. Now that is all I care about!:)

[nelson]

Don't see Toshiba or Sony cutting me a dividend check when this thing is over. So really, why should we care?

Bingo!!!!!!

[Johnny LaPhlegm]

I love these people that study hdm software sales like day traders. Here’s some perspective: Transformers sold more copies on standard DVD in its first week than all of high-def media for both formats have sold since inception.

[Double]

To me, this news means I am one step closer to owning Transformers in HD wihtout buying an HD-DVD player.

[space2001]

I am not trying to start any war with anyone, I am just stating facts. if you have proof that I am wrong then please feel free to bring it up.

I am not attacking anyone on these forums. And I only keep things to the facts. All I am doing is reporting transformers news. Hence why I posted it in the transformers forum.

[nelson]

looks like even though Transformers did amazing on HD DVD, Blu-ray still one the week,

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/index.cfm

The *special* BOGO offer had noting to do with it, did it?

[piturra]

Transformers had the best first week of any other single format HD film. Now that is all I care about!

Paramount knew what they were doing ...

Paramount's CTO on Why His Studio Is Dumping Blu-ray (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136253-c,dvdtechnology/article.html#)

Alan Bell discusses why HD DVD is his studio's exclusive high-definition format.
Melissa J. Perenson, PC World - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 5:00 PM PDT



PCW: Presumably, making this move wasn't something you did lightly. What led up to the decision to shift your production exclusively to HD DVD?

Bell: Paramount has been getting experience with publishing titles in both formats for the last year. We've had a hands-on ability to see how these formats work in practice. And after some hands-on analysis, we decided that HD DVD was the format we wanted to support.
...

PCW: So, as a studio, you believe that the underlying stability of HD DVD's specs is a benefit?

Bell: When you look at what the DVD Forum has specified as required, it's a good set of advanced technologies. You can be assured that that benefit will be available to all consumers, no matter what [player] model they purchased. That speaks to the DVD Forum, that it published specs that were complete and market-ready, and that it didn't need to publish up [and change the specs], as Blu-ray has. To some degree, [such changes are] going to create some legacy issues.

For example, HD DVD players have [ethernet] connectivity built-in. If the player doesn't have that, or it's optional, you can't rely on that [as a feature].

If Paramount stayed publishing for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, ... the "Transformers" Blu-ray 2-Disc would ONLY have the same Special Features as the SD DVD 2-Disc since All Blu-ray players today are only BD 1.0 compatible, ... with NO ...

1) True PiP Interactivity

2) NO Internet Connectivity.

Look at actual specs and product reviews and HD DVD is the clear choice. Some day perhaps months down the road when BD Profile 1.1 (PiP) is ready to roll and BD Profile 2.0 (Network Connection) is out Blu-ray will be capable of doing what HD DVD is doing now and has been doing since April of 2006.
---------

Anyway, here's what would be missing if a Blu-ray "Transformers" disc was available ...

DISPLAY: 62" Toshiba 62HM196 1080p HDTV
CAMERA: Canon A550 7.1MP on a Tripod / Distant approx. 10'
................Flash = OFF
................Manual Mode / ISO 100 / F-Stop variable between -1/3 to -1

"Transformers" HD DVD Movie Scenes - HUD (w/True PiP) NEXT GENERATION FEATURES w/TRUE PiP

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9707/transhud06kz9.jpg


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1094/transformershud08rq7.jpg
Steven Spielberg - talking about Shia, FULL VIDEO PiP NEXT GENERATION FEATURE running Seamlessly while the HD Feature is playing!!!


Excellent repeat movie viewing experience with cool movie production 'behind-the-scene' trivia, tidbits & INFO!!!
------------------

"Transformers" HD DVD Movie Scenes - WEB Enabled INTELLIGENCE MODE w/GPS Tracking NEXT GENERATION FEATURES
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6308/transweb01ek6.jpg
WEB ENABLED FEATURES Menu - It took about approx. 10-15 secs. to download the INTELLIGENCE MODE w/GPS INFO - too fast to take a pic.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1527/transweb02fo1.jpg
New Overlay Screen w/All Sorts of Cool INFO & GPS tracking of course (top right corner)

====================================
FOR THOSE THAT HAVE THE HD DVD VERSION OF "TRANSFORMERS":

When you get time, you've got to watchthe "INTELLIGENCE MODE" w/GPS Tracking.

The text** & GPS Tracking ADDS more Fictional 'behind-the-scene' INFO and when a BOT is pertinent to the scenes, the STRENGTH Meter comes ON! As long as the BOT is part of that Scene, the STRENGTH Meter stays ON whether you see him or not!!! Pretty cool to watch how much damage they can take and in some cases, until they are terminated!

**SOME INTERESTING FICTIONAL MOVIE STORY BASED INFO REVEALED:

1. About Sam (Shia LaBeouf) & chores

2. Sam's missed opportunities w/Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox)

3. Interesting INTEL on each of the Decepticons and Autobots while on screen or off (some funny facts)
.... a) STRENGTH Meter STATUS ON
........ 1) ICON Either Represents the BOT's Disguise (Auto, Jet, etc.) or Natural Alien Cybertron State

5. Phone Customer Service (India) Rep. - why he's working there!

6. Maggie Madsen (Rachel Taylor) background - nice INFO to know!

7. Maggie & Glen Whitmann (Anthony Anderson) INFO - why she knew him

8. Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) connection with the "FIRST SEVEN" - cool INFO

9. How Sam explains why he now owns a $500,000 Camaro!!!

.... etc., ... tidbit's of funny and great Fictional Movie Story Based trivia & INFO!

------------------

Besides the "INTELLIGENCE MODE w/GPS Tracking INFO (more digital pics linked below**), there is ...

... THREE "S7" ICONS that are active now!!!

Each "S7" ICON has one short video clip that you can download & delete after you watched them (which I did).

- 1st "S7" short video is a surveillance video clip in a garage (cool)
- 2nd "S7" short video viewing a street from an alley (funny)
- 3rd "S7" short video a family having a birthday party (could be unsettling?)

Since "Sector 7 (S7)" deals with the government alien cover-up, these clips of course shows something or object Transforming - I won't tell you what they are, but the 1st one is an homage to one of the G1 Transformers!!!

There will be SIX Total "S7" ICONS, I guess one of theses mornings, the Fourth "S7" ICON will show-up and I'll check that out during breakfast!!!

Also, don't forget to look for the 5 easter eggs on HD DVD disc 2!!!


===============================

**These images represents about 1/5 of what I took, CLICK HERE to see them all (including these images & short video samples)!!! (http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/561074155YUsIfG)

===============================



To me, this news means I am one step closer to owning Transformers in HD wihtout buying an HD-DVD player.

FOR THOSE THAT JUST BOUGHT THE 2-DISC SD DVD VERSION OF "TRANSFORMERS":

Wal-Mart Stocks Sub-$200 HD DVD Player (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Toshiba/Wal-Mart/Wal-Mart_Stocks_Sub-$200_HD_DVD_Player/1110)



It's official. After weeks of rumors, Wal-Mart has begun selling Toshiba's second-gen HD-A2 HD DVD player for $198, setting a new low-price record for a stand-alone next-gen player.

Although reports of a rollback for the HD-A2 first surfaced earlier this month, it wasn't until the middle of this week that consumers began spotting endcaps with that magic price cropping up at select Wal-Mart locations nationwide.

In an article first published by Fortune Magazine, Wal-Mart spokesperson Melissa O'Brien confirmed the price cut and denied rumors that each Wal-Mart store would stock only 18 units of the Toshiba player, saying "there are no limited quantities for stores or purchases."

The spokesperson would not comment on the retail giant's holiday plans for HD DVD and Blu-ray, other than to say "we know HD DVD and Blu-ray are going to be popular items this holiday season for some of our customers."

Toshiba's 1080i HD-A2 was originally released this past January at a retail price of $499, but is now available at various retailers at prices ranging from $230-280. The HD-A2's successor -- the third-generation HD-A3 -- is due to hit stores November 1 with a list price of $299.

Wal-Mart says the $198 price for the HD-A2 is being offered for in-store purchases only (their website still lists it at $274).


Probably an inventory sale since the G3 Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD Player has just been released!!!

Anyway, ... An Affortable & Great Way to see the HD DVD High-Definition 1080p blockbuster movies like "Transformers" on your 720p / 1080p LCD, Plasma or DLPs and also finally TO SEE THE NEXT GENERATION FEATURES UNAVAILABLE with Blu-ray TODAY!!!

THANK YOU Dreamworks / Paramount & Michael Bay for THESE NEXT GENERATION FEATURES!!!

Phil

[Elandyll]

It's ok, that time has come to an end.
Starting on Oct.31st, all new BD players will have access to superior interactivity and connectivity, even compared with HD-DVD.

It is a shame that due to those $150M Blu-Ray fans won't have access to TF in HD for another year, but eventually they will, do not worry about this my friend :)

[piturra]

It's ok, that time has come to an end.

Starting on Oct.31st, all new BD players will have access to superior interactivity and connectivity, even compared with HD-DVD.

It is a shame that due to those $150M Blu-Ray fans won't have access to TF in HD for another year, but eventually they will, do not worry about this my friend

You Do Know, ... that the only Blu-ray BD 1.1 player announced (Denon) to date has been delayed till 2008.

Now, around December you might get the $1049 Samsung BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player.

It will be BD Profile 1.1 Ready, but according to ...



Samsungs Newsrelease & UPDATE @ PCWorld.com (http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004989.html) ...

Samsung Dual-Format High-Def Player Does Blu-ray and HD DVD - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:40 AM PT Posted by Melissa Perenson

UPDATE: And, sadly, you won't get support for the forthcoming update to Blu-ray's minimum player specs that go into effect October 31. ...

... Samsung's Maria Colon, marketing manager, and Reid Sullivan, vice president of marketing; they clarified that the BD-UP5000's storage and picture-in-picture would only work on HD DVD discs, not Blu-ray Discs. Sullivan also said that Samsung would not have a Blu-ray player with the updated specs until 2008.

...As Sullivan noted in conversation with me, it's the proverbial chicken-and-egg challenge: If the software (meaning: Blu-ray movies) aren't out that require the storage and picture-in-picture, then why should the hardware makers rush to integrate those features?

So, Oct. 31st was just a nice target date that Sony set, but will miss (again)!!!

------------

I really like some of Blu-ray EXCLUSIVE blockbuster movies!!!

But since Blu-ray's BD-J spec. is a mess, I'll wait until the following is a reality (that is, ... if Blu-ray survives**) ...

1) $198.00 Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (PiP Interactivity) & Profile 2.0 (Internet Connectivity) is available.

2) Blu-ray blockbuster movies are Re-Released to take Advantage of BD-J Profile 1.1 & 2.0
.... a) Maybe Warner will finally release ...
........ 1. "Batman Begins" with the same NEXT GEN FEATURES available w/HD DVD already!?!?

------------

**Sony will not meet sales goal for Playstation 3 (http://www.dvdtown.com/news/sony-will-not-meet-sales-goal-for-playstation-3/4849)
By Henning Molbaek
FIRST ONLINE Oct 25, 2007




Its computer division however, still struggles to show good numbers. They have sold the Playstation 3 with loss and sold less than expected. A quarterly loss of ¥96.7 billion ($845 million) showed they have a long way before they will make any money. The games unit, which recently announced a price cut for the PS3, won't be profitable until the next business year ending March 2009, it said.

Meanwhile, ... more digital pic's ...

"Transformers" HD DVD Movie Scenes - HUD (PiP) NEXT GENERATION FEATURES w/TRUE PiP

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4028/transhud02hz3.jpg
Peter Cullen background INFO.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4525/transhud03xl7.jpg
PiP Video behind-the-scenes INFO

"Transformers" HD DVD Movie Scenes - WEB Enabled INTELLIGENCE MODE w/GPS Tracking NEXT GENERATION FEATURES

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5708/transweb05of3.jpg
Bumblebee signals the gang!

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8541/transweb06ju2.jpg
SKORPONOK, Decepticon INFO.


Phil

[Hockeytown Fan]

To me, this news means I am one step closer to owning Transformers in HD wihtout buying an HD-DVD player.
No your Not LOL

[Double]

No your Not LOL

Yes, I am. You see, I have a PS3, and if Blu-Ray remains successful then when the HD-DVD/Parmount/Dreamworks deal expires or if HD-DVD fails, then Transformers will eventually come out on BR.


LOL

[jasonhuang1115]

Thanks, piturra, for the detail comparison between features of Blu-ray and HD DVD. That really makes me think about getting a HD player first before the Blu-ray player drops price. I have seen you kindly posting lots of screen-cap of the web-interactive content of HD DVD. I remember there is a feature that you can evaluate those Transformers in 3D (like zoom in very close to see the detail). Would you please post some screen-cap of that sort? I am doing/learning 3D stuff and that feature of the HD DVD is actually the most appealing part to me. :)

[Dennis M]

Thanks, piturra, for the detail comparison between features of Blu-ray and HD DVD. That really makes me think about getting a HD player first before the Blu-ray player drops price. I have seen you kindly posting lots of screen-cap of the web-interactive content of HD DVD. I remember there is a feature that you can evaluate those Transformers in 3D (like zoom in very close to see the detail). Would you please post some screen-cap of that sort? I am doing/learning 3D stuff and that feature of the HD DVD is actually the most appealing part to me. :)

Hi Jason,

I have the HD DVD and the interactive features are quite impressive.

The HD DVD players are getting pretty cheap.

If fact Sears is going to sell the HD A3 (gen3) player for 169.00 on Black Friday. :eek:
I'm thinking about getting another player for the living room at that price.

[ClaytonMG]

To me, personally, I don't care about the PIP features. Also, if they wanted to do the PIP features, they could've done what WB is doing with T3 and had a seperate encode of the film. The disc is big enough to do so...

Also, so what if the BOGO sales made Blu-Ray do better that week? How is that any worse than a company paying $150 million to make some titles exclusive just to try to save their dying format? The ONLY reason HD-DVD would've won this week is because of Toshiba paying off Paramount to go exclusive, and that's it.

[ClaytonMG]

Anyway, ... An Affortable & Great Way to see the HD DVD High-Definition 1080p blockbuster movies like "Transformers" on your 720p / 1080p LCD, Plasma or DLPs and also finally TO SEE THE NEXT GENERATION FEATURES UNAVAILABLE with Blu-ray TODAY!!!

THANK YOU Dreamworks / Paramount & Michael Bay for THESE NEXT GENERATION FEATURES!!!

Phil

Wait, how much is it for a new 1080/24p HD-DVD player? I thought they cost more for some reason. Same with the one that has the ability output 7.1 sound.

[Dennis M]

To me, personally, I don't care about the PIP features. Also, if they wanted to do the PIP features, they could've done what WB is doing with T3 and had a seperate encode of the film. The disc is big enough to do so....

Have you tried the interactive feature? If you haven't you can't really make this statement.
At first I myself looked at the concept of interactive features as fluff and went Meh. Just give me the movie. Once I actually tried them my opinion changed. It just takes the HDM to another level I am enjoying.

Encoded another film on the disc is extremely inefficient. Blu-ray does not want to do this. Their profiles are going to give you these features in the future. If the BDA did not think this feature was of any value they would not have bother introducing profiles 1.1 and 2.0 in the first place.
So, you can't just dismiss these features because they are on HD DVD. They are going to be on Blu-ray as well.



Also, so what if the BOGO sales made Blu-Ray do better that week? How is that any worse than a company paying $150 million to make some titles exclusive just to try to save their dying format? The ONLY reason HD-DVD would've won this week is because of Toshiba paying off Paramount to go exclusive, and that's it.

This is some what hypocritical in the light of the Exclusive deals that Disney and Fox signed with Sony. Never mind the Target deal. Welcome to the world of business. Backroom deals are done all the time Toshiba and Sony are no exception.

It's time to live with it and move on.

[piturra]

Yes, I am. You see, I have a PS3, and if Blu-Ray remains successful then when the HD-DVD/Parmount/Dreamworks deal expires or if HD-DVD fails, then Transformers will eventually come out on BR.


LOL

Probably not since ...

Toshiba and Microsoft Announce Plans to Form Advanced Interactivity Consortium (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/oct07/10-04MSToshibaAICPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases)

DreamWorks Animation, Paramount, Universal and Warner join IT and consumer electronics industry leaders to extend and promote interactive experiences beyond optical media to new platforms.


TOKYO and REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2007 — Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to form the Advanced Interactivity Consortium (AIC), an open forum aimed at the promotion of superior interactivity for a wide range of next-generation consumer devices, digital content and distribution scenarios. The newly formed organization’s mission is to maximize consumer satisfaction worldwide by accelerating industrywide adoption of advanced interactivity and interoperability across a broad array of HD DVD products.

In addition to its crystal-clear picture quality and sound, HD DVD, the next generation of DVD, approved by the DVD Forum, is the first platform to include advanced interactivity as a basic feature in high-definition movies and players, substantially expanding the possibilities of high-definition home entertainment.

...

The Advanced Interactivity Consortium will also include major Hollywood studios DreamWorks Animation SKG, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros., which have given their commitment to these advanced scenarios and experience bringing new features to consumers. Each studio currently distributes or will distribute HD DVD titles with HDi-enabled features, from advanced in-movie navigation, bookmarking and picture-in-picture, to Web-enabled communities, content downloads and e-commerce stores.

Glad to see Warner join, they already have released EXCLUSIVE HD DVD's like "Batman Begins" w/HDi-enabled features and didn't release "Batman Begins" on Blu-ray due to their messy BD-J Specs.


NOTE: Amazon now has joined Wal-Mart and Circuit City selling the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player for $197.99 w/FREE SH!!! (http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-HD-DVD-Player/dp/B000IJV4BC/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt/103-6544424-8231827)

====================

FYI: The final 3 "S7" short video clips have been uploaded!!!

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/imgcache/15232.imgcache

To recap, the first 3 ...

1st short video is a surveillance video clip in a garage (cool) :cool:

2nd short video viewing a street from an alley (funny) :laugh:

3rd short video a family having a birthday party (could be unsettling?) :eek:

-------------------------

NEW "S7" CLIPS: (My son told me that G1 "Transformers" Fans will know what these ... represents!!!)

4th short video clip in the back yard or park.

5th short video clip - wonder what that was???

6th short video - could tie-in with the movie!!!

Have fun!!!

Phil

[Dennis M]

Wait, how much is it for a new 1080/24p HD-DVD player? I thought they cost more for some reason. Same with the one that has the ability output 7.1 sound.

Cost on a player that does 1080/24p is in the 250 ballpark.

How many people have displays that support 1080p/24? I do, but not many others.
So, how useful will 1080p/24 output be for people out there right now?

Output for 7.1 is really not a factor. How many titles have 7.1 encoding? Three, maybe.
Next, how many people have a 7.1 setup?

1080/60p output is not really a useful feature either. All players with this feature to a conversion internally from the disc.

(Disc)1080p/24 -> convert to 1080i/60 -> deinterlace to 1080p/60.

If your using a player to do this you might as well output 1080i/60 and let the TV deinterlace it. Most TV's have the same deinterlacing chips found in the player if not better ones.

[ClaytonMG]

I have a 1080p TV so... why would I care what other people have? And you're right about 7.1. I don't think there's any on HD-DVD. However, there's some DTS 6.1 titles that I believe would require a player that outputs 7.1 PCM, since HD-DVD requires the player to do the decoding of the audio.

[Dennis M]

I have a 1080p TV so... why would I care what other people have? And you're right about 7.1. I don't think there's any on HD-DVD. However, there's some DTS 6.1 titles that I believe would require a player that outputs 7.1 PCM, since HD-DVD requires the player to do the decoding of the audio.

Gotch ya, does your 1080p display support 1080p/24 input? And does it support 1080p/24 native to the screen? In other words it does not convert it to 1080p/60 to display.

I think there's limited support on Blu-ray as well. At least those with 7.1 analog ouputs. Not sure if all decode 7.1 to PCM over HDMI. I'll have to check that. I know my PS3 does.

[ClaytonMG]

For Blu-Ray, ALL players output 7.1 PCM via HDMI. I think the Panasonic players are the only ones that can do analog 7.1. I think that's pretty stupid though, if each player can outpud 7.1 PCM, they should be able to do analog as well. But yes, the PS3 does output 7.1 PCM.

As for my TV, yes it accepts 1080/24p. It's the new Sony SXRD 60A3000 and let me tell you, it's a pain in the butt trying to get the black levels right! I switched over to this from an old CRT, and whew! But aside from the black levels (which I'll have to get the DVE disc for HD-DVD and hope the settings are the same which I think they probably will be) the TV is amazing.

[Dennis M]

As for my TV, yes it accepts 1080/24p. It's the new Sony SXRD 60A3000 and let me tell you, it's a pain in the butt trying to get the black levels right! I switched over to this from an old CRT, and whew! But aside from the black levels (which I'll have to get the DVE disc for HD-DVD and hope the settings are the same which I think they probably will be) the TV is amazing.

Unfortunately you won't be able to get the Black levels anywhere near the levels you had with your CRT. I'm running a JVC RS1 and the black don't come close to what my NEC Xg135LC PJ was giving me.
The resolution increase does offset that loss.

If you want to get 1080p/24 from HD DVD the HD A20 is your best bet at around $250.

[Dennis M]

Well going HD DVD just got a bit easier.

Walmart is selling the Toshiba HD A2 for $98 tomorrow.

No quantity limits. Every store is meant to have stock.

Wow that is Cheap!!!

[Tobi]

Well going HD DVD just got a bit easier.

Walmart is selling the Toshiba HD A2 for $98 tomorrow.

No quantity limits. Every store is meant to have stock.

Wow that is Cheap!!!

Beat you to it! :p

http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=426

Also, Toshiba will be giving away a free Transformers HD DVD with new players!

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=11462

[ClaytonMG]

Well going HD DVD just got a bit easier.

Walmart is selling the Toshiba HD A2 for $98 tomorrow.

No quantity limits. Every store is meant to have stock.

Wow that is Cheap!!!

I thought it was limited quantities because of the A3 coming out. At first it was no limit, and now I thought they did limit it. Also, look at what you're getting for $98 though... It's a very basic no frills player. I think most people that get that will probably not want to spend $25-$40 on a movie though.

[ClaytonMG]

Unfortunately you won't be able to get the Black levels anywhere near the levels you had with your CRT. I'm running a JVC RS1 and the black don't come close to what my NEC Xg135LC PJ was giving me.
The resolution increase does offset that loss.

If you want to get 1080p/24 from HD DVD the HD A20 is your best bet at around $250.

The cheapest I found that for was $318 on Amazon.com, every where else was around $400...

[Tobi]

I thought it was limited quantities because of the A3 coming out. At first it was no limit, and now I thought they did limit it. Also, look at what you're getting for $98 though... It's a very basic no frills player. I think most people that get that will probably not want to spend $25-$40 on a movie though.

What other HDM player can you get for $98.00? Basic or not, this is good for the consumer, I don't understand why people keep trying to put a negative spin on this.

[Mobe1969]

It just annoys me that the studios have gone down this path for the money they are getting from the HD makers. If they were like warner and independent of format, they'd have made three times as amny sales. Don't believe me just look at the last blockbuster dual release - 300. Twice as many Blu Ray sold than HD. The same would have happened with Transformers. There was no HDDVD victory from transformers. The loosers were the studio due to the 2/3 reduced sales.

Shame on them

[piturra]

I thought it was limited quantities because of the A3 coming out.

There's no limit for the $169.99 Toshiba HD-A3 for the "BLACK FIRDAY" 5 am to noon Sale @ Sears on Nov. 23rd.


At first it was no limit, and now I thought they did limit it.

Today's $98.86 Toshiba HD-A2 @ Wal-Mart is limited based on received stock - around 25 to 50 (?) units per store vs. reginal location in the U.S.


Also, look at what you're getting for $98 though... It's a very basic no frills player. ...

The $98.86 Toshiba HD-A2 includes** what's lacking with present Blu-ray players that are Profile 1.0 ...

1) TRUE PiP Interactivity
.... a) Dual Video & Audio processing
........ 1. Great for video commentary, text running seamless concurrently w/HD movie like "Transformers"

2) Ethernet Port - Internet Connectivity.
.... a) WEB Featurettes like in "Transformers" ...
........ 1. "INTELLIGENCE MODE" w/GPS
........ 2. Six S7 (Sector 7) captured short video clips - funny stuff
........ 3. Three future WEB Featurettes
............a. TRANSFORMERS Profiler
............b. MENUBOTS
............c. MY CLIPS - shared with other Transformer Fans on-line

3) Persisitent storage

4) Local Storage
.... a) See WEB Featurettes #2a above

**Thanks to HD DVD mandate, ALL HD DVD players fullfills already since day 1 (APRIL 2006) what Sony hopes Profile 1.1 (PiP) and Profile 2.0 (WEB) will do for their Blu-ray players.

Here's an interesting article ...

"Does Blu-ray Profile 1.1 make past players obsolete?" (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9808376-7.html) October 31, 2007 11:00 AM PDT @ CNet.

Phil

[wingzero]

Sorry but... if Toshiba keeps selling the new HD-DVD player models like the A3 at less than half the price then it means that's over and they decided to clear stocks and make as much profit as possible to drop the format completely.
So, either it's a very time limited offer or HD-DVD is a dead format more or less officially now.
The old players sold at a $99 price point it's still a desperate tentative that Toshiba is trying to pursue in order to get some money back out of too many manufactured players that no one bought. Anyway stock won't last long at that price point. This doesn't mean that everyone that will buy an HD-DVD discounted player will start buying and watching HD-DVD titles.. at that low price point many will just buy the units and use them as standard DVD HDMI with upscaler players in the same price range on the market... many will buy the players just for their plain old SDTV CRT.
Also, at a $99 price point the lack of DiVX/Xvid playback capability on HD-DVD Toshiba players could affect sales pretty badly because the average buyer could easily prefer a DVD with HDMI and upscaler that features DiVX/Xvid playback and maybe costs even just $79-$89. Also, HD-DVD movies still cost more than DVD ones, so many will buy the discounted HD-DVD players just to use the upscaler even on their HDTV set.
If Toshiba really believes that this is going to inject life in the format and raise disc sales then I bet they are pretty wrong.

Also, telling that the claimed Blu-Ray lack of PiP/web content/interactivity features and support really affects mass market adoption and would cause less discs sales in favour of HD-DVD ones.. well, that's pretty a naive statement. Do you really believe that the average movie watcher would care for those features ? Guess what, only a small percentage of people watches the Making Of and other additional videos/directors comments/interviews and so on. The majority just wants to watch the main movie at the best possible quality, among those that care about quality.

[Tobi]

Sorry but... if Toshiba keeps selling the new HD-DVD player models like the A3 at less than half the price then it means that's over and they decided to clear stocks and make as much profit as possible to drop the format completely.
So, either it's a very time limited offer or HD-DVD is a dead format more or less officially now.
The old players sold at a $99 price point it's still a desperate tentative that Toshiba is trying to pursue in order to get some money back out of too many manufactured players that no one bought. Anyway stock won't last long at that price point. This doesn't mean that everyone that will buy an HD-DVD discounted player will start buying and watching HD-DVD titles.. at that low price point many will just buy the units and use them as standard DVD HDMI with upscaler players in the same price range on the market... many will buy the players just for their plain old SDTV CRT.
Also, at a $99 price point the lack of DiVX/Xvid playback capability on HD-DVD Toshiba players could affect sales pretty badly because the average buyer could easily prefer a DVD with HDMI and upscaler that features DiVX/Xvid playback and maybe costs even just $79-$89. Also, HD-DVD movies still cost more than DVD ones, so many will buy the discounted HD-DVD players just to use the upscaler even on their HDTV set.
If Toshiba really believes that this is going to inject life in the format and raise disc sales then I bet they are pretty wrong.

Also, telling that the claimed Blu-Ray lack of PiP/web content/interactivity features and support really affects mass market adoption and would cause less discs sales in favour of HD-DVD ones.. well, that's pretty a naive statement. Do you really believe that the average movie watcher would care for those features ? Guess what, only a small percentage of people watches the Making Of and other additional videos/directors comments/interviews and so on. The majority just wants to watch the main movie at the best possible quality, among those that care about quality.

I'm sorry but this post is laughable. If you really think that low pricing means that it's over for Toshiba then you are the one that's being naive, price has always been the key for mass adoption for either format, if you cannot grasp this then you're just in denial.

-According to you selling out is bad :rolleyes:
-Average people care enough about Divx/Xvid playability to affect sales in a bad way, but they DON'T care about PiP and internet features, right.

Most of your points are assumptions and wishful thinking, you can speculate all you want, but the truth is that we won't see how these players affect the market until way after the holiday season.

[piturra]

.... Also, telling that the claimed Blu-Ray lack of PiP/web content/interactivity features and support really affects mass market adoption and would cause less discs sales in favour of HD-DVD ones.. well, that's pretty a naive statement. Do you really believe that the average movie watcher would care for those features ? Guess what, only a small percentage of people watches the Making Of and other additional videos/directors comments/interviews and so on. The majority just wants to watch the main movie at the best possible quality, among those that care about quality.

You do realize that was one of the reasons Paramount / Dreamworks DUMPED Blu-ray!!!

"Transformers" was a High Definition NEXT GENERATION Feature Filled HD DVD Release, ... and there is MORE WEB Featurettes including more 'behind-the-scene' production / filming documentation that will be Coming from Paramount Server as the ...

weeks, ... month's, ... years, ...

... continue on until ... "Transformers 2" is Released!!!

I wouldn't be surprized that we get an WEB Exlusive Extended "Transformers 2" Trailer a month before the Movie 2009 Release, ... like we did w/"Heroes: Season 1"!!!

Oh yeah, "Heroes: S1" HD DVD (Disc 2) WEB Featurettes keep getting updated with more storyboards & 'behind-the-scenes' trivia ... as Season 2 moves progresses!!!

Name one Blu-Ray movie out of the 400+ can claim that!?!?

Phil

[ClaytonMG]

You do realize that was one of the reasons Paramount / Dreamworks DUMPED Blu-ray!!!

"Transformers" was a High Definition NEXT GENERATION Feature Filled HD DVD Release, ... and there is MORE WEB Featurettes including more 'behind-the-scene' production / filming documentation that will be Coming from Paramount Server as the ...

weeks, ... month's, ... years, ...

... continue on until ... "Transformers 2" is Released!!!

I wouldn't be surprized that we get an WEB Exlusive Extended "Transformers 2" Trailer a month before the Movie 2009 Release, ... like we did w/"Heroes: Season 1"!!!

Oh yeah, "Heroes: S1" HD DVD (Disc 2) WEB Featurettes keep getting updated with more storyboards & 'behind-the-scenes' trivia ... as Season 2 moves progresses!!!

Name one Blu-Ray movie out of the 400+ can claim that!?!?

Phil

Name one that needs it... The features you're downloading on your disc could've easily just been included on the Blu-Ray without the need to download them but they probably rushed the HD-DVD/DVD out and didn't have the features finished. Hence the coming soon portion. Then they also didn't have room on the disc. And Paramount/DreamWorks were bought off. It had nothing to do with the features that HD-DVD supposedly can offer that Blu-Ray can't. It may have had something to do with being able to port over the features though. As for saying you're going to get the trailer early, don't start spreading rumors like that just to get uninformed people to buy into your dying format. It's not right.

As for the low priced HD-DVD players... THEY WERE MANUFACTURED IN NOVEMBER OF 2006. This was nothing more than a desperate dumping sale. They're hoping that people without any knowledge of the format "war" will buy into these players and support their format. Yes, there were a few people waiting for cheaper players. But the majority of them saw it as a good deal (hell, it was less than most high quality upconverting players!) and bought it.

As for the Profile 1.1, no, it doesn't make these players obsolete. They just can't access the special features like the new ones can. Shall we talk about the TL-51 discs for a format that's supposedly as complete? Or how there's not enough disc space for features and high quality audio? No, I am not just refering to Transformers here.... And lets talk about the low bandwidth issues on HD-DVD players...

Now I know you guys are going to come back and be like "NO! HD-DVD RULES AND HERE'S WHY I'M RIGHT AND YOU'RE WRONG!" but truthfully I don't care anymore. I own both formats and prefer Blu-Ray hands down. It works better, there's over 200 movies with uncompressed sound compared to 68 on HD-DVD, I have yet to have a movie freeze up or skip or fast forward by itself and I am completely satisfied with it. While your HD-DVD set standards for their players in interactivity, Blu-Ray set standards for their players in picture, sound and disc quality. Either way, these little tid bits never get anywhere, as everyone thinks they're right and the other person is wrong so I've decided I wont participate in them anymore. So have fun spreading FUD everyone! ... well not everyone, the people that are doing it know who they are.... Peace...

[Tobi]

Name one that needs it... The features you're downloading on your disc could've easily just been included on the Blu-Ray without the need to download them but they probably rushed the HD-DVD/DVD out and didn't have the features finished. Hence the coming soon portion. Then they also didn't have room on the disc. And Paramount/DreamWorks were bought off. It had nothing to do with the features that HD-DVD supposedly can offer that Blu-Ray can't. It may have had something to do with being able to port over the features though. As for saying you're going to get the trailer early, don't start spreading rumors like that just to get uninformed people to buy into your dying format. It's not right.

As for the low priced HD-DVD players... THEY WERE MANUFACTURED IN NOVEMBER OF 2006. This was nothing more than a desperate dumping sale. They're hoping that people without any knowledge of the format "war" will buy into these players and support their format. Yes, there were a few people waiting for cheaper players. But the majority of them saw it as a good deal (hell, it was less than most high quality upconverting players!) and bought it.

As for the Profile 1.1, no, it doesn't make these players obsolete. They just can't access the special features like the new ones can. Shall we talk about the TL-51 discs for a format that's supposedly as complete? Or how there's not enough disc space for features and high quality audio? No, I am not just refering to Transformers here.... And lets talk about the low bandwidth issues on HD-DVD players...

Now I know you guys are going to come back and be like "NO! HD-DVD RULES AND HERE'S WHY I'M RIGHT AND YOU'RE WRONG!" but truthfully I don't care anymore. I own both formats and prefer Blu-Ray hands down. It works better, there's over 200 movies with uncompressed sound compared to 68 on HD-DVD, I have yet to have a movie freeze up or skip or fast forward by itself and I am completely satisfied with it. While your HD-DVD set standards for their players in interactivity, Blu-Ray set standards for their players in picture, sound and disc quality. Either way, these little tid bits never get anywhere, as everyone thinks they're right and the other person is wrong so I've decided I wont participate in them anymore. So have fun spreading FUD everyone! ... well not everyone, the people that are doing it know who they are.... Peace...

For someone that complains about people spreading FUD you sure love to use assumptions and personal opinions as facts.

-Ethernet connection is something that doesn't interests me in the least, I have yet to hook up any of my players to my router, yet it's something that cannot be downplayed, look at 300, it had internet features on the release, did they rush this disc also? I sure didn't see that feature on the BD disc. You just don't know if they rushed the disc or not, you're just assuming they did.

-Dying format? According to Sony, they won the format war back in january, remember CES? If anything, it is picking up momentum:

The Walmart sale moved 90k units in 3 days.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Best_Buy/Wal-Mart/High-Def_Retailing/Toshiba/Report:_Weekend_Toshiba_HD_DVD_Player_Sales_Top_90 ,000/1150

Microsoft sold 210,000 Xbox add-ons thru september.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6497144.html?industryid=47215

- $98.99 Players, who cares when they were manufactured? does this even matter at that price? If by people without any knowledge you mean the general public, then by all means, yes, HDM will not take off without mass adoption and BD isn't catering to the non-enthusiast. Also people know more than what you give them credit for, I was there at the sale to get a player as a gift for my family, people in line with me, neither of which had picked a side yet, knew exactly what they were getting into, I was gladly surprised, they said that at that price there was no thinking about it, and that even if HD lost they still got a great upconverter. This means a lot, and just proves that all that is keeping HDM from being adopted is price, not a PCM track.

-TL51, the spec has been approved, that is all we know, you can assume all you want, but I'll bet when Toshiba makes the announcement about it, this spec will be compatible with all gen players. Can you say the same about all the BD profiles? No, and I'm not assuming that.

- Low bandwidth has sure kept HD DVD from releasing stellar discs, you're completely right about that, oh wait, they have.

[Supermans]

One thing is for certain. Facts are facts and Blu-ray still won the week Transformers was released.

Either way, the HD-A2 being $98 basically tells every hardware manufacturer that it is not profitable for them to make HD-DVD players so Toshiba is going to be the only one releasing HD-DVD standalones. Also, now that the sale is over and the price jumped back up by $100, most people will be waiting until the next $100 off sale before jumping in if they missed the first one. So basically Toshiba is stuck at the sub $100 price point way too early in the game.

At the moment, Sony, Disney and Fox are Blu-ray exclusive while Paramount and Universal are HD-DVD exclusive. If you take a look at Christmas releases, Blu-ray has the huge advantage which is why I believe Toshiba decided to partake in drastic price cutting measures to sell-out their players at a loss. I may be wrong, but my theory does hold water considering the circumstances that have taken place so far leading up to the $98 HD-A2 Walmart sale..

In either case, this format war is going to be decided by Warner Bros. and Universal as they both can make a huge difference in if Universal goes neutral or Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive after the the Christmas Holidays. The Paramount 150 mill deal, which was very anti-consumer, will not last forever as the contract will expire and be up for re-negotiation. All in all this fight is heating up this Christmas and it will be interesting to see the software sales from both when it ends..

On a side note......I'm having a Transformers party this Saturday which will make Michael Bay happy to hear. :) For a lot of my friends, this will be their first time watching anything High Def and I feel Transformers is an excellent and most important fun movie for all of them to enjoy. I still would like to see Transformers make an appearance on a Blu-ray disc with uncompressed sound and perhaps all the extra's on the same disc (which you all know is possible on Blu-ray), However at this point I can look past this format war and the specs and simply enjoy a movie with a bunch of friends over the house.. Peace and soon to be Merry Christmas..

[Tobi]

One thing is for certain. Facts are facts and Blu-ray still won the week Transformers was released.

Either way, the HD-A2 being $98 basically tells every hardware manufacturer that it is not profitable for them to make HD-DVD players so Toshiba is going to be the only one releasing HD-DVD standalones. Also, now that the sale is over and the price jumped back up by $100, most people will be waiting until the next $100 off sale before jumping in if they missed the first one. So basically Toshiba is stuck at the sub $100 price point way too early in the game.

At the moment, Sony, Disney and Fox are Blu-ray exclusive while Paramount and Universal are HD-DVD exclusive. If you take a look at Christmas releases, Blu-ray has the huge advantage which is why I believe Toshiba decided to partake in drastic price cutting measures to sell-out their players at a loss. I may be wrong, but my theory does hold water considering the circumstances that have taken place so far leading up to the $98 HD-A2 Walmart sale..

In either case, this format war is going to be decided by Warner Bros. and Universal as they both can make a huge difference in if Universal goes neutral or Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive after the the Christmas Holidays. The Paramount 150 mill deal, which was very anti-consumer, will not last forever as the contract will expire and be up for re-negotiation. All in all this fight is heating up this Christmas and it will be interesting to see the software sales from both when it ends..

On a side note......I'm having a Transformers party this Saturday which will make Michael Bay happy to hear. :) For a lot of my friends, this will be their first time watching anything High Def and I feel Transformers is an excellent and most important fun movie for all of them to enjoy. I still would like to see Transformers make an appearance on a Blu-ray disc with uncompressed sound and perhaps all the extra's on the same disc (which you all know is possible on Blu-ray), However at this point I can look past this format war and the specs and simply enjoy a movie with a bunch of friends over the house.. Peace and soon to be Merry Christmas..

-Yes, and BD has also won every week this year, what does that tell you? software sales mean crap at this point in time, otherwise all studios would be BD exclusive already.

-Do you or me make and sale players? NO we BUY them, so makes no sense for anybody to bring this up unless, obviously, you see it as a negative for HD and a positive for BD, the CONSUMER benefits from low prices, why do you care for manufactures? Again you're assuming people at $200.oo while independent research has shown that sub $200.00 is the price for mass market adoption, impulse buy, whatever you wanna call it, etc. let Toshiba deal with that.

-This has been the case for most of the year, yet it didn't help BD go past a 2:1 lead in sales, which has been the trend all this year, This is a war and both Sony and Toshiba are going to make agressive moves, like the BOGO sale, or undercutting your own CE manufactures by releasing a better player at a lower price, like the new PS3, my point? BOTH sides are doing it.

-Yep, all very possible since when the Paramount hit happened no one saw it coming, but Warner could also go HD DVD exclusive, and Universal going neutral is as probable as Disney going neutral. As for the Paramount deal, everyone just took someone's word of an 18-month agreement, we don't know for sure, yet let's actually think it's 18 months, by the time that contract expires the war should be over. Again, software sales haven't played a major role up to now, like I said, otherwise all studios would have jumped BD exclusive by now, the key point for mass adoption is increased hardware sales.

-This is the most important thing, and I couldn't agree with you more.

[Supermans]

-Yes, and BD has also won every week this year, what does that tell you? software sales mean crap at this point in time, otherwise all studios would be BD exclusive already.

-Do you or me make and sale players? NO we BUY them, so makes no sense for anybody to bring this up unless, obviously, you see it as a negative for HD and a positive for BD, the CONSUMER benefits from low prices, why do you care for manufactures? Again you're assuming people at $200.oo while independent research has shown that sub $200.00 is the price for mass market adoption, impulse buy, whatever you wanna call it, etc. let Toshiba deal with that.

-This has been the case for most of the year, yet it didn't help BD go past a 2:1 lead in sales, which has been the trend all this year, This is a war and both Sony and Toshiba are going to make agressive moves, like the BOGO sale, or undercutting your own CE manufactures by releasing a better player at a lower price, like the new PS3, my point? BOTH sides are doing it.

-Yep, all very possible since when the Paramount hit happened no one saw it coming, but Warner could also go HD DVD exclusive, and Universal going neutral is as probable as Disney going neutral. As for the Paramount deal, everyone just took someone's word of an 18-month agreement, we don't know for sure, yet let's actually think it's 18 months, by the time that contract expires the war should be over. Again, software sales haven't played a major role up to now, like I said, otherwise all studios would have jumped BD exclusive by now, the key point for mass adoption is increased hardware sales.

-This is the most important thing, and I couldn't agree with you more.

Are you kidding? Do you own a Toshiba player? I sure would like to have more options of different models of players to choose from different CE hardware manufacturers rather than just from one company. Toshiba players are slow, unreliable with freeze-ups and at this point the A3 is now even worse than the HD-A2 since they cut out some important features. It means the player is getting cheaper in material and they are cutting corners every chance they get.. The HD-XA2 still has unresolved issues with 1080p24 which causes the sound to get out of sync..Again, if any another hardware manufacturer was making an HD-DVD player, these problems could be worked on much faster... This is a big problem for HD-DVD now that zero hardware manufacturers will ever show interest in working on HD-DVD players until this format war is over.

As for Toshiba, giving away players may help numbers in the short term but if they still can't take over the lead quickly while giving away their players, it will be over for them soon even they can't sustain the heavy losses from each player to have more than 25 at a store when these promotions take place.

Tell me what movie's you are interested in this Christmas in buying that are being released on both sides of the isle?.. If you are a dual format owner like me, you will be buying more Blu-ray movies this Christmas without a doubt.. Which is why I predict Blu-ray will still be ahead after Christmas, and Sony along with Disney will still be aggressively releasing titles afterwards while last year was a three month drought in HD-DVD software releases after Christmas which lead to Blu-ray taking the lead and never looking back.. We'll see how history plays out this time...

[Tobi]

Are you kidding? Do you own a Toshiba player? I sure would like to have more options of different models of players to choose from different CE hardware manufacturers rather than just from one company. Toshiba players are slow, unreliable with freeze-ups and at this point the A3 is now even worse than the HD-A2 since they cut out some important features. It means the player is getting cheaper in material and they are cutting corners every chance they get.. The HD-XA2 still has unresolved issues with 1080p24 which causes the sound to get out of sync..Again, if any another hardware manufacturer was making an HD-DVD player, these problems could be worked on much faster... This is a big problem for HD-DVD now that zero hardware manufacturers will ever show interest in working on HD-DVD players until this format war is over.

As for Toshiba, giving away players may help numbers in the short term but if they still can't take over the lead quickly while giving away their players, it will be over for them soon even they can't sustain the heavy losses from each player to have more than 25 at a store when these promotions take place.

Tell me what movie's you are interested in this Christmas in buying that are being released on both sides of the isle?.. If you are a dual format owner like me, you will be buying more Blu-ray movies this Christmas without a doubt.. Which is why I predict Blu-ray will still be ahead after Christmas, and Sony along with Disney will still be aggressively releasing titles afterwards while last year was a three month drought in HD-DVD software releases after Christmas which lead to Blu-ray taking the lead and never looking back.. We'll see how history plays out this time...

I agree, that's something that needs to be improved upon on the HD DVD side, CE support, I have both an A1 that I used for over a year, didn't give me any problems, and now an A35 which works flawlessly and is way faster. Samsung just ditched their high end BD player and went for a dual format one instead, that shows there's interest, time will tell who else jumps on board.

I'm sure Toshiba is more than capable of supplying players on their own for a while, even at a loss, Sony has done it with the PS3 at a much higher volume and are still doing it, so I really don't see a problem here.

Software hasn't driven HDM into mass adoption, but hardware penetration, at an aggressive pricing will. BD always had an edge when it came to releases, and it still does, Disney alone would be a reason to jump on the bandwagon, but player-pricing has kept the general public at bay. Moving players out of the stores is more important than just software sales at this point.

[Ranger]

Are you kidding? Do you own a Toshiba player? I sure would like to have more options of different models of players to choose from different CE hardware manufacturers rather than just from one company. Toshiba players are slow, unreliable with freeze-ups and at this point the A3 is now even worse than the HD-A2 since they cut out some important features. It means the player is getting cheaper in material and they are cutting corners every chance they get.. The HD-XA2 still has unresolved issues with 1080p24 which causes the sound to get out of sync..Again, if any another hardware manufacturer was making an HD-DVD player, these problems could be worked on much faster... This is a big problem for HD-DVD now that zero hardware manufacturers will ever show interest in working on HD-DVD players until this format war is over.

As for Toshiba, giving away players may help numbers in the short term but if they still can't take over the lead quickly while giving away their players, it will be over for them soon even they can't sustain the heavy losses from each player to have more than 25 at a store when these promotions take place.

Tell me what movie's you are interested in this Christmas in buying that are being released on both sides of the isle?.. If you are a dual format owner like me, you will be buying more Blu-ray movies this Christmas without a doubt.. Which is why I predict Blu-ray will still be ahead after Christmas, and Sony along with Disney will still be aggressively releasing titles afterwards while last year was a three month drought in HD-DVD software releases after Christmas which lead to Blu-ray taking the lead and never looking back.. We'll see how history plays out this time...

What HD-DVD model do you own? I've owned an HD-A2 for about 9 months and I've never had a problem with it. A couple of my friends recently bought HD-A30s and they tell me they love their players. I don't see Toshiba reducing quality, just reducing the quantity of components with more integration, which of course help them lower the costs of their players. This is something you see in all CE devices.

From what I've been reading, it seems there are plenty of issues on the Blu-Ray side. With all the different vendors having different software implementations, BD+ caused problems for the LG, and some Samsung and Philips players. Now that BD+ has been cracked, there will probably be changes to it that require more software patches for players.

As for disc sales we'll certainly see. Toshiba is getting ready to hit 500,000 stand alone players soon. All of those player owners will be buying discs. I know my two friends who bought HD-A30s have been buying a bunch of discs for their players.

[Johnny LaPhlegm]

Either way, the HD-A2 being $98 basically tells every hardware manufacturer that it is not profitable for them to make HD-DVD players so Toshiba is going to be the only one releasing HD-DVD standalones. Also, now that the sale is over and the price jumped back up by $100, most people will be waiting until the next $100 off sale before jumping in if they missed the first one. So basically Toshiba is stuck at the sub $100 price point way too early in the game.
You're completely forgetting that right now you can buy a Memorex DVD player for $29, a Panasonic DVD player for $99, a Harmon Kardon DVD player for $300, various Denon DVD players for $1000+, and ridiculous brands like Meridian and Classe DVD players for God knows how much. And as you pointed out in a subsequent post, the HD-A2/A3 is an entry level player, leaving plenty of head room for up-level players priced accordingly.

And besides, last I checked, Samsung is the only CE who is going toe to toe with the PS3 pricing. Panny, Pio, and Denon are all higher. Does that mean those players won't sell?

[Johnny LaPhlegm]

Toshiba players are slow, unreliable with freeze-ups and at this point the A3 is now even worse than the HD-A2 since they cut out some important features.
I've had my A2 for seven months now without one issue. That's playing rented and purchased HD DVDs, DVDs, and combos. And again, there's a laundry list of issues on the Blu side as well. What 'important features' are missing from the A3?

[Double]

Hopefully (for the HD-DVD camp's sake) Samsung can make a better HD-DVD player than Toshiba or LG has.

Also, Panasonic is about to come out with a BR player has all that web-enabled stuff....for whatever that's worth.

[Double]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Double http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/images/bluesaint/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3418#post3418)
To me, this news means I am one step closer to owning Transformers in HD wihtout buying an HD-DVD player.



http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/images/bluesaint/buttons/quote.gif (http://www.shootfortheedit.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=3647)

No your Not LOL

Apparently I am:cool: