HD-DVD player price drop

[DjfunkmasterG]

Toshiba has dropped the price on all HD-DVD players.

HD-A3 regular $299.00 now $149.00 ($139 on amazon) 1080i player
HD-A30 Regular $399.00 Now $199.00 1080p player
HD-A35 Regular $499 now $299.00 1080P enhanced player

All players come with 2 free movies in the box (300 and Bourne Identity) plus you get to pick 5 more free movies through the mail. Titles include Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Darkman, Italian Job, Swordfish, U2 rattle and Hum and 11 other titles.

See circuit City, Ebay, Amazon, Best Buy, or Tiger Direct.com

[bassman]

Dj, are you a spokesperson for HD DVD sales?:p

[DjfunkmasterG]

I am the self appointed spokesman. Since these are better than Blu-ray players I wanna see this format survive.

I bought 3 extra players today.

A new HD-A2 for $79.99
A new HD-A3 and an HD-A30

I will have back ups and a loaner to convince people to switch over. :D

[bassman]

You have over three players? Jesus Christ, man. That's one step past obsessive....

[capncnut]

You gotta hand it to him, he's determined. :D

[Danny]

yesterday i got children of men, the host, dogma, american pie and a superman boxset for £15 from blockbuster on dvd.
so im happy with that format right now:D

[bassman]

yesterday i got children of men, the host, dogma, american pie and a superman boxset for £15 from blockbuster on dvd.
so im happy with that format right now:D

Is that Superman Box set the one in the metal tin with 14 discs? If so....that's a great set. Took me about 3 weeks to get through all of it.

[Danny]

the one with the 4th movie that time should have forgotten in it.:dead:

[bassman]

the one with the 4th movie that time should have forgotten in it.:dead:

Time should have forgotten 3 and 4. 3 more so than The Quest For Peace becuse it's a Richard Pryor film with Superman thrown in. Even though The Quest For Peace sucks, at least it tried to be a Superman film.

Anyway....Back to the main topic. DJ, since you seem to be trained in the advanced art of HD DVD....I've noticed that some HD DVD's come with an HD version and a regular version. Are all HD DVD packages the same?

And where are these HD/Blu Ray players that you mention? I haven't seen any.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Ok there are two types of players with HD in the title.

Some are SD-DVD players with the ability to upres Regular DVD's to a somewhat HD look (1080i or 1080p)

HD-DVD players have the HD-DVD logo:

http://www.avrev.com/footer/hd_dvd_logo.gif

These players can play both HD-DVD and Regular DVD, they upres regular DVD's to as close to 1080i or 1080p as possible, but it is still standard Def ont he regular DVD's.

HD-DVD players have the ability, when connected to the net via ethernet ports, to download web only content stored on the HD-DVD disc. You can also do the firmware updates on th eplayer using this same port.

Here are the on sale HD-DVD players w/ free shipping

HD-DVD Toshiba HD-A3 Model $139.99 Free shipping (This player doesn 1080i HD)

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A3-720p-1080i-Player/dp/B000U62N1S/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1200323401&sr=8-1

Review of player:

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/toshiba-hd-a3/4505-6463_7-32563584.html

HD-DVD Toshiba HD-A30 1080p player $170.00 Free shipping

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A30-1080p-DVD-Player/dp/B000U6AHYS/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1200323401&sr=8-2

Review of player:

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/toshiba-hd-a30-hd/4505-6463_7-32563583.html?tag=txt

HD-DVD Toshiba HD-A35 player 1080p Enhanced - $273.00 W/ Free SHipping

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A35-1080p-DVD-Player/dp/B000U6AHZW/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1200323401&sr=8-4

Review of player:

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/toshiba-hd-a35/4505-6463_7-32563582.html?tag=txt

EACH PLAYER COMES WITH 300 and BOURNE IDENTITY IN THE BOX. You will also be able to choose 5 free movies. See list of films here:

http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/perfect_hd_dvd_offer_redemption_form.pdf

Hope this helps you decide. :D:thumbsup:

[bassman]

Well thanks, dude. But what I meant was where are these HD/Blu Ray hybrid players that you had mentioned?

[mista_mo]

why is this format superior to blu-ray?

just an honest question from a guy who does not know the difference

[bassman]

why is this format superior to blu-ray?

just an honest question from a guy who does not know the difference

I asked DJ the same question in another thread. His response was this:


HD-DVD has features BR is still trying to implement.

PiP (Won't be available until Blu-Ray 2.0)
DTS-HDMA (not available on low end Blu-Ray players)


Like I said once Blu_ray has been declared the winner, these movies won't stop working. Plus a duo format player will play both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and why pay $40 for the Transformers B-R when it comes out when I can get it for $15.00.

Most Blu-Rays still use MPeg2 as the main video encoder.

[mista_mo]

umm...yea..that helps alot..what does it all mean?

[Legion2213]

umm...yea..that helps alot..what does it all mean?

LOL, somebody as clueless as me. :D

[bassman]

umm...yea..that helps alot..what does it all mean?

I'm not quite sure about the DTS, although I think it's digital surround sound. The PiP means picture-in-picture, I believe.

[mista_mo]

picture in picture? the hell?

jesus christ, i think i'll stick to my trusty dvds right now.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Answer for Bassman

The hybrid players play both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Currently LG and Samsung have players on the market that can do this, however, they cost approx $799.00.

Later this year Samsung is releasing another version of their Hybrid player that will cost $599.00

Basically it will just make things easier for when one format dies off (hopefully Blu-Ray) this way you won't have to run out and re-buy the movies again.

Answer for Mista_Mo

The reason HD-DVD is superior is that Toshiba made sure all these features were installed and working before their product was released whereas Sony/Blu-Ray decided to release questionable quality players just so they could have their product on the market at the same time. Sony, to this day and for the last 2 years, has been playing catch-up trying to get every single feature HD-DVD already to work on the 2.0 release in Oct 2008. So far it looks like they may get it all done, but will it work is the question.

Right now 1st Gen Players for Blu_ray only have HDMI Connectivity 1.0 and cannot be upgraded to HDMI 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3. Only 2nd generation Blu-Ray players are upgradeable. So if you own a first gen player you will have a $1000 paperweight once 2.0 goes into effect. The player will still play movies, but alot of the features 2.0 discs will have in their Extras section will be null or void on 1st gen players.

Supposedly all 2.0 BR players will have an ethernet port to do online updates for firmware, this has been a feature in Blu-ray since 2005. A majority of films released by 20th Century Fox are still Mpeg 2 encoded, which is still a heavy loss codec. BR just recently started aggressively using VC-1 and (i forget the name of the other codec)