Best Buy selling Xbox 360 HD DVD player for $149.99

It seems that Microsoft's new $179 price tag for its Xbox 360 HD DVD player just wasn't low enough for Best Buy, as the retailer is now offering the drive for the low, low price of $149.99. Of course, it's currently sold out, and it's not clear if this is a permanent price, a pricing mistake, or a one time sale (although it's not advertised as such). As far as we can tell, Best Buy appears to be the only retailer to offer the further discounted price, though we'll certainly keep an eye out to see if others follow suit.

[Thanks, Alex]

Update: Fun's over -- the price is now back to $179 on Best Buy's website. In related news, however, Joystiq has turned up some evidence of a new 360 bundle apparently set to be released on August 12th for $399, which seems likely to include Top Spin 2 as a pack-in.

[Jeff @ Aug 1st 2007 11:20AM]

I ordered one of these for in store pickup. Can't wait until quitting time! We are also getting 5 free HD DVD movies through a mail-in offer as well.

[Tony C @ Aug 1st 2007 1:08PM]

Strange... It told me in-store pickup was unavailable, no matter what store I chose.

Awfully hard to not think about buying one now, especially with the 5 free flicks. Even though they're "bargain" $20 HD's (at Amazon), that's still $100 worth of freebies. The deal is kind of strange though, because your choices are tiered so that you have to pick from a list of three movies five times.

http://assets.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddvd/Xbox360_HDDVDOffer.pdf

[Mack Swift @ Aug 1st 2007 11:28AM]

It's a permanent price drop, plus 5 free movies. The stores all have them in stock.

[Grant @ Aug 1st 2007 11:28AM]

not too shabby if you ask me.
still too early to take the jump personally though.
i give this format war another 6 months before i make any decisions, besides that point that i will probably get a PS3 eventually down the line some time.

[dukefan @ Aug 1st 2007 11:32AM]

ugh man i wish i got a summer job.

[The Jeremy @ Aug 1st 2007 11:33AM]

BB is probably being shrewd and decided they have a better chance of selling more of the HD DVD titles they carry if they lower the price of the add-on drive to basically coincide with that $50 price drop on the (non Core) 360s.

Just from personal experience yesterday...I went to two different BBs to buy a copy of *300* on Blu-ray. The first store was sold out on Blu-ray but had several copies on HD DVD.

If there is one culprit that is responsible for killing HD DVD besides raw PS3 sales, its gotta be the ridiculous price of those combo DVD/HD DVD titles. If there were a DVD/Blu-ray combo at an over-inflated price, I wouldn't buy it either. It's like bundling a VHS tape with a DVD disc and basically punishes the HD DVD consumer by requiring them to purchase the (probably unnecessary) DVD copy. Although in terms of licensing, its a win-win for the patent holders, much as Warner's "Total HD" combo discs are for them [i.e., even if HD DVD loses, a Blu-ray owner will still be "donating" money per transaction to both Warner and Toshiba for their HD DVD patent portfolio]. Its deception masking itself as being pro-consumer in both instances.

[The Jeremy @ Aug 1st 2007 11:40AM]

I would add, if I were an HD DVD owner, the title I'd be purchasing would be *Batman Begins*.


Curses to Warners for their selective next-gen title releases, their inability to code/support BD-J and their general indifference to the AVC codec...

[timatl @ Aug 1st 2007 11:41AM]

now they just need to sell the elite for $400

[Bill @ Aug 1st 2007 11:44AM]

This is a complete waste of money even at the discount. I'm not investing in any HD hardware or discs until the format war is for the most part decided, and at the moment it looks like Blu-Ray might take the cake. Even then I might hold out for HD downloads to go mainstream. Until then I'm enjoying the few HD movies available on Xbox Live.

[Warhorse @ Aug 1st 2007 11:55AM]

I kind of hope Sony wins through with Blue Ray. The company needs a boost and if they can win this perhaps they will be more innovative in the future.

[Dave @ Aug 1st 2007 12:00PM]

Well, you could always rip whatever HD-DVDs you have and then burn them onto Blu-Ray later if that format happens to win. At $150, it's a pretty good deal if you've already invested in an HDTV.

[oGMo @ Aug 1st 2007 2:29PM]

Pretty good deal? $449 for an Elite (HDMI or lose) plus $179 for HD-DVD is $628 right there. Before sales tax. Mod me down all you want, but a PS3 is still cheaper by over $100 right now, and has more features.

[mdsbrain @ Aug 1st 2007 11:46AM]

And now the HD DVD player is sold out at Bestbuy. The price drop worked, it moved product.

[Chew Chew Chew ME @ Aug 1st 2007 11:50AM]

Can this be used to force circuit city to price match?

[Defiler @ Aug 1st 2007 11:52AM]

If you still want one Circuit City is offering the same deal. $149 w/ 5 HD-DVDs.

[Tony C @ Aug 1st 2007 1:23PM]

Where do you see $149.99 at Circuit City? Their website still says $179.99 and there's no special deal in their weekly flyer either...

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Xbox-360-HD-DVD-Player/sem/rpsm/oid/166160/catOid/-16534/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I suppose you could always try the price matching angle though...

[apeguero @ Aug 1st 2007 11:53AM]

Is the XBox required in order to use this HD-DVD player?

[Heath Stahl @ Aug 1st 2007 11:55AM]

In theory, yes. Although you can plug it into a PC with the right drivers and software for HD playback. Not sure where to find them offhand but Google should point you in the right direction.

[Tezze @ Aug 1st 2007 11:56AM]

Its usb, so you can plug it into your pc (XP or Vista), it cant be used as a standalone player though.

[triple x @ Aug 1st 2007 11:57AM]

you can use this in windows. not a problem.

[PS3guy @ Aug 1st 2007 11:54AM]

HD-DVD is dead.

[jason @ Aug 1st 2007 11:55AM]

BB's bait and switch again? Hmmmmmm

[Jonas Dawson @ Aug 1st 2007 12:08PM]

Just did a price match at Circuit City- awesome.

Where can I find the online form to send in for my 5 free HD DVDs?

[Tony C @ Aug 1st 2007 1:24PM]

http://assets.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddvd/Xbox360_HDDVDOffer.pdf

[fli @ Aug 1st 2007 12:08PM]

Its just sad that hd dvd is dieing, It's a slow and painfull death. It's really hard to watch :(

[Bob @ Aug 1st 2007 12:10PM]

Well I can tell you that at the BB in El Cajon, the 300 HD-DVD discs were sold out by noon. According to the salesguy, they had about 40-50. So I can't agree that HD-DVD is dead, however I do agree the HD-DVD group seems to be their own worst enemy when it comes to marketing... or lack there of. Oh BTW, there were some Blu-Ray 300 discs left too (but I have a feeling they ordered more BD than HD-DVD).

[bob e @ Aug 1st 2007 12:12PM]

man i was holding off but at $149 I have to pick one. sweet deal MicroSoft & bb.

Does this thing do 1080p?

[Larry @ Aug 1st 2007 12:17PM]

The drive itself does not output anything. You have to hook it up to either an Xbox360 or a PC with compatible software and drivers.

[Jagster @ Aug 1st 2007 12:53PM]

The 360 does output 1080P if your TV will take it in. Also, if used on a PC, whatever the PC software will put out is what matters. This is a drive, all it really does is pull the bits off the disk, it's up to the software on both the 360 and the PC to determine how those bits will be displayed.

[Larry @ Aug 1st 2007 12:16PM]

I cashed in on this deal as well. I can not wait until work is over.

[Eric Pell @ Aug 1st 2007 12:25PM]

Could Best Buy be trying to get rid of these drives because they too are going to soon jump on the Blu-Ray bandwagon like Blockbuster did? I'd like to have one but I'm not sold that HD-DVD is going to be around too much longer. Expecially when Microsoft decided to put a normal DVD drive in the Elite, that tells me they are waiting until someone wins the format war before they commit to having one format that they will sell internal in the consoles.

[paloooz @ Aug 1st 2007 12:34PM]

I'm going to sidestep your Blu-Ray comment, and focus in on your obvious lack of intelligence. I mean ... wow, the word is especially. E-S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y. It's bad enough that people mispronounce it as though it has an X in it, but misspelling it too? You have crossed the line.

These words do NOT contain "X" in them, and neither do their pronunciations:

Escape
Espresso
Especially
Et Cetera (etc.)

Please do not pronounce or spell them like they do.

[Eric Pell @ Aug 1st 2007 12:39PM]

Thanks for pointing out that I'm an idiot. I should have looked at it before submitting. Sometimes I type too fast and my fingers slip. It will never happen again so I don't enrage the great palooooooz.

[apeguero @ Aug 1st 2007 1:12PM]

No biggie on the spelling from me dude. We all make mestakes (just kidding...mistakes). Anyway, good point on the MS holding out on the format wars before it decides which drive it includes with the console. I never thought of that.

[jon @ Aug 1st 2007 12:27PM]

The price is probably a Best Buy "mistake" just to get you to the store. One of their many pricing "mistakes"

[Iced_Eagle @ Aug 1st 2007 12:34PM]

Price was a mistake. It's been corrected now.

[Kevin @ Aug 1st 2007 12:41PM]

ha, whoops... too bad it took them 10 minutes too long to remove the price. I took a lunch break to got the player for the discounted price, got back from lunch and the price was raised back.

[ceaseoleo @ Aug 1st 2007 12:49PM]

Right now when I go to best buy.com .. I see it for 179.99 ??

Also link for 5 free movies with purchase

http://assets.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddvd/Xbox360_HDDVDOffer.pdf

[Maestro @ Aug 1st 2007 1:04PM]

I certainly don't think they are trying to get rid of the HD DVD product. Do you think they really, really want that kind of PR hit? They have a pretty low public image already. Lets say they blow out all the HD DVD players and then say, "Oh, sorry, we are only going to carry BR from now on." I just don't see it happening.

What you have here is a price war and the consumers are benefiting (kinda). I have HD and BR but I personally think the future is HD downloads a la xbox live or cable STB or whatever sony calls their download service...

[Tmac_2003 @ Aug 1st 2007 1:06PM]

I got a really quick question... Well since Best Buy is sold out of their HD-DVD players, but Circuit City matches... Is their a specific ad that I can show Circuit City, because online it says it's 179.99... or a receipt of some type?

[Mike @ Aug 1st 2007 1:15PM]

It's about time people cut these prices. At my Target we've had 2 of these just sitting in it's locked cabinet for months without getting sold.

[Tony C @ Aug 1st 2007 1:28PM]

Maybe Best Buy was trying to clear out warehouse stock on these units, because not long after they sold out, the listed price jumped back up to $179.99.

[Nick @ Aug 1st 2007 1:42PM]

I think Best Buy made a mistake with their pricing. I picked up the HD DVD player (last one they had in Saginaw, MI) during lunch. It rang up $179.99 but there was a tag on the shelf for $149.99, so they had to manually enter the price at the register. I also noticed the price went back up to $179.99 on bestbuy.com which others have also mentioned.

[HB96st @ Aug 1st 2007 1:49PM]

Ran out to the BB around my way.. Came out with the HD-DVD player and "300" For $200.47!!!

"It's like CRACK!!"

[HB96st @ Aug 1st 2007 1:53PM]

Wow... it is back to $179.99... Glad I rushed out the crib! -5 free movies, still a good deal for $179.99..

[Little Mike @ Aug 1st 2007 2:01PM]

The $149.99 price tag was a mistake. The price is at $179.99. I just called over to Best Buy to confirm.

[CS @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:06AM]

I'm pretty sure it was a mistake but I got it for $149 shipped, it'll be here tommarrow, already got my shipping information. At least they honered the mistake.

[Chris Hammond @ Aug 1st 2007 2:47PM]

I must of lucked out! I got it in store for $149 today :)

[The Jeremy @ Aug 1st 2007 2:54PM]

Price matching is an issue anywhere. Although it expired today, Fry's was bundling *Hellboy* and *Casino Royale* on Blu-ray with a PS3 purchase since this weekend. But Fry's didn't have it on their website and the first BB I went to wouldn't honor the deal.

I can tell you that I am disappointed in *300* so far, when compared to even *Hellboy*. The VC-1 encoding rarely gets above 20+Mbps on the bit rate and truly it looks just a little bit sharper than an Xvid'ed conversion from plain DVD that I've seen. When compared to *Hellboy* at 40+Mbps on the bit rate in AVC goodness, it does not compare at all. Hell - pun intended - the high bit rate trailer for Sony Blu-ray titles encoded in MPEG-2 at the start of the disc looks better than *300* in VC-1.

I'm beginning to think that all the flak on the first release of *The Fifth Element* had to do with Sony not doing the transfer from a virgin film print and not with the shortcomings of MPEG-2. Then again, *300* probably shouldn't be used to judge all VC-1 encoding, although since it is a recent film and a brand new release, I don't think there's any excuse for pixelation and perceived graininess at 1080i. I hope Sir Ridley Scott is insisting that Warners releases the upcoming *Blade Runner* special edition(s) using high bit rate AVC encoding for both the Blu-ray and HD DVD releases, otherwise I think I will be disappointed. It just won't be fair if *Hellboy* looks better than *Blade Runner*.

The HD DVD owners should be insisting from their supporting studios to use AVC since the platform does support it. Question is, will Microsoft allow the format's supporters to dump their VC-1 codec? And can anyone confirm whether HDi/iHD will work with AVC content?

[Jeff @ Aug 1st 2007 3:59PM]

Remember that 300 added in extra grains into the film so it won't look as sharp.