Buy a Toshiba HD DVD player on Amazon and score eight free movies

There's really never been a better time to jump into HD disc land. The format war isn't going anywhere anytime soon, the players are the cheapest yet, and there are free discs by the bucket-fulls just for signing up. The latest promo on Amazon gets you three free HD DVDs if you buy an HD-A2, HD-A20 or HD-XA2 Toshiba player. Add that to the five free HD DVDs Toshiba will give you through mail-in rebate and you're practically getting the player for free. Amazon's currently having trouble keeping the HD-A2 in stock, and HD-A2s sold by third-party merchants don't qualify for the three free promo, but stick around and you just might be able to nab one. The promo runs from now to September 23.

[Via AVS Forum]

[tekdroid @ Aug 28th 2007 10:48AM]

talk about desperate moves.

Can't wait to watch the Blu-Ray fire sale from the sidelines, too.

Joe Consumer must be buying these restrictive DRM formats by the truckload.

[ssuk @ Aug 28th 2007 11:28AM]

They bought DVD by the 'truckload' didn't they?

[Tim @ Aug 28th 2007 1:31PM]

You can do the same with a PS3 at Amazon.com as well... only it's 8 Blu-Ray movies for free.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=594218

So, everyone wins, kinda, right?
Wait, studio exclusives for each format... crap.

[tekdroid @ Aug 29th 2007 12:12AM]

ssuk @ Aug 28th 2007 11:28AM

They bought DVD by the 'truckload' didn't they?
================
Yes.

DVD (all DRMd up) was indeed bought by the truckload when released but never 'fire-saled' to these levels so soon after release - probably due to the average joe having much less storage and codec and internet capabilities.

The fact remains:
Products flying off the shelves never need these desperate incentives to move boxes.

[Canadian Bacon @ Aug 28th 2007 10:48AM]

Because I'm too lazy to look it up right now, can anyone tell me what the difference between the 3 Toshiba players are? I mean what makes one worth ~$550 and another only worth ~$225?

[Ang @ Aug 28th 2007 12:06PM]

I think the cheaper one only does 1080i not p and some other stuff.

[SirisC @ Sep 9th 2007 1:44PM]

The cheapest one does 1080i or 720p. The more expensive ones have 1080p. (At least that is what the Amazon product descriptions say)

[Rob @ Aug 28th 2007 10:51AM]

You get the same deal with the PS3 60gig too.
Now it's the time to buy. No matter your format preference, these are great deals.

[akijikan @ Aug 28th 2007 10:51AM]

actually Amazon has the same deal PS3 + 3 Blu-Ray Movies for $472, and 5 more movies free by rebate. Granted you're buying more expensive hardware, so its not exactly the SAME deal, but its 8 movies and a discount on the player nonetheless.

http://slickdeals.net/?permadeal=10150#direct_deal_10150

[Brent @ Aug 28th 2007 11:02AM]

Additionally, you can play games on a PS3...just an FYI.

[adium @ Aug 28th 2007 11:26AM]

if there was any

[ssuk @ Aug 28th 2007 11:29AM]

Brent, go yiff in hell.

[paul.davis @ Nov 1st 2007 12:59PM]

Wee.. lets play crappy, limited games on a gay worthless wanna be Xbox 360 that doesn't break all the time.

[stryker412 @ Aug 28th 2007 10:53AM]

This also works for the XBOX 360 add-on.

[ScOObyDoo @ Aug 28th 2007 11:02AM]

No it doesn't. You get the 5 free, but not the extra 3 free from Amazon. The extra 3 is only valid on Amazon stocked Toshiba units.

[cdman98 @ Aug 28th 2007 3:41PM]

I ordered the Xbox add on and 3 movies for 180 shipped. Worked for me and i have an order#.

[Dave @ Aug 28th 2007 10:56AM]

Desperate, eh? I guess Paramount was desperate when they elected to support HD-DVD exclusively. The Amazon sales ranks for HD-DVD hardware and media are looking mighty desperate, too. You can score an HD-DVD player and 8 movies for $210. You can call it desperation. I call it one hell of a deal.

[Anthony @ Aug 28th 2007 12:04PM]

This format war may be won by the company that takes the "razor / blade" approach. & it looks like HD did just that & more to get them in the home.

Personally, regular ole DVDs are good enough for me. I think that's part of the problem.

CDs were better than VHS, no CDs (MP3) is better than CD, but DVD to DVD? It's a hard sell if you're Joe Regular watching movies on your 32" 4 yr old tube.

[Ang @ Aug 28th 2007 12:11PM]

No 1080p on the cheap unit only 1080i, Yeah what a bargain, strip the specs down and suck in the consumer.

[Dave @ Aug 28th 2007 12:13PM]

I agree that it isn't worth it unless you've got an HDTV.

[Ang @ Aug 28th 2007 12:14PM]

No 1080p on the cheap unit only 1080i, Yeah what a bargain, strip the specs down and suck in the consumer.

[greyscale @ Aug 28th 2007 12:16PM]

Anthony just said MP3s are better than CDs. You can safely disregard everything else he said.

[TJF @ Aug 28th 2007 5:02PM]

@ Anthony

But HD-DVD players still play DVDs whereas blu-ray does not. It'll be a lot easier to convince "Joe Average" to move up to HD level movie playback on a player that supports his DVD collection.

[Eric @ Aug 28th 2007 7:28PM]

@ TJF

you *DO* know that blu-ray players DO PLAY BACK STANDARD DVDs, right?

There seems to be a common misconception that blu-ray players aren't compatible with DVDs, when this in fact, is completely untrue. All blu-ray players are able to play back that extensive collection of dvds that you currently own

[kornchild2002 @ Aug 28th 2007 11:03AM]

I can't wait for the Blu-ray fanboy comments to come in: "This is all HD-DVD can do to keep alive as we know Blu-ray is winning." They fail to realize that there is actually a format out there that offers the same audio/video quality. Just because the PS3 doesn't play it, that doesn't mean the format is bad.

[Matthew @ Aug 28th 2007 12:40PM]

Having fun arguing with yourself?

[Larz @ Aug 28th 2007 4:10PM]

No, HD-DVD isn't bad, and it's slightly cheaper to boot. But even you (an apparent HD-DVD fanboy) have to admit that Blu-ray is better. Much higher capacity discs, more flexibility, and a better programming interface for menus. Those are the reasons I prefer Blu-ray.

But honestly I don't care that much. I'll make my switch when the war is over. I almost decided on Blu-Ray since Disney, Blockbuster, and others dropped HD-DVD. Plus sales were 2-to-1 and climbing... the battle seemed to be over. But then HD-DVD bribed Paramount for exclusivity, and that's a big enough deal to tip the balance.

[stryker412 @ Aug 28th 2007 11:11AM]

@Scooby

Yes you can use it on the 360 add on. Several people on AVS have confirmed this.

[kilikili @ Aug 28th 2007 12:08PM]

I purchased this last night. Not bad for $211 shipped!

[Ang @ Aug 28th 2007 12:16PM]

Only does 1080i not 1080p

[Dave @ Aug 28th 2007 12:21PM]

Not everyone has the ability to view 1080p. For those that do, most agree you're not missing much unless your display is over 60".

[Mark @ Aug 28th 2007 11:22PM]

Have you not heard of de-interlacing? Well if your TV does it properly, you're not missing anything because the movie is filmed at 24fps. Thus if you're getting your 60 interlaced and having it deinterlaced to 30... there's no loss.

[giedrys @ Aug 28th 2007 12:19PM]

You people are so funny. Why do you care who wins anyway? Fanboys of this, fanboys of that. Seriously, with these prices, why not buy both formats and choose best movies from both sides? I personally like 2 formats in business. This brings more competition and prices down. Anybody thinks that we would continue to receive such a good deals(free dvds and serious price cuts on hardware) in there was only one format now? C'mon people, enough of this funny "format war" stuff. Start enjoying HD movies at your home now. What's the difference what the name is-HD DVD or Blu-Ray...

[Elliott @ Aug 28th 2007 12:24PM]

This is a pretty good deal. As someone already mentioned the same deal applies on the Playstation3. So for about $700 you can have 16 movies, a HD-DVD drive, a Blu-Ray player, and a game console. Not bad.

Up until a month ago I was one of those people that thought the idea of Blu-Ray / HD-DVD was not worth the investment because of regular DVDs being adequate. Now that I own my new TV, I feel sorry for those people. :)

[wrabbit @ Aug 28th 2007 12:26PM]

What I really want to know is if you can see much difference between this and regular DVD? And not when you get close and check for pixels or something like that. I'm talking regular viewing - is it like "Oh wow, now that's why I got an HD player... bring in the chips!" or is more like "Hmmm, I think I see the difference... kinda... well that line is a bit smoother and I think the colors are a bit brighter... oh well, turn that off, I wanna play my XBox."

[Jimmy @ Aug 28th 2007 1:56PM]

wrabbit,

Unfortunately this is a complicated question but the answer is yes, it is a noticeable difference if you have the correct hardware and software.

First, not all movies are helped by going to 1080p instead of 480p. I recently watched Blazing Saddles in 1080p and honestly it was not that great of a transfer. I would have been perfectly happy seeing that on DVD with my system. However, the difference between Pirates on DVD and Blu-ray is tremendous.

Second, does your existing DVD player upscale and if so how good is the upscaling? If you are going from a non-upscaling DVD player to a Blu-ray/HD DVD player then you will get two great things: a 1080p/1080i HD player and a decent upscaling DVD player. As noted above some movies will be just as good being upscaled from DVD.

Third, how big is your monitor and how far do you sit from it? Many people will tell you that if your screen is less than 40 inches then you should not bother with 1080. I personally disagree with this because on average the smaller your screen the closer you will sit to the screen. And the closer you sit the more detail you will see. In general though the bigger your screen the more noticeable the difference becomes.

So in the end if your screen supports 1080 and you choose good movies then: Yes, Blu-ray and HD DVD are well worth the price of admission. My personal opinion is that the PS3 is the best value available in HD right now. But the actual lowest cost of entry is the Toshiba player. As someone pointed out elsewhere if you have $700 you can get both!

[Iscariote @ Aug 28th 2007 12:29PM]

This deal worked for me using the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive.

[Dave @ Aug 28th 2007 12:41PM]

Since they already put King Kong in the box for the 360 add-on, does that mean you get 9 free movies?

[Iscariote @ Aug 28th 2007 12:44PM]

I guess so, I have no idea. I just didn't want a standalone player since I'm all out of HDMI ports.

I've got an Oppo DV-971H on HDMI1, a PS3 on HDMI2, my 360 hooked up with VGA, a cable box on Component 1, and my Wii on Component 2, I'm running out of inputs.

[james @ Aug 28th 2007 6:55PM]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011001&p_id=2786&seq=1&format=2&style=

you can thank me later.

[bfdtv @ Aug 28th 2007 1:47PM]

Paul Miller (the Engadget poster) missed a key part of this deal.

You don't just get 8 HD-DVDs for free. When you add those combo HD-DVDs to your cart and hit checkout, you get an EXTRA ~$29 DISCOUNT off the Toshiba A2 HD-DVD player.

The price of the Toshiba HD-A2 @ Amazon.com with three free HD-DVD (combo) disks of your choice is just $210 shipped. On top of that, you get another five additional HD-DVDs by mail.

Sell the HD-DVDs on ebay and you've got the player for $50.

[Shon @ Aug 28th 2007 1:51PM]

PS3 fanboy reports PS3 60gb + 8 BDs for $479
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/08/28/ps3-and-eight-blu-ray-movies-for-475/

[Jnetty @ Aug 28th 2007 2:09PM]

I don't why flame this deal. I been looking to get this model.
I just added the HD-DVD A2 player, three movies and the total with shipping comes out to $218... I don't know but thats a great deal to me.

[Jnetty @ Aug 28th 2007 2:47PM]

Fatwallet is saying that if you get a specific combo of movies, the price total can be $210

[Blueletter @ Aug 28th 2007 3:06PM]

Who cares. There are hybrid drives that play both formates. And by the time the war is over a new format will be out that destroys both. So its not even worth it until there is a clear formate that is unified and supported widely. With new laser and OLED TV's coming out anything will look good so whats the point in all this bickering.

[Glynnjamin @ Aug 28th 2007 3:27PM]

Well, I cannot argue with this. I just got a PS3 60gig, and the Toshiba A2 HD player, and 3 BD movies & 3 HD movies from Amazon, plus the 5 BDs & 5 HDs that are getting shipped to me...

Total, this cost me $668.97, shipping free, tax-free.

Really, if you are on the fence, buy them both. Anyone who wants to watch different studio movies is going to want both.

We were going to buy a combo player but they are $999 right now and don't play games. You just can't beat this deal...at least, if you can, I haven't seen it.

So to hell with you Craigslisters who wont give me the receipt or movies you got with your PS3.

[Kenban @ Aug 28th 2007 4:11PM]

Anyone know if these Toshiba players will remember your location in a movie when the player is turned off and will resume when it turned back on (would like to do it with both DVD and HD-DVD)? I own an old Toshiba DVD player that does not do this and have been wanting a new player which does this and with this kind of deal might as well go to HD-DVD at the same time.

[cdman98 @ Aug 28th 2007 4:12PM]

i see this as getting a free player and buying the movies. Who cares what format wins. If you get the Xbox add on it more than "pays" for it self. So why would you pass this up now?

[Scooter @ Aug 28th 2007 5:02PM]

cos xbox360 is a sucky media player. It is simply too loud - if you are sitting close enough to the screen for HD to make a difference. I don't know if the Elite fixes this, with a cooler chip and thus less fan noise, but it is a games machine first and foremost, not a media machine (witness the lousy codec support).

Digital is the way to go. Spend your money on a NAS and flip the bird to disks.

[Mr. B @ Aug 28th 2007 5:33PM]

...if you think the fanboys are on a roll now, just wait till the Christmas sales numbers start rolling in... it's gonna be quite entertaining.
--HD-DVD fanboy who knows when to stfu