Wal-Mart now selling Toshiba's A2 HD DVD player for $198?

Remember all the hubbub about the $299, then sub-$200 Wal-Mart HD DVD player? Well, if that photo is to be believed, then it's here. However, this ain't some cheapo, no-name player. Nope, it's Toshiba's A2, listing for $399 back in April, now just $198. According to the AVS Forum jockey who supposedly took the pic, it'll be on sale nationwide on November 3rd with an allocation of 18 units per store. However, at least a few lucky AVS members are reporting that sales have already begun. So what's the dealio readers, how's it looking at your own local Wally World?

[Thanks, Andrew]

[Joe @ Oct 25th 2007 7:45AM]

Swing and a drive. Deep to left...

[Jonathan Keim @ Oct 25th 2007 8:11AM]

huh?

[TDLF @ Oct 25th 2007 9:23AM]

It's a reference from baseball, alluding to hitting a home run.

In any case, yes, some Wal-Marts are already selling them. My local Wal-Mart has an end cap filled with them. They also have the A3 for $298, tucked away on another aisle.

I almost bought the A2, but given that most studio support is for Blu-Ray, I don't see the point in buying it when the format has not been as successful as its competitor up to now.

[Mike_NYC @ Oct 25th 2007 9:04AM]

Baseball metaphor... they hit a home run... ie they done good and will sell lots of them

[Jonathan @ Oct 25th 2007 7:46AM]

Wow that's very cheap...there aren't any Walmarts around my area(NYC)...have to go to New Jersey for that..so I'll wait for someone to confirm before I make the trip.

[Ray-- @ Oct 25th 2007 9:57AM]

it's called a telephone...

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 25th 2007 7:48AM]

Not Worth the money.
I'd just spend another $200 for a PS3.

[Tony @ Oct 25th 2007 7:52AM]

Wow, PS3 can play HD DVD now? No?! Then why the hell mention it?! ;-)

[John B @ Oct 25th 2007 10:36AM]

h4ldol? Is that you?

[DrWatson @ Dec 25th 2007 9:37PM]

Especially if you're crapping $100 bills and can't differentiate BR from HD-DVD.

[bjkalski @ Oct 25th 2007 7:49AM]

Was he running when he took the picture?

[Andir3.0 @ Oct 25th 2007 8:18AM]

Help! The store guards.. they is be after me!

[Gman @ Oct 25th 2007 12:04PM]

Don't taze me, bro!

[Bamboo @ Oct 25th 2007 7:50AM]

I wouldn't support Walmart if they had them for $50.

[Chris @ Oct 25th 2007 9:42AM]

Oh get over it... Wal-Mart is not the Empire. They are just a company that happens to employ lots of people many of whom would otherwise not have jobs, and provide cheap merchandise to people many of whom would otherwise not be able to afford it. So don't romanticize about the death of the quaint mom n' pop shop too much. No matter how ugly strip malls with a Wal-mart centerpiece are, they have done a lot of good.

[Hax Or @ Oct 25th 2007 10:03AM]

I saw Darth picking up a few of these for his kids.

[Anthony @ Oct 25th 2007 11:49AM]

For $50 I'd buy it, sell it & then donate the money to pro-Union groups.

Seriously- Wal-Mart hasn't done any harm? I have a feeling that UC Berkeley (& other institutions) might disagree. Their findings were somewhere in the range of 4.7 billion lost take home pay in urban communities when Wal-Mart came to down.

[HenryJonesJr @ Oct 25th 2007 11:56AM]

Yeah, and UC Berkeley doesn't have an agenda. [/sarcasm]

[jdlewis @ Oct 25th 2007 12:26PM]

And there are an equal number of studies from just as reputable sources that prove otherwise. It all depends on who you choose to believe, based on your preconceived notions about the topic anyways.
I don't care who the retailer is, the cheapest price gets my money, and I think that is how a lot of people operate - WalMart or not.

[Jeebus @ Oct 25th 2007 12:37PM]

"I saw Darth picking up a few of these for his kids"
Luke and Leia?

[Raz 4 life @ Oct 26th 2007 12:22AM]

Wal-Mart isn't 100% evil. Our little hick town just had one open up three months ago. They've already donated several thousand dollars to local organizations, improved the roadway around the store (ie: increased the number of lanes on the road, put in a much-needed stop light), and employed 150 people from the community. They even let the mentally disabled people have a job being the greeter or helping push carts. Not to mention that we don't have to drive 30 miles to the next town just to buy a new release DVD or video game.

[Ang @ Oct 25th 2007 7:52AM]

Now that is rock bottom. Get them while HD-DVD lasts.

[zargon @ Oct 25th 2007 7:56AM]

People only have to worry about the A2 lasting since the A3 is out, not HD-DVD. Whether Blu-ray supporters want to admit it or not, HD-DVD is here to stay, thinking other wise just goes to show how narrow minded or a sheep of the FUD you are.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 25th 2007 8:56AM]

> CAUSE I DON'T WANNA SPEND $200 ON A DOOMED FORMAT.

LOL. Are kitties behind push you to buy one? or is it G.W.Bush??

In the land of freedom, abundance of people who can't handle choice is pretty amusing.

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 25th 2007 9:51AM]

http://www.dvdempire.com/Content/Features/hidef_wars.asp
Nuff Said...

[Warhorse @ Oct 25th 2007 10:52AM]

Hey, maybe they are selling Beta Cassette players at a discount too. The quality on those things...

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 25th 2007 8:36AM]

CAUSE I DON'T WANNA SPEND $200 ON A DOOMED FORMAT.

[Tony @ Oct 25th 2007 7:54AM]

Actually, I think is cell phone has been dropped a few too many times and the lens knocked out of position, the top of the pic is out of focus but the bottom is in focus...

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Oct 28th 2007 11:03AM]

sales have already started at my local chicago land wal mart

[Dave @ Oct 25th 2007 7:55AM]

not gonna buy till this format war ends... or gran turismo 5 comes out...

[TeddyN @ Oct 25th 2007 7:56AM]

$200... that's about £100... O_O
Same price as buying 4 HD-DVDs in the U.K. :S

You guys don't know how good you have it!

Still... The good news is that since HDDVD is region free, I can buy this in the US and still play any HDDVD on it :D ....
That makes me happy :)

[David @ Oct 25th 2007 8:04AM]

I'm glad someone is happy, cause the ratio of smileys in that post makes me miserable.

[Gonzie @ Oct 25th 2007 8:05AM]

just mind the lectrics and the tax man eh?

[Ryan @ Oct 26th 2007 1:29AM]

No kidding! :( I can't stand smileys either:( seriously though they are annoying but we do know how good we have it. That's why we want to keep it. That's why some of us are willing to fight for it.

[Luigi193 @ Oct 25th 2007 8:06AM]

HOLY CRAP!

[ryan hoelzer @ Oct 25th 2007 8:17AM]

They're all over Ebay for that price or even less..

[j_mo @ Oct 25th 2007 8:34AM]

someone get me a UPC and I can check on this. My store doesn't have this but I can use item locator to confirm!

[David @ Oct 25th 2007 10:50AM]

press F10 and search by vendor!

[Mak @ Oct 25th 2007 8:44AM]

Are people still buying these HD DUD things?

It's like the last few months of the Laserdisc era, where the price of players were dumped, in a last ditch attempt to get people interested.

As the moment, the only people foolish enough to buy a ticket for the final voyage of the doomed HMS HDDVD, are those with a fanatical hatred of Sony and/or Blu-ray. Anyone with even half a brain can see that HD won't be floating much longer.

[jm9843 @ Oct 25th 2007 6:11PM]

Tell that to Paramount, Universal, Microsoft, Intel, and the 100,000+ people that bought Transformers HD DVD on the release day.

[SHopkins @ Oct 25th 2007 9:07AM]

This isn't a last ditch effort to save a format, it's a price cut for a discontinued model that has been replaced. The A3 is out, so the A2 prices fall and the lower-end retailers can now carry them.

BluRay had an edge in studio support but that is now pretty even. Everyone should settle in because both of these formats are going to be around for awhile.

I welcome a $200 HD player (though if you tried hard you could get the A2 for $200 for awhile now) as it will let me replace my aging A1. Now BluRay needs to drive down the price of entry as well. I already have a player for both formats (A1 & BDP1000), but when you can buy a player for each under $500, or a combo player for the same, things might pick up a bit more.

[Dave @ Oct 25th 2007 9:04AM]

Actually, HD DVD is superior to Blu-Ray in a number of ways. First, it can do PiP; Blu-Ray can't. Also, it allows for Internet-connected extras; Blu-Ray doesn't. With regard to video and sound, reviewers have yet to see a discernible difference. Yes, Blu-Ray can hold more data--but most Blu-Ray discs are on BD-25s--whereas most HD DVDs are on HD-30s.

In future releases, Blu-Ray hardware will support Profile 1.1--which will allow PiP. Later, they will release Profile 2.0 hardware--which will allow for Internet-connected extras. At the present time, no released hardware is guaranteed to do that. Also, you'll probably want to get ready to buy your entire Blu-Ray collection again...assuming studios even bother releasing future profile-capable media since they'd be screwing early adopters by doing so.

[Ethan @ Oct 25th 2007 9:04AM]

So I take it you bought a ps3. By your logic, in the gaming market the ps3 is dead.

First time I bought a DVD player was when the things reached £100. And I don't really think Laserdisc is similar to either - it was a rubbish format, it had no competition, and would've failed no matter what. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are both good. Mabe this is more applicable to, say, VHS vs Betamax ;)

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 25th 2007 9:05AM]

> those with a fanatical hatred of Sony and/or Blu-ray.

Do you see in the post *any* mention of BluRay?

It seems you got it reversed. Or we now have Sony/BluRay (

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 25th 2007 9:06AM]

> those with a fanatical hatred of Sony and/or Blu-ray.

Do you see in the post *any* mention of BluRay?

It seems you got it reversed. Or we now have Sony/BluRay (<- hey! that's official spelling) (underline matching) hatred by just excluding their names from posts??

Somehow I haven't seen (or did I missed?) fanboys which proclaimed anything as inflamatory as your comment regarding BluRay. That's already +1 to HD DVD in my eyes.

Even if HD DVD would fail tomorrow, $200 price mark (even on special sale) is important milestone. BluRay camp will not be able to disregard the achievement. So it is good new to BluRay supporters as well: competitive price war is heating up.

[Andy Engelkemier @ Oct 25th 2007 9:09AM]

well if history repeats itself (betamax and laser disc) then it would end up being BlueRay that end up sinking. Only that betamax and laser disc, at the time, were the superior format. Right now the features, or at least possible features, of HDDVD are superior so maybe Sony will finally strong arm their way into the market.
I do have a hatred of Sony, and I'm rooting against them, but since I am also money conscious I'm going to wait until one format actually has a significant majority for the titles released. Currently they are neck in neck. I could care less about which is selling better. That makes no difference to me. I'm not riding the coat tails of people who are paying that much for a movie anyway. I want the titles to be supported.
If it were up to me there would be no exclusivity of the formats. Distribute the movies in both formats and let the consumers decide which they want. Oh wait, then the majority would buy HDDVD and Sony would yet another format battle.

Here's to hoping the format war begins to end shortly after Christmas. I predict it will start the end when the financial numbers are released in Feb/March.

[Keith @ Oct 25th 2007 9:11AM]

Actually I don't have a PS3, I don't have any player yet. It's quite obvious that Blu-ray is winning, and the momentum is making Blu-ray pull further away.

I will buy a Blu-ray player, and It's likely to be a PS3, with the current awesome pricepoint, offering so much for the price.

From what I can tell, PiP, is no big deal, and the PS3 will eventually get Profile 1.1 (more likely 2.0, as it's got an Ethernet port). From what I can tell, 1.1 and 2.0 will hit about the same time anway, as Profile 2.0 = 1.1 with Ethernet.

[Adam Mc @ Oct 25th 2007 8:57AM]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5723662

web shows 279 :\...

OOO the Player is not ever 1080P? Whats the point then?

[JET @ Oct 25th 2007 8:57AM]

Whether HD-DVD is doomed or not is irrelevant - even if the format disappears tomorrow, there are already a lot of exclusive titles that may not be released on Blu-Ray for a long time, if ever. I bought an A2 from Amazon over the summer while they were offering it with 8 free DVDs for $215 shipped (5 by mail, 3 from Amazon). I picked up Big Lebowski, Mallrats, & The Fountain; I already had The Matrix box ($20 from CC), Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Army of Darkness, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (AMAZING transfer), and Clerks 2. Of those listed above, only The Fountain is available on Blu-Ray, and that version has a lower quality soundtrack.

Still, the A2 is a fairly chintzy player. It is short on features, takes forever to boot, and is limited to 1080i. It pales in comparison to the PS3's Blu-Ray player. I really can't recommend it over the 360 add-on drive, especially since the latter now includes a free Heroes HD-DVD box set (at BB, anyway).

JET

[david @ Oct 25th 2007 9:10AM]

Hmm, maybe the point is that the majority (greater than 70%) of HDTVs out there are currently 720p?