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]

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 12:53PM]

Until MS releases an X-box 360 with a built-in HD-DVD player, Blu-Ray will win. BR is winning because of the PS3. I'm an example of this, as I bought one last month (before the recent price drop unfortunately). If MS had done what they should have and included an HD player in the Elite, this would likely be a much closer battle, maybe even in favor of HD-DVD.

Anyone know if there's any speculation as to Universal supporting blu-ray?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 1:05PM]

Only 20% of PS3 owners are using their PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. I don't think the 360 lacking a built in HD-DVD affects this format war much at all. Standalone players will determine the winner. Those are the people who will truly be supporting that format.

2 HD-DVD standalone purchases > 5 PS3 purchases (in terms of movies sold).

As for Universal, no announcement has been made.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 1:15PM]

If that 20% is true, and most people are buying the PS3 for games, I can't imagine why. It's not like there are many games to choose from. I got the PS3 because it's a good BR player with DVD upconversion and is getting constant firmware updates. I've had a 1080p tv for well over a year now. I know I'm rare, but I wouldn't even consider having a CRT or even 720p no matter what the price.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 1:50PM]

Here's the source...

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6488493.html

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 26th 2007 4:04PM]

Blu_Ray has outsold HD-DVD 2:1 in the number of discs before Transformers. The ONLY reason for this is the people who paid $599 or $699 for the first million PS3's have NOTHING else to do with it but watch movies. Once the killer games start coming, the impact of the PS3 on the HD-DVD vs Blu_ray war is over.(or should I say back yard boxing match)

Closeest Walmart (1604 San Antonio, TX) just now got a display rack for HD-DVD's put up with about 45 slots with title place holders, but no discs or prices as of yet. Not a blu-ray player or disc anywhere to be found. Funny the sam's club about 2 miles aways has a mountain of sony BDP-S301's and about 6 Blu-ray titles available.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 1:07PM]

First Off - if you can really tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i, you're a big geek. I have an A2 player and movies like Transformers, I can't imagine it could come in much clearer.

ALSO - FOR ALL YOU PS3/BLU-RAY LEMMINGS

- TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ARTICLE FROM THE ECONOMIST - NOT EXACTLY AN AGENDA/OPINION-BASED MAGAZINE:

What was the clincher that made DreamWorks and Paramount favour HD DVD?

For a start, HD DVD is a cheaper system all around. Unlike Blu-ray, which has a much shallower (and therefore a more delicate) data layer, an HD DVD has its digital information etched deeper beneath the surface just like a conventional DVD—and can therefore be stamped out on much the same sort of equipment as a DVD. That translates into a larger profit margin for the studios.

Meanwhile, because of the robustness of the disc, HD DVD players have proved to be much cheaper to build. Models now start at $299, and are expected to fall to $199 by the coming holiday season. By contrast, basic Blu-ray players start at $449.

Why, then, have Blu-ray discs lately been outselling HD DVD versions by two to one? Because Sony cannily included a Blu-ray player in its latest video-game console, PlayStation 3. And while PS3 has not met expectations of selling 6m consoles in America, some 1.4m have nevertheless been snapped up since their launch last November. Market researchers reckon that most—90% by some reckoning—of Blu-ray discs are played on PS3 consoles. But Hollywood’s studios now realise they can’t pin the future of their precious video sales (today one of their main sources of revenue) on a game console that has failed to ignite widespread interest outside a dedicated circle of hard-core gamers.

That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.

By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.

Thanks to the internet connection built into all HD DVD players, Toshiba machines allow users to do all sorts of nifty things—like re-edit films, participate in online polls and download trailers. Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as though, after the initial attraction of high-definition’s much sharper picture, interactivity is going to be the deciding factor that determines the outcome of the current format war.

DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal are betting that HD DVD’s powerful tools for interactivity will let them make a tonne of money out of selling all manner of online services to customers who buy their discs. That’s why, ultimately, Toshiba’s David could yet topple Sony’s Goliath in the current video wars.

[enbadesign Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:18PM]

What a load of crap, seriously. How many people will actually bother hooking up thier player to a ehternet line. Smoother menu browsing, re-editing films, online polls, the vast majority of consumers won't ever care about this. What people want is something that plays a movie fast and with a decent picture. The majority of people would rather not even have a menu, just have the movie play as soon as its loaded.

HD-DVD players are not cheaper to build. There are very minor differences between a BluRay player and a HD-DVD player. The reason why HD-DVD players from Toshiba are selling for $199 is that they are clearing out the old model because they can. As the only current manufacturer of standalone HD-DVD players and owner of the license they can produce and subsidise cheap players. There is no money to be made for other manufacturers if they want to produce HD-DVD players due to Toshiba dropping the price for a hail-mary shot to win the format war. Also the scratch coating on BluRay discs is worth the extra investment in a player. You can take steel wool to those things and never have to worry about a scratch.

To make money on interactive content that means that people will have to purchase codes to unlock extras already on the disc, since the player doesn't have sotrage capability beyond the disc itself. Want to watch the making of featurette, sorry you have to download a pass code for $.99.

Over the next few years every TV 37" and up will be a 1080p set. 720p will be relegated to the smaller size. Even though 720p makes up more than 70% of current household HDTVs, HD penetration is still under 20%. Over the next 5 years you can expect 1080p sets to make up the majority of HDTVs in homes. When you watch true 1080p vs 720p there is a huge difference on a larger screen. BluRay and HD-DVD are wasted on a 720p set. A good upscaled DVD looks about the same as HD played at 720p. That is part of the problem. An extra 240 lines of resolution doesn't make as much of a difference as 600. Another reason why the first few years of the HD format war aren't going to matter. People are happy with DVD on older HD sets.

I don't understand why people say Sony is so arrogant about BluRay. How arrogant is it for Toshiba to go in alone and confuse the marketplace with very little manufacturer support and very little studio support. Sony did the right thing this time and lined up studios and manufacturing partners to create a wide and open format. Then Toshiba let it be known that they were open to bribes and payoffs to studios and hardware partners, anything to cement HD-DVD. Microsoft came on only to try to cripple the PS3 to further cement Microsoft in the living room. In the case of HD-DVD Microsoft only cares about hurting Sony's sales since they plan on offering a Microsoft digital distribution system that they hope will beat out disc based mediums. Toshiba doesn't care if they lose a billion dollars selling HD-DVD players because that is not what matters to them. They want the billions made from licensing fees to manufacture HD-DVD discs.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:26PM]

Completely True. Saw them last night at my walmart. some idiot actually complained it was too much too pay for a dvd player as I walked by.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:27PM]

these things are a really good deal in my opinion.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:33PM]

Okay Sony PR guy - take it easy - just sharing an interesting article. But don't tell me Sony hasn't paid off studios with incentives in very similar deals, in fact that was also in the economist article. But what do you mean HD DVD players are not cheaper to build? - Blu-ray can't even get a player below $400?????????

I think HD DVD is better beause 1. i have one, and 2. i don't think you can depend on a game console to furnish a home-movie format. Sony PS3 sales suck right now actually. Also, I'll take the HD DVD studios, PS3 can have their cartoons and PG-13 movies. Pirates, Spiderman - I'm an adult, no thanks.

[chop Posted Oct 25th 2007 2:54PM]

I think HD DVD is better beause 1. i have one, and 2. i don't think you can depend on a game console to furnish a home-movie format. Sony PS3 sales suck right now actually. Also, I'll take the HD DVD studios, PS3 can have their cartoons and PG-13 movies. Pirates, Spiderman - I'm an adult, no thanks.

first of all just because you have an HD-DVD player doesn't mean its better. second its not entirely impossible for a game console to furnish a home movie format, i bought a ps3 solely to use the bluray on it, i got it brand new for 375bucks off some guy trying to get rid of it on craigslist fast WITH a receipt. i don't own any ps3 games, i haven't even removed the six axis controller from the box, i bought the bluetooth bluray remote and this is by far the best bluray player out there. it takes 5sec to load a bluray and i already own quite a few bluray movies. and fyi who said anything about cartoons and pg-13 movies? i have casino royale (PG-13), shooter (R), crank (R), the last samurai (R), talladega nights (PG-13), deja vu (PG-13) and the departed (R) on bluray. all pg-13? i think not.

what gets me is Toshiba designs the cell cpu chip in the ps3, but Toshiba is likely Sony's #1 enemy in the HD format war

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 3:15PM]

Okay - but sounds like you're making the same argument. Jsut cause you have a PS3 doesnt mean its better. Bottom line - HD DVD is consumer friendly - $198! - Sony Blu-ray is just not there yet..but we'll see what the year holds in store.

Also - Blu-ray is fully dependent on the popularity of the PS3 to push the format and it's getting killed by the Wii and Xbox right now. I saw that Xbox outsold the PS3 by over 400,000 units last month...OUCH. And yes, i do know xbox doesn't have an embeded HD DVD player, but that still hurts PS3#. Xbox drives at best buy for $179+Heroes Season 1+5 Free - again - Consumer Friendly

[mikefromtexas Posted Oct 25th 2007 4:23PM]

While I consider myself a technology enthusiast, I am not a bleeding-edge technology adopter. Until a clear format emerges (and I own a high-def set-up to watch it on), I won't be buying either a BR or HDDVD player.

With a price this low, I could see BR being in a heap of trouble as middle-income families who don't mind buying things they can barely afford convince themselves that they need an HD-DVD player.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 25th 2007 6:58PM]

bah.........

I went to all 3 Walmarts in Greensboro, NC.......didnt even SEE an HD-DVD player.....let alone an ENDCAP........lol

doesnt matter anyways.........I'm waiting on the Multi-Blue players to drop to around $300........

damn having an HD-DVD player AND a Blu-ray player.......even if they were $100 each........

I have too much cord clutter as is........not to mention I'm running out of HDMI ports.......lol

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 26th 2007 2:17AM]

The picture is real. I just went to the walmart by my house here in Phoenix and they had the same thing. I tried to snatch one up and the register said "not cleared for sale"...

I'll be looking and watching for when I can actually buy it instead of try to buy it.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 26th 2007 3:24AM]

This is huge. I have an A2, its a great player, has everything you need and the picture and sound are spectacular. I suggest going to get one and watch some Transformers in high-def. It will blow you away.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 26th 2007 3:46PM]

went to my local store today, and they couldnt sell it to me. I tried, but the register wouldnt let them.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 26th 2007 8:48PM]

My local Wal-Mart does indeed have a whole stack of these things for $200 on an end-cap - but no HD-DVD discs anywhere.

[slobeavis Posted Oct 27th 2007 2:34AM]

I stopped by the local Wal-Mart and saw two of these players on the shelf. I asked for a price check and the computer said $198. I said I'll take it but when the employee tried to ring it up, the register said "Sale not allowed" or something like that. It took 5 workers and a couple of phone calls before they figured out they can't sell them till 11/3. Why they are out on the shelf I don't know. I was hoping she could override it and sell it to me. Instead the removed both boxes and sent me on my way. Oh well.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 30th 2007 6:47PM]

Yep. I saw this endcap in a Walmart in Northbridge, Mass. What a price! This has got to put a dent into Bluray.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 31st 2007 2:43PM]

i was just notified by the manager at my local wal mart that these are actually going to be less than $100!!!!!! i was told that recent paper work just came in and that it is a secret!!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 5th 2007 8:59PM]

Prices on Bluray ARE dropping as well. I wouldnt expect bluray alliance to sit by and do nothing. Check the price on this one for $299 that isnt stripped of features.

http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/productdetail.do?productguid=46A85667C7C2006900000000828BD473452DB2817C9C010B00000000828BD4B8&productarea=46A85667C7C2006900000000828BD473&scenario=catalog&shop=OUTLET&AID=10303852&PID=227502&SID=102288-n-10

And that was 3 weeks ago.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 2nd 2007 9:11AM]

I've been lol while reading these comments. You see while I believe that 1080P has a better picture than normal HD, on a 50" screen a person has to be less than 8ft away for the human eye to see any difference. Any one who says they can is just trying to blow smoke up your you know what! This price drop over the "Black Friday weekend" was due to Tosihba giving a $65 credit to retailers for all that were sold that weekend. During that time I purchased an HDA3 for less than $170. With 2 movies in the box and a mail in for 5 more how could I go wrong?? Finally with talk about making discs with HD on one side and Blu-RAY on the other only the delusional would say that HD DVD is dead.