Best Buy offers the Toshiba HD-A2 for $100, too, and other HD DVD deals
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 1st 2007 3:38PM
posted November 1st 2007 3:38PM
Wal-Mart may have been the first to tempt HD-fence-sitters with a $100 HD-A2 player (however limited), but it looks like it's not the only one, with Best Buy now also listing the very same player for the impulse buy-inducing price of $99.99. Of course, it's sold out online, so you may be better off trying your luck at your local store. Not surprisingly, the HD DVD PR folk are keen to talk up this recent spat of price reductions, including the still decent $197 price for the A2 at Circuit City and Amazon, and Sears's Black Friday price of $169 for the newer HD-A3 model, which also comes with two movies bundled in the box (not to mention the five free mail-in movies available with the purchase of any of the players).
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
hotdisco
I think you've misread the article you keep quoting. The article is talking about the difference between a 720p and 1080p set, in it they state that the only time they can notice the 1080p set looking better than the 720p set, is when they are watching 1080i.
Which I'm assuming means they were testing with broadcast HDTV.
75% of HDTVs in Homes do not support 1080p! Therefore 75% of People do not need 1080p. The other 5% claim they can tell the difference because they paid more money for it. The other 20% don't know what 1080p means.
And don't forget that 75% of homes don't have HDTV's making the whole deal moot for most of the US population.
Does the HD-A2 support DIVX playback?
Unfortunately not. Would be nice tho, as DIVX playback would eliminate one more DVD player in my cabinet.
no divx support.
I don't get it. Sony loses tons of money on the PS/3 to get their format out there, while Toshiba loses money on this player and Toshiba is suddenly accused of dumping?
This is coming from someone with a 360, a PS/3 and a Wii, so no fanboy-dom going on here.
uhhhh....the PS3's main function is not as a blu-ray player, but a gaming machine first. Thats the difference between a PS3 and a regular stand alone HD-DVD player. Sony makes their profits through game sales so subsidizing the PS3 is normal. Unfortunately for Toshiba, not only are they losing money on each HD-DVD player sold, but their movie sales are doing badly so they can't recoup their hardware losses though software sales.
I would submit that Toshiba is employing very much the same strategy - seeding the market place to make money on all HD-DVD format sales.
Not all the Walmarts and Best Buys are participating in this. Just got done making a round of phone calls.
However, all the Walmarts do carry HD-DVD movies (just not all of them sell the players). So they are selling HD-DVDs for $9.99-$14.99 tomorrow.
I just went to 2 Wal-Marts in my area. Both in high traffic and higher dollar areas. Neither of them had HD-DVD or BluRay discs on the shelves. I didn't see any sign of the A2 anywhere. If they were going to throw 30 on an endcap that endcap should have already been cleared. They did have about 30 Sanyo DVD/VHS combos though.
In contrast the Target across the street expanded thier BluRay section to five times the HD-DVD section which is now 1 column. Since Target made an exclusive deal with Sony to sell LCD TV's I think Target is keeping blu which is a nice contrast to the red store color scheme.
Still most rational people would like to support something that has more than one manufacturer behind it. Unless we started to like communism or something. Maybe I want a Philips or Samsung player since my Toshiba LCD TV was a piece of crap and my last Toshiba CRT had Orion all over the inside.
what a bummer I just bought one 2 days ago here in the UK and it cost me £170. should have waited a bit longer for it to get cheaper here.
@hotdisco
An intelligent person would assume that I have not tested every "decent" 1080p tv known to man. I guess you may not be intelligent and/or grasping at straws. You sound like the kids online that have no REAL response and have to resort to correcting grammatical errors in peoples' posts. Sad.
Re-read what was posted in YOUR link:
"Since most HDTVs have good deinterlacers, leaving the job to your TV is usually a reasonable default choice."
Good luck with whatever crappy 1080p tv you may have that can't de-interlace 1080i "since most HDTVs have good deinterlacers." You'd best use Google a few more times to try to understand what enthusiasts already know.
@ Jensen
Then why did you say ''ANY DECENT HDTV''
I already showed you that link to the proper dictionary definition of the adjective ''ANY'' which in your case, was used in the context to say ''every'' or ''all''; as in other words, what you actually said was ''ALL DECENT HDTV's''.
Why wouldn't i correct your grammar mistake? That comment makes or breaks your entire argument which is completely flawed. You are under the ridiculous assumption that its okay for someone to buy a 1080i HD-DVD player because you think that EVERY SINGLE ''DECENT HDTV'' out there is capable of properly de-interlacing a 1080i image to 1080p which is obviously not true. I can't believe you still fail to understand that......but hey; people with a weak command of the english language generally don't have a IQ to boot either which is quite apparent in your case.
''An intelligent person would assume that I have not tested every "decent" 1080p tv known to man. I guess you may not be intelligent and/or grasping at straws. You sound like the kids online that have no REAL response and have to resort to correcting grammatical errors in peoples' posts. Sad.''
My statement was rhetorical genius. Of course you never tested every ''decent'' HDTV.....but my point was, don't make it sound like you did because you claimed that EVERY DECENT HDTV out there can do a good job of de-interlacing. Not all HDTV's are equal.
Blu-Ray Fan bois are a bunch of tools.
1080P means nothing. Only 17% of current HDTV sales are 1080P, less then 5% of total installed base. I happen to have a 1080p tv (50" pioneer plasma) edand bought the HD-A30 which does 1080p24. However I have switch the output of the A30 to 1080i and 720p and can't tell a lick of difference from 11 feet away between the 3 resolutions watching transformers. I have 20/20 vison, so dont even try Quit trying to use the 1080i of the A2/A3 as an advantage, you sound like idiots to anyone who knows the truth.
Also, the 5 free is not a rebate and it is good till March 08. You send in a form and they send you the 5 movies and there are 15 to choose from. I sent mine away and recieved my movies in less then 3 weeks. BTW the transfer on Aeon Flux is awesome as is Full Metal Jacket. Troy was not as good of a transfer but much less artifacts the the standard DVD.
For Sony to even stay competitive in this little battle, they're going to have to one of tow things.
1 - Heavily subsidize someone, Target, CC, BB or other to offer a $199 BR player.
OR
2 - Include a free Nintendo Wii system with the purchase of a BR player. (Yes, I know that Sony doesn't make the Wii, but apparently no one wants to buy a PS3, so here's the best of both worlds.)
So let me get this right , the only HD-DVD branded player you can buy is made buy Toshiba?
Just asking, who else makes a HD-DVD player that's maybe slightly better quality but not made by Toshiba, I can't stand their support service, they always seem to get out of warranty cover by blaming the consumer.
> the only HD-DVD branded player you can buy is made buy Toshiba?
The only HD-DVD branded player for $100 you can buy is made buy Toshiba.
There is a bunch of higher-end options (just like with Blu-ray), but both Sony and Toshiba as main developers of their respective formats do feel obliged to push the price down. So only their players gets most of attention - since only their players can (barely) compete with upscaling DVD players right now.
Onkyo and Integra have HD DVD players, and Venturer (entry level) has one as well.
Before I get to the rest of my comment: I am on neither side of the format war - sitting clearly on the sidelines until a winner emerges.
It seems that the main justification for the low price of this model is the roll out of an upgraded model. But it does seem to say something about how the major manufacturers are prepared to approach the competition.
From everything I've read, Blu-ray had recently been outselling HD-DVD (with some distortion caused by Transformers release). For Toshiba and the HD-DVD camp, the bluntest way of stopping what could easily have become a tipping point of consumer support for Blu-ray is to slash prices and start a price war.
If they succeed, they will recoup the losses incurred on clearing old stock rather than quietly retiring it. And if they fail, they had to clear excess inventory - a lot easier to do while the vote is still out.
I don't think it's quite a back-against-the-wall move, but it does say something that Toshiba has enough units left unsold to do a mass sale. Every HD-A2 they sell is one less HD-A3 or newer model that they will sell.
@Steve, I agree with your comments except for, "Every HD-A2 they sell is one less HD-A3 or newer model that they will sell." That's by no means a foregone conclusion. Most companies, from automakers to soap manufacturers, sell a number of products at different price points because their potential customers are a varied group sensitive to different price levels. The $99 HD-AD sale isn't cannabalizing their other machines, it's going to someone who won't buy a high-priced player in any event. And it's also dissuading that person from buying a Blu-Ray player. Furthermore, since the market for HD players isn't mature yet, they're expanding your pool of total customers because with each sale, there are more people who will come to view HD-DVD as a viable market. In fact, "seeding" someone's house with a cheap player increases the chances that they'll return later on and buy another upscale player later on.
BLU RAY Fanboys are the dumbest people I have ever seen in my life.
They are all pissed off because They can get a HD player for 100$.
Are these idiots happy to pay 2 to 3 times as much for BR ?
Don't these morons understand that both formats are temporary and will be replaced soon by digital downloads.
Wouldn't it be nice to have 500 or 1000 high def movies on a harddisk plugged to your TV and have access to them all at the touch of a button without getting your fat ass off the couch. I would. That day will come soon and both formats will be useless.
So in the meantime i'm going to pay the least possible for high def movies. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a stupid jerk !
Including those idiots at the digital bits with their opinions on this story.
Besides what would I want blu ray for ? To see Disney movies. who cares !
For the kids ? Let them be happy with standard DVD. Any parent that is going to 500$ on a BLU RAY so their kids can watch movies in 1080P is an idiot !
HD-DVD is being LIQUIDATED. I trust most people won't be stupid to think they can just lower the price to be "competitive". Read between the lines, or you'll be stuck with a Hd-dvd corpse!
I know you're just trying to rationalize why you paid $500-$1000 for a Blu-ray player with fewer features than this $98 HD DVD player, so I'll let this slide.
Bottom line? Toshiba is using economies of scale to drive down price. Sony, Sharp, Pioneer, Panasonic - they're all sharing tiny slices of the Blu-ray pie, whereas Toshiba is building 100,000 or more HD DVD players at a time, allowing better parts prices and *gasp* lower retail prices.
Take an economics class, somewhere other than Blu-ray University.
Ok... but still,
HD-DVD is being LIQUIDATED. I trust most people won't be stupid to think they can just lower the price to be "competitive". Read between the lines, or you'll be stuck with a Hd-dvd corpse!
So far the extra 20 gig's of space hasn't shown any Positives. Hell Because The Blu-Ray specs are still up in the air waiting for 1.1 & 2.0 version of players to come out, Movies like Terminator 3(Which as been on HD DVD for a long time) has to have 2 versions of the film on the disc so it can have most of the features the HD DVD version has. That's pretty silly, but you got to do whatever you can to work around all of Blu-Ray's problems.
Also ALL Blu-Ray and HD DVD Discs are Recorded at 1080P/24. If had half a brain, you'll realize that 1080i is JUST AS GOOD as a 1080P players picture on your screen!!! Doesn't matter if it's a 1080i Blu-Ray player or a 1080i HD DVD player. While the HD formats output 24 frames per second, your HDTV is doing 60 frames per second. A few of the newer ones are doing 120 frames per second. It all has to do with how the frames are displayed. Read this to learn all about 1080i vs. 1080P and maybe some of you will learn a little something!!!
http://blog.hometheatermag.com/geoffreymorrison/0807061080iv1080p/
Question? After you purchase the A2/A3 players. How many of you are going to BUY HD-DVD movies and how many are just going to RENT HD-DVD movies.
Just us curious. (I'm getting a PS3 and a friend of mind is going to RENT HD-DVD's for his $200 player.)
> [...] BUY HD-DVD movies and how many are just going to RENT HD-DVD movies.
IMHO buying movies - even on DVD - is rather silly.
My friend and me were renting and exchanging movies for couple of years and it worked perfectly. (Single renting service in Germany isn't sufficient - two rentals covered most movies and series.)
And, btw, I'd say renting series was most enjoyable experience to me. I hate them on TV - because they are peppered with commercials and you can't pause them. But off DVD it works perfectly: good easy-to-consume content fitting any mood.
Just got 2 of them from Wal-Mart in Kansas City, MO they had 40 or so of them on hand.
Bought one at BestBuy. HD video is amazing.
Problems:
No DD 5.1 on optical output using PCM
No ability to correct for anamorphic regular DVDs
Regular DVDs play 480p not upconverted to 1080i.
I guess you get what you pay for. I'm keeping it anyway.
The hd-a2 upconverts dvd's to 720p or 1080i, you have to set it in the player settings.
Bestbuy for Business has Toshiba HD-A2 1080i HD-DVD player for $100 - 10% coupon SURV7DAYS + $9 S/H = $99
And they have them in stock.
BBFB.com
My wife just tried to see if she could pick up one more and they were out already and they informed her that they ended up having 90 A2's. If KC, MO is getting 90 then there were probably 300,000 to 400,000 players sold today across the country. (I don't know the exact number of Wal-Marts but 3-4 hundred thousand seems reasonable)
That's a lot of players in home now for HD-DVD and to say it is an HD-DVD LIQUIDATION is just silly. It is a A2 LIQUIDATION. And a new player is already out. If you think that this amount of players in home isn't going to have a serious affect on the format war and that Blu-Ray is still the clear cut winner then you're just not thinking logically.
Blu-Ray could still win with their studio support alone, but with Paramount/Dreamworks on board for 18 months (?) and WB not jumping on Blu-Ray exclusivity right away we'll see what happens over the holidays and if HD-DVD can get the software sales that say people will buy the movies if they can get the hardware cheap, then Blu-Ray could be in serious trouble, even though I'm afraid it will never go away completely due to the PS3.
I just called my local Best Buy. The guy didn't know anything about any sales going on and said the current price for the HD-A2 is $399. Anybody else have any luck?
That guy didn't check the system Im sure. Dude, go to the store & talk with the product manager. Thats what I did. They didnt have any in stock, but he let me have the display unit for cheap.
I could actually care less about either format. What the Blu-ray fanboys don't seem to understand is that "superior" video quality & storage mean jack squat to most people. Especially the mainstream consumer. HD-DVD is a significant upgrade from DVD. Even IF Blu-ray *looks* a bit better than HD-DVD, it doesn't look THAT much better.
HD-DVD will win the war, simply because of PRICE as well as NAME RECOGNITION. No one knows what the hell a "Blu-ray" is. But people sure know what HD is & what DVDs are (ie HD-DVD). Also, big chains like Wal-Mart & Best Buy carry a lot more HD-DVD products for MUCH cheaper prices than their Blu-ray counterparts.
We can spin these stupid numbers & limitations of each format all day long. Its a moot point & doesnt mean squat to most people, except the fanboys.
Correct with HDMI. Toshiba confirmed that with Firmware v2.5 upconverting DVD over component video is not enabled.
I've got a HD-A20 and it takes like forever to boot up.. is that normal? anyone has experience with the same player?
how ridiculous....... its 1080i.. 30 hertz...
HALF of 1080P
what a waste of money if you're gonna do hd do it right and stick with blu-ray.
Neither the Best Buy nor the Wal-MartIwenttohadthem,theydidn'tevenha veshelfspaceforthem.
I heard about this a few days ago. I went to BB last night and no dice - they couldn't find it on bestbuy.com so "we must not carry it." (What a bunch of goofs).
I then went to the WM closest to my house. They had 50 in the back, but they consistently stated "the system would not recognize them if scanned until 8:00 AM." *sigh* Another bunch of goofs.
I went back this morning and received the same speel. I then called five different stores at 11:00 AM and was told by each that they had all sold out by 10:00 AM. Then - the HD DVD gods were looking down - one stated that the WM *in the ghetto* had 16 left. HD DVD bliss ensued.
I went down, picked one up, and it was a mad house. I can't imagine that there are any left at this point.
Do I care who wins? Only slightly because I've been such a hater of Sony lately that I guess I'd rather HD DVD win out over BR. Here's my take - for $100, who cares? I don't buy movies and only on occasion rent them. But when I WANT to watch one and WANT to enjoy it in HD, how can I go wrong for $100? If BR wins, I can assure you that I'll get my money's worth for a benjamin.
BTW ~ my TV, 52" Toshiba DLP, only supports 720p / 1080i anyway, so another "win, win" situation for now. These are all items to pacify my needs/wants until I can afford an HD DVD DVR RECORDER WITH ETHERNET AND DIVX SUPPORT (here's to hoping!).
Late
@hothotdisco
The software sale of PS3 isn't doing stellar at this moment, either. Grant, Sony still make more money from PS3 games than Toshiba on movies. However, both are still at a loss.
Toshiba has a lot to gain if HD-DVD to win. Since there are more people buying movies than playing games. This is one of the reason why Sony forced BR on the PS3 gamers.
// hothotdisco
My statement was rhetorical genius. Of course you never tested every ''decent'' HDTV.....but my point was, don't make it sound like you did because you claimed that EVERY [b]DECENT[/b] HDTV out there can do a good job of de-interlacing. Not all HDTV's are equal.//
Apparently you need grammar lessons. See that special characterisitic there....DECENT.... it means that DECENT(just incase you got an F in english DOESNT mean ALL) HDTV's can deinterlace the 1080i signal. If you would have payed attention you would have noticed that he didnt sound like he tested all the TV's.
Go take english classes and correct yourself before you try correcting others.
Why do you guys support HD DVD. Technology always advances. Why would you bother wasting your money on a crappy HD DVD player when Blu is proven to be far superior.
Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB.
So let me ask you HD DVD fans....can your player keep up with that?? New computers are getting faster and faster. Wouldn't you think a faster data rate is the next step in home entertainment?