German retailer discounting Sony BDP-S300 for HD DVD player trade-in
By Darren Murph 
posted January 29th 2008 3:35PM
posted January 29th 2008 3:35PM
[Via Blu-ray, thanks Bhargav N.]
posted January 29th 2008 3:35PM
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Hehe :) I guess this is another way to convince die hard sony haters (i mean hd dvd supporters) to drop off :)
Even the seven discs you get for free with the purchase of an HD DVD player is of bigger value than what most spent on the player itself, so what's the value of trading in your player? The ability to exchange HD DVD discs for Blu-Ray versions would be far more helpful.
I don't see this being very popular unless someone doesn't have a library of HDDVD s built up or unless they plan to sell them on eBay. The discount would have to be really significant...
If I owned an HDDVD player, I doubt I would trade it in....
So that with the discount it costs *only* $500 lol. Although I can't talk since I have a Pioneer BD player which had had to sell a lung for =)
oh snap, what out yall! here comes lie teller to tell us this is actually sponsored by sony and those who do trade their players are ignorants, hipocrats, fanatics, it dont mean nothing, blu ray sucks, hd dvd will still win, etc, etc, etc, etc!
*watch out y'all*
499€ for a Sony BDP-S300 is not overprized, is the current price in Europe...:(
Wow, a rip-off Blu-ray deal designed only to generate a headline.
No surprises there.
TruthTeller:"No surprises there"
Ah-ha...ha, ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha, ha, ho-ho, ha-ha-haha, ah-hahaaa, ha-haaaaa,
aah-haha,hahaa,heheheeee,hahaha, haha,hahaha, whoo,hoho,haha, ahaa, ahaa, haha, ahem. . .,haha, ha . . . I'm surprised, what the h@ll are they going to do with that traded in red junk, ha
Awwwwww, you can't really help it can you?
It was funny for about 5 nanoseconds but what to do now, eh?
If you pack it in you'll look like a pathetic twat giving up but if you keep it up you know everyone will see you for the sad to$$er you are.
A moronic little leg-humping stalker.
Like I said, some of you guys really have no shame
(and clearly no brain either).
Too sad.
Truth Teller:"It was funny for about 5 nanoseconds"
Oh, not so funny. Please go back to your
HD-DVD comments. Those are the posts that
break me up. Like that 1% of the market
arguement, hahaaa, hohaa, ah-haaa, ho-ho-ho,
who ho, you know, like trends in the 1% don't
matter, ha-hahaaa
@Truth Teller
You call him a pathetic little twat... Lets see what you look like? Lemme guess.. scrawny, acne-faced, bowlcut LAN-party uber-geek. Post some pics! Let's see em you sexy beast...
For price comparisons on electronics: all electronics in Europe normally costs the same euro amount as the US US$ amount, and than at 19% value added tax. So we in Europe are used to paying way more. If only avoiding import tax was more easy on importing.
And if I understood from other sources, it actually is Sony Germany paying for the rebate, not the store.
Ah, so SONY is the one dropping out, taking these Toshiba turn-in's, rebranding them SONY and voila, they are now in the HD-DVD camp... How clever of you SONY!
Let's say they do get a 1000 HDDVD players.
What exactly are they going to do with them? Dump them cheap? Wouldn't that just put even MORE HDDVD players on the market?
Presumably, one going purple would buy the blu-ray player, keep his HDDVD discs, get the 150E rebate, and buy an HDA30 off ebay for like 50E (or less if this retailer sells them as open box which is the most likely outcome).
Why doesn't sony just knock 100E off the price and make it all much cleaner?
@andy: They don't just lower the price because they don't want to create more dual-format owners, they want to pull HD-DVD people over to Blu, thus boosting Blu software sales especially for those case where movies are still released in both formats.
You can be sure that those returned HD-DVD players will die an untimely death at the hands of a Sony steamroller, they won't be allowed to re-enter the market ;)
A nice gesture for the HDVD folks with sense enough to cut there losses.
I'd trade for HD DVD, too.
I couldn't resist, save your keystrokes. I know, blah blah blah, firesale hd dvd is dead blu ray ftw warner is jesus etc etc
I don't see many people taking up this deal. Sales of HD DVD players are pitiful in Europe so its not like there many people around to avail of this offer.
This is a good thing...like taking guns off the streets..
* quote
DrXym
Sales of HD DVD players are pitiful in Europe
=======================================================================
Typical fanboy liar reduced to peddling his lies & BS here as usual.
In the UK both Amazon UK & Play.com show that the Toshiba HD EP30 & the HD EP35 (our versions of the HD A30 & A35) are selling very nicely and so are other models too.
Amazon had the HD EP/A 30 is the 3rd best DVD system on Amazon UK with the HD EP/A35 21st.
The best selling Blu-ray player is the Sony S300 at 26.
The HD XA1 (the Euro XA2) is at 49.
The EP10 (the Euro HD A20) is at 51.
The Sharp BD-HP20H is the next Blu-ray player at 74.
The Samsung BDP 1400 is at 87.
HD DVD handsomely outsell Blu-ray on Amazon UK.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/electronics/4085971/ref=pd_ts_pg_1?ie=UTF8&pg=1
The same is true of Play.com.
There the HD EP/A35 is the 2nd best selling electronics item, period.
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/6-/TopSellers.html
On Amazon Germany the HD EP/A30 is the 4th best selling item in their Home theatre & video section, the HD EP/A35 is 18th, the HD E1 (the Euro HD A2) is 22nd, the HD XE1 (the Euro XA2) is 38th, the HD EP10 (the Euro HD A20) is 73rd.
Not a single Blu-ray player makes it into the German top 100.
Clearly HD DVD outsells Blu-ray in Germany on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.de/gp/bestsellers/ce-de/761254/ref=pd_ts_ce_nav
No Blu Ray player is worth $513.
TruthTeller: "HD DVD handsomely outsell Blu-ray on Amazon UK"
Ah-ha...ha, ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha, ha, ho-ho,
haha,hahaa,heheheeee,hahaha, haha,hahaha, whoo,hoho,haha, ahaa, ahaa, haha, ahem. . .,
haha, ha . . . yeah, aha, great case, hey,
why don't you try the flat earth arguement, haha,
bet you could make that believable too, aha-ha
No HD-DVD player that has a max output of 1080i is worth $98. That's why Saturn is offering those who got suckered into buying Toshiba's piece of junk A2 now have a chance of making back their hard earned flushed away $$ and investing it into a future proof BD player. Kudos to Saturn and Sony for this excellent campaign that gives back to their customers.
It's so sad to see several of the oh-so-pathetic Blu-Ray fans, taking yet another cheap shot, at HD DVD and its respective fan base. THese are the same type of people that would kick and injured person who had fallen in the street. (Disclaimer for the weak minded: This example is only to illustrate a point, no parallel to HD DVD fans is intended)
HDPurist - WOW! Seek some therapy, soon! If you are already in therapy, then fire that one and please, please, get another!
F.Y.I. there is NO such thing as a future proof BD player! Hell, you can't even find one that does ALL of what BD claims to be able to do NOW! Heh, Future Proof!
The retailer is selling marked up BD players for trading in a competitive HDM player, and you are sending Kudos out for this? Even other BD zealots should sit you down and have a stern talk with you about basic consumerism!
(sarcasm to follow)
SWEET DEAL!!!!!! you are exchanging your full featured HD DVD player for a Blu Ray player that can produce next gen 1080p and sound!!! You only lose PiP functionality, web connectivity for future firmware upgrade, SACD, and a lot more.
Just for the record: contrary to what the headline states, the ad actually says "150€ rebate on ANY SONY Blu-ray player, FOR EXAMPLE the S300". And the final S300 price would be 499-150. Saturn has some good deals here and there, their 499 standard price tag for the S300 seems indeed overpriced. The cheapest online retailer is currently selling it for 340€ + shipping and handling.
Regarding the player sales of both HD DVD and Blu Ray: everybody I know in Europe who actually has an HD player, does it via a PlayStation 3.
I know that far from all PS3s are used as BD player, but comparing standalone HD-DVD player sales with standalone BD player sales just does not make sense.
Why would anybody but a hifi freak pay 500 euros for a standalone BD player if you can get a PS3 for 399 euro that can also do much more than play BD?
So comparing the software sales makes much more sense and there the dominance of BD in Europe is quite obvious.
Anyway, a good sign since Saturn is one of two dominant nationwide retailers in Germany. Up to now they were carrying both formats (with about 3:1 shelf space for Blu), this goes to show that they made up their mind which one to support for the future.
The Fine Print reads:
No Xbox360 HD-Drives and no PC-HD-Drives are acceptable, anything else is good to go.