Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player coming November for $250, gives HD-DVD the final cold shoulder

And so it is. Toshiba, the one-time cheerleader for HD-DVD, has now officially gone to the azure side with the BDX2000 Blu-ray player. It supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0) and REGZA-LINK (HDMI-CEC), outputs 1080p at 24 frames per second, and does Dolby True HD / DTS-HD Master Audio... but really, all that needs to be said here is that it's a Toshiba Blu-ray player. Look for this one-time paradox this November for a penny under $250. As for yesteryear, we think this line from the press release says it best: "This product does not play HD DVD discs." It's at once both sad and poetic that this very well may be the last official line ever uttered in the once-promising format's story.

Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player coming November for $250, gives HD-DVD the final cold shoulder

[MJGAMER 1991 XBL Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:47AM]

Oh great, now Blu-Ray will go under too...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:54AM]

Just in time for the death of Blu-Ray. I can't say that I can list ten people - or even five with a Blu-Ray player. I've tried it myself and was impressed, but if I can get an HD quality film through the Internet, why would I pay for extra hardware and breakable physical media?

[GingerFox Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:17PM]

Maybe because there not actually as high quality as blu ray? (fyi im not starting an argument, just answering your question;)

[spin cycle Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:25PM]

Internet media fans shouldn't be talking about the perishability of content.

http://xckd.com/488/

At least with a Blu-ray once you have the disc its yours until you lose it, break it, sell it, trade it or give it away.

[Rick James Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:26PM]

@robodan

The problem with your comment is that you can't get the same quality HD over the internet. And how many years until they can stream the lossless audio via the internet along with the video?

[h0mi Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:35PM]

@robodan:

Think about it. You download a video (legally I assume) from some service. When your hard drive dies, do you get to redownload it for free? Most services don't support that. So you have to back up the movie, if possible. To what? another hard drive. Another flash drive. Burn it to an optical disc. (Wasn't the point about digital downloads not having to deal with shiny disks?)

This whole move to "internet distribution" was supposed to be about convenience and making life easier. It's easier only if you're not expecting to own the content; backing up downloaded movies to shiny discs to avoid buying shiny discs is precisely "doing it wrong". Buying RAID HDD systems just to back up your movies seems like a lot of money and effort just to avoid buying shiny discs.

[Waffle Slayer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:45PM]

@RoboDan: What about the 24.6+ million PS3s? I'm sure even a guy such as you knows 5-10 other idiots with a PS3.

[Waffle Slayer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:48AM]

Or get a PS3 Slim for $299. Today.

[m3nphls Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:50AM]

Well said!

[badjokes Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:50AM]

this is the last nail!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:51AM]

Bummer. If it would have played HDDVDs it would have been a no-brainer.

[Gamer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:53AM]

I cant wait to see "Toshiba recommends Blu-ray" slogan




.....maybe over HD DVD grave

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:53AM]

I find it amazing that these players are still hovering around the $250 mark.

The Slim PS3 has an 8 core processor and a sick GPU for only $50 more!!!!!! Not to mention that future firmware/feature updates are pushed out much more frequently for this platform than your run-of-the mill Blu-ray STB.

It's just mind bottling :P

[MarcusMaximus Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:56AM]

Mind bottling?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:07PM]

That the same as mind boggling.

[GingerFox Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:18PM]

Its the word 'boggling' after your mind as been boggled, it obviously happned to this fellow halfway through typing, such a shame

[sc7 Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:36PM]

Sick GPU is an overstatement. Powerful 7-core CPU (One SPE disabled), definitely, but a quickly thrown in GeForce 7900 is not "sick".

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 5:44PM]

That "quickly thrown in 7900" affords the PS3 the best looking console video games. Nothing really beats the Uncharted games, and Killzone 2.

[reticulate Posted Sep 4th 2009 12:03AM]

SPE's aren't proper CPU cores, they're glorified floating point pipelines.

So, no, it's not an 8 core CPU, that would be like saying every rendering pipeline in a video card was a seperate GPU.

That, and the GPU in the PS3 is a rebadged Geforce 7900. I wish people would actually find these things out rather than quoting Sony PR.

[Hexydes Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:54AM]

I love HD-DVD. Because of that format, I now have over 65 HD movies, and it cost under $200.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:08PM]

You have a bunch of media for an already obsolete format? Awesome.

[Waffle Slayer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:15PM]

I imagine you should have a pretty sweet laserdisc and betamax collection as well.

[Wolfticket Posted Sep 3rd 2009 1:00PM]

I have a load of HD-DVD movies I got for peanuts, and a hybrid Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive. So it is win win.

[Hexydes Posted Sep 3rd 2009 1:29PM]

I think it's funny that you guys think it matters what disc format an HD movie is on.

[EatMoreBread Posted Sep 3rd 2009 1:45PM]

Dude, I know the feeling! My grandfather has a bunch of Betamax tapes he got REAL cheap. Score one for him, eh?

:P

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 3:32PM]

@hexydes

So you're not really familiar with product cycles and dead/living formats, then, are you?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 5:25PM]

Those of us with HD-DVD are "familiar" with how cheaply we bought the player and discs when it was declared dead.

When BR players get down to $50 then we'll buy.

[Waffle Slayer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:03PM]

I don't know what Engadget is doing but the front page image has been changed to a pic completely different from the story main pic.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:07PM]

"may be the last official line ever uttered in the once-promising format's story"

Not if you Engadget editors have anything to say about it.

[Ameen Posted Sep 3rd 2009 7:40PM]

Read: "Last official line"

Engadget is NOT an official Consumer Electronics company.

Now, Please wear that shirt that says, "Dumb Arse" and also do change your profile name to "I'm with Stupid"

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 8:10PM]

...how would changing my profile name to "I'm With Stupid" be insulting to me?

[UnixSystemsEngineer Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:26PM]

I hadn't realized it would be weird to see the Toshiba and Blu-Ray logos on the same device. But it is.

[cjcox Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:40PM]

In a somewhat related story, Sony is announcing its return to CRT tube television... just to make Toshiba mad!!

[Hazman Posted Sep 6th 2009 4:34PM]

Cathode Ray Tube Tube? Just watch out that it isn't damaged by an EMP pulse.

[xJuice Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:48PM]

I'll pass on the huge front door on that thing.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 12:57PM]

Yeah, WTF is up with the return of the drop-down door? I thought we were done with that terrible design fad.

[Joe Las Vegas Posted Sep 3rd 2009 3:01PM]

For that price I'll get a PS3 slim.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 8:50PM]

I agree... also, you can get the 60GB "fat" PS3 for $200 on Amazon... so, really, you could get the Blu-ray for $50 less. So am I missing something? Is there any reason to get a dedicated Blu-ray player instead of a PS3? (Even if you don't game, it seems like a better buy.)

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 11:56PM]

So this doesn't even use their fancy-shmancy upconverting technology for standard DVDs?

Isn't that a no-brainer to include as a differentiator?

[limabird Posted Sep 4th 2009 7:56AM]

Wow, does it push reds, screw up blacks, and fail miserably at keeping the audio and video in sync, just like my Toshiba DVD player?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 4th 2009 7:08PM]

You blu-ray wieners need to get a life. After all this time there is still no difference other than space between HD and Blu. Get a life. Toshiba it's about time you got over your grudge. Would and still not buying a PS3 to wait 90 seconds to play a movie. The $99 insignia works just fine. Hey maybe to throw a little dirt under your foreman grills, I may buy a Toshiba Blu Ray player. Engadget still has a lot to learn. Quit feeding the trolls... Teach your writter some class. "give HD DVD the cold shoulder"? Like really moron...

[straybeat Posted Sep 13th 2009 5:21PM]

The wife and I thought it would be cool if Toshiba made the drive to look like our A20. Then we could have a matching set. LOL