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Circuit City triples return time window for HD DVD player purchases
Hot on the heels of news that Circuit City may in fact be offering up a hush-hush trade-in program for HD DVD purchasers comes official word that said retailer is tripling its standard return window in order to appease early adopters. According to company spokesman Jim Babb, it's looking to "take care of [its] customers" by lengthening the return window from 30 to 90 days for all HD DVD player purchases. When returning the unit, users are given store credit, and while we are told that HD DVD movies are omitted from the policy, we've no idea if combo players are included. We're guessing no, but then again, it's not like those purchasers have nearly as much to worry about.[Thanks, Killer]
Circuit City quietly accepting HD DVD player trade-ins
Did you get stuck on the losing end of the format war, and are now cursing that HD DVD player as it stares mockingly at you? Does your rage meter go to 11 when you hear of consumers living abroad getting treated to some trade-in value on HD DVD players? Well, our friends over at Format War Central have gotten word that Circuit City is quietly offering a trade-in program to consumers who jumped into the HD DVD pool within three months of Toshiba's fateful announcement. Apparently, you'll be able to trade in your player, at full purchase price, towards a Blu-ray player or a gift card. Nice move, Circuit City! Three words of advice if you're affected and go to cash in on this deal -- "calm but firm." Let us know if you have any luck in switching out equipment in the comments, too!
Best Buy, others offer trade-in program through Dealtree.com
Although a tip we received was specifically about Best Buy's trade-in program, it appears the service is actually provided by a company called Dealtree.com, which seeks to offer "fair value" for old electronics. For example, the trade-in price for a Gamecube in good condition is $25; if that seems acceptable all the customer has to do is print out the pre-paid shipping label, send it to the company and in seven business days it'll send a Best Buy gift card for the value of the trade-in.Dealtree.com apparently provides its services to a variety of retailers. It appears trade-in values are universal as a very quick check using the same parameters on the Circuit City version yielded the same trade-in value as with Best Buy. A sterile alternative to eBay or Craigslist for those looking to unload old consoles. [Thanks Michael]
So it begins: Toshiba's HD-A3 falls to $99 at Circuit City, comes with 7 free HD DVDs
It's not like there has been any shortage of deals on HD DVD hardware over the past few months or anything, but now that Toshiba (and almost everyone else on the planet) has officially yanked support for the format, prices are beginning to plummet en masse. First on the docket is the HD-A3 at Circuit City, which now sits at just $99.99 and comes with seven free titles, two of which are 300 and Bourne Identity. So yeah, if you've been waiting for this moment to snap up the failed format for cheap, hop on in -- but if we were betting souls, we'd say holding out just a wee bit longer would actually be in your wallet's best interest.[Thanks, Dustin]
Retailers already forgetting HD DVD
Even without an official announcement, it appears the world is moving on without HD DVD. At the Fifth Avenue Best Buy, HD DVD hardware is already special order only, while its disappeared entirely from this week's Circuit City advertisement. The only people still picking up HD DVD players seem to be value shoppers looking for to deep discounts when retailers clear out movies. Red put up a good fight, but with retail support rapidly following the studios, its clear what time it is.
Paramount's Transformers showing up in Blu-ray attire?
Per usual, we'd recommend not getting too riled up over this until it's proven definitively true or false, but considering that pallbearers actually hoisted up HD DVD's casket already this morning, maybe there's not too much sense in doubting. Nevertheless, an eagle-eyed Circuit City employee has apparently located Transformers in its internal database completely doused in Blu. You heard right -- a Blu-ray 2-disc edition of the Michael Bay flick is reportedly showing up with a UPC code different than the HD DVD version. 'Course, this really isn't quite as surprising today as it would've been yesterday -- you know, considering that BD and HD VMD are really the only options left for studios to run to -- but feel free to make of it what you will.[Thanks luvincharity and Kyle] %Gallery-16204%
Circuit City to expand used game sales program
Following an apparently successful ten-store test program started nearly a year ago, Circuit City has decided to broaden its used game sales, according to SmartMoney. No word on how many new stores will be adding a used games section or how quickly the expansion will roll out, but Circuit City Vice President Irynne MacKay said the company wants to be "competitive on pricing." That's a relief. We were worried they wanted to gouge us.High margin used game sales could help the struggling electronics retailer, whose sales fell 11 percent last year in the face of competition from Best Buy (which, incidentally, was also testing out used game sales at one point). The company is also toying with gaming tournaments, a 10% off "Gamer Savings Club" (with a $20 annual fee) and a new store layout that prominently features gaming kiosks. That all sounds well and good, but we'd recommend caution with the placement of those Wii kiosks. There's nothing worse than an overzealous Wii Sports player knocking over an innocent customer looking at big screen TVs.
Circuit City offers 20% off 'all' DS games
When our colleagues over as DS Fanboy first reported on Circuity City's 20% off DS game sale, they claimed the sale prices only applied to in-store purchases. Turns out they were wrong, as the sale evidently applies to CircuityCity.com as well, with plenty of great games dropping in price by as much as 10 bucks.Oddly enough, the sale affects almost every DS title on the site, though skips over a random few like Planet Puzzle League and Nintendogs. Despite this, plenty of other great games are available at reduced price, including The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy III, and even the recently released Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles.To top it off, Circuit City offers free shipping for orders over $24, meaning the majority of these titles can be shipped for nothing more than the discounted price plus tax. Of course, the sales are only as good as the supplies last. We recommend doing as we have done, and ordering sooner rather than later; we expect stocks will dwindle quickly once word gets out.[Via DS Fanboy]
No, Circuit City's not shoving HD DVD out the door
While news was running rampant last week about Circuit City's inexplicable price cuts on some of the more popular HD DVD players, we had a hunch it wasn't exactly a sign of disownment. Sure enough, it's now being reported that a Circuit City representative has informed Punch Jump that the clearance prices were "inadvertent." To be fair, we're a bit hesitant to believe that's entirely factual, either, but nevertheless, the same rep also mentioned that HD DVD sales have been "strong" and that the big box retailer would remain "platform agnostic" for the time being.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Retail CEO's react to Warner's Blu-ray shift
We are now in day five of the post-Warner Bros. announcement era and CNet has word from several retailers on their response (or lack thereof) to the newly-shifted HD landscape. The CEO's of Best Buy, Circuit City and "not any more or less Blu-ray exclusive than they have ever been despite what some executives might think" Target agree that its a step towards the end of the format war, but seem reluctant to call things over by any shot, or commit to changes in the way they deal HDM. Until further changes do -- or don't -- happen, the electronics aisle will remain divided.
Slew of retailers to carry TV converter boxes; coupon requests open in 2008
Yeah, we pretty much expected every big box retailer known to man to carry these things, but just in case you were worried about locating a TV converter box in preparation for the upcoming cutover, here's some comforting news. Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Target, Sears and Sam's Club are all on the list to carry equipment necessary for analog TV owners to receive OTA programming after February 2009, and just in case one of the aforementioned giants aren't anywhere near you, around 100 more smaller retailers have been certified to stock 'em. Also of note, you can start the new year off right by reminding your great grandparents (or other family members, too) that they can go on and apply for up to two coupons -- which should arrive around six weeks later -- worth $40 apiece to purchase the required boxes. Or, of course, you could just pick them up a new television this holiday season and be done with it.[Via BroadcastingCable]
Panasonic to bundle Blu-ray players with plasmas at $500 discount -- 2 new players in January
Although coy with any detail, Panasonic just put the industry on notice with its Blu-ray plans for the US. In a move to double its Stateside market share, Panny will begin bundling Blu-ray players with their plasma TVs next week. The move specifically targets Circuit City and Best Buy among other big-box retailers and "may" result in a discount. This according to Masayuki Kozuka, a general manager in charge of the company's storage device strategy. We'll take that as a confirmed discount. After all, without a price drop, why bother -- it's not like profile 1.1 support will be the cause for that huge upsurge in sales. A Panasonic spokesman also said that they would release two new "higher-end" (read: more expensive) Blu-ray players in January. We'll likely hear more on that little nugget at CES.Update: Well, here you have it: Best Buy's offering a $500 discount off their 50- or 42-inch plasmas when purchasing the DMP-BD30K.[Thanks, Travis]
The 21 days of Wii from Circuit City
Still need a Wii? Want an infinitesimal chance of winning one? Well, do we have the deal for you! Between now and Dec. 22, CircuitCity.com will be giving a Wii away (away a Wii?) every day. All you have to do is give it your email address (and be a US citizen, but now we're just being picky). Although the insta-enter by giving your virtual address seems so effortless, one can only wonder what evil plans the corporation has for your email next -- because isn't there always an evil plan with these things?While we're talking about Circuit City, it currently has several deals on games going on. Call of Duty 4 is $39, along with Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. For those just getting their next-gen on, CC also has $22 deals on Oblivion, Dead Rising, and Fight Night Round 3. So if you can't win a Wii, you can at least take advantage of some fine holiday discounts.[Via Wii Fanboy]
New Zunes already hitting store shelves
You can't keep a good retailer down, especially the kind that gadget nerds like us so adore: those that breaking sales embargoes and put hotly anticipated product (like these new Zunes, for example) on store shelves early. Behold, new Zunes -- which aren't supposed to be on sale until next week -- popping up on store shelves at Circuit City and Target. Granted, we don't know how many (if any) sold, since it sounds like they may have actually gotten pulled before customers made a dash for the registers, but who knows, perhaps you might strike Zune gold by trawling the shelves at your local mega-retailer this very weekend. You know who to tip off if you bring home the booty, right? (Note: read link only hits up the Target Zunes, not CC's Zune batch, which is separate.)[Thanks, Ryan and Scott]
90,000 HD DVD players sold in one weekend
We were wondering how well HD DVD was doing with those new price cuts, and now here's Video Business with the answer: according to sources at retailers, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Circuit City -- among others -- were able to move 90,000 stand-alone HD DVD players this weekend. Most of them were last year's entry level HD-A2, which sold for the low, low price of $99 -- but not all. This dramatically increases the user base for the HD DVD camp, but that's not saying much since the format only sold about this many stand-alone players in its first year. In the world of consumer electronics, 90k isn't that impressive, but considering the estimated loss Toshiba took on each unit, we can see why they'd want to limit the supply. The problem for the HD DVD camp is that they're really up against the PS3's sales, and even though only 40% of PS3 owners realize that there is a Blu-ray player built in, that's still about 750,000 people in the US. But ultimately, this format war is about selling movies, and we'll be keeping a close eye on the weekly sales numbers to assess the impact of this early holiday sales blitz.[Thanks, Utah!]
Circuit City lists LG's BH200 combo HD DVD / Blu-ray combo at $799
We're not exactly sure what to make of this, but LG's BH200 combo HD DVD / Blu-ray player is currently listed on Circuit City's website for $799, which is about $100 cheaper than anywhere else and $200 cheaper than a certain blue competitor. It might well be a typo, of course (and probably is), but between Big Red's pre-Black Friday price-chopping and our own fervent hopes for format peace, we're going to keep on dreaming until we hear otherwise. Update: Yep, too good to be true -- it's back up to $999 now.[Thanks, Mike L.]
Toshiba A2 HD DVD Player for $200 at Circuit City
When they say "competition's good," they obviously meant "competition means cheap HD DVD players": Wal-Mart's $198 Toshiba HD-A2 has been copied by Circuit City, which is now selling the same player for $197.99 online. Add it to your cart, and see for yourself. As one tipster said, with deals like this popping up this early, signs are looking good for one helluva Black Friday.[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
Circuit City steps up to educate customers about DTV cutover
It'd be too easy to just mark off Best Buy's earlier announcement regarding its decision to no longer sell analog TVs as a simple coincidence, but whatever the case, Circuit City is hitting back to let the whole world know that it cares, too. Aside from confirming that it plans on participating in the NTIA Converter Box Coupon Program, it also announced that it would be "incorporating DTV transition reminders and messages into the closed circuit videos that run on its TVs," include cutover advisory information in its advertising supplements, install store signage to inform customers of the impending change and train employees to be well-versed on the whole matter. Stay sharp, though, we can just hear the PSAs turning into sales pitches now.
Circuit City does buy one, get one half-off
If your DS has been lacking the sustenance that new DS game cartridges provide, then you might be able to feed the beast with Circuit City's newest sale. For every DS game you purchase, you can get another game at half-off. Maybe you've been holding off on picking up Elite Beat Agents or checking out Sonic Rush, waiting for a more opportune time to purchase. Well, seems about as good a time as any to us. [Thanks, Gabriel!]
Verizon gets official with green enV, exclusive to Circuit City
Yep, it's real! In case orange or the original gray scheme weren't to your liking, the LG enV on Verizon can now be had in a "hot new green color" (their words, not ours) -- but only at your friendly local Circuit City location. It seems this particular version has been designated as a Circuit City exclusive for the time being, fetching $149.99 after a $50 rebate on contract. The spec sheet remains the same, so unless something about this color really speaks to you, we wouldn't worry about it.[Via PhoneMag]Update: Verizon's now revised the price down to $79.99 after rebate. Sounds a lot better than the original price, yeah?
