HD DVD vs. Blu-ray: Wal-Mart offers Toshiba player for under $200
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| Toshiba HD-A2. Image: Toshiba |
The battle for the future of the high-definition DVD has taken an intriguing turn: For the first time, mega-retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) has begun selling a player for less than $200.
In various online forums, enthusiasts have reported seeing the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player available in stores for $198, significantly less than its common price of $230-$280.
Such low prices could shift momentum in the high-definition format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, which are vying to be the successor to today's ubiquitous DVD. Like mainstream DVD players, HD DVD and Blu-ray players accept DVDs. But they also play high-definition discs in their own formats, which look sharper on today's large, flat televisions.
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"We reduced our HD DVD Toshiba player, the generation-two, to $198 earlier in the week," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien confirmed. "It's happening now, and that's really all I can tell you. We don't give any information on what we're planning to do for the holidays. We know HD DVD and Blu-ray are going to be popular items this holiday season for some of our customers. … They will be more popular this year than they were in previous years."
O'Brien said rumors that each Wal-Mart store would stock only 18 units of the Toshiba player were false. "There are no limited quantities for stores or purchases."
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| Samsung P-1400 Blu-ray player. Image: Samsung |
If the cut-rate Toshiba HD DVD players prove especially popular, Wal-Mart's move could also set up a holiday-season retail showdown with Best Buy (BBY), Circuit City (CC) and others who rely on popular items to lure shoppers into stores. Those other retailers could feel pressure to stock their own low-cost HD-DVD players to drive store traffic.
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Blu-ray has an early lead, but that doesn’t count for much. What matters is, who will have the lowest-priced high-definition players at a decent quality level when mainstream consumers finally start buying HD?
If the mainstream starts buying HD players this holiday season, expect to see HD DVD surge ahead of Blu-ray in a big way. Market makers like Wal-Mart will run with whatever player they can price below $200, just to draw people into stores. And most people in the mainstream won’t necessarily buy 10 HD movies; they’ll buy one or two, and wait for the studios to follow the installed base.
And if HD DVD sells big, you’d best believe the Hollywood studios will follow. Aside from Sony, they really don’t care which HD format wins – just as long as they get to sell a lot more movies.
It's not clear what the Blu-ray camp will do to respond to the price cuts. While the Sony-backed Blu-ray format has more support from Hollywood studios as mentioned above, Blu-ray players also cost more than HD DVD to manufacture. That's why Blu-ray players continue to cost more than $400 while HD DVD is available for half the price.
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| Transformers on HD DVD, released October 16, had a stronger launch week than any HD title so far. |
Blu-ray does have its technical advantages. Chief among them: its discs hold more information than those from the HD DVD format, potentially allowing studios to pack more special features and higher-quality audio onto a disc. Blu-ray's manufacturing costs will also come down over time — but if HD television buyers choose this holiday season as the time to seriously consider getting a high-def player, Blu-ray will be at a disadvantage because of some of the choices Sony made in developing the technology.
"Sony has great technology, but Sony many times makes closed technology," said Randy Giusto, group vice president of the mobility, computing, and consumer markets at technology research firm IDC.
Meanwhile, there are signs that this could indeed be the season where holiday shoppers open their wallets for HD equipment.
The summer blockbuster Transformers, released on HD DVD on October 16, has had the strongest debut of an HD movie so far, selling 190,000 copies in its first week.
Also, the large-sized LCD market is expected to reach 370 million units by the end of 2007, according to researcher iSuppli. That could create a hunger for high-definition players that connect to them. “iSuppli expects 20 percent unit growth for monitor panels, 35 percent growth for notebook panels and 51 percent growth for the TV panel market in 2007 compared to 2006,” said Sweta Dash, director of LCD and projection research for iSuppli.
The cost of HD players at Wal-Mart:
- Blu-ray at Wal-Mart: Sony ($488), Phillips ($498) and Samsung ($448 and very limited; not in all stores)
- HD DVD players at Wal-Mart: Toshiba ($198) and RCA ($298)
To hear an interview with a director of the Blu-ray Disc Association, click here.
Realizing that not every Wal-mart was selling the HD A2 for $97 (Best Buy & Sears are also selling their A2s for sub-$100) they still probably sold 15,000 units nationwide. The 5 wal-marts I called all recieved shipments of 15 A2s to sell this past Friday. That is one hell of a lot of next-gen players. As people have said, while the PS3 people will tell you that you need to buy the $400-500 1080p BD player, I don't know too many families ready and willing to spend that $$ on a Blu-Ray, when the HD-DVD format is very very comparable in terms of HD quality (and more stable). As for BDs advantage, I would ask what advantages they have. Sure the discs are larger capacity, so studios can add more features & Dolby TrueHD to the disc, but virtually NOBODY has equipment that can decode it to its full quality anyways. And HD DVD hardware & software (from personal experience) is much much more stable that Blu-Ray. I have tried 2 Sony and 1 Samsung player and all three of them have not worked out of the box. Even after downloading and updating their firmware. Besides, Blu-Ray doesn't even have the final specs finalized yet. Waiting on the "final profile 2.0"… Why would consumers want to buy Blu-Ray (profile 1.0 soon 1.1) now, when the players today won't properly play movies tomorrow. Next time you are at Best Buy, look at how many "out of carton" Blu-Ray players they have had returned and are now selling for a discount…
The HD-A2 WAS available at Wal-Mart today for 98.87 (all 30 units sold out by 8:00 a.m.). At that price it's worth rolling the dice and taking a chance.
For those who argue that they see a difference between their 1080i cable feed and 1080p Blu-ray that should be pretty much assumed: the cable signal is heavily compressed. Compare 1080i Blu-ray playback to 1080p Blu-ray playback and you won't notice a difference regardless of what you're playing it back on. For those who say that they can see the difference it seems unlikely.
For those who argue that comparing the specs prove conclusively that Blu-ray is superior miss the point. Specs are a wonderful thing but how does the thing actually look when movies are played back on it? I did a side-by-side comparison of Batman Begins on identical sets with one utilizing HD DVD and the other Blu-ray. What we saw was stunning playback by both units with no noticable difference in quality. Specs are ultimately meaningless if they fail to perform to one's expectations.
As for the price point, that is probably the most vaild argument. PS3 sales are lagging , not because there's no demand for the PS3 but because the price point is still too high for most consumers. Sony's hope was to get as many Blu-ray drives in households by implementing the hardware in each PS3 but this move resulted in buyers looking elsewhere for less expensive alternatives (no one could ever have predicted that the Wii would meet the success that it has).
If consumers opt for price over specs HD DVD could be around for quite some time.
Some of you people are REAL IDIOTS. The whole 1080i/1080P thing is Ridiculous. You people have NO Idea what your talking about. Both HD DVD and Blu-Ray and On Disc as 1080P at 24 Frames per Second!!! Wither you have a extra chip in your HD player to have it output to 1080P, or your 1080P HDTV converts the 1080i signal to 1080P to be displayed anyway is a mute point. THEY ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!!! Talking about falling for the SONY BS! All they are trying to do is sell you the more Expensive Hardware to a bunch of SUCKERS. Why don't you IDIOTS go here and read up on how a Picture is displayed on your HDTV!!!
http://blog.hometheatermag.com/geoffreymorrison/0807061080iv1080p/
If a Blu-Ray player output to 1080i, it would be the SAME THING displaying 1080P on your HDTV. It's IMPOSSIBLE for a Progressive Display HDTV to show a 1080i(Interlaced) picture! Most Cable HD channels are in 1080i, but are being displayed at 1080P on 1080P HDTV's! Cable is far more compressed then what you get on Blu-Ray or HD DVD so you'll get a bit better picture. Most people are still just buying 720P HDTV's anyway. Unless your getting a 60"+ HDTV and are sitting really close to it, your not going to tell the difference between 720P and 1080P. In fact a Good Quality 720P HDTV can have a BETTER picture then a cheapo 1080P HDTV. I've also have head WAL-MART ONLY sells 720P HDTV's also. What good does a over priced 1080P Blu-Ray player do then?
I agree with James. DVD-R and DVD+R ended up just being DVD+-R for the most part. I do think however that Blu-Ray will probably be preferred for home movies, and games within the next 5 years. After that it will ALL be digital.
HD-DVD will stay because of a simple fact. its called HD-DVD , I know, this is a very simple answer, but please analyze it…try to explain your mother, grandma about Blueray, and then about HD-DVD , she will only remember HD-DVD because its there, its a high definition dvd…so when you goes and buys the new plasma fro x-mas, she will be shown both, and she will get the cheaper one, its hd, for my hd tv, period…Yes, Blue ray is the superior format, but your average joe, doesn't know a quarter to what's explain in this board….Sony just realize this, so now on their new tv campaings, at the end of a preview, you see: " ON DVD AND HIGH DEFINITION BLUE RAY " this is why now they call it high definition blue ray, before it was just Blue ray…everyone was like!!! WTF …this is what happened with UMD…dead now! Awesome format, I have a couple of movies for my psp…but..dead..
As someone else mentioned, just check the reviews from the home video, home theater, and electronics magazines re the quality of HD DVD discs vs Blu-ray, especially the titles released in both formats. You'll see the HD DVDs are considered equal or superior to BD in almost all impartial reviews.
The bottom line is that Sony has no place to go with Blu-ray… they've had all the hype, the PS3, and majority of studio support for over a year now and are still losing market share. They were losing money on the PS3 when it was selling for $600, now how long can they continue to dump units for $400? (btw, sales continue to sag even after this huge price cut) And sorry, but NOBODY is buying standalone BD players…
I think the key to BD's future is Disney… If the mouse bolts, BD is dead. As I said, Disney's marriage to Sony and BD was one of convenience… they wanted this format war to be short and sweet so they could get on with the business of selling their product.
As of now, Disney has to be reexamining their exclusivity agreement with Sony. Going into xmas '07, they see HD DVD players selling at a much higher rate than even the PS3 (which only a tiny fraction of owners have ever used as a BD player). One thing has to be clear to Disney… those buying HD disc players for their new HD tvs are choosing the HD DVD format by a large margin. Now that HD DVD players have broken the $200 price point, that trend will only accelerate, leaving BD another of Sony's orphan formats.
Imho, it's only a matter of time before Disney gets tired of propping up another failed Sony product and does what is best for their own interests… that would be to go from BD exclusive releases to HD DVD exclusive… I have a feeling Disney execs are about to wake up and smell the coffee…
Wal-Mart stores are not supposed to sell the A2 for $198 until the day after thanksgiving. As for the 399 40g PS3, they have a streetdate of Nov 4.
to the dude who said he clearly saw a difference on his 1080p DLP from 1080i (cable signal) to 1080p (HD DVD/bluray), remember this: cable and satellite HD service is heavily compressed, creating a loss of picture quality. HD DVD and bluray are not a broadcast signal that is compressed and decompressed and sent out all around your town. So obviously there will be a difference. Try outputting your HD player as 1080i to your 1080p display and then change the output rez to 1080p. You will then see, that even with the most critical eye, there is no difference when viewed on that 1080p set. the TV deinterlaces 1080i so its a moot point. Youd be lying if you said you saw a difference.
[QUOTE](1) The quoted number of 190,000 for Tranformers has been amended to 115,000[/QUOTE]
And Paramount has responded, standing by its claim of 190,000 units sold. The Videscan data is incomplete, omitting major retailers like Wal-Mart from its results. Regardless, it still makes it the fastest selling EXCLUSIVE title on either format.
[QUOTE](2) The Toshiba A-2 is a good price; it will not get any cheaper for a reputable player. But it isn’t the standard of high-definition, 1080p. At this point, a person who has not so sensitive to picture quality could get an interlacing/upconverting DVD player for much cheaper[/QUOTE]
First, the Toshiba HD-A3 (the newer model) is already advertised in Sears' upcoming Black Friday ad for $169, so the price will already be bested in a few weeks.
As for the "standard of hi-def", 1080i and 1080p are virtually identical, as a 1080p-capable monitor will upconvert to a progressive signal anyway. Besides, the other HD DVD players (priced as low as $349) DO output full 1080p, so there is no difference between the formats. Why pay $500 for a Blu-Ray player when one can spend less then half the price for HD DVD?
And making a comparison between an HD DVD player & an upconverting DVD player is ludicrous! HD DVD & Blu-Ray are the same in picture and sound quality based on hundreds of reviews of the formats. In fact, Blu-Ray took many months in 2006 to even reach the quality level raised by HD DVD!
[QUOTE](3) The Walmart demographic have kids. Kids that scratch discs. I would like to see HD-DVD add the scratch resistent coating, Durabis, to its discs. This really is a benefit to parents. It never is mentioned in articles.[/QUOTE]
The protective coating costs money, another reason why Blu-Ray discs are more expensive to manufacture. And it is only required on BD discs because the pits are so close to the surface of the disc as opposed to HD DVD. In other words, BD NEEDS the coating and HD DVD does NOT! DVD's have been around for over a decade, and I don't recall people clamoring for a prtective layer on them.
[QUOTE](3) Also, if HD-DVD does not manage to bring Disney, MGM, New Line, 20th Century Fox over to its side, you can forget about ever getting 50% of all movies available on DVD. In addition, the Paramount/Dream Works deal has been a mixed blessing, because it now appears that the best movies from this studio will never see the light of day. Specifically, I am referring to Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott’s objection to HD-DVD. Even Michael Bay has voiced his preference for Blu-ray. If there are any objections to this remark, please provide a source, because as it stands, Lucas, Scott, Spielberg, and Coppola have refused to support HD-DVD. Coppola and Spielberg have supported and released on Blu-ray for movies in which they have the distribution right.[/QUOTE]
This is so full of FUD it isn't even funny! First, Blu-Ray is also lacking major studio support with no Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks, or Weinstein films. Uni & Paramount in particular represent 2 of the largest studios in Hollywood. You mention New Line which supports HD DVD equally, so I have no clue where you're going with that claim.
Also, Spielberg has merely restricted some of his productions with Dreamworks from being exclusive to HD DVD — he never made any statements about hating HD DVD. Ridley Scott also never berated HD DVD — in fact, his newest film American Gangster will be exclusive to the format! As will Gladiator, Legend, and other great films in his library. Also, Lucas and Coppola have NEVER made a negative statement about HD DVD nor have they made any claims of greatness to Blu-Ray! In fact, Coppola's greatest works, The Godfather films, will be exclusive to HD DVD courtesy of the Paramount deal when they finally arrive in hi-def!
As for the OP, this pricing structure for HD DVD players will bring them to the masses much quicker and can only be great news for hi-def media. I may just pick up several players as gifts and bring my family into the great world of HD DVD!
1080p and 1080i although the same resolution, and frame rate are not the same. The clear difference is interlace updates every other line per frame so it is only half of the 1080p so those saying there is hardly a noticeable difference think again. For those who say the size of the discs does not matter then consider the fact that you will get less lossless video if movies become longer and longer. As with the claim movie studios are split I doubt that, Blu-ray still has most of the support and Paramount is only HD DVD because they accepted the millions of dollars in payoff.
As long as HD-DVD (an Wal-Mart, for that matter) continues to push market prices down, we should all be happy. I'd say that after the Christmas season, we might even see standalone blue-ray players down under $200. Just let 'em keep battelin' out. For now, I'm happy with my $80 "upscaling" DVD player – yeah, I know, it's not HD – but it will get me through until Jan 2008.
I own both a HD DVD and a Blu Ray player both look awesome. However if you want a outdated player just get the Samsung P1000 from Ebay for $200 and you have a outdated 1080P player for just $200 that outperforms the A2 by far!
People who can't see a diference between 1080i and 1080p should not even voice their opinion until they upgrade their TV. I have an 61" Samsung DLP 1080p and I can tell the difference between my 1080i cable box and my 1080p
Blu ray, HD DVD.
As far as VHS vs BETA VHS won because of studio backing and more storage in this war Blu Ray has both! Well they also had porn but the internet has taken that market over so thats no longer a major issue.
I'm confident those claiming that 1080p is noticeably superior to 1080i are just PS3 fanboys who haven't done side-by-side comparisons. In fact, it's tough to distinguish 720p from 1080p on anything short of a $4k 60+" plasma. The characteristics of your tv have much more impact on perceived sharpness than the flavor of the HD signal… If you can save 30 or 40 percent by getting a 720p or 1080i high quality plasma vs a lesser 1080p unit, I'd strongly recommend it… Panasonic has some great 1080i plasma units reasonably priced.
That said, I think sub-$200 HD DVD players (the A2 is a terrific player, btw… I've had one since May) is the death knell for Blu-ray. The PS3 has been a disaster for Sony and Blu-ray standalone players simply aren't selling. Sony is taking a bath on Blu-ray and can't compete with prices this low… Expect to see more studios defect from the BD-only camp. My prediction? Disney HD DVD releases before '09… You heard it here first. 
Sorry Paddy but you must not have ever tested blu-ray or hddvd if you think there's nothing different between the two… if your not able to try both technologies out you could at the very least read the specs and still see that there would be a difference
Bill Rochester, you either set up your HD-DVD incorrectly or are a terrible pervaricator. There is no discernible between the technologies. I appreciate that a fanboy needs to support his team, but comeon, don't say things that are transparently false.
One more comment, Transformers did not sell 190k units its first week. If you google it the entertainment industry is in somewhat of an uproar accusing Paramount of lying once more (shrek2) about its units sold. NielsenVideoScan has reported that Transformers HDDVD only sold 73k units, although Nielsen does not survey all stores the stores they survey account for well over 60% of HD DVD sales. a far cry from 190k
the 40gb PS3 (shipping with spiderman3) will cost $399 and you get 5more free blu-ray movies with the mail in offer for all blu-ray players which makes the PS3 only a $219 blu-ray movie player and gaming entertainment machine.
as per a previous post there is a visual difference between 1080i and 1080p a progressive scan picture is much better why do you think component cables are a must for dvd users? for the progressive scan.
Unfortunately the $199 HD DVD player isnt capable of 1080p so you won't be getting the best features of HiDef entertainment from it
uhh, last time I checked, 1080i and 1080p are the same frame resolution: 1920×1080. whether its 1080i or 1080p makes no difference. 1080p isnt the 'true HD spec' or whatever someone else said here. a 1080p tv has something called a deinterlacer in it that in a nutshell, makes a 1080i signal a 1080p signal. there is no visual difference between the 2 specs. remember, same resolution. see for yourself.
Sony is working their BD pressing deals in a way that keeps the #1 DVD-producing industry away from BD (that would be adult movies). HD-DVD is winning in the adult video sector; BD is winning in the less-than-XXX-rated sector. Ultimately combo players will exist but the prevailing format will be HD-DVD
The Bluray is $500 just for the player, the HD-DVD is $198 with 5 free movies…. at $29 a movie, that means the HD-DVD player is selling for $53. And since every sony product i have bought broke( one $500 dvd player after 10 months, my loss because of a 9 month warranty) and Sony's arogance tampering with our hard drives using music cd's, I dont want to see Blueray win. Sony will only use theyre dominance to raise the price of movie's. But HD-DVD's competition (yes they allow for free market competition) will save all of us consumers a lot in the long run.
@stewart
Toshiba HD DVD players are not made in china. Both the HD-A2 and HD-A20 are MADE IN JAPAN. Get your facts straight before posting.
Plus, sale is not allowed at some walmart yet because the street date for the $198 price is not until November 3rd.
The consumer will ultimately win from this format battle. If either format had clearly won this early, there would be no play below $299 and you could forget about the free movie rebates.
Just some thoughts (please object if I am incorrect, I don't like misinformation)
(1) The quoted number of 190,000 for Tranformers has been amended to 115,000: http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=11439
Therefore, it is the second best selling HD movie in its first week of release, the first being "300" on Blu-ray.
(2) The Toshiba A-2 is a good price; it will not get any cheaper for a reputable player. But it isn't the standard of high-definition, 1080p. At this point, a person who has not so sensitive to picture quality could get an interlacing/upconverting DVD player for much cheaper;
(3) The Walmart demographic have kids. Kids that scratch discs. I would like to see HD-DVD add the scratch resistent coating, Durabis, to its discs. This really is a benefit to parents. It never is mentioned in articles.
(3) Also, if HD-DVD does not manage to bring Disney, MGM, New Line, 20th Century Fox over to its side, you can forget about ever getting 50% of all movies available on DVD. In addition, the Paramount/Dream Works deal has been a mixed blessing, because it now appears that the best movies from this studio will never see the light of day. Specifically, I am referring to Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott's objection to HD-DVD. Even Michael Bay has voiced his preference for Blu-ray. If there are any objections to this remark, please provide a source, because as it stands, Lucas, Scott, Spielberg, and Coppola have refused to support HD-DVD. Coppola and Spielberg have supported and released on Blu-ray for movies in which they have the distribution right.
In Response to Tom in NY:
Having neither an HD-DVD or a Blu-ray player, I'd hazard a guess that the seemingly more impassioned defense of Blu-ray by its proponents perhaps stems from the fact that the last time there was this big of a format war (Beta vs. VHS) what was judged to be the "inferior" technology (VHS) ended up winning over what was considered more innovative (Beta) not because it was the superior product, but because of better marketing by Matsushita (the originator of VHS technology). Thus, I guess people who consider themselves technology-savvy want to avoid a repeat of that situation by making sure that their views are heard regarding the advantages of Blu-ray devices and what they may perceive to be another "hijacking" of the marketplace by what is judged to be inferior technology. P.S. — As a satisfied owner of both Sony (in my living room) and Toshiba (in my bedroom) DVD players, I have no particular preference for either…:-).
Why is it that BD supporters are so nasty in proclaiming that anyone woh buys HD dvd is an idiot and doesn't know a thing. Some of us do. I don"t know who will win this format war bit we are all losing right now.
So get civil BD supporters and chill. I don't see the same level of nastiness from HD people…wonder why?
Outdated was the wrong term, but it has been DISCONTINUED/CLEARANCED by the "Big Box," retailers and replaced by the A3 and A30 models.
The A2 model is older, but hardly outdated. I'm thinking they created the A3 (which is similar in capability, but uses many different parts) because they were able to make a lot more A2s for the holiday season. The A3 keeps the appearence that Toshiba is still innovating when the XA2 is still the player to have.
The Toshiba HD-A2 IS an outdated model carried by electronics retailers since December 2006. It HAS been replaced (Beginning of October) by the Toshiba A3 which retails for $299 (it is only 1080i–same as the A2). The other new model Toshiba is the A30 which displays Full HD at 1080p ($399). Also, latest Blu-Ray data compiled indicate that Blu-Ray movies sell at 4:1. And let's not forget that Disney releases their movies on Blu-Ray and not HD
Guess what Simon, London, Ontario : October 25, 2007???
PS3's are not selling for crap! And they are NOT SELLING FOR 399$ right now. And the xbox 360 hd dvd players have not sold terribly. Its pretty funny you sound like a SONY fanboy, promoting blu ray and ps3 all in one post. Great one fanboy!
STOP THE HD DVD FUD! Lets see, all Chinese units are crap, great stereotype and FUD. Yeah i'm sure a manufacturer sells everyone defective drives but has been in business for how long?!?! Great one buddy!
hahahaha
Bluray disks are almost impossible to damage due to the durabis coating. Do some research Rick. My god!!
I WENT TO ELECTRONICS EXPO IN NEW JERSEY, GREAT PRICE, IN STOCK. THEY GET MY BUSINESS FOR NOW ON. I HATE WALMART,
I went in my local Wal-mart today. Not a 1080p set to be found nor a 1080i. Every set my local Wal-mart has is 720p. They only had 3 or 4 displays over $1k all plasmas. Everything else was sub $1K LCDs. 1080i outperforms the sets they sell now, seems like a good match.
I just went to a Wal-Mart near my house (after calling ahead to verify they had this player) and the thing rang up "SALE NOT ALLOWED." They told me they couldn't sell me one because "the computer won't let us. It probably means there's a recall on it." They then began pulling the giant stack of players off the shelf, presumably to stick them in the back where they couldn't hurt anyone. Of course they had a newer model…. for $100 more.
Bait and switch is one thing, but when they can get CNNMoney to give them free advertising for their bait and switch, I don't know whether to spit at their feet or take my hat off to them.
jf: That's quite an accusation to make, based on one clerk's presumptions and one store in Missouri.
Lol like half your opinions matter on BR being 1080p capable…
The truth is, most people don't want to spend $500 on a DVD player, $1500 on a TV, and then another $300 for all the cables and set up…
So, whichever one ends up being cheaper will be mass produced and mass adopted. And seriously, can really anyone besides a few tell the difference between BR and HD DVD when you have a movie playing or the sound quality difference (There's another $1000 for Bose Speakers I forgot to mention)…
So, like Mike from Philadelphia said (UPenn student maybe??) whichever one is cheaper will in the end win.
Both Blu Ray and HD DVD are simply discs with more memory meaning extra software and info can be put on them. Picture and sound quality are the same, unless the movie transfer to the disc is inferior. Don't let anyone tell you one is "better." The BR advantage of more disc space is a moot point since BR isn't even doing anything with it other than creating fake picture in picture comentary screens by putting two copies of the movie on the disc. HD is less expensive and is doing all the neat stuff that BR claims they do too. Plus I am sick of all of Sony's proprietary stuff, Beta, Mini-disc, Memory stick. Doesn't anyone realize this format battle is all a Sony grudge from lossing Beta royalties decades ago?
It's an outdated player people. It isn't up to par with the current players on the market as it does not play 1080p resolution.
Sounds like Walmart is trying to clearence out some useless junk to me.
HD DVD and BLU RAY are both carp. I really don't want to see lame hollywood movies period. Nor would I want to pay twice as much for them. All the best stuff is on regular DVD. SO WHAT if it isn't crystal clear. As long as its not the mental retardation inducing films coming from Hollywood, we're fine.
I think it is unusual that the in store price is cheaper than the online price. This seems to be the reverse of my experience shopping for other things like books, auto parts etc.
jf: I suspect the key thing is, Wal-Mart wants to get people into the store to pick up a few movies (and maybe a TV or two) while they're shopping ….
The HD A2 is listed for $274 on walmarts web site. Has anyone confirmed the price listed in the article?
jf: That price is in-store only.
I'll pay more rather than buy anything from Wal-mart. And, the Toshiba player is just another cheap piece of junk from China. I've had nothing but defective units from Toshiba, all made in China.
I really do not care which format wins. I am old enough to remember the Betamax-VHS tape wars Sony caused. We saw who came out on top there. Until they settle on one format I will sit back a watch. I have over 500 DVD's and Oppo makes a really good inexpensive DVD player with an upscaler to 1080p, I'll use it for now.
Sweet Wal-mart gets to sell a re-released version of an early second generation player that is coming up on a year old with out 1080P capability.
And to the person talking about Blu-ray's scratching, stop the FUD. Blu-ray anti-scratch hardcoat makes the disc far more durable than a DVD or HD DVD.
The article is correct, people will most likely choose to by some sort of HD player this Christmas, and the run of the mill family is going to buy whats cheaper – once. They are not going to buy an HD DVD player this year then go buy Blue Ray next year. Especially if the HD DVD looks just as good and sounds just as good to the average person. (Most people cant tell which one will sound better, nor do they have the proper equipment or set up to be able do judge clearly).
I'll stay with HD until one format wins if one does. Picture is great, sound is great and I don't care if one format has more capacity. If its got the capacity to show the movie in highest definition available and in true surround sound its great to me. As for capacity and extra features I could not care less. I want the movie not the extras
"disk themselves (Blu-ray) were not friendly for those of us with kids who like to play with them"
Huh? It's a well know fact that BD scratch easer the regular DVDs which is all an HD-DVD is (for the most part).
Combo players will win in the end. This isn't a tape drive, there is no reason both can't exist.
there is no problem with having a blog with a personal bias to promote your own opinion, its just sad that google news allows blogs to be returned results. However, the fact that Wal-mart sells PS3s somehow appears to be left out in the "price of blu-ray" players sold at walmart. That would be $399. The loss-leading price on the HD-DVD player is to get people to buy it (likely co-funded by the hd-dvd camp). As another user commented, you could already get one for that price for the xbox (raising it above the price of a PS3 when xbox live is included), and those have sold terribly. If the point is about sales that drive the media being purchased, its simple. Blu-ray is crushing HD-DVD even though it came out later, and Walmart will sell FAR FAR FAR more PS3s (which are blu-ray players) then any cheap HD-DVD player. Period.
The way I see it the battle bewteen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray comes down to price. If you want to be cheap you go HD-DVD and if you want quality you go Blu-Ray. I have had both. So I can give an apples to apples comparison. The hd-dvd's were not as crisp and sound quality was poor. Not to mention the disk themselves were not friendly for those of us with kids who like to play with them. Blu-ray; the picture is crisp sound quality excellent and my 2 year old cannot even hurt the thing.
The 360 ADD ON is not mentioned because you need a 360 (or other means) to use it so the total cost to watch a movie is NOT less than $200…
Beta-Max was a bigger format too, combo players only work if the studio's stay split but they won't if the population makes a decision and moves that way. The combo units are the 'stop gap' to get people to buy something, a low cost option (from either camp) will win over a better solution.
The biggest absent fact from this article is that the XBox 360 HD DVD Player has been at $200 or below from the get go. I have this player and can't imagine that the Toshiba is better, it is a great player for a great price!
Personally I don't think either format will win outright. With movie studios split down the middle and with both BD and HD-DVD hardware getting cheaper, combo player will start to takeover sometime next year. We had two dvd recording formats that stalemated and it looks like HD-DVD and BD will too.
i'm pretty sure you are all crazy. just because the PS3 is the highest selling blu-ray disc player does not mean that blu-ray is a sony product. i wish people would stop comparing blu-ray with betamax or any other proprietary sony prodcut. the blu-ray technology was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, with more than 180 member companies from all over the world. The Board of Directors currently consists of:
Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment
the hd dvd format was developed by Toshiba and NEC. i'm sorry who has the proprietary / dying technology? the format is being developed within the DVD forum which includes Hitachi, Ltd.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Electronic Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
Sony Corporation
Thomson
Time Warner Inc.
Toshiba Corporation
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
that's right. sony too. who's the real winner here? plain old dvd. as long as the war continues, studios and the like can continue to do low cost dvd's and sell a ton.