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Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player

Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray Player
Panasonic offer sub-$600 Blu-ray player, Toshiba offers $100 instant discount

The battle between the Blu-ray and HD DVD standard is showing no sign of letting up. Backers of both disc standards are looking to kick off the summer buying season with reduced pricing on their players.

Toshiba will offer a $100 instant rebate on its HD-A2 HD DVD player from May 20 to June 9. This will effectively reduce the price of Toshiba's entry-level player from $399 to $299.

In addition, Toshiba will also offer a "Father's Day" promotion from June 10 through June 16 which will provide a $100 instant discount on any Toshiba HD DVD player. This is in addition to the current promotion where customers can select five free HD DVD movies via a mail-in form for purchasing a Toshiba HD DVD player -- that promotion runs until July 31.

Panasonic, on the other hand, just recently announced its new DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player. The player features 7.1 channel audio, Dolby True HD, dts-HD, automatic 1080p up-conversion over an HDMI connection and Panasonic EZ-Sync technology for easy integration with Panasonic home theater systems.

According to engadgetHD, Panasonic is following Toshiba's lead and is including five Blu-ray movies with its player. Panasonic doesn’t give buyers a choice of which titles they receive, but the titles (Crash, Fantastic Four, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Transporter) are arguably far superior to those offered by Toshiba. Likewise, the movies are included right in the retail box – there is no need to mail off any forms. The suggested MSRP for the DMP-BD10A is $599.

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Wow....
By Noya on 5/17/07, Rating: 0
RE: Wow....
By Vanilla Thunder on 5/17/2007 10:29:12 AM , Rating: 1
Come off it. The Transporter was a trite piece of trash. The level of cheese in that movie is unbearable. Bahhh.

Vanilla


RE: Wow....
By bubbacub616 on 5/17/2007 12:08:44 PM , Rating: 3
bah, the transporter rocks

its silly but its fun (unlike f***ing spidey 3 which is silly and no fun)

hmmn have veered pretty off topic - oh well


RE: Wow....
By boobot on 5/17/2007 10:32:20 AM , Rating: 2
LOL, Transporter 2 was pure CHEESE! I was completely disappointed.

Now If I can get an HD DVD for $199 I would by it. Does anyone know of the current issues with the HD DVD out today? Slow startup, function issues etc...


RE: Wow....
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/17/2007 10:36:11 AM , Rating: 2
A quick search on new egg says startup time is between 30 and 90 seconds depending on who wrote what. Also seems that the A2 works funky on a few plasma displays. No problem for the LCD owners however. I own an LCD myself.


RE: Wow....
By FITCamaro on 5/17/2007 10:58:10 AM , Rating: 1
Just because you didn't like the two Pirates movies and The Fanatastic Four doesn't mean they're bad movies. I'm not a huge fan of Pirates but they were good movies. Fantastic Four was really good and cmon, Jessica Alba.


RE: Wow....
By OrSin on 5/17/07, Rating: -1
RE: Wow....
By slacker57 on 5/17/2007 12:50:43 PM , Rating: 2
If you want a Jessica Alba fix, there are plenty more tolerable ways to get it than F4. Sin City comes to mind first.

quote:
Panasonic doesn’t give buyers a choice of which titles they receive, but the titles (Crash, Fantastic Four, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Transporter) are arguably far superior to those offered by Toshiba.


This makes me interested in what is on offer from Toshiba, because arguably half of these titles from Panasonic are unwatchable, IMO. Is Toshiba offering "Leprechaun V: In Da Hood" or something?

And a sidenote, dude, you're watching the Disney channel and taking notes on the shapes of preteen girls? I think your city needs to update their pedophile registry...


RE: Wow....
By madoka on 5/18/2007 1:06:10 AM , Rating: 2
It's not exactly Leprechaun, but stuff you'd find in any DVD bargain bin like Tomb Raider, the Rundown, Four Brothers, the Perfect Storm, etc.


RE: Wow....
By Snuffalufagus on 5/17/2007 1:38:54 PM , Rating: 5
"I still dont get teh Jessica Alba thing. She is just skiny little girl."

In the words of Galahad: "I'll bet you're gay!"


RE: Wow....
By bubbacub616 on 5/17/2007 2:01:23 PM , Rating: 3
alba is extremely hot.

though not hot enough to make up for the stinking pile od horse manure that the Fantastic four movie was.


RE: Wow....
By IceTron on 5/17/07, Rating: -1
RE: Wow....
By jadedeath on 5/18/2007 12:37:31 AM , Rating: 2
chill out guy, you might like to touch yourself late at night to underage chicks {like she was in Idle Hands} but please keep that information to yourself.

Logan


By Marlin1975 on 5/17/2007 11:35:07 AM , Rating: 2
Why not buy on June 9th and then go back the next day and do a price match to the new price? Most places like circuit city, sears, etc... have a 30 day price guarantee.

That way you get the price drop and rebate. So a HD-DVD player for $199 + tax ?




By bubbacub616 on 5/17/2007 12:10:18 PM , Rating: 2
wish we had rebates in the uk.....


By phatboye on 5/17/2007 12:29:49 PM , Rating: 2
be careful of what you wish for because it might come true...

not all rebates are a good thing


By InsaneGain on 5/17/2007 1:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
I will never buy something with a rebate. I bought a Hawking Technolgy router with a $60 rebate and they never sent it. It's been over a year now. I called them a few months ago and they said they were backlogged. I read a stroy on MSN and rebate scams are rampant and Hawking was mentioned.


By timmiser on 5/17/2007 1:37:57 PM , Rating: 2
Whatever dude, I track all the mail in rebates and I average between 40-60 a year. In 4 years, (197 rebates) I have had 6 that I had to call on and all 6 were mailed out after I called.

Follow the instructions on the rebate and you likely won't have problems.


By kleinwl on 5/17/2007 7:06:18 PM , Rating: 2
Industry standard is a 50% lossage on rebates. Some of them are "breakage", ie the consumer didn't follow the instructions, the rest are due to the consumer not bothering to mail in the rebate at all.

That is why offering a rebate (with all the paperwork it entails) is quite a bit cheaper than just lowering the price of the product.

You, sir, are an exception... the kind of customer that no one really wants.


By BladeVenom on 5/17/2007 9:32:06 PM , Rating: 2
It seems every year my state's Attorney Generals office is taking companies to court for not honoring rebates. So you think they just aren't filling out the forms properly?


By timmiser on 5/19/2007 12:29:12 AM , Rating: 2
Yes. Based on the data I have personally collected, that is exactly what I think.


By slacker57 on 5/17/2007 12:42:36 PM , Rating: 3
The May 20-June 10 rebate (according to this article) is instant, not mail-in, so the price would be $300 on both days. You'll pay the same upfront, it's just that the wording ("discount" vs. "instant rebate") is just a little different.


One standard or Two?
By Supa on 5/17/2007 10:00:46 AM , Rating: 2
So which is better for consumer? One standard or two competing standards?

If console gaming market can sustain three incompatible formats, why not movie industry?

---




RE: One standard or Two?
By darkpaw on 5/17/2007 10:14:15 AM , Rating: 4
Competion between companies = good, competition between standards = bad. Even if they were all on the same standard, there would still be a lot of downward pressure on price just from the competing manufacterers. Standards are good for consumers, who generally do not know what exactly they are buying.

Video games are a bit different, because each system offers significantly different choices in style and game play. Each company has its own strong points and typical target markets. Movie players really offer one thing - movies and they both do it in generally the same way with minor differences.


RE: One standard or Two?
By phatboye on 5/17/2007 10:59:42 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Competion between companies = good, competition between standards = bad. Even if they were all on the same standard, there would still be a lot of downward pressure on price just from the competing manufacterers. Standards are good for consumers, who generally do not know what exactly they are buying.


Couldn't have said it better myself.

Even though the prices of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drives are comming down to a more affordable price I will stand behind my belief that no one should buy into either format until either hybrid players come along, one format quits or there is an agreement between the two formats to cooperate. The last thing I want is to pay $300 for a Hi-Def disk play only for it to become useless in a year or two.


RE: One standard or Two?
By doctor sam adams on 5/17/2007 10:29:38 AM , Rating: 3
Games are 5x as expensive as movie tickets... and they offer 5-500x as much entertainment time.


RE: One standard or Two?
By dagamer34 on 5/17/2007 12:59:28 PM , Rating: 2
The simple reason is that consoles are less likely to disappear after a year and don't have cut-throat competition.

And I wouldn't say the video game industry can withstand a 3-way trophy tussle. Usually 1 company emerges as the victory, the other 2 just hide that they are really fighting for scraps.


RE: One standard or Two?
By BladeVenom on 5/18/2007 12:32:44 AM , Rating: 2
Are you even sure the console market can support 3 formats? Sony and Microsoft are currently losing money in the gaming market. MS is suppose to start turning a profit later this year, but they've already lost billions. Sony's losing huge amounts of money on the PS3 with no end in site; lucky for them PS2 sales are still strong.


RE: One standard or Two?
By jadedeath on 5/18/2007 12:46:06 AM , Rating: 1
Dude, clean your head, you have ass on it.

Sony may be losing money on each PS3 sold, but that's it. They make money on each PS2, Game, Blu-Ray movie, and PS2 game sold {of which God of War 2 blew everyone else out of the water in March} Plus ontop of that the Blu-Ray laser is coming down in manufacturing costs, and IBM is making a cheaper Cell processor.

Probably by the end of 2008 PS3 will start to turn a profit if they don't make a price drop in it {or even if they do if they're smart about it}

But that's not what the conversation is about, the fact remains that Sony owns some of the movie studios that put out Blu-Ray movies most notably Casino Royale in which it was the first High Def movie to ship 100,000 copies and later on this year when Spider-Man 3 comes out they'll most likely ship a hell of alot more than that. Ignoring any Shrek 3 sales or Pirates 3.

Logan


Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/17/2007 10:02:02 AM , Rating: 3
$300 for an HD DVD Player. I just might get one now. 300 is not a bad price point, though lower would be slick.




RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By TheRequiem on 5/17/2007 10:05:16 AM , Rating: 2
It has been metioned that Blu-ray players will be sub $300 by Holiday season... atleast thats what the blu ray disc forum says. I will wait a generation or two longer when they are ALL a couple hundred dollars less and have better technology and compatibility, which is an issue int he first 2 generations.


RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/17/2007 10:34:01 AM , Rating: 2
My only problem with that is that I have seen nothing to indicate this. They can "say" all they want, but HD DVD is offering it now. It's kind of like CPU releases. AMD told me they were releasing and so far I haven't seen anything, where as Intel is consistently releasing new stuff that I can actually get my hands on. Right now, I can get a HD DVD Player for 1/2 of a stand alone Blu-Ray player. It is possible a Blu-Ray player will be ~300 by the holiday season, but maybe not. Until it happens, its all just speculation. I won't bet on something that can easily change in the next 6 months.


RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By redraider89 on 5/18/2007 3:59:12 AM , Rating: 2
The problem with your AMD comment is that you didn't read WHEN they are releasing. But plenty of stuff has been released; so not seeing "anything" is not true. You can get your grubby little hands all over a Athlon 64 of many many flavors right now. Have at it. Other than that, read the articles and you will see that the new Phenom processors aren't available now any more than the Core 2 Duo was available in March 2006. But you could get your hands all over a Pentium 4 (as well as an Athlon 64 of many flavors) then, right? But that was okay for Intel to announce the Core Duo in March 2006, but not make it available then, right?


RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By jadedeath on 5/18/2007 12:40:35 PM , Rating: 2
I'd like to see some good {current} movies released for HD-DVD, until I see that it's only speculation.

Logan


RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By AlexWade on 5/17/2007 11:23:45 AM , Rating: 2
It has also been rumored that $100 HD DVD players will be in Wal-Mart by Christmas.

Of course, both are just rumors and should be treated as such.


RE: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By DEredita on 5/17/2007 12:49:30 PM , Rating: 3
Actually, if you go on Amazon, a lot of retailers are currently selling the HD-A2 HD-DVD player for ~$300. So, expect to pay ~200 in a couple of days and get five free HD-DVDs.


Current price is under $280...
By DEredita on 5/17/2007 1:10:21 PM , Rating: 2
Some Amazon retailers are selling it for under $300 already, one for under $280. So, I am assuming that starting the 20th, we'll be able to get one for under $180, and 5 free HD-DVDs. Now, that is one killer deal. :)




By aos007 on 5/17/2007 1:27:43 PM , Rating: 2
No, it probably just means that retailers get information about rebates before general public so they already adjusted their prices.


Meh
By Chernobyl68 on 5/17/2007 5:42:34 PM , Rating: 2
show me a combo player at those prices and I'll get excited.




RE: Meh
By madoka on 5/18/2007 1:03:09 AM , Rating: 2
Have fun till 2011 then!


Funny
By SavagePotato on 5/17/2007 6:24:34 PM , Rating: 4
Know what would be funny, if Sony and Toshiba got so crazy into the price war they both went bankrupt up and neither format survived.




still waiting for a PC drive
By Gul Westfale on 5/17/2007 10:05:15 PM , Rating: 2
i won't upgrade to a new format until i can get an internal drive for my PC that reads both blu-ray and HD-DVD, and that costs around $150 or so.

i stopped watching TV almost 3 years ago and i can't say that i miss all the commercials and retarded "reality" shows, but i like games and movies so i bought a nice 20" LCD with HDCP recently. together with my sennheiser headphones that should make for a good HD experience i think, even though the resolution will be limited to 1680x1050.

hopefully by christmas prices will be more affordable.




By danskmacabre on 5/18/2007 2:22:31 AM , Rating: 2
I hear you on both fronts.
I bought a standalone DVD player about 4 years ago, when they became cheap.
There's no way I'm buying any Hidef players until there is a clear winner and the players are cheap AND I buy a decent Hidef TV.

As to Tv in general, I stopped watching broadcast TV (meaning I just watch DVDs and videos etc) several months ago (for the same reasons as yourself).


Re: Panasonic player
By wallijonn on 5/17/2007 4:27:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Panasonic... new DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player... player features 7.1 channel audio, Dolby True HD, dts-HD, automatic 1080p up-conversion

ibid.

"Up-conversion"? I want to see 1080p on the DVD box and I want it as a player native resolution. I already have an up-converting DVD player. No, I don't want to play a DVD that lists 480p on it.




I smell bias
By redraider89 on 5/18/2007 3:19:01 AM , Rating: 2
Let's list all the neato features of the Blue Ray player but none of the HD DVD player's features. Also, let's list all the five free movies available for the Blue Ray player, but not a single one of the movies available for the HD DVD player offer. So, let's say that the Blue Ray's offerings are "arguably superior", and you will just have to take our word for it because we don't want to list the HD DVD offerings lest you get to determine for yourself what is "arguably superior".




I smell bias Part 2
By redraider89 on 5/18/2007 3:36:31 AM , Rating: 2
Oh, also Panasonic offers a sub $600 player and they are the only one of the two that offers a sub $600 player. So, if you you want to get a HD DVD player, you HAVE TO shell out over $600, even though you actually can get a Toshiba HD DVD player for $499, $399, and $389, for example, currently at a popular online retailer. But, nope, you can't get an HD DVD player for under $600 because Panasonic and Blue Ray are the only players less than $600. The best you could hope for is to just get $100 off of a $600+ HD DVD player. Less than that is just not available...sorry...




HD-DVD vs BR war
By wallijonn on 5/22/2007 12:55:45 PM , Rating: 2
There is no war. This past week the newspaper ads had an HD-DVD for $299.99 and a BR-DVD for $799.99 before a $100 rebate.

If it is merely economics, there is no war and HD-DVD has won. BR-DVD will have to come down to $300 at the same time that HD-DVD is at $300. At this rate, by the time BR-DVD comes down to $300, HD-DVd will be at $49.99 at WalMart.




Just admit it....
By corduroygt on 5/23/2007 6:22:57 PM , Rating: 2
Bluray is going to win and you all know it...
(P.S. I don't have any sort of HD player in my home, I'll take a look when the library of titles is more than 10k...)




Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By psychobriggsy on 5/17/07, Rating: -1
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/17/2007 10:11:46 AM , Rating: 3
Something I like about the HD DVD Player spec is that they must include an RJ-45 connection for online firmware updates. No offense to Blu-Ray but being able to update firmware myself, from home, is a big plus. Only the PS3 (To my knowledge) has this feature and thats only because its a gaming console that doubles as a Blu-Ray Player.


By KentState on 5/17/2007 10:25:27 AM , Rating: 2
There are other ways to update the firmware of a player without a network connection. For awhile now, companies have offered updated through either a cd-r or dvd-r that can be created at home. It's a toss up as to which method is easier since consumers may or may not have a network connection readily available near the player.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By Legolias24 on 5/17/2007 11:41:22 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
Something I like about the HD DVD Player spec is that they must include an RJ-45 connection for online firmware updates


I don't know for a fact, but I could have sworn I saw an article on DT here stating that most BR players come with an RJ-45 connector. Like I said, I don't know for a fact but I think you will find that BR players and HD players are more or less equal on that footing.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By Legolias24 on 5/17/2007 11:43:10 AM , Rating: 1
errr...that should read as "...most BR players come with an RJ-45 connection"

That will teach me to proof read my posts before posting! :P


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/17/2007 11:51:38 AM , Rating: 2
Some do, some don't. It's a tossup. With HD DVD it's a mandatory requirement.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By creathir on 5/17/2007 10:13:03 AM , Rating: 1
Well, it appears the mail in rebate ends on June 9th, so you would be able to get the player for $299, still not a bad deal considering the 5 free movies.

- Creathir


By ChristopherO on 5/17/2007 1:44:06 PM , Rating: 2
Well, technically $199 with no tax and free shipping... Amazon.com regularly sells around $299 (it floats about around this price) and they are participating in this deal. You just need to make sure you add from Amazon because I don't know if their marketplace sellers are included (could be case-by-case).


By psychobriggsy on 5/17/2007 6:57:21 PM , Rating: 2
Ah, shame! :)
Thx for looking it up.


By Mitch101 on 5/17/2007 10:45:56 AM , Rating: 2
If they do an HD-DVD set top player for $200.00 then I will buy one.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By xbbdc on 5/17/2007 11:10:21 AM , Rating: 2
the price for the player is 299. the $100 discount ends june 9 and then on june 10 is the fathers day $100 discount so its still only $100 off... not $200, still totaling $299.

remember when dvd players came out they were in the price range of $150+ ? now you can get one for $20...

just wait and the prices will be the same for hd-dvd and blu-ray and whichever does it first will probably win the battle due to low price.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By nowayout99 on 5/17/2007 11:18:21 AM , Rating: 3
DVD players first came out at typically $500. This price war is heating up a lot faster. (Good for us.)


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By Belard on 5/17/2007 12:53:15 PM , Rating: 2
Er... DVD players were easily over $500 when they first came out in 1996.

I bought my first "low-cost" SONY DVD player when the price hit under $300 in early 2001. Higher end models were still $400~800. They had SOOO many more features than today models - but not the abilities (Such as play CD-Rs, much less DVD-R discs).

HD-DVD/BR are lowering the prices pretty fast...

Still - 250 titles per format is weak (I have about 500+ titles in my collection, a friend has about 1,200).

I'll most likely get a BR player when the war is over and the unit costs about $150... and I need a NEW much sharper version of Star Wars and Bladerunner.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By nowayout99 on 5/17/2007 1:45:12 PM , Rating: 2
Hence "typically". ;) I'm aware there were some more expensive models.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By deeznuts on 5/17/2007 2:48:41 PM , Rating: 2
Not even "typically". DVD players were well into the thousands when introduced. NO way there would be a $500 player at that time.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By Oregonian2 on 5/17/2007 4:42:15 PM , Rating: 2
My first CD player was $800 (came down after starting over $1K as I recall). It was a sony CDP-101 (there was only one other CD player available, Phillips I think it was).


By Tsuwamono on 5/17/2007 7:26:33 PM , Rating: 2
makes sense since Phillips invented the technology as i recall


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By cubby1223 on 5/17/2007 5:12:34 PM , Rating: 1
You got ripped off, my friend. ;)

Christmas 1998 I purchased a fully featured Pioneer dvd player for $250. It had everything, component output, optical & digital rca audio outputs, dts decoding - and quality where it still runs great today nine years later. *AND* this player played all cd-rs, and played up until the very outside edge of dvd-r & dvd+rs.

As for the small number of movie titles available, that too is directly related to the format war. Sure you have Universal putting out all their catalog titles, but Fox & Disney are holding off a lot of movies supposedly until the formats become more popular, which is not going to happen during a format war.

Consumers want to enjoy technology - not spend hundreds just to face uncertainty. Unless a player reaches under $100, I don't think either side will really take off while there's a format war. I just don't see this promotion making much an impact. It'll sell more players, but not nearly enough more to reach any finish to this pointless war.


By ArneBjarne on 5/17/2007 5:21:21 PM , Rating: 2
Except christmas 1998 is not exactly when "DVD players first came out" ;)


By ChristopherO on 5/17/2007 1:46:29 PM , Rating: 2
See my above reply to someone else. Yes, the guy's math is off, but Amazon has the normal A2 price around $299, no tax/shipping (and they are doing the rebate), so they'll be selling for $199. Provided you buy it from them and not one of the marketplace sellers.


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By walk2k on 5/17/2007 5:53:02 PM , Rating: 2
Um what? both formats use the same type of blue laser...

So, does anyone seriously think price is going to decide this war?

It's not. Content is. You can sell your cheap chinese crap HD-DVD players for $5 if you want but I don't see Joe Sixpack buying one for the family when they can't play i.e. Disney or Fox or Lucasfilm movies (etc..etc..etc..etc..etc.etc.etc.......)


RE: Mass Market Pricepoints Approaching Fast
By BladeVenom on 5/17/2007 9:17:14 PM , Rating: 2
Those companies wouldn't put their movies on DVD either when the format was new. Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount Pictures were behind DIVX. Once DVD started to become popular, they quickly switched.


By walk2k on 5/17/2007 11:49:16 PM , Rating: 2
Sure, any of these studios might change their mind...

But the situation with DIVX was entirely different. DIVX failed because consumers balked at the whole pay-per-view idea.


By mcnabney on 5/18/2007 12:27:07 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
but the blue laser costs are still holding back BluRay


Ahm, you do know that HD-DVD also uses a blue laser, right?


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