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Toshiba HD DVD players at least $100 cheaper next month

Toshiba continues to be the main pusher of HD DVD hardware, and plans to maintain the format’s position of being more affordable than Blu-ray. On April 1, Toshiba will reduce the price of both of its second generation HD DVD players by at least $100, reports High-Def Digest.

As of next month, the Toshiba HD-A2 will be $399 and the higher-end HD-A20 will be $499. The top-of-the-line HD-XA2 will be $799, a $200 savings over the previous price.

Last month, Sony announced its own more affordable entry into Blu-ray movies. Coming this summer will be the Sony BDP-S300 at $599, which looks to be the successor to the current BDP-S1 at $999. Of course, the absolute cheapest way to play Blu-ray remains the 20GB PlayStation 3 at $499, if you can find one.

While high-definition players are becoming more affordable, the next-generation format war is still as confusing as ever for the consumer. The latest count has Blu-ray slightly edging HD DVD in terms of overall movie sales, though the recent numbers may be skewed in due to the greater number of new releases in 2007 for Blu-ray.

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Eh
By BMFPitt on 3/23/2007 5:42:48 PM , Rating: 2
At least now it's competitive with the XBox drive (if you wouldn't otherwise want the XBox anyway) but still not gonna get much penetration until the sub $200 players start to pop up.




RE: Eh
By gramboh on 3/23/2007 5:55:11 PM , Rating: 2
Does the Xbox360 HD-DVD drive work properly in Windows with a software player? I am waiting for a Dell 2407WFP display to arrive, and I wouldn't mind checking out some HD-DVD titles on it.

How is audio handled? Can you pass through DTS/DD from your sound card if you have a digital connection?


RE: Eh
By jkresh on 3/23/2007 6:14:42 PM , Rating: 2
the xbox drive works natively in vista and there is an update for xp that lets it work. Not sure about passing through dts/dd but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Just make sure your graphics card has hdcp or you will have to connect the 2407 through vga to get it to run (the hd software players check for hdcp on all digital connections and wont play without it).


RE: Eh
By BladeVenom on 3/24/2007 8:12:20 AM , Rating: 2
AnyDVD HD should get you past that problem.


RE: Eh
By sotti on 3/24/2007 3:51:45 AM , Rating: 2
It works in windows (vista native, xp with driver).

DD and DTS audio get passed through just fine.

The lossless audio can be passed with analog or HDMI.


RE: Eh
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 5:38:30 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Does the Xbox360 HD-DVD drive work properly in Windows with a software player? I am waiting for a Dell 2407WFP display to arrive, and I wouldn't mind checking out some HD-DVD titles on it.


According to the folks at http://www.doom9.org it does

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=121440

In fact, some are already ripping HD-DVD's. The guys over at Doom9 are fairly friendly and will generally answer all your questions


RE: Eh
By terminator1 on 3/24/2007 12:36:42 PM , Rating: 2
Well guys to be honest its not about how many players of either type that are sold or on the market. But how much content is available. Look both Best Buy and Curcuit City both only have around 200 movie titles available at the present time in either Hd-Dvd or Blu-Ray on their websites. Compared to over 60,000 titles for standard dvds. All the Hi-def players that are out there are at the mercy of how much software/movies titles you can use with them. In other words its still way to early for me to jump into this format. This should be a race to see which format has more titles/movies with it instead of players. Cheers :)


RE: Eh
By docinct on 3/25/2007 2:26:48 PM , Rating: 2
BestBuy and Circuit City are not helping things along. Regular DVDs get splashy displays while HD and BR get spine out shelf space.
I find it instructive that current HD/BR pricing is in the low $20 range, a price point held by DVDs not too long ago.
Nothing will really take off until the studios start producing many more titles.
BUT
Nothing conventional comes close to HD/BR quality (witness the Forbidden Planet in HD).


RE: Eh
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 1:49:02 AM , Rating: 2
Even though I'm in no way interested in any gamming console I did buy the Xbox360 external HD DVD drive to watch Hi-Def movies on my PC


RE: Eh
By docinct on 3/25/2007 2:32:40 PM , Rating: 2
Thought someone posted here but...
If you are hesitating, keep in mind, the HD-A2 does a great job up upscaling conventional DVDs.
(Now if they would just replace the crummy remote with something readable)

PS
Now that I finally bought one (Amazon had the best price) they drop the list. Naturally.


Who cares?
By alifbaa on 3/23/2007 5:31:23 PM , Rating: 2
Until there is a true dual format player that allows managed copying and includes DVD audio and SACD for less than $400, I'll just keep waiting.




RE: Who cares?
By hmurchison on 3/23/2007 5:47:20 PM , Rating: 2
A Universal player that does HD DVD/Blu-ray/SACD/DVD-Audio/Divx

and you've sold me.


RE: Who cares?
By semo on 3/23/2007 6:27:02 PM , Rating: 3
add ogm and mkv support and i'm in too.

damn, that pig nearly flew through my window.


RE: Who cares?
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 8:04:09 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
A Universal player that does HD DVD/Blu-ray/SACD/DVD-Audio/Divx

LG's BH100 HD DVD / Blu-ray player officially hits stores
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/05/lgs-bh100-hd-dv...


RE: Who cares?
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 1:42:18 AM , Rating: 2
Why? Despite Sony's Blue Ray spin it doesn't appear to be going anywhere fast.


Blu-Ray Releases
By deeznuts on 3/23/2007 5:33:56 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The latest count has Blu-ray slightly edging HD DVD in terms of overall movie sales, though the recent numbers may be skewed in due to the greater number of new releases in 2007 for Blu-ray.


That's the point, with only one studio exclusively for HD DVD, and all others working with Blu-Ray, and I think 3 exclusively with BD, don't expect the releases to skew in favor or HD DVD.




RE: Blu-Ray Releases
By hmurchison on 3/23/2007 5:49:31 PM , Rating: 2
Universal is the lone Major studio but you have exclusive smaller studios on both sides like Weinstein and others.


RE: Blu-Ray Releases
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 7:53:37 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Universal is the lone Major studio but you have exclusive smaller studios on both sides like Weinstein and others.

What the Blu-ray spinmasters might not like too much is that Warner's Total HD disc only offers a single layer for Blu-ray - so those THD discs will undo Blu-ray's supposed size advantage. If other studios supporting both formats also go for THD, would that end the size discussion once and for all?

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/03/16/more-totalhd-...


RE: Blu-Ray Releases
By AlexWade on 3/23/2007 11:03:59 PM , Rating: 2
Which is why HD DVD is down, but certainly not out. Sub $200 players by Christmas and a big advertising blitz will quickly put HD DVD back in the lead. No advertising may allow HD DVD to survive with sub $200 players only. Anything less and HD DVD is dead.

Also, Blu-Ray's figures are slightly skewed up because of vouchers.

This holiday will certainly be interesting to watch. I hope Blu-Ray loses, of course, because Sony is championing it and Sony treats consumers like dirt. Nobody should be allowed to treat consumers the way Sony does.


RE: Blu-Ray Releases
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 1:46:26 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
That's the point, with only one studio exclusively for HD DVD, and all others working with Blu-Ray, and I think 3 exclusively with BD, don't expect the releases to skew in favor or HD DVD.

The reason for the disparity is that new owners of PlayStation 3 games console are simply redeeming free Blu-ray movie vouchers given to them by Sony that they have to exchange at retail stores - this is distorting genuine sales figures.

http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/high-defi...


I had to finally give in to this format war...
By cubby1223 on 3/24/2007 2:44:46 AM , Rating: 2
I had to throw my hat in with blu-ray.

I don't see these price cuts making much of a difference, probably the best it can do is delay the inevitable. We're not talking like the $30 Wal-Mart dvd player that finally brought dvds to the mainstream. Anyone wanting hi def players first had to have gotten over the hurdle of an hdtv. I spent $4k on my hdtv. So when it comes to which to choose, price of the player is the least of my concerns.

And by the time Christmas rolls around, more PS3s will be sold, blu-ray production likely will be greater & cheaper, and probably have 50gb discs by then. So where's the advantage for hd-dvd? I just don't see the market going against Sony for this one instance.

If Toshiba did this a year ago when first introduced, have the players at $300 & $600 instead of, what were they, $500 & $1k? That would have made a difference because more people would have taken the gamble with hd-dvd.

Anyways, just need Universal to support both, as they really don't have any reason to dump half the dvd market (they have no "stake" in which format wins, they sell their product either way). It's almost funny (well, more like very sad), I bought & watched House of Flying Daggers earlier this evening, put out by Sony, so no chance for hd dvd release. But I wish I could have also picked up Fearless (haven't seen it yet either) - that's a Universal release, so no blu-ray. Sucks either way.




RE: I had to finally give in to this format war...
By mtiffer on 3/24/2007 3:37:31 AM , Rating: 2
Well I would disagree with you for a few reasons. Most consumers are actually very price conscious (why do you think walmart has created the empire that they have now). Droping the price, even by $100 makes a substantial difference (simple economics backs that thoery up). Plus. if you compare the price of a blu-ray player and a HD-DVD player, that makes the HD-DVD have an edge. But, the most important thing that must be kept in mind is people hate change, consumers balk at change. This technology is far too new for the blu-ray camp to start counting thier chips. Consumers have massive DVD collections, and most aren't about to throw away the DVD's to jump onto Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Heres where the HD-DVD player has the advantage, backwards compatibility. Betamax taught us, better technology doesn't mean you will win over consumers (also I'm not sure if you have been to your Best Buy, but there are piles of unsold PS3's sitting there and no wii's in sight).


By cubby1223 on 3/24/2007 4:59:33 AM , Rating: 2
Wow, you totally missed the memo that blu-ray players also play dvds... And considering this shoots your near entire argument to bits...


By cubby1223 on 3/24/2007 5:33:00 AM , Rating: 3
Your argument is filled with many holes, I'll put it quite simply.

Yes, people are very much price conscious.

Whether you buy into hd-dvd or blu-ray, it's a gamble. Of the options out there, the PS3 is the safest gamble. If blu-ray wins, that hd-dvd player is history with little to no resale value. If hd-dvd wins, the PS3 is still a very powerful gaming console with adequate to good resale value.

Which basically boils down to those who want a PS3 gaming console will buy into it and "join the blu-ray camp", while most everyone else will continue to wait until a single solution arrives (meaning advantage blu-ray).

The setup in this format war is entirely different from the betamax or mini-disc sagas.

If the PS3 did not inlcude a blu-ray drive, without any doubt victory for hd-dvd. If Microsoft included an hd-dvd drive standard in all xbox360s from the beginning, victory hd-dvd. If the Playstation 2 was a flop of a gaming console, then victory hd-dvd.

Things just all fell into place for Sony, and my gut instincts says blu-ray is here to stay.


April 1st huh
By cochy on 3/23/2007 5:31:25 PM , Rating: 3
You sure this isn't an April Fool's day joke? Anything to do with that date seems dubious to me.




RE: April 1st huh
By hmurchison on 3/23/2007 5:48:10 PM , Rating: 2
Even some trade magazines like TWICE are reporting this.

Here's hoping we see some $299 players very soon on the street.


RE: April 1st huh
By abhaxus on 3/23/2007 9:47:36 PM , Rating: 2
many places are already selling the players at those prices. I work for a regional electronics retailer and we've had the xa2 at 799 and a2 at 399 for at least a month. There is a lot more markup on these players than the old ones.


Stand alone
By gramboh on 3/23/2007 5:53:33 PM , Rating: 2
Once I can get a decent stand-alone HD-DVD player for $299CDN I might go for it. I won't buy Blu-ray unless it becomes market dominant for at least a year or two and I have to give in.




RE: Stand alone
By FITCamaro on 3/23/2007 6:09:00 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt any stand-alone HD-DVD player will cost $30USD any time soon. :)

Just kidding.


RE: Stand alone
By ddawg on 3/24/2007 2:10:16 AM , Rating: 1
Microsoft HD DVD Drive Xbox 360
US $199.82
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_...

Using an Xbox 360 HD-DVD Drive on a PC
http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/featu...

download the 2.5MB Toshiba driver
http://rapidshare.com/files/3149367/XBOX360-1.HD-D...


RE: Stand alone
By deeznuts on 3/24/2007 9:22:25 PM , Rating: 2
You must have missed the part where he said standalone.


i won't buy until...
By ncage on 3/23/2007 10:48:40 PM , Rating: 2
We have a consensus on what is going to happen to with high def dvds. Is one format going to loose and be obsoleted? Are both formats here for the long haul like DVD+R/-R? Even if i could get one for $200-$250 i probably won't make the move until the fighting between sony & toshiba is over and the dust settles.

Ncage




RE: i won't buy until...
By deeznuts on 3/24/2007 9:29:50 PM , Rating: 2
i don't find the parrallels to +R and -R valid. +r and -r are recording formats, whereby you choose one and go with it, you can record anything you want, dvds, your own movies, data, etc.

This is different, you choose one and you won't be able to view other formats at all. I.e., you go blu-ray and you can't see universal movies ever (until they switch). you go HD DVD, and you can't watch the 3 studios that are exclusively Blu-Ray. I forget which ones they are but, Sony and a couple of othres.


By timmiser on 3/24/2007 2:28:06 AM , Rating: 2
I was courious so I just went to buy.com and yeah, they have both 20gb and 60gb at MSRP in stock.




By ddawg on 3/24/2007 5:29:44 AM , Rating: 2
The only shortages of the PS3 appear to be the ones Sony PR Deparment's weekly "spin" releases hoping, wishing, praying the "sheeple" buy into their propaganda.

Sony's European debut was apparently less than Sony had been praying for:

Was PS3's European Debut a Dud?
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/8OGbTecqrEhZ7X...
Though Sony categorized the PlayStation 3's European launch as a success, many reports from the continent indicate slow sales. Was it the price? Was it game availability? Is PS3 simply a late bloomer that will take off when Wii and Xbox 360 start to grow old? Whatever it was, Microsoft appeared to be having plenty of fun at their competitor's expense.


if you can find one?
By Comdrpopnfresh on 3/23/2007 6:13:32 PM , Rating: 1
Best Buy is lowering the axe on that model and the units are not selling- not finding one would not be because of popularity...




RE: if you can find one?
By semo on 3/23/2007 6:35:48 PM , Rating: 1
people don't want to buy them and sony don't want to sell them!

well, at least sony says that ppl don't want to buy them.


In notebooks also.
By crystal clear on 3/25/2007 4:37:19 AM , Rating: 2
Toshiba will begin adding HD DVD drives to its mainstream laptop line-up, the Satellite series, in Q3.

ALSO-
Price cuts are always welcome,but Toshiba should push harder
in another area - namely HDTV.

Sell both the TV & HD DVD drives at additional discounts.
There no point selling HD dvd drives ,when people are yet
on transition to HDTV.

Without a compatible DISPLAY -its not worth it.
This applies also to Blue Ray/Sony-without A COMPATIBLE
DISPLAY-its a waste of money & time.




An important consideration
By CorrND on 3/25/2007 2:29:02 PM , Rating: 2
The Toshiba player currently has an MSRP of $499 but sells closer to $400 online. Dropping the MSRP to $399 should bring the online price close to $300.

That puts quite a bit of distance between its cost and the cost of a PS3. People who figured they'd just pony up a little more to get the functionality of the PS3 in addition to HD movies now have a much larger difference to consider. That may make the Toshiba HD-DVD player a whole lot more compelling.




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