HD-DVD price drop confirmed by Toshiba

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Mar 2007 8:32 User comments (12)

Toshiba announced today that they would be lowering the price of their entry-level HD-DVD player down to $400 USD and that they would also be introducing a 1080p player with a $500 price tag.

The new "HD-A2" would become the latest entry-level player, and the "HD-A20" will be great for those on a budget but looking for a full 1080p resolution. The best of the best, the "HD-XA2", which includes 1080p, had its price cut to $800 earlier this month.

Along with the price drop the HD-DVD Promotional Group announced that there will be 70 more new HD-DVD movies made available through July. They include such hits as the Matrix Trilogy, Dreamgirls and The Bourne Identity.

Universal's HD-DVD chief had this to say: "The spring is ramping up well for HD DVD, with an incredible list of movies and the best priced hardware on the market".

Universal is the only of the major movie studios to completely back HD-DVD. Others like Paramount produce for both formats.

The Blu-Ray camp declared victory at CeBIT and the HD-DVD camp has conceded that they are losing in hardware sales simply because every PlayStation 3 has a Blu-Ray drive. The HD-DVD camp has also said that disc sales around the country are even with those of Blu-Ray discs.

Source:
BetaNews

<Xbox 360 Elite Officially Announced >GameStop accuses Nintendo of limiting Wii stock

12 user comments

128.3.2007 20:49

azndrake

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

dang i thought it was gonna be 299 :(((

228.3.2007 21:40

webe123

Inactive

Forget the PLAYERS, I want a HD DVD BURNER for my PC! At a cheap price.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 28 Mar 2007 @ 9:41

328.3.2007 21:42

rihgt682

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

Originally posted by webe123:
Forget the PLAYERS, I want a HD DVD BURNER for my PC! At a cheap price.

me to

429.3.2007 03:58

BobbyBlu

Inactive

Quote:
They include such hits as the Matrix Trilogy, Dreamgirls and The Bourne Identity.

Damm that is right Matrix is a Universal movie i want this on Blu-ray guess not now but Dreamgirls going to be on Blu-ray.

529.3.2007 10:26

toadie70

Send private message to this user

Newbie

The Matrix is a Warner Bros. movie and it is coming out on BR, it's just Warner's hasn't set a release date as of yet.

629.3.2007 21:08

hade

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

correct, matrix will come to Blu-ray but is releasing on HD-DVD first if im not mistaken.

for those interested here is a link where you can preorder the collection on HD-DVD at a discounted rate. (30% off)
amazon

730.3.2007 16:59

Jmark

Send private message to this user

Member

I assume that it takes probably about the same amount of technology to produce HD-DVD as plain DVD...so it will be common to see these at $50 or less in record time. The Chinese sense of immediacy will push the price lower than the rest of the world quickly--which is why they OWN and I mean COMPLETELY OWN the CD/DVD/HD-DVD/LCD markets today. I have a rule--I don't buy until it becomes low-priced or two years have passed. There is NO worse feeling than buying an $800 DVD player and then soon after perusing the $35 models that are BETER than yours...

830.3.2007 17:35

toadie70

Send private message to this user

Newbie

One thing that I have read is that The Matrix movies on HD-DVD will be flippers. Hopefully they won't be flippers on BluRay.

931.3.2007 04:39

error5

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

Originally posted by toadie70:
One thing that I have read is that The Matrix movies on HD-DVD will be flippers. Hopefully they won't be flippers on BluRay.

There will be 2 versions of the Matrix Trilogy to be released. One is the Ultimate Matrix Collection which will have have 5 discs which are "flippers." This set is for hardcore fans and contains 35 hours of supplemental material but you don't have to flip the disc to watch the whole movie. The other is the Complete Matrix Trilogy which is a 3-disc set of "NON-flippers" with just the films and minimal extras.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/matrix_umc.html
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/matrix_ct.html
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/pressrelease_matrixhddvd.html

Quote:
There is NO worse feeling than buying an $800 DVD player and then soon after perusing the $35 models that are BETER than yours...

There's just no way that the cheap Chinese players will be able to approach the performance and build quality of the $800 HD-XA2 considering that it has the industry-leading Silicon Optix Reon VX chip.

BTW, Value Electronics has the XA2 for $578 (as of today March 31, 2007).

http://www.fsiwebs.com/shopcart3/SC_Prod...oqXuKw2OTVIuNI-

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 31 Mar 2007 @ 5:28

1031.3.2007 21:01

Gnawnivek

Send private message to this user

Member

What the hell they mean by entry level HD DVD player? To me, a HD DVD player is HD DVD player, there shouldn't be a different hardware level (unless better design or more hardare options).

So this means the entry level player's picture quality is inferior to the $100 more model? Are they selling upscaled player or something?

111.4.2007 04:42

error5

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

I have the "entry-level" 1st generation Toshiba HD-A1 and believe me it's no slouch. It does what it supposed to do and very well at that.

The "entry level" tag here means less options and features than the higher end models but all the machines still play HD-DVD's very well. For example:

HD-A2
no 1080p - only 1080i (not an issue to most owners)
no 5.1 analog audio output

HD-XA2
1080p output thru HDMI
5.1 analog audio ouputs
has the Silicon Optix Reon VX chip which is one of the best video processing chips in the market today hence it's larger price tag.

The "entry level" models are there for those who don't want to spend that much but still would like to get the basic HD-DVD experience. The "higher end" models are for enthusiasts who are willing to spend more for quality and better features. In the end both play HD-DVD's very well.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 01 Apr 2007 @ 4:48

121.4.2007 20:03

Gnawnivek

Send private message to this user

Member

i see... thanks for the answer error5.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

	VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31) VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times. 1 user comment
	Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09) Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier. 8 user comments
	Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19) Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
	Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38) Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028. 5 user comments
	How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25) The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. .... 18 user comments

	What happens if you don't update Android? Sometimes it can be tempting to avoid updating to a new Android version. What happens if you decide to delay major updates to the OS?
	What IP rating for dust and water resistance means An IP classification (such as IP68) is given to mobile phones, Bluetooth speakers, and other devices, but what do these classifications mean? 1 user comment
	GUIDE: Wi-Fi speeds are slow? Here are some tips Having problems with Wi-Fi speed and stability at home? Here are some tips to follow to alleviate the issues. 1 user comment
	Guide: Is Your Wi-Fi Sluggish or Slow? Here's How to Fix Do you have problems with you Wi-Fi? Slow connection or is it cutting off constantly? This guide aims to remedy these problems. 1 user comment
	Guide: Phone battery drains quickly - how to fix (iPhone / Android) In this guide, we go through the most typical reasons for rapid battery drain with phones, and look at potential reasons or solutions.

HD-DVD price drop confirmed by Toshiba

12 user comments

Latest news

Reviews

Guides

News archive

Subscribe

Sections:

Follow us:

	Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
	Review: Samsung Jet Bot 90 AI+ - a high-end robot vacuum cleaner Samsung's Jet Bot 90 AI+ is a top-class robot vacuum cleaner that can avoid obstacles and empty its own dust container. Here we review the product. 1 user comment
	Samsung Jet Bot 80+ review - excellent robot vacuum cleaner We review Samsung's Jet Bot 80+ robot vacuum cleaner over a period of three months. 1 user comment