$99 HD-DVD Player Coming Soon? 257
Frank writes "Rumors of the high definition holy grail persist. The latest is that Toshiba will be offering their basic HD-A2 player at $99 for one week only, beginning July 22. An added bonus is three free HD-DVD's."
Thats nothing.... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Thats nothing.... (Score:5, Funny)
Universal movies are on HD DVD, not BD (Score:3, Funny)
Nice loss-leader... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Nice loss-leader... (Score:5, Informative)
Is it just me? Is it the Chicago area and we just refuse to buy into it? Ive read countless articles on which one is better, which will win, and that the Blu-ray has already won. And I still haven't seen one outside a store yet.
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I think that doesn't prove anything other than Anecdotal evidence. For a "new product" and in a certain price range, a product can be a big hit... but still be on a small scale.
I drive around a Mercedes Benz Sprinter (or whatever brand you want to associate with it), and they have b
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Hardware is just about the same, except for some different (similarly cheaply mass-produced) components.
When they quote "oh, it costs us such and such to make these things, therefore we're selling them for such and such..." it's all bull shit. It doesn't cost them any more than it is to make regular DVD players.
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Note that the AppleTV, with a ULV 1GHz Pentium M, needs a Geforce 7300 chip in it to play 720p video. If Apple could run this thing with Intel integrated graphics, they would, to reduce heat and save money. However, to do HD video with GMA950, you'd need to move up to "budget laptop" specs, probably at least a modern 1.5GHz single-core processor. To play
Free as in no one will pay to haul these away? (Score:5, Funny)
Pink Flamingos, Alone in the Dark, and The Star Wars Holiday Special.
The Star Wars Holiday Special (Score:2)
And it would be even more popular among the disillusioned George Lucas haters.
I wouldn't buy it (Score:5, Informative)
For those of you who don't like to click links:
The HD-A2 is the least capable of the current crop of HD-DVD players available from Toshiba. Both of the other two models, the HD-A20 (Buy now) and the HD-XA2 (Buy now), support 1080p video. In fact the HD-A20 is nearly identical to the HD-A2, it just adds 1080p for an extra $100 more on the MSRP. So the odds that a firmware upgrade will ever be available for the HD-A2 to allow 1080p are pretty slim. How would you explain that to someone who bought an HD-A20? The HD-XA2 also comes with HDMI 1.3, better video processing, and gold plated input jacks. But the HD-A2 is the one that's getting all the hot sale prices, so it appears to be the most popular right now. But if you shop around, you might find a great deal on the HD-A20. For example, right now it's only about $25 more than the HD-A2 at the HT Guys store (as of 6/22).
Dammit (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I wouldn't buy it (Score:4, Insightful)
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It's like buying a walking stick without a rubber plug thing on the end. Why spend $70 for a regular walking stick without a plug thing when you can spend an extra $5 and get one with one on it, on the end there. So that's $75 with a plug as opposed to $70 for one without one. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Spend the extra $100 and think of the future you. You'll thank yourself down the road.
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I have a 720p projector, and I'm very unlikely to get a 1080 one for at least 5 years. It'd be nice to get a player that did 720p. For $99, who the hell cares if I throw it away in 3 or 4 years?
I actually probably wouldn't even spend $400 versus $300 for 1080. It was a big step for me and a lot of money for me to get the 720p projector, and it really is going to be quite a while before I upgrade it. I'd
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Honestly, a regular def DVD looks pretty decent on a good quality 42" 720p display. HDDVD would probably look good on something much larger or very close in detail (like when you pause to want to read a name on a movie character's shirt).
Why would you WANT to watch HDDVD on 720p display? You really aren't getting much more than the much cheaper to rent or buy DVD disc. It isn't just the cost of the player, the cost of the movies!
And no, it probably
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Resolution aside, you still get two things that a DVD player won't do: progressive scan, and widescreen. To be honest, the biggest visual difference *I* see between SD and HD is getting rid of interlaced video. NTSC resolution is actually pretty good at the distances you usually watch TV. But with the flicker that interlacing causes, NTSC is crap. SD -> ED is a much bigger jump in quality than ED -> HD. So, for me the difference between 720p and 1080p is a drop in the bucket.
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It is for most films on DVD, though not for NTSC TV.
The process is called IVTC [wikipedia.org], and it reconstructs the original progressive frames, if the source was progressive before being put on DVD.
It doesn't work for NTSC TV, where the source is interlaced and was put on DVD interlaced. For that you need smart de-interlacing that is likely to cause blurriness due to combining two slightly different interlaced fields into a frame.
(I do IVTC every time
Re:I wouldn't buy it (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:I wouldn't buy it (Score:5, Interesting)
1080p is good for displaying 1080 content that is higher than 30 frames per second - such as video games. Basically with 1080i you're limited to 30 frames per second at 1080 vs 60 frames for 1080p. Playstation has 1080p because it's a game machine and 1080p provides potential for higher framerates at 1080 for gaming which is advantageous. But for movies? the difference betweek i and p is meaningless.
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3:2 pulldown reversal has never been, and never will be perfect. You will have artifacts from the unnecessary two conversion steps.
You're omitting the fact that deinterlacing is a difficult and inexact process that horribl
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Re:I wouldn't buy it (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, 1080p/24 is interesting. The HD-A20 and XA2 are going to be getting firmware updates to allow 1080p/24 output. The HD-A2 will not get this update. That is cool, if you have a 1080p/24 device you can watch HD film as it should be. But, how many people have a 1080p/24 display device? How many are even out there? Very few.
Cheers.
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Cheers.
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That would be true if your TV has perfect 3:2 pulldown reversal... which doesn't exist.
Feeding hard telecined 24fps material guarantees artifacts.
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For others, more info about 3:2 pull down (Telecline) can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine#3:2_pulldow
Cheers.
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Cheers.
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One week my ass :) (Score:2)
wow (Score:2, Interesting)
This is why Toshiba's having trouble getting other hardware manufacturers on board, with them selling at such a loss. Sure HD-DVD is supposed to be cheaper than blu-ray for disc pressing, but the players have pretty much the same specs, it can't be that much cheaper for Toshiba to build them.
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Exactly HD-DVD & Blu-Ray share the same blue laser diode, similar hardware specs, and a similar software stack. If HD-DVD players are selling for less than Blu-Ray it is because Toshiba is heavily subsidizing them
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Re:wow (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, and the R&D probably cost 'em $50, a couple pizzas, a case of beer, and a long weekend.
R&D doesn't have marginal cost.
The whole idea of selling at a loss is gaining traction in order to sell big volumes.
Nintendo could sell the Wii at $1000 to pay for R&D, but probably they pay for it sooner selling tons of units at a cheaper price, because R&D doesn't have marginal cost!
R&D is a sunk cost. It doesn't affect unit price. They price stuff based on marginal cost, and marketing.
It's the total earnings that count.
Even selling at a loss is good for paying R&D costs, because you
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What I've noticed recently was that when marketshare numbers where put out on HD players, they would note later on that the PS3 shipments were excluded and that, IMO, shows that HD-DVD is losing.
If you buy a Bluray player, there's a damned good chance that you bought it to play Bluray discs. If you buy an HD-DVD player, there's a damned good chance that you bought it to play HD-DVDs. But according to one report, 70% of console owners don't realize that their game systems play DVD discs[1] [theglobeandmail.com]. It seems like including every PS3 purchase (many of which were returned due to problems/lack of games) as a Bluray player sale artificially inflates the success of Bluray. Excluding the
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Also, you don't have to be confrontational to get your point across. "I suppose you could substitute your own reality?" That was unnecessary to a good argument. I'll be ignoring further posts by you.
Good day to you, sir.
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Either your TV doesn't need to scale the image (because its a 480i CRT) or it MUST be scaled to the native res (because its an LCD). An unscaled image on an LCD would have black bars around the outside and it would be the wrong pixel ratio.
Since scaling must occur somewhere, it either happens in the TV or the DVD player. The only way an upscaling DVD player can be "better" than just plugging 480i from your DVD player to your TV is if the TV's built in hard
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Second, one of the benefits of an upscaling DVD player is that it produces a signal which is, natively, one of the common HD resolutions. No TV that I've seen takes the digital data on the disc and rescales it to the appropriate resolution--rather, they take the signal and scale it. This can lead to distortion and/or unnecessary bits of the picture being cut off.
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While tempting, I still don't want to get caught with a device only supported by such a limited market. Not to mention such a lowend device/player.
Thats what i was thinking at first, too, but for $100 for the player, and another couple bucks a month on my netflix, i can have an essentially throw-away player if HD-DVD loses, and not really need to own any movies I'd get stuck with. Its actually kindof a tempting deal if you're willing to just count the $100 as a loss from the get-go.
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s/maybe $100/twice as much/ (at current market prices)
s/maybe $100/$400 more/ (if the deal mentioned in the link is available)
And with the PS3 you're getting a player that doesn't auto-play when you swap discs (unless you power the player off), doesn't have a remote control, is incompatible with standard universal remotes, and draws a whopping 170W (even playing
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I've got no use whatsoever for a game console, and a PS3 is going to look like crap in my media equipment stack.
To show attendees by the sounds of it (Score:4, Interesting)
$50 (Score:4, Funny)
Re:$50 (Score:4, Informative)
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I generally wouldn't go completely bottom barrel, since construction quality on generics can be spotty, but buy
Just a marketing SCAM! (Score:4, Informative)
Questex Media Group provides certain customer contact data (such as customers' names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who with to promote relevant products, services, and other opportunities which may be of interest to you...
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Cool -when can I get a $99 HD-DVD WRITER? (Score:2, Insightful)
Big harry deal! (Score:3)
Now, next time I walk into Mall Wart and see a (name brand) HD-DVD or Blu-ray player for $148.97, then THAT will be a big deal.
Is there any confirmation on this? (Score:3, Insightful)
Umm.. I just got several emails promising to enlarge body parts, improve bodily functions, and sell me prescription drugs at unreal prices. An the fax I got the other day lets me in on an offere to go to Disney World for $69. So what?
So a slashdot article now has come down to some dude posting the cool spam they got?
great deal... (Score:5, Funny)
What, and then we give it back after the weekend?
Optic storage is losing the format war (Score:4, Interesting)
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Where will I store my eyeglasses and magnifiers in the future?!?
Crack it. (Score:2)
Or if it happens to both at once, the winner will be whichever has the best price/storage deal. (If it happens to both at once, I'm rooting for Blu-Ray, but that's only because I like the idea of using a real programming language (Java) instead of some hacked-together "menu" system.)
Until it'
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Until either format can do that, count me out.
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Last I checked, the crack doesn't work on Linux yet. I could be wrong, there might be a way which involves downloading a key from somewhere, but the only crack I've seen which is entirely self-contained on a PC involved playing the disc in PowerDVD.
But you're retarded if you think there's a "legit" way to play it on Linux. Open source, by its very nature, means
Annoying intros,trailers (Score:5, Interesting)
If i buy it I should be able to CONTROL MY DAMN MACHINE.
Sue the manufacturers?
Won't buy till... (Score:3, Insightful)
1.15 pin VGA connector
2.DVI connector
3.component RCA connectors
4.composite connector
5.RF 'F' connector
I recently looked at several HD-DVD machines, all of them have HDMI and component connectors, NO VGA, no DVI. Uh excuse me, that's NOT good enough. If Toshiba, Sony and others expect me to jump on the HD wagon they're just going to have to offer these connections at FULL RESOLUTION. I am not about to go out and buy another TV just for the HDMI connector. I don't care about the MPAA, I don't pirate their fucking shit anyway. I just want to be able to watch HD on ANY monitor I choose, period.
Re:Won't buy till... (Score:5, Informative)
Component can only do 1080p over short distances without the addition of expensive repeater boxes or expensive cables.
VGA is the same.
An F connector could, if you got people to change to expensive high grade coax and got all the TV manufacturers to put GOOD ATSC tuners in their sets.
DVI is dead as a consumer A/V interface. It's still great for computers, but it offers no A/V connection capability. People don't like dealing with a mountain of cables. Yes, the change to HDMI was industry driven, but it was also consumer driven. It was generally good thing, despite the inferior connector that HDMI came with.
If you're really intent on complaining about the HDMI/DVI issue, spend $20 over at Parts Express and get a DVI to HDMI adapter cable [partsexpress.com]. I use two, they work just fine.
Honestly, your bitching and whining post struck me like someone asking their computer to support dual layer DVDs and magtape at the same time. It's just lame and uneducated.
I'm not going to get into the DRM argument, but suffice it to say that for the short term, if you want 1080p, you need a digital connection. That means DVI or HDMI. You don't get any other choices. Put up or shut up.
Why 1 week only? (Score:3)
Do I Care? (Score:2)
Format wars and the uninformed (Score:2)
The sad thing is that although there's increasing support for BluRay from the content providers, there is still not a compelling reason or a k
Here, your first hit of crack is free (Score:2)
That's all it's about folks.
Still not worth the price (Score:2)
That's 1/3rd the price of that unit @ Wal*Mart (Score:2)
Please let the cheapest format win (Score:2)
Yeehaw ! (Score:2)
Re:That's it, Blu-ray is toast (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:That's it, Blu-ray is toast (dont be naive!) (Score:2)
Companies just do not give things away at cost for no reason, my guess is that this would be ploy to try and gain back market and advertising space.
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Actually there are NO HD-DVD burners yet (Score:3, Interesting)
HD-DVD burners don't work because the layer widths were designed for red light lasers. The duplication process is more like stamping than burning which is why they can get away using the old DVD duplication equipment with some minor retrofitting. Bl
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Personally, I like having less infringement on my freedom (weaker copy protection, no region coding) and better video quality (initial BR discs were shitty MPEG2 rather than modern MPEG4, 3x the space use yet crappier video?), and avoiding Sony garbage is just a fringe benefit.
Plus, _The Big Lebowski_, _Heroes_, _Dune_ and _Serenity_ are exclusive. As will be _Scarface_ and the rest of the NBC Universal range.
You can keep _Star Wars_ and Disney stuff thanks.
Then again, if I can find a BR pl
Re:$99 Betamax Player? (Score:4, Funny)
http://www.amazon.com/Is-Serenity-on-Blu-Ray/foru
"No, Universal is still in the HD DVD-only camp. Annoyingly, Fox is in the Blu-ray camp so if Firefly ever comes out in high-def, it will be a different format from Serenity."
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Nice one.
But Blu-ray's prime advantage is in studio support.
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The tyranny??? Toshiba is no better or worse than Sony. The Japanese electronics industry is so incestuous that these two can be fighting about one thing (the HD format) and cooperating on another (making Cell processors). People who think Toshiba are some sort of rebel alliance are simply out of their tree. It's a lousy format war FFS. If you want to side with HD-DVD fine, but do so for the merits of the
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The "early adopters" went HD in 2001. HD is mass-market in 2007: ilo 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV w/ Built-in Digital ATSC/NTSC Tuner [walmart.com] $500
Resolution 1366 x 768
HDMI, S-Video, Component Video, DVI Inputs
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The "early adopters" went HD in 2001. HD is mass-market in 2007: ilo 32" Widescreen LCD HDTV w/ Built-in Digital ATSC/NTSC Tuner $500
Resolution 1366 x 768
Except people actively shopping for HD are mostly looking for units that support 1920 × 1080, not 1280 × 720. Probably the reason why these units are getting cheaper and cheaper is because nobody is really buying them..? Anyways what's the deal with that weird resolution setting? 1366x768?
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50" HDTVs are under $1,000 and even that is not necessary for HDTV.
27" HDTVs are under $400 and will work perfectly.
Anyone can afford an HDTV (Score:2)
If your not working so many jobs that you dont have time to read
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You are allowed to use an apostrophe for a simple pluralization when doing so increases readability -- such as when using letters, such as "you forgot to cross your T's". Were I to write "... your Ts", there's a high chance that it could be read as a strange "tiss" word.