Wal-Mart to sell Toshiba HD-DVD players cheap

**admin** · 26 Oct 2007, 02:07 PM

Quote:

In fact they are going to be selling them for about $198 each. That would make them the cheapest standalone HD format player available.

http://www.slashgear.com/wal-mart-to...eap-258164.php

drfsupercenter · 26 Oct 2007, 10:33 PM

Are those any good?

**Chewy** · 26 Oct 2007, 10:41 PM

http://www.byte.com/documents/s=10114/byt1175965084052/

the predecessor

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/toshiba_HD-A2.html

getting away from a full computer to dedicated hardware?

Quote:

Remove the top cover and you’ll see the biggest change. There are two PC boards — an MPEG decoder/video encoder with CPU, plus the power supply — and a Toshiba HD DVD drive. That’s it!

**admin** · 26 Oct 2007, 11:04 PM

The A2 is a superceded model - the A3 came out at the beginning of this month. There wasn't really any problems with the A2, and the A3 doesn't really improve on it by much. The A2/A3 does not have 1080p output, only 1080i (the A20/A30 has them). All the players have decent DVD upscaling, so it might be worth it just to get it for that. The XA2 has the best DVD upscaler, unmatched by even the newer A3x models, but it's a bit pricey.

Note that you can get the A2 from Amazon for $229, possibly with free shipping.

No matter where you buy it, you can get 5 free HD DVD movies with it. Choose from 20 titles, fairly average ones to be honest (Aeon Flux, Babel, Troy, and a few classics - more details). The A3x series also get two movies included in the box (300 and The Bourne Identity), plus the 5 free HD DVD movies.

If you have a Xbox 360, the HD DVD add-on drive is $179 and you get Heroes Season 1 HD DVD free (worth $70 - offer available at Amazon and Best Buy I think) and also the same 5 HD DVD movies, so it's the best value for HD DVD playback.

HD DVD is affordable now, but there's really no reason to buy one unless you've got a nice large HDTV and don't mind having to buy another Blu-ray player to be able to play all HD movies.

drfsupercenter · 27 Oct 2007, 12:36 AM

Do they have normal RCA output?

I have a 27" CRT TV still... but it's not a bad idea getting a cheap player while they're there, some of my friends have HDTVs and I could possibly go over to their houses with it... provided I got some HD DVDs too.

**admin** · 27 Oct 2007, 02:33 AM

I don't know if they have RCA outputs, I would guess probably just component and HDMI. The players will only get cheaper though, so there's no hurry. Within a year, probably all the players will be under $200.

**admin** · 28 Oct 2007, 01:41 PM

And now Circuit City has joined in on the act, and has offered the A2 for $197.99 both online and in stores:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ng-prices.html

Just a note about the limited 1080i output - for playback of films, it makes no differences whether its 1080i or 1080p - a good 1080p display should display it in exactly the same way. More details about why this is the case here:

http://wiki.digital-digest.com/index.php/1080i/p

26 Oct 2007, 10:33 PM	#2
drfsupercenter NOT an online superstore Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 4,038	Are those any good? __________________ CYA Later: d̃ŗf̉śŭp̣ễr̀çëǹt̉ếř Visit my website!! Cool Characters Make your text cool My DVD Collection

26 Oct 2007, 11:04 PM	#4
admin Administrator Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,179	The A2 is a superceded model - the A3 came out at the beginning of this month. There wasn't really any problems with the A2, and the A3 doesn't really improve on it by much. The A2/A3 does not have 1080p output, only 1080i (the A20/A30 has them). All the players have decent DVD upscaling, so it might be worth it just to get it for that. The XA2 has the best DVD upscaler, unmatched by even the newer A3x models, but it's a bit pricey. Note that you can get the A2 from Amazon for $229, possibly with free shipping. No matter where you buy it, you can get 5 free HD DVD movies with it. Choose from 20 titles, fairly average ones to be honest (Aeon Flux, Babel, Troy, and a few classics - more details). The A3x series also get two movies included in the box (300 and The Bourne Identity), plus the 5 free HD DVD movies. If you have a Xbox 360, the HD DVD add-on drive is $179 and you get Heroes Season 1 HD DVD free (worth $70 - offer available at Amazon and Best Buy I think) and also the same 5 HD DVD movies, so it's the best value for HD DVD playback. HD DVD is affordable now, but there's really no reason to buy one unless you've got a nice large HDTV and don't mind having to buy another Blu-ray player to be able to play all HD movies. Last edited by admin; 26 Oct 2007 at 11:07 PM

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27 Oct 2007, 12:36 AM	#5
drfsupercenter NOT an online superstore Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 4,038	Do they have normal RCA output? I have a 27" CRT TV still... but it's not a bad idea getting a cheap player while they're there, some of my friends have HDTVs and I could possibly go over to their houses with it... provided I got some HD DVDs too.

27 Oct 2007, 02:33 AM	#6
admin Administrator Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,179	I don't know if they have RCA outputs, I would guess probably just component and HDMI. The players will only get cheaper though, so there's no hurry. Within a year, probably all the players will be under $200.

28 Oct 2007, 01:41 PM	#7
admin Administrator Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,179	And now Circuit City has joined in on the act, and has offered the A2 for $197.99 both online and in stores: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ng-prices.html Just a note about the limited 1080i output - for playback of films, it makes no differences whether its 1080i or 1080p - a good 1080p display should display it in exactly the same way. More details about why this is the case here: http://wiki.digital-digest.com/index.php/1080i/p

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