Toshiba HD DVD Price Drop

[admin]

Consumers now have greatly affordable access to High Definition technology through Toshiba’s HD DVD player offer:

HD-E1: $299 with one title inbox plus three titles via redemption
HD-EP10: $399 with one title inbox plus five titles via redemption
HD-XE1: $599 with one title inbox plus ten titles via redemption

http://www.toshibaav.com.au/press_220108_1.html

I really think I'm going to have to buy the HD-XE1 (Europe/Aus. version of the HD-XA2). With current exchange rates, it's only $USD 515, and comes with 11 free HD DVD movies.

The HD-XE1 is one of the best DVD upscaling players around, the player that comes closest is the Denon 2930 (which uses the same Reon HQV chipset), and the Denon is a DVD only player (no HD playback) and costs $USD 850!

The XE1/XA2 has won lots of awards for design, this one recently. Secrets of Home Theatre and Hi Fi's famous benchmark also had this player on top scoring a 95 out of 100, full review here (in comparison, the Sony BDP-S1 only scored 65).

And there is a region-free firmware floating around for the HD-XE1 too, so I can even upscale my US DVDs which my PS3 is unable to do so.

If only I had money to spend ...

[jmet]

If only I had money to spend ...

Thought you won the lottery?

[NightTran]

is this player only sell in Europe because all the web site I google post in lbs and not dollars?

[pquest]

is this player only sell in Europe because all the web site I google post in lbs and not dollars?

I agree. I dont see the sale price in us dollars else where.

[admin]

The HD-XE1 is an UK/Australian model. The similar model in the US is the HD-XA2, but it does not have PAL playback and cannot be made region-free (does not yet play RCE discs, but a fix is coming). But both have the Reon HQV video processor.

Technically, these models are no longer being produced (there are some that disagree, but certainly, the number of units are limited) and have been replaced by the 3rd gen HD-A35. The A35 does not have Reon HQV processing, so upscaled performance is not as good. There's a rumour that once the XE1/XA2 is sold out, a new flagship model will be released.

The link I provided above for the Secrets benchmark lists a few other models that have similar excellent DVD performances, such as the Samsung BD-P1200 Blu-ray player (which also uses Reon HQV) and the Oppo DV-981HD DVD player. The PS3 score there should be ignored since the test was conducted before several firmware updates that added DVD upscaling improvements.

Samsung also has a new dual format player, the BD-UP5500. The BD-UP5000 did contain the Reon HQV chipset too, but it had several bugs and flaws in the design. The BD-UP5500 is supposed to fix all these issues, but the price of the unit has dropped significantly and people are wonder if the Reon HQV chipset has been removed. There is also a rumoured BD-UP6500 that will have Blu-ray Profile 2.0 and HQV - this is probably the one to look out for, for people who have discs in both formats, want the best Blu-ray profile and also want the best DVD performance too.

[admin]

Oh, and one of the advantages of HD-XE1/XA2 is that it has analogue audio output. It does not decode DTS-HD MA though, and will only output it via HDMI in bitstream mode (a receiver with HDMI input and DTS-HD MA decoding is thus required). Most players these days don't have analogue audio output anymore, so a receiver with HDMI is required if you want more than AC3/DTS audio (DTS @ 1.5 Mbps is the maximum that optical outputs support).

I regularly visit a forum in Australia that covers some HD topics, and over 40 forum members purchased the HD-XE1 yesterday, including many Blu-ray exclusive users (I guess nobody can pass up the opportunity to buy a $1,600 DVD player for $600, with bonus HD DVD playback).

But I think I might have to pass on this one and save money for a new computer instead.

[blutach]

Now, if only HD can start to at least get level in the format war, they might sell a player or 3.

Regards

[admin]

You better be quick if you want a XE1 in Australia, because there's not that many left. Many people have reported some stores have already run out of stock and are putting orders in for more units, but these orders might never be fulfilled. The XE1 is technically a run-out model, to be replaced by the (inferior, but cheaper to produce) 3rd gen. models, so once stock run out, that's it.

Even the most ardent Blu-ray supporters on the Australian forum I go to have joined the "dark side" and bought themselves a XE1, because $AUD 600 (some have gotten it for as low as $AUD 530) is a fantastic price to pay for a Reon HQV DVD player - the HD DVD playback (plus 11 HD DVD movies) is really just a bonus.

If this Australian forum is any measure, then this price cut has been very successful in getting people onboard the HD DVD bandwagon. There is also semi-confirmed news of a new Sharp dual format player coming out in the next few weeks which might be very attractive too (but more on price, rather than on quality like the XE1), making it the first HD DVD player released by formerly Blu-ray exclusive Sharp.

There is also a rumour which suggests Universal might start releasing HD DVD combos as the only available version for new release titles, which means every DVD they sell has a "bonus" HD DVD version on the other side (or in a different layer). I don't think it will happen tomorrow, but it might happen somewhere down the track depending on how urgent the situation is for HD DVD.

Production cost for combos (either double sided, or TL) do not differ all that much from a normal DVD and production capacity is plenty, as HD DVD production lines are just a simple upgrade of existing DVD production lines. Blu-ray discs, on the other hand, requires new production lines to be built, sometimes entirely new factories. Even with the current low demands of Blu-ray movies, the production capacity is already under strain. New factories will have to be built, although it's unclear who is going to pay for it (although consumers will eventually have to pay for it in one way or another). The BDA/Sony currently subsidizes for Blu-ray disc production, but this deal runs out soon and discs production costs will start to increase. Buena Vista Australia has already confirmed the main reason why Ratatouille on Blu-ray is still being delayed for release here is production capacity, as Australia is not "top of the list" in terms of getting production time in the current facilities. The Blu-ray version of Ratatouille will only be available 2 months after the DVD version.

But HD DVDs do not have this problem, and so the transition from DVD to HD DVD can be quite smooth - having combo only releases for movies is part of the transition plan, to get HD content into people's homes so they find the need to buy (the already quite cheap) players. DVDs currently outsell the same release on HD by about 10 to 1 at least, so doing this will greatly speed up HDM uptake (and won't harm HD DVD's sales number any bit in the process). Sony do the same thing with the PS3, the trojan horse approach to getting their HD format into people's homes, so it's nothing new.

Basically we're seeing two different approaches to getting HDM accepted by the public, and I think it's still a bit early to say who has won. In the end, the most sensible and economical approach will win, because it translates to cheaper prices for consumers and only good prices, as demonstraed by the XE1 price cut and the numerous Blu-ray BOGOF sales, will get people into the shops.

[admin]

Word is that the price drop, and particularly the XE1 sales, has meant that HD DVD hardware outsold Blu-ray hardware by 2 to 1 in Australia for the last week - even with the PS3 included in the Blu-ray figures! The same effect hasn't been seen in the US though.

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=61269

(the user who posted it is very reliable on that forum, and often has access to things like new firmware updates before anybody else, including DVD region-free firmware for the various Toshiba models)

[BR7]

The same effect hasn't been seen in the US though

In the US stores are calling it a clearance sale.There have been reports of Best Buy saying after the HD-DVD products are gone they will not restock.Even Walmart has been showing signs of this by moving it's HD products to the back .Woolworths was the first store to say they are not selling HD-DVD products any more.From what I have been reading people have been saying they are using the sale to buy the extra HD-player so they have a backup player in case HD-DVD does go in the dumps. Just my two cents on what I have been seeing

[admin]

I don't understand the "buying a backup player" argument. Keeping a player in storage until your current one dies will usually mean the other player has died too from not being used for so long. And if you use both players the same amount, then both will fail around the same time (theoretically), and you're stuck with two players needing service. Are people really thinking of keeping a spare player so they can canabalize parts later on? $599 seems to be a lot to pay for doing something like this.

Toshiba is not going to stop providing technical support even if HD DVD dies, and if you're talking about lack of parts and such. The lack of parts issue is a risk for all consumer devices as they are superceded by newer models (including Blu-ray players, especially Profile 1.0 ones ). In the XE1's case (the post says it is the main reason behind the increase in sales), it has a 2 year warranty and the construction and build quality is very high, hence the numerous awards (it really is a piece of high-end equipment now being sold with a low/mid-end pricing).

I do agree that a lot of people are "upgrading" to take advantage of the price drops to replacing their existing (upscaling) DVD players. There also seems to be a lot of purchases by Blu-ray owners who have wanted to go format neutral to access the 400 or so titles out now on HD DVD (most of them exclusively), and the many titles that will be released exclusively for the short termin at least. $USD 127 (that's the price of the HD-A3 on Amazon right now, with 7 free movies) is not a big price to pay for the ability to enjoy hundreds of movies you can't get on Blu-ray, even with the risks associated of being on the losing side of the format war. For the Australia market, paying a bit over $AUD 500 for a piece of equipment that's easily worth over $1,000 is a no brainer. And buying HD DVD has added advantage here in Australia (or Europe), since we can enjoy the region-free status of HD DVDs by buying titles from the US to supplement our rather pathetic range of local Blu-ray/HD DVD movies with their over the top pricing (costs 3 times as much as your typical US HD movie).

If only Toshiba had done this 6 months ago (or whenever it was just after the Paramount defection)...

[admin]

Finally succumbed to temptation and got the XE1. Didn't have to haggle at all to get the price dropped to $550. Apparently Toshiba has sent a final shipment of 100 units to Australia, and after that, that's it.

First impressions is that it's an excellent players, very good build quality (weighs quite a bit) and much better than using my Xbox 360 for HD DVD playback (it's near silent, for one). Upscaling DVD performance is quite amazing, gives SD DVDs a very HD look (although still not true HD quality). Applied the region free firmware so Region 1 DVDs work on it now, and of course, there's the remote trick for RCE protected DVDs that can be applied after the region free firmware has been updated.

[jmet]

I am making the assumption you bought this solely for its upscaling abilities rather than the true intention, being a dedicated HD-DVD player?

[admin]

Trying to kill both birds with the same stone. As an upscaling DVD player, I don't think I'll get a better one. And the same probably holds true for the HD DVD functionality. I'm already using the PS3 for Blu-ray (and I don't think I will be buying a standalone Blu-ray player for the next few years), so it makes sense to buy a "proper" HD DVD player, considering I will have at least 20 HD DVD movies that need to be played, versus only 9 Blu-ray movies at the moment.

Plus, it just felt that this was an offer too good to pass, since Toshiba made this machine to promote HD DVD and priced it at a loss to do so (and this was when the price was $1299, at $599, it's a steal), so this is one of those things that won't happen again for the short term.

[blutach]

I see low end HDDVD players are being thrown out at Clive Peeters. $299 plus $200 cashback. Tempting.

Regards