Toshiba's HD DVD players almost sold out
Apparently not everyone is disappointed with Toshiba's initial HD DVD players; that is the cheaper HD-A1. They are sold out across the web at retailers like Amazon, BestBuy, Crutchfield, and Walmart. These are not small town retailers here and if they are having stock issues with the HD DVD players, who else is? The first shipment from Toshiba in early April was estimated to be close to 10 to 15,000 that reached 3,000 stores. A Best Buy spokeswoman has said though that it is kind of hit and miss for the player in their stores; some have it, some don't. The more expensive HD-XA1 isn't having this problem though and seems to be in good supply everywhere as this stock issue is just for the $499 HD-A1.
So what happens when stores are sold out of an electronic (think XBOX 360) Ebay has 'em but for a price. The average selling price for the $499 HD-A1 on Ebay has a $50 premium on it bringing the cost up to $550.
So has any of our readers gone to a store with the thought of buying one only to be sent away because the store didn't have any?
[via Home Theater Blog]
Filed under: Industry
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wayne @ May 22nd 2006 1:16PM
I know that my local Best Buy didn't have the HD-XA1 in stock last week. They didn't seem to have any mention of the HD-A1.
I watched 5 minutes of "King Kong" using the HD-XA1 on a 60-inch plasma. I'm guessing it was the DVD release because I don't think that the movie is out on HD DVD. I thought it was a very mixed bag. The hair detail on Kong was impressive, but the smoke and fog still looked blurry. Overall it didn't look any better than a regular (non-upscaled) DVD player to me. I certainly won't be spending more than $200 on a player that doesn't make my existing movies and future releases look significantly better than they do right now.
hmurchison @ May 22nd 2006 2:52PM
You either:
A) Saw a poorly setup system
B) Watched a DVD trailer.
I'm guessing it's A. The KK trailer on HD-DVD looks great. However, nothing will save a poor setup. If the smoke and fog looked blurry then that was as the DP intended.