Toshiba confirms HD DVD promotional prices are here to stay

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 29th 2007 at 7:40AM

Although money talks, nothin' speaks volume to major manufacturers like, well, volume. In a presumed attempt to keep the recently increased flow of HD DVD player orders steady, Toshiba has reportedly announced a final decision to stick with the prices seen in recent promotional deals. More specifically, the company stated that the MSRP on the high-end HD-XA2 would sink to $799 (versus close to $1,000 before), while the mid-range HD-A20 would instantly become $100 more affordable after dropping to $399, and both of these units are set to receive 24p output through an update scheduled for September. The most attractive option (that would be the HD-A2), however, will soon be listed for a mere $299, and while none of these prices are apt to incite fits of uncontrollable jubilation, it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Filed under: Industry, HD DVD, Players, Toshiba

Tags: 24p, business, hd-a2, hd-a20, hd-xa2, msrp, price, prices, pricing, retail, standalone

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Liqwid @ Jun 29th 2007 7:59AM

Jeez, this means I'll get my HD-A2 sooner than expected.

Neutral

Phoenixxx1974 @ Jun 29th 2007 8:52AM

well if you look at amazon. I just bought a used HD-a20 for only $300 on the amazon zshops part. THay have had thw HD-A2 for $300 new and you can find the HD-A2 for only $220 refurbished. Also buy the HD-XA2 for $600 new plus amazon now offers service plans for new ones also $480 used or refurbished. Even though mine is used $300 for a A20 is a great deal so now i have a HD-A1 which i put in the living room since we got a new 30" HDTV for the living and put the A20 in my room witb my 71" :-)

Neutral

LJKelley @ Jun 29th 2007 11:42AM

Great news for potential buyers :) Or even those looking for a second set or to buy a gift this holiday season (when the lower is $200).

Lowest Ranked

JohnDoe303 @ Jun 29th 2007 12:03PM

The writing it on the wall.. I would save your money and take advantage of the 5 free Blu-ray movies with player promotion.

Neutral

Kevin Murphy @ Jun 29th 2007 7:23PM

Hmmm ... I could buy an HD-A2, plus 5 discs I actually want to see, get 5 more free from Toshiba, and still pay $100 less than the least expensive BD player.

Neutral

engadget @ Jun 29th 2007 12:15PM

I bought the HD-A2 for $220 new. The output is spectacular in HD DVD and it upscales very well for standard DVDs. My previous player did not upscale so this purchase was an upgrade for my DVD collection as well.

While there is some justified concern about picking the wrong format, this feels like a safe buy for an early adapter. If I purchased a Blu-Ray player it would cost about twice as much. I figure even *if* Blu-Ray prevails in the future, the price for a new Blu-Ray player will have dropped to be the difference in price as it currently stands between the least expensive players from each format.

Neutral

Kumar @ Jun 30th 2007 11:06AM

X2
I'm in the same boat as you and a lot of other people. I've got a sweet 42" 720p sony and a ton of dvds. I had been looking for an upconverter, and jumped on the costco $250 deal. Now, my old dvds look better, and the new stuff looks outstanding on my set. To me, it was worth the extra 100 bucks to throw in for the HD part, regardless of 'the race'.

Neutral

Ben Nolen @ Jun 29th 2007 12:28PM

This is GREAT news for HD-DVD. Price will still be the major factor in who wins the war. Toshiba should have done this months ago.

Neutral

joe @ Jun 29th 2007 1:35PM

Ben- this isn't great news for the war. If people can not make a profit on making the players the only people making players will be toshiba. they can't do it alone.

engadget- Good points. I wonder why people are fence sitting? All of the players are good up convert DVD players and if your side 'looses' you get a good deal on discontinued totiles that are still in HD with the same quality os the other format.

Highly Ranked

Bob @ Jun 29th 2007 1:37PM

Just in time to buy "300" on July 31st. Time to hide the credit card bill from the wife.

Neutral

Tigger @ Jun 29th 2007 3:43PM

$299 for the A2 - This looks pretty damned good to me!

Neutral

Terry @ Jun 29th 2007 4:07PM

FANTASTIC news. I'm betting that we're gonna see $199 prices on Amazon.com any day now for the A2, and $299 for the A20. These are gonna continue selling like hotcakes!! Kudos to Toshiba for keeping the fire lit under Blu-ray's hairy ass.

Neutral

h0mi @ Jun 29th 2007 4:11PM

Still waiting for a $100-150 price point. I'm sure by black friday. Not that I need it, with the 360 add on but given the 360's unreliability...

I'll go neutral when the ps3 hits $400-500.

Neutral

Tigger @ Jun 29th 2007 5:38PM

PS3 will very likely be US$399 by Christmas. The originally thought of $499 price will be too high considering all games will still look like XBox 360's (Mainstream PS3 releases will be direct port of..) and by then there will be atleast one XBox 360 model priced at the magic $199 sweet spot.

As far as using a PS3 for a movie player - I'd think twice about hammering that little plastic drive too much. The 1 year warranty is there for a reason and if you go by the PS2 DVD experience the thing will start grinding your disks pretty quickly.

Neutral

Liqwid @ Jun 29th 2007 6:22PM

HD-A2 ordered. It will be on my doorstep on Tuesday. Hoorah!

Neutral

CarolG @ Jun 30th 2007 7:25AM

I have just bought my first HD/DVD and can't play it on any of the 3 HDMI/upconvert players in my house.
Is it a bad disc or are my DVD players not compatible?

Neutral

MoreInfo @ Jun 30th 2007 11:06AM

You need to supply more info there. Did you buy an HD dvd/reg dvd combo disc? if so, flip that puppy over.

If it's straight hd dvd, then start surfing for the hd-a2 or hd-d2(costco), which also plays reg dvds well when set to the 1080i upconvert. When costco was selling theirs at 250, it also came with an hdmi cable too.

Neutral

zik @ Jun 30th 2007 12:05PM

@Carol

Do you actually have an HD-DVD player? It doesn't sound so from your post. You'll need an HD-DVD player if you want to play an HD-DVD.

Neutral

CarolG @ Jun 30th 2007 2:28PM

I appreciate the help folks. I'm a dummy and thought the upconvert would cover the bases.
I guess I'll be looking for an HD player next.

Thanks again.

Neutral

EatingPie @ Jun 30th 2007 3:18PM

"As far as using a PS3 for a movie player - I'd think twice about hammering that little plastic drive too much."

Um. And data transfer DOESN'T hammer the "little plastic drive"? What, and Toshiba is using aircraft-grade titanium for their drives? Sheesh.

These Toshibas are wonderful pieces of technology. The PS3 is ALSO a wonder of technology. If there's any reason to hate the format war, it's that people MUST rag on "the other side," regardless of the actual quality or price.

-Pie

Neutral

Mr_Fizzlepop @ Jul 4th 2007 1:05AM

PS3 drive is easily replaced as well, and the documentation only mentions not installing a different RPM Drive, nothing about a different size.

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