Venturer announces SHD7000 low-cost HD DVD player for holidays
Chinese firm Venturer has apparently been hard at work on a budget HD DVD player, which it's claiming will be out the door and onto store shelves in the US by this holiday season. The SHD7000 should have ethernet, DVD upconversion, HDMI, but the thing only outputs to 1080i, despite supporting TrueHD audio. We don't know just how cheap the SHD7000 is going to be, but entry-level is entry-level, so we expect it'll be less expensive than your other options, save Microsoft's $180 Xbox 360 add-on.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kenzo @ Aug 28th 2007 5:39PM
And so it begins.
Nfinity @ Aug 28th 2007 5:48PM
Yep
Marshall @ Aug 28th 2007 6:01PM
How about it? Closest to actual price without going over?
My bid is $149.99
Fit Torrent @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:55AM
Price is not an issue yet in da HD game, early buyers a loyal to their brands but their are no cool brands in the HD now. If dis comz in at $149.00 then it will be a big hit with trailer parks and students with night jobs... but these people cannot afford to fit out an HD home cinema anyway!! Scratching my head, I wonder why a real HD head would buy a player which cannot acheive 1080p? Then again, neither can the cheapo HD DVD players...
If Nokia made a player tomorrow, would be an impulse buy for me.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater @ Aug 28th 2007 6:03PM
$179 MSRP, $136.41 @ Wallmart.
Sean @ Aug 28th 2007 6:08PM
Im very happy to see the Chinese get into the HD-DVD game. Simply because they make all those dirt cheap players that everyone that isnt made of money or half way decent money have. I know my friend will be all over this one. He doesnt have it "like that" and this price range will be in his range. If Wal Mart gets there hands on this player and sells it for $149.99, its over with, or even sells it for $139.99. I like what im seeing, and with Transformers and Shrek films on the horizon, its on.
-dad
Segarsj @ Aug 28th 2007 6:36PM
I can't wait to see the list price, let alone the discounted sale price!
This holiday season is becoming more and more interesting by the day and it's not even September yet!
Jack @ Aug 28th 2007 6:43PM
uhhh.....only hdmi output....honestly.....the only people that have hdmi inputs on their tv are the ones that can fork out for a true player and not this POS. From what they wrote, it looks like it will only have hdmi. I could be wrong though. Plus only 1080i? Please......blu-ray will have a player for probably 250 by x-mas which will do 1080p and have different outputs besides hdmi....
Plus with all the POS China stuff going on right now with their products...
jsn @ Aug 28th 2007 6:56PM
That's just nonsense. I have three TV's in my house that have HDMI and all of them cost under $599 each. HDMI capable sets aren't astronomical. That said, It will likely still have component outs.
Nice speculation there on the blu-ray player, which is all it is. I'd be just as pissed off dropping $250 on a blu-ray player that supports a half-assed, unfinished spec as I would $500. The cheapest player on the market would have to drop $150 by then. I'll have to see it before I believe it.
Xyzzy @ Aug 28th 2007 7:02PM
I just LOVE reading pro-BD stuff. "HD DVD's getting what? Oh yeah? Well, BD will get that too in a few months, just you wait!"
BD = the waiting game... "We'll be good... someday!" :)
You know the BEST part about this player? It supports all of the HD DVD features like net access and picture in picture. Guess what BD players support that? NONE! Not even the PS3. Why not? Because the spec isn't even finished yet.
Awesome.
h0mi @ Aug 28th 2007 7:24PM
Where did you get the idea this will "only" have HDMI? Even the HD-A2 has component and composite connectors.
Even if for whatever reason, this CE made an HDMI only connector (as if that's really a money saving act on their part), most HDTVs sold in the past year have at least 1 HDMI connectors. HDMI is pretty much standard on new HDTVs... the problem is with older sets like my sister's 3 year old set that lacks one.
Alex @ Aug 28th 2007 7:58PM
@jack: Moronic Post of the Day! (sorry, Dave seems to have abdicated his throne)
"uhhh.....only hdmi output....honestly.....the only people that have hdmi inputs on their tv are the ones that can fork out for a true player and not this POS."
So the bulk of consumers looking for value hidef players are poor BUT have HiDef displays at least 1-2 years old when....ummm... they were what...far cheaper to buy? BRILLIANT!
The lack of brains for hidef fanboys still shock me, but your 1080i B-S pretty much buries you. Night night.
Alex @ Aug 28th 2007 7:59PM
@jack: Moronic Post of the Day! (sorry, Dave seems to have abdicated his throne)
"uhhh.....only hdmi output....honestly.....the only people that have hdmi inputs on their tv are the ones that can fork out for a true player and not this POS."
So the bulk of consumers looking for value hidef players are poor BUT have HiDef displays at least 1-2 years old when....ummm... they were what...far cheaper to buy? BRILLIANT!
The lack of brains for hidef fanboys still shock me, but your 1080i B-S pretty much buries you. Night night.
Smee @ Aug 28th 2007 8:57PM
It doesn't say it is HDMI only, it specifically mentions this as a feature, but my guess would be it has standard outputs as well.
Region Free HD @ Aug 29th 2007 8:45AM
OH NOES!!! It's made out of lead!
; )
shabbs @ Aug 28th 2007 7:22PM
Venturer is a Canadian company. The SHD7000 is made by Alco, who makes a lot of stuff for Wal-Mart. Bring on the J6P el-cheapo HD DVD player. Sweet.
-shabbs
h0mi @ Aug 28th 2007 7:25PM
"Plus with all the POS China stuff going on right now with their products..."
Where do you think all those hdtvs, that mythical $250 blu-ray player, & all those ps3s are being made?
Gil @ Aug 28th 2007 7:31PM
@ Xyzzy
Amen.. the grapes, they are sour it seems. It's very similar to the typical PS3 fanboys statement of "Just give it a year, then you'll see!" That year is creepin up and there's still jack to play on it, save MotorStorm & Resistance.
James @ Aug 28th 2007 8:00PM
Venturer Electronics is headquartered in Markham, Ontario which is in CANADA not CHINA.
Vedder @ Aug 28th 2007 8:04PM
First Paramount and now this. So the demise of Blu-Ray begins.
will @ Aug 28th 2007 8:11PM
oh yes it begins
julian @ Aug 28th 2007 8:31PM
um guys this will go for 199 and poeple will be able to on amazone get for 150 gusse what u can alredy buy a toshiba for 249...
Smee @ Aug 28th 2007 8:41PM
Well, looks like blown ray has fallen off the ropes and hit the canvas.
Now all HD DVD needs to do is release combo discs at a realistic price, stop selling standard DVDs and it's all over, good on ya sony, you have managed to screw the public over, yet again.
Paul Fernandez @ Aug 28th 2007 8:49PM
@ Ungibbed
Permit me to correct you, kind sir. The beauty of the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on (which I own, in addition to an A20) is that ALL of the audio and video processing is done through it alone, with the 360 acting like a "conductor" of sorts, merely providing power for the unit and the tray. This way, the add-on absorbs all the "wear and tear," which WOULD happen if the drive were integrated into the console.
That reason alone is what prevents many people (like me, for instance) from purchasing and using the PS3 as a dedicated Blu-ray player. No matter how you slice it, machinery is machinery. Using one drive for movies AND games WILL take its toll on ANY system. Feel free to affirm what I'm saying on other sites. The add-on is more sophisticated than many people realize; Lord knows an integrated drive would only have added to the 360's reported failure rate.
JeffDM @ Aug 28th 2007 11:22PM
Paul Fernandez; The XBox 360 Add-on is only a drive. There's nothing special about it other than it's an HD-DVD drive designed to look like an XB360 device. All audio and processing is done in the XBox360. It has to be that way since the USB cable cannot possibly transport uncompressed HD or uncompressed multi-channel audio.
The reason that the XB360 has a high failure rate has nothing to do with DVD or HD-DVD formats, it simply had some hardware design flaws. Frankly, I'd suggest getting a Toshiba set-top player. It's not that much more expensive and it has a decent remote.
Nfinity @ Aug 28th 2007 8:57PM
Guys guys, let's just tone down our "I told you so" song, I"m afraid that SimbaDogg, MegaZone and others will commit some kind of suicide or hurt themselves as their Blu fairytale is all broken now.
Go ahead Blu-bois take the red pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes.
will @ Aug 28th 2007 9:04PM
LOL i love it.
MegaZone @ Aug 29th 2007 4:27AM
My reaction is - big deal. Really, BFD. The price hasn't been specified yet, so there is nothing to react to. I had said in the past I fully expect Toshiba to push to $199.99 MSRP on their low-end 3rd gen box - and that I think that will not matter. Just as $300 - HD DVD's last 'magic number' - didn't matter, $200 isn't some magic doorway into mainstream sales. And, as I've said, I also expect massive price cuts from the Blu-ray camp too.
Do you really think Sony is just going to sit back and say "Oh well, we give up"?
HD DVD players are NOT significantly cheaper than BD players to make. Most of the components are *the same*. In fact, the only real difference is the pickup assembly. And HD DVD's assembly isn't significantly cheaper than BD, if at all. Vendors like Broadcom sell chips used in BOTH formats players.
The only reason Toshiba's players are less expensive if that they subsidize them to push HD DVD sales, and the BD camp isn't being as aggressive. If you break down the component costs, it is really the same - BD players can even be cheaper if they're BD 1.0 - that second video decoder and network hardware aren't free you know. (I'd rather they not be left off, but just pointing it out.)
So, really - big fracking deal. I am completely unsurprised by this announcement, and not really impressed. There is not enough here to care about - when we have solid pricing, retail distribution, etc, then there will be something to talk about. Just another player with a vague 'low price' - too vague to discuss intelligently. Is low-price $199.99 - in which case, complete non-event - or $99.99 - which is more worthy of notice, etc.
joe @ Aug 28th 2007 9:11PM
Nfinity
Yep you said it. I have no doubt that people will not only drop $120 for a player they will of course have a capable HD TV and will be willing to pay $30 per title.
Because we all know that it's the price of the player, not the HD TV that has been keeping people from HD media. Well that and the fact that HD content costs 3x as much a dvd and will look the same as upscaled content on a bargain basement HD TV.
People are DYING for 30+ dollar movies who can't afford a $200 player. Studios are totally stoked to spend all of the extra cash to make HD transfers and then rapidly drop the price of the disks.
Finally this stupid war is at an end and everyone will be able to watch upscaled regular def DVDs on their shiny new players knowing they have the best in 'HD.'
Nfinity @ Aug 28th 2007 9:57PM
@Joe
I don't even know how to respond to your rubish.
First of all, all HD DVD movies that I picked up at Fry's electronics for example were $19.99 and not $30 as you say. Sure they are $30 now because the number of copies is small but when they start publishing combo/twin HD DVD discs instead of SD DVDs in millions of copies, you will have HD DVDs at most likely a $1 over the price of SD DVDs you pay now. HD DVD is the only format that can do this.
Second, I'm not sure what you are trying to imply but a $500 player who will NOT play all features and $30 movie is somehow better?
Also read what HDTVs will go for this season. $399-$599 for 37-42" HD set. I'm sorry but $399 (tv) + $150 (hd dvd player) = $550. I think this is INCREDIBLE HD offer for a regular person. Again with Blu-Ray this price goes up to $1000 and is actually completely unnecessary as these sets from Vizio are not 1080p.
The only thing that's missing is mass replication for HD DVDs and that's definitely coming this CEDIA. I'm very sure that Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks and possibly Warner will start releasing they day/date releases as HDDVD/DVD hybrid of sorts that will work on either regular DVD or HD DVD players and they will most likely sell them out the gate at $19.99. It's easy to achieve this number when you print millions of discs.
You should be glad. This war will most likely be over by end of this year.
Michael @ Aug 29th 2007 4:28AM
Holy Crap that's a sweet deal!
If I weren't already HD-DVD friendly, I think this deal would push me over the edge. As it is, I think I'm about ready to take the plunge on #2!
julian @ Aug 28th 2007 10:48PM
actrualy blu-ray combo with dvd and singel layer dvd were first in proto type b4 hd dvd even had teh thought of it.
and a shit load more blu-ray disc have been sold then hd dvd i would say at lest 5x(remember every ps3 game sold is a blu-ray disc RFOM has sold 2 million copies alone)also if your getting into this format war with a 600$ hd tv and your buying a 150$ player thats most likely ending up to 199. thats 1/4 of the price just on the player. and also hd dvd only real price advantige is with the discs(which is about 10 cents less the blu-ray which is huge when u have 300 thousand copies) cuz i can`t wait for the blu-ray funia player coming by the end of the year(look at the companies stratagy pdf page 11)
and paul you are WROUNG the add on is just a reader heres that artical
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154930
the xbox cores are pushes to around 98% all 3 just to play the movie and also since your xbox dosent have hdmi 1.3 and only hdmi1.2 say good by to next gen audio codecs
and your a tool a recent report shows that nintendo and sony have faulir rate of less then 1% around 0.2% and microsft has 25%+ and the world acceptence faluir rate is 5% or so so u not what i think the ps3 can take a higher faluir rate.
and also blu-ray isent a format meant for cheap chiness hd tvs and players its meant for the whole inderstry yes all the way up to 5 000$ tvs and 1 and 2 grand players.
and h0mi theres a diffrence bettwen somthing desinged and built in china and somthign thats built in china and somthing that built by cheap fucking scrubs in china the ps3 is desinged by sony and mostly made in china some are still made in japan but most in china but using high quality shit hintsthe 0.2$ fauiler rate but when u have a cheap chiness manufacture desinging a hd dvd player and making it a cheap as possiable shit going to happen there i saying i read today
"Venturer WTF,Walmart dosent even sell that crap"
will @ Aug 28th 2007 10:34PM
nfinity dont even argue with these clowns please dont. whats the use? we will be watching transformers in hd and they will be watching it in 480p. oh i guess spidey will be in full 1080p the blo job trilogy set.Lol........blo job realy thought they had this war won and what can we say about the piss s3.
joe @ Aug 28th 2007 10:36PM
Nfinity -
rubbish comming from you that's a complement.
Um so were the moves 19.99 or 29.99. You say in one sentence one price then the next a higher one.
Combo disks will need to die for HD-DVD to survive. They add quite a cost to the process, about $5 a disk from all the prices I've seen. They also require pretty advanced manufacturing techniques that break the ease of which normal HD-DVD's are made on dvd presses. Not many presses are made to create dual layer dual sided DVD's, which is what is required to make a dual playing disk.
Studios will not like at all making HD dvd's only $1 more than SD dvd's. HD dvd cost much more to master than SD since many resolution related issues are covered up by the lack of details. There is no short cut or magic bullet that will fix that beyond just releasing crappy versions of movies.
Studios are also backing HD media because DVD's are already a commodity. They don't necessary care about quality unless they can get greater profit from it. The content will cost more to master and the disk replication offers no future for cost reduction over that of DVD. So making HD content cost $1 more means from the studios standpoint the format war is lost.
Crappy HD TV's are exactly why people think DVD up conversion is nearly the same as full HD content. A $500 42" HDTV will simply not have as good of a picture as a $1000 at this point, branding aside. The picture will be pretty good but those sets will give almost as good of an image from an upscaled source. They simply lack the quality to make the difference worth $10 extra per movie.
Mass replication is where HD-DVD dropped the ball. While easy to implement on standard DVD presses it fails to provide a path to lower replication cost. It can cost less than it costs now but the process is physically very similar to the creation of DVDs which has reached its limit. This is one of the areas where bd is vastly superior. You have to build a new fab to start making disks but the format was made in a way to be cheaper per disk when you make millions of them. This is the point where the there is a real difference between the two formats.
So no I didn't have ANY rubbish in my post. Studios are supporting HD media to increase profit margins. They don't want to spend more $$ per title to make the same ROI. For that to happen they need to either have cheaper production costs or higher prices.
So $120 HD dvd players will not be better for the content providers than $199 players. I think sub $200 is the right range but $120,$99,$39 players won't help matters. When people with those $120 HD-DVD players see the difference between up converted dvd and HD-DVD on their new HDTVs they are going to keep the extra cash in their pocket and buy 2 dvds instead of one HD-DVD.
Nfinity @ Aug 28th 2007 10:48PM
It seems that you are completely delusional so I won't really waste my time anymore, but I'll just correct my statement above. I buy my HD DVDs at $19.99 most of the time, the price of $30+ for both Blu-Ray nad HD DVD are for new titles and they fall to $19.99 about a month after the release or so. Just to clarify.
But, I'm sure you won't be posting anymore of your completely flawed and uninformed conclusions anymore once day and date releases for HD DVD cost $19.99 and end up beeing $16.99 or down the road due to wonderful twin/combo discs and you continue paying $30 for your Blu-Ray titles.
But as usual, the loudest Blow-Ray supporters crap all over this place and then when things we as HD DVD supporters said would happen, suddenly everyone is gone and not posting. Awesome tactics. Shit first, and then when you are not right, just go and hide. So much for Blow-ray fan credibility.
will @ Aug 28th 2007 10:56PM
damn joe that was a nice essay. see why sony was out buying bb video rentals and endcaps,toshiba and ms did the ultimate they got paramount and they got jackie chan cousins to make affordable players now whos playn chess and checkers?
Smee @ Aug 29th 2007 12:13AM
....... ummm, so what's your theory? Blu ray can win this because the radically more expensive manufacturing process somehow makes blu ray discs cheaper long term, and joe average will then purchase the more expensive blu ray player because it's better then SD or HD DVD ?
joe @ Aug 28th 2007 11:03PM
Nfinity-
Do you have any actual rebuttle to any of my statements? Seriously how does spending more to make each movie and charging the same as traditional DVDs make ANY sense for a studio?
Do you know of any technical details that are drastically different from the HD-DVD spec that are coming out that will reduce production cost?
How are studios going to profit from spending more?
will @ Aug 28th 2007 11:07PM
joe which format do u support? since u wonna be the al sharpton of dvd formats.
Smee @ Aug 29th 2007 12:43AM
Ill step in, in Nfinity's absence, you somehow think consumers will spend more for blu ray so your point of difference is what??.
The point he is trying to make is HD DVD can do that if they wish, for a small amount more they can combine the discs, stop SD production, and over night, HD DVD can sell millions of copies something BD CAN NOT DO.
This probably will never happen though until the player base is significantly higher (bring on Venturer) I would think, but it is a possibility, and if all the blu ray dirt throwing is correct, maybe Microsoft will subsidize the studios to do this until blu ray is dead and buried :)
Blu ray purchasers will have to buy 2 copies to get the same result, at a considerably higher cost, what ever happens, blu ray is to expensive, and it's had it's day.
Ken @ Aug 28th 2007 11:37PM
Considering I can get the (1080i A2) Toshiba today with 8 free movies for
JBDragon @ Aug 28th 2007 11:58PM
The whole 1080i on this cheap player is a NON-ISSUE. Don't swallow the hype. If you have a 1080P HDTV, it can't even display 1080i, it'll convert the picture to 1080P to display anyway. You'll never tell the difference is it's your HDTV or the HD DVD player creating that 1080P picture your watching!
As for Disc prices. I get most all of mine from AMAZON. Most are $19.95 and with NO TAX. The HD DVD's that cost more are the Dual format ones with HD DVD on one side a DVD on the other. That's around the SAME PRICE as going to the store and buying a new DVD release, maybe even cheaper. I also get 10% off on ANY HD DVD(Or Blu-Ray, Will never buy one of those), so most of the HD DVD's I get from Amazon are $17.95. That's it! NO TAX, and FREE 2nd day shipping! On the More expensive Disc Sets like Planet Earth. They are cheaper on AMAZON like like the others, NO TAX, FREE Shipping and 10% off!
With Dreamworks and Paramount now HD DVD Exclusive, and even CHEAPER HD DVD players, I think Blu-Ray is going down. Also Remember Blu-Ray isn't even Finalized yet, the New 1.1 players from what I hear won't even be released until NEXT YEAR!!! You would be a sucker to buy a cheap $450 Blu-Ray player later this year that can't be upgraded to the final 1.1 Specs, only to buy a new one a few months later which of course will be more expensive.
With HD DVD having NO Region Encoding like DVD and Blu-Ray, a lot of those supposedly Blu-Ray ONLY movies, ONLY in the US, as you can get quite a few on HD DVD and they play just fine in US HD DVD players. one of many things you can't do with Blu-Ray.
Paul Fernandez @ Aug 29th 2007 12:36AM
@ JeffDM
I beg to differ that there's "nothing special" about the 360 add-on, which you claim is "just a drive." Though I was dead wrong about the processing part of the equation, the fact remains that it's no slouch when playing HD DVDs and is a separate, complex drive. That's the crux of what I was trying to say before. And, since the processing is indeed done by the 360, this makes me wonder if it played a role in the high failure rates, in addition to basic design flaws. More processing means more heat, after all. As stated below...
In this post by Shaheen Gandhi, an engineer on the Xbox 360 Platform Team, a massive amount of code went into the HD DVD playback system for the Xbox 360. As a result of the complexities of decoding HD DVD audio and video content, as well as providing a user interface and DRM, over 4.7 million lines of code went into the HD DVD software. Among the components that had to be developed and integrated:
Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-2, VC1
Audio Codecs: Dolby Digital+, DTS, TrueHD, LPCM, MPEG
HDi: The HD DVD runtime engine
GDI: Drawing stuff like menus
AACS: Cryptography/DRM stuff
MF: Audio/Video pipeline
Remember, there is no hardware HD DVD decoder chip set on board the Xbox 360. As a result, the HD DVD subsystem is almost entirely written in software. Its one of the most demanding applications written for the 360 to date, using up all six of the systems hardware threads. According to Shaheens post:
"At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game). Now keep in mind, its not like millions of lines of NEW code had to be written here, with many of the codecs and graphic libraries already in existence. That said, its still staggering how much effort went into the development of this add-on."
Not trying to start an argument or show you up; I just think we both make valid points in this case.
Jyncus @ Aug 29th 2007 12:43AM
Oh wait..I get it. Blo Job! Blow-Ray! Hilarrioussss..seriously.
C'mon..if you're gonna do this stupid HD format bickering again, at least do it with a little more maturity and call the formats by their actual names.
I'll be so glad when either format wins..at this point, I could care less. At least I won't have to read these "MY FORMAT IS BETTER THAN YOURS!" arguments anymore.
joe @ Aug 29th 2007 1:07AM
Smee,
Actually I'm making the argument that consumers who are only willing to commit to a format when the players are cheap are going to be unwilling to pay the difference between DVD and HD-DVD.
I'm also making the argument that given HD content costs more for studios to produce and HD-DVD combo disks cost even more on top of that, that there is little incentive for studios want to make HD content if it only fetches DVD prices.
HD-DVDs production advantage of using existing DVD presses is greatly reduced when pressing dual format disks. Both BD and HD-DVD can produce millions of disks at this point.I'm not so sure of the ability to stamp out millions of dual format disks at rapid speed. The disks are basically 2 dual layer DVD's glued together, dual sided disks are harder to produce than single sided ones. Do you have any information on how this is compensated for?
I'm just curious how studios plan on making money if what nfinity says is true and HD-DVDs will be day and date with dvd's for the same price as current DVD's?
Will the prices suddenly jack up when bluray dies since there will be no reason to offer subsidies?
Everything about HD-DVD costs more than DVD why would you expect it to cost the same?
Smee @ Aug 29th 2007 1:55AM
So with cheaper production costs, is it possible for HD DVD to produce a combo disc for the same price as a blu ray single disc?
I think probably so, so there is the huge advantage for HD DVD, no matter which way you look at it, it's all just about retail pricing.
Raydeen @ Aug 29th 2007 2:22AM
Seems like it might be a very capable player, if it ends being bad then the PR will backfire on HD-DVD. As far as only having an HDMI port, that is just plain silly, it will have component as well as composite and s-video. The article says that it will only up convert through the HDMI port. I think the SHD7000 looks better than my HD-A2. Why do BD fans even care about the Venturer unit anyway, the "war" was over last year if I remember SONY telling us correctly.
Kevin Murphy @ Aug 29th 2007 3:12AM
The trolls are out in force today.
Considering that the Toshiba A2 has been selling for $238 at Amazon for a few weeks now, this thin really has to go for less that $200 -- especially since indications (e.g. Paramount's comments) are that the A3 will sell for even less.
It's also interesting that this Chinese "knockoff" supports the mandatory HD DVD spec, when Sony hasn't YET supported their own mandatory spec. HD DVD is looking more and more like VHS to BD's Betamax. Beta was a better format, too.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 29th 2007 3:35AM
@Nfinity
Hey thanks for the shoutout earlier. It means a lot to me that you'd give me a shoutout even though i hadn't even posted anything yet. But i'm still here, and i've yet to commit suicide.
SimbaDogg @ Aug 29th 2007 4:58AM
damnit....i hit submit before i finished the post, sorry for the double
But anyways, this could be considered a blow to the BDAs efforts for total world domination (joke). The first format with a "budget" (meaning POS) player on the market will definitely pull the overall mean price of players down a bit. I for one also think that it will actually force players like Funai and others who have been thinking about getting a "budget" player in for blu ray, to get off their asses.
From a financial standpoint, you have to be somewhat curious about the success of blu ray. Sure you can attribute a lot of the success to the sales of the PS3; which should be around the 5 million mark about now. But there are still people out there buying pioneers, sonys, and samsungs which costs hundreds of dollars more than the competition. This is probably one of the few instances where i have ever seen the more expensive item, getting better results, especially when the "quality" of the cheaper and more expensive offerings are virtually identical.
So price thus far doesn't seem to have as much pull as people say it does. But w/ a sub $150 or sub $100 player, this might start to get the attention of people that are more price oriented than most of the people here. But the thing is, a lot of people do not shop on the next for their purchases. So when they see a $150 hd dvd player vs a $100 upconversion player and 5.99-19.99 discs compared to 19.99-29.99 discs they might flip out just a bit. I mean, am heading down to best buy tomorrow to pick up Season 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for 3.99...price driven people will want cheap disks to go w/ a cheap player, not expensive disks to go w/ a cheap player.
@Smee
"you somehow think consumers will spend more for blu ray so your point of difference is what??"
which format is outselling the other right now? and which one is more expensive....thanks for helping me prove my point. Jesus
@JBDragon
you're seriously comparing a 1080i imagine coming out of a source and your tv SCALING IT to 1080p the quality of something which is coming out natively @ 1080p? You have to be f---ing kidding me.
@joe
i agree w/ you on the hd dvd pricing scheme that some people are talking. to engineer, or put together, these HD discs (whether on blu ray or hd dvd) w/ all the extra special features and interactivity w/out a doubt costs more than a standard dvd w/ limited features. couple that with a more expensive disk and well, you'd have to be a f---ing moron to charge the same amount as the dvd counterpart. whether its disney, universal, fox or paramount, they'd have to be borderline retarded to do this in the long run.