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Sony to leave the "battle to the bottom" of Blu-ray player prices alone, for 2009 at least

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 26th 2009 at 1:12PM


Just in case you were wondering whether Sony would get down and dirty with the low-priced rabble this year, word from its community blog is the company predictably held its premium brand mantle high, proclaiming during a recent industry analyst meeting that it wouldn't be launching a value-priced Blu-ray player. Still, after turning around and selling TVs bearing its name at Wal-mart of all places, we would be surprised to see Sony flip on this policy and offer price-conscious shoppers a Vizio alternative sooner rather than later.

Poll: Did you purchase an HD DVD player post-format war?

by Darren Murph posted Aug 9th 2008 at 12:00PM


While scads of HD DVD adopters took advantage of extended return periods in order to rid themselves of the defunct format, we wonder who ran out to acquire a player at rock-bottom prices? Even now, the cost of entry into Blu-ray is still ridiculously high, and it's not like we ever had any issues with the image / audio quality of HD DVDs. Rather than beating around the proverbial bush, we'll get right down to it: did you rush out to buy an HD DVD player soon after the format war concluded? Did you stock up on HD DVD titles at bargain basement prices? Are you still enjoying your HD DVD player right now? Tell us how your unit is faring after a few months of being shunned by everyone else, and don't even think of being shy.

Did you purchase an HD DVD player post-format war?


German retailer discounting Sony BDP-S300 for HD DVD player trade-in

by Darren Murph posted Jan 29th 2008 at 3:35PM


We're not exactly sure what German retailer Saturn plans to do with any HD DVD players that are surrendered as folks waltz in to take advantage of its latest offer, but we suppose the refurbished section could receive a boost in inventory if nothing else. Judging by a recent flier from the store, it's offering consumers a €150 ($221) discount on Sony's BDP-S300 -- which is overpriced at €499 ($734) -- if they trade their HD DVD player in at the time of purchase. Also of note, we can't seem to find if there's any fine print about what HD DVD players are acceptable, but it is certain that this deal is only available overseas at the moment. Not a bad idea to get customers to jump ship, though.

[Via Blu-ray, thanks Bhargav N.]

Toshiba HD-A3 with 12 free movies available at Wal-Mart "secret" sale

by Donald Melanson posted Dec 6th 2007 at 4:36PM

There's certainly been no shortage of HD-DVD deals lately (or Blu-ray ones, for that matter), but it seem like those looking to get the biggest movie collection right out of the gate won't be able to do much better than Wal-Mart's upcoming "secret" sale, which includes a Toshiba HD-A3 player with twelve free HD-DVDs for $298. That, of course, includes the usual two movies in the box and five more by mail, plus an additional five that you'll get "instantly" when you buy the player (no word on what you'll have to choose from). You'll have to get up early if you want to walk away with that stash, however, as the sale gets underway tomorrow at 8 am sharp, when you'll also be able to snag a 50-inch Vizio plasma TV for $998 or a 40GB PS3 with a free $50 gift card for $399, among other slightly less notable deals.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]




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