Let's get this straight. A Best Buy survey suggesting that the public isn't acting early on the imminent digital TV transition. From the same big box retailer accused of pushing ignorant citizens into buying unnecessary wares in order to maintain a signal post-2009. Righhht. For whatever it is (or isn't) worth, a recent survey from said retailer has found that 88-percent of respondents were "aware of the digital broadcast transition, but were still confused about why [it] was happening and what really needed to be done to prepare." It also found that nearly half (45-percent) of those who hadn't already picked up a new TV or a DTV converter box were going to "wait until after the digital deadline to take action," which is really so typical of our society, isn't it? Go ahead government, spend those advertising dollars good -- the public at large still won't do anything until their hands are forced.

[Image courtesy of StarBulletin]

For those maintaining that $349.99 for an Insignia Blu-ray player is still too pricey, how's about this deal? Best Buy is now offering a $100 Coupon Book right in the box of its newly released NS-BRDVD, and while there could very well be a score of $5 coupons in there, we do know that it'll provide "instant savings on a great collection of Blu-ray Disc movies from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax." It should be noted that the book is included regardless of whether the unit is purchased in-store or online, but the actual coupons within can only be redeemed in a brick-and-mortar location. Anyone actually cracked one of these open and care to share what's tucked inside?

[Via TG Daily]

While it's no big secret that VUDU's movie set-top-box is still serving a niche market at the moment, things could be on the up-and-up for the outfit. According to Video Business, it has managed to land its wares on the shelves of two dozen California Best Buys. The move marks VUDU's first foray into the brick-and-mortar realm, as it has previously sold the device exclusively online. It's also noted that the VUDU is being "merchandised in four different locations" within the stores, while the Apple TV is generally only found near other Apple products. There's no word on whether more BB locations will be picking the STB up, but that decision may be made based on how sales go in the first 24 stores.

What's this? Best Buy finally released the Insignia NS-BRDVD blu-ray player for an affordable $349.99. The design, like other in-house Insignia-branded products, is questionable, but if you were looking into the PS3 as a player, this could be a $50 cheaper option if games aren't your thing. The unit outputs at 1080P, decodes Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD, and decodes 2-channel Dolby TrueHD. Outputs include stereo audio, composite video, component video, optical Toslink, digital coax, and HDMI. No word on image quality just yet, but based on previous Insignia products, we're not holding our breath.

[Thanks, Jordan]

To no one's surprise, retailers are putting up a fight against fines handed out by the FCC regarding point-of-sale notification that analog-only TVs will go black after the digital switchover. Circuit City was the first to lodge a complaint and Best Buy followed quickly afterwards. Among the retailers' complaints are: the required signage was never made available for comment, the acts were not "willful or repeated," and that the FCC has no jurisdiction over the sales. We've tried to use arguments similar to those first two on speeding tickets -- you guess the result. Whether or not the FCC has jurisdiction is the more interesting point; the commission justified imposition of its point-of-sale rules in part III-B of its "Second Report and Order." Our take is that this legal action is really just a not-so-friendly way to negotiate the fines down, and expect the retailer bandwagon to get crowded if this is successful.

Read - Circuit City challenges FCC fine
Read - Best Buy challenges FCC fine
Read - FCC "Second Report and Order" [PDF link]

Amidst recent news about D&M Holdings being sold off, principal shareholder RHJ International has stated that 30 layoffs at Boston Acoustics are an unrelated happenstance. It's unfortunate timing, to be sure, but RHJI spokesman Gail Petersen has stated that acquisition preparation was "absolutely not a factor," and cited a decrease in new Boston Acoustics product development this year and increases in efficiency amongst companies folded into D&M holdings as reasons for trimming rolls. Whether it's coincidence or causality (if it's coincidence, it's an awfully common one), it should all get wrapped up soon -- word is that bidding between Merrill Lynch, Best Buy, Advantage Partners, and Kenwood/Bain Capital should end soon.


Read - Boston Acoustics Cuts 30 Employees
Read - Interview with RJHI's Gail Petersen

While the roster of storied high end names is pretty long, don't think for a minute that the blue-blood part of the market has not experienced consolidation. D&M Holdings is a prime example of this: D&M's owner, RJH International, has managed to fit Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Snell and Escient under one umbrella over the years. And now RJH is looking to cash in on the concentrated dollop of high end, offering up 49-percent of its shares in D&M. Philips has agreed to offer its12-percent stake to a winning bidder as well. Our math tells us that's more than a controlling percentage. Harman International, apparently satisfied with its own high end roster (including Harman Kardon, Infinity, Revel and Mark Levinson), has bowed out of bidding. That leaves Bain Capital (Kenwood) and Best Buy as the most prominent bidders, both of which scare us a little. One of the things we really enjoy about the D&M brands is the individual "personalities" behind them, and that's a credit to the management overlords. There's no guarantee that this variety of flavor will survive an en masse transition to new ownership.

Sony's got every other LCD manufacturer in its sights this year (we know, we've got the roadmap), taking the stage of Finetech Japan 2008 predicting sales of 108 million units globally, and, through investments and "technological differences", being in position to take the lion's share of them. Sure in the U.S. upstarts like Vizio have grabbed a chunk of the market, and things are just as cutthroat in Japan, but beyond its partnerships with Samsung and Sharp, Sony's focused on growing partnerships with Best Buy, Costco and Wal-Mart to reach 15-20 million LCDs this year. Other than lower costs as production increases, and advanced technology, 2009 plans call for a 32-inch HDTV that needs less than half the power of a current model, and even more super-slim OLEDs.

As seen previously, the FCC isn't scared to put the financial smackdown on anyone it finds not playing up to the rules of the digital transition, and has dropped about $6 million in fines on 11 companies. Several of the companies fined were retailers it says did not properly mark TVs that had only analog tuners and won't get OTA TV after it's shut off next year. Wal-Mart got dinged for $992k, $1.1 million went against Sears, $712k for Circuit City, $296k against Target and $280k against Best Buy. Syntax-Brillian was one of two companies that caught a charge for importing TVs without a digital tuner after the deadline, two more were fined for V-chip violations, while Panasonic and Philips were among seven others that settled to avoid fines. That probably won't cover all those $40 coupons, but it can't hurt.

[Via Zatz Not Funny & Cable Digital News]

This day and age, consumers are a lot more willing to fork out thousands of dollars to bring home a swank HDTV than in years past, but that being said, price is still a primary concern even for those with deep pockets. According to new research from iSuppli, it found that over 63-percent of respondents making between $100,000 and $149,000 per year cited price as a "main determining factor when buying a TV." Curiously, it still found that 40-percent of buyers were heading to (generally overpriced) brick-and-mortar outlets in order to pick up their set (versus 23-percent buying at discount stores like Costco and 18-percent purchasing online). As an aside, the surveyors found that consumers saw Best Buy as having the best customer service (um, really?), while fledgling Circuit City was ranked even lower than Wal-Mart. Still, we maintain that B&M locales are great for scoping out which set you desire, but we'd certainly glance around online before paying a premium for getting it nearby.

[Via New York Times, image courtesy of StarTribune]

With a few HD DVDs still left to be released, you can go ahead and mark Best Buy off of your list of places to pick 'em up. According to swarms of e-mails from folks around the US, the retailer everyone loves to hate has decided to rid its stores of films on the red format. We've heard some reports that the discs are simply being shipped back to studios, but nevertheless, it seems that the 30-percent-off sale has reached an abrupt halt. Truthfully, we can only imagine that the other big box retailers will follow suit in short order, but it is somewhat interesting to see such a notable store purging its shelves before the format has zero titles on deck.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Image courtesy of Aaron S.]

So what's your remnant of a format war gone by worth? Best Buy has updated its Trade-In Center website with prices for HD DVD players and movies, and quite frankly you're probably better off just keeping it. Prices for players are highest for combo players, like the BH-200 ($285*) and BD-UP5000 ($255), then for players equipped with high end scalers for DVD upconverting like the HD-XA2 ($165) then everything else like the Xbox 360 add-on ($21) or HD-A3 ($36). Movies (along with a player, not by themselves) net less than $3 each. Of course, there's always value in a fresh start so go ahead and check it out for yourself.

*All prices assume excellent condition with all cables & manuals

Best Buy is following Future Shop, Circuit City and others in reaching out to casualties of the format war. In this case, anyone who bought an HD DVD player from Best Buy before February 23, 2008 can request a complimentary $50 gift card for each player. For those too traumatized to even look at their discontinued hardware and software, Best Buy also announced it's adding HD DVD players and media to its Trade-In Center program, starting March 21. No word on how much a player can net you, but once it's updated, check BestBuyTradeIn.com to get an estimate and decide how much holding onto the past is worth.

[Thanks, Harmin C.]

Update: Best Buy just issued a press release with additional information about the more than $10 million in gift cards it plans to distribute, and details on how to make sure you get yours, check out the full PR after the break.

We've had digital TV tuners for years, but for many there's a lot of anxiety associated with trying to ensure you're ready for the analog shutoff. So to do our part in helping to make the digital transition a success -- and to get some much needed cred' with the mother-in-law -- we set out on a quest for a DTV converter box.

Finding a DTV converter box that is eligible for the $40 voucher is pretty easy, in fact, in almost every place we looked, we found 'em. The problem is that the voucher is only for $40 and since those who actually need one in the first place are too cheap frugal to pay for cable or buy a new TV, every penny counts.

We knew retailers were washing their hands of HD DVD as quickly as possible, but it seems as if Best Buy is opting to initiate what we can only assume is the first wave of a fire sale by taking 30-percent off every HD DVD in its stores. At least, that's what we've confirmed for a number of locations. As of now, there's no word on whether the HD DVD players themselves will see equally steep price cuts, but feel free to drop by your local Best Buy at lunch and stock up if you so choose. 'Course, we've got a sneaking suspicions this 30-percent will grow to 50-percent and beyond in the not-too-distant future, but alas, the selection will probably be quite poor by that time.

[Thanks, Tim and Vince]
[Image courtesy of Aaron S.]