HD-DVD player for 99 bucks tomorrow

[jagowar]

Its part of walmarts "pre black friday sale" but other retailers are supposedly going to price match so you might be able to get it elsewhere.

For 99 bucks its an outstanding player and one of the best upconverting players (mayny reviews call it the best) out there so even if you dont have a hdtv yet it would be a good deal.

[whitelightnin_23]

link?
which DVD player is it?

[Pflugerville Ag]

What time does this go on sale?

[jagowar]

Its the toshiba hd-a2 and I think it goes on sale at 8AM.... but be warned its blowing up on the internet so its likely going to be very hard to find one in stock.

There's a good review of this player (http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/toshiba_HD-A2.html) over at HDTVexpert. UltimateAV has another review (http://www.ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/207toshhda2/).

[Pflugerville Ag]

Looks like I might be making a detour to the office after I drop my boys off at school.

[whitelightnin_23]

good thing they don't have the internet in Tennessee! :gig:

[jagowar]

a bit more info here.... along with a commercial they are airing to promote this.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Toshiba/Wal-Mart/HD_DVD_Takes_Centerstage_at_Wal-Mart/1131

[Pflugerville Ag]

So it says that "select" stores will be selling it. I wonder what that really means.

[jagowar]

if you dont want to wait.... http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8021767&st=hda2&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1158323325814

if your best buy has them in stock you can go get one now...

[whitelightnin_23]

what does "upconvert" mean?

[jagowar]

means it will convert your dvd's to hd resolutions and make it look better but not HD like the actual hd-dvd's are.

[whitelightnin_23]

cool!

[whitelightnin_23]

how much for the HD addition to the Xbox360?
I might just get that instead...

[Texags Refugee]

thats for non-HD dvd's right? But does it play the new HD-dvd's as well? Sorry, if these questions seem stupid. I dont have anything HD and dont know much about it.

[whitelightnin_23]

what about HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray...

Is HD-DVD in effect the "Beta" VCR???

[jagowar]

yeah it will "upconvert" your dvd's and play the new hd-dvd's but not bluray discs.

the 360 addon is $180 but thats its everyday price and not a sale price.

[Texags Refugee]

so has the whole bluray vs hd-dvd been settled yet? I heard that the porn industry has chosen the bluray (like they did the VHS) and that the HD-dvd will become obsolete. Any truth in this?

[jagowar]

no it hasnt and wont be for a while still.... actually the porn industry chose hd-dvd but will release on both formats but more on hd-dvd.

[Texags Refugee]

Anyone know if it will play burned dvd's?

[Pflugerville Ag]

if you dont want to wait.... http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8021767&st=hda2&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1158323325814

if your best buy has them in stock you can go get one now...

SOLD OUT and NOT AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP! :mad:

[Pflugerville Ag]

The "secret" website is now online...

www.walmart.com/secret (http://www.walmart.com/secret)

[polish]

Walmart can't keep secrets :mad:

[CoolaidWade]

that is the worst secret ever. i don't know if I can physically allow myself to walk into a wal-mart since i boycotted them and blockbuster. i'll try one and see if they have it tomorow. it'll be later in the afternoon so hopefully they aren't sold out.

[Pflugerville Ag]

Stopped by the P-Ville Wal Mart at 7:45 am and easily picked up my new HD DVD player. There were a couple other people waiting but I had no problem getting one. They had about 20 and sold out right around 8am.

[jagowar]

yeah my dad got one too this morning... btw if you buy one hd-dvd to go with it get transformers.... freaking rocks in hd-dvd.

[Pflugerville Ag]

You also get 5 free HD DVD's by mail for buying one. They give you 13 to choose from. The movies aren't all great, but they do have some good ones...(Full Metal Jacket being one of them).

[jagowar]

actually full metal jacket might be a horrible one to choose.... there was a first gen and a second gen version of that movie (the master for the first gen one sucked so bad they had to redo it). its nowhere near hd-dvd quality so if you got one that looks horrid thats why. just a warning.

[Pflugerville Ag]

Jag, you might be right, but I don't own that movie, so I want to get it anyway. I figured it was worth a try.

[CoolaidWade]

i'm going to try at 1ish. I doubt I have a chance.

[jagowar]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=856119

thats a good thread to see what kind of quality the releases have....

[FrionaAg1990]

I've had this player for about a year. I think it is great. Cost me over $200. Comes with a DVI cable so if you have a HDMI connection you'll need a converter.

With the HD vs Blue Ray war going on, maybe this will help HD make up some ground. Blue Ray is too expensive. Worth taking the chance for $98.:gig:

[Pflugerville Ag]

I think HD and Blu Ray will coexist. Disney chose Blu Ray, but I think Warner Bros is taking HD.

[legelegel]

I think HD and Blu Ray will coexist. Disney chose Blu Ray, but I think Warner Bros is taking HD.

What is the advantage of one over the other.

Does Blu Ray have anything to do with Bluetooth?

[FrionaAg1990]

You're probably to young to remember but at one time we all had VCR's. Now some were VHS while some were Beta Max. Beta Max was Sony's idea to corner the market. Eventually VHS took over the market and anyone (father-in-law :laugh: ) who bought a Beta Max was screwed.

Blu Ray has nothing to do with Bluetooth. There is no difference in quality between Blu Ray and HD-DVD. Blu Ray is Sony's attempt at the hd market. Blu ray movies and players are more expensive. Sony has spent tons of money getting movie companies to release movies in Blu Ray format only.

By the way, you can buy a player that is both Blu Ray and HD-DVD, but its expensive.:(

[legelegel]

You're probably to young to remember but at one time we all had VCR's. Now some were VHS while some were Beta Max. Beta Max was Sony's idea to corner the market. Eventually VHS took over the market and anyone (father-in-law :laugh: ) who bought a Beta Max was screwed.

Blu Ray has nothing to do with Bluetooth. There is no difference in quality between Blu Ray and HD-DVD. Blu Ray is Sony's attempt at the hd market. Blu ray movies and players are more expensive. Sony has spent tons of money getting movie companies to release movies in Blu Ray format only.

By the way, you can buy a player that is both Blu Ray and HD-DVD, but its expensive.:(

I'm old enough to be in the same boat as your father-in-law. If he's anything like me, I'm still mad as hell about the demise of Beta Max and it's not one bit funny to this day for me.:headslap:

[CoolaidWade]

i got one at 1:00. they had about three left.

so i think i have a dvi converter? because my tv is only hdmi but the player is dvi so one end is dvi and the other is hdmi. is that how simple a dvi converter is?

the screen flashes a few times and then plays but says that format is not recognized and i think it goes to 480. is that normal? it's a regular dvd no hd. the picture does look better so i guess it's converting it to near hd quality?

[jagowar]

the one my dad got was hdmi.... and came with a hdmi cable. hooking it up that way should get you 1080 on your tv even with dvd's. you might have to enable upscaling though.... didnt go through the menus.

[CoolaidWade]

actually..... the hd player is hdmi but my tv only has a dvi output. (reverse of what i posted above) but i have a cord with one end being hdmi and the other dvi which i'm using. it works but it's buggy. sometimes i have to start and restart for it to work. my tv is 1080 compatible.

[jagowar]

ahh.... well it should work that way but i dont know for sure... ie it should be 1080i for dvd's but like i said its probably a menu option as long as your tv takes 1080 in via the dvi cable. your converter might not be able to process 1080p content though.

[CoolaidWade]

maybe my cable is messed up. it's the one grande cable gave me and it looks like it sucks.

i just ordered a new dvi/hdmi cable from monoprice.com

[polish]

actually full metal jacket might be a horrible one to choose.... there was a first gen and a second gen version of that movie (the master for the first gen one sucked so bad they had to redo it). its nowhere near hd-dvd quality so if you got one that looks horrid thats why. just a warning.
I would think the quality of the movie would supercede the release quality. Obviously older movie won't look quite as good :bored:

[CoolaidWade]

The picture is incredible just upconverting standard DVDs..... I think the cord I have now is messed up because I just fiddled it and now it's working. (says it's playing in 1080 right now) I think a new cord will fix that problem for good.

I can't wait to actually see a real HD movie. I put about three in my netflix right on top to get next.

[Mole]

You're probably to young to remember but at one time we all had VCR's. Now some were VHS while some were Beta Max. Beta Max was Sony's idea to corner the market. Eventually VHS took over the market and anyone (father-in-law :laugh: ) who bought a Beta Max was screwed.

Blu Ray has nothing to do with Bluetooth. There is no difference in quality between Blu Ray and HD-DVD. Blu Ray is Sony's attempt at the hd market. Blu ray movies and players are more expensive. Sony has spent tons of money getting movie companies to release movies in Blu Ray format only.

By the way, you can buy a player that is both Blu Ray and HD-DVD, but its expensive.:(

I remember when my parents bought our first VCR. It was so cool at the time. Then I remember laser discs coming out and asking my parents if we could get one. They didn't want to.:sad:

[CoolaidWade]

can somebody tell me what i'm missing exactly audio wise buy not having a true hdmi and going hdmi to dvi?

on texags it was said i won't have the full hd audio experience but not really explained.

[jagowar]

hdmi can potentially support 7.1 audio via dolby truehd or dts-master audio.... both are "next gen" audio formats but very few receivers support it yet so its not a huge loss.

[CoolaidWade]

awesome.

[Brons2]

i got one at 1:00. they had about three left.

so i think i have a dvi converter? because my tv is only hdmi but the player is dvi so one end is dvi and the other is hdmi. is that how simple a dvi converter is?

the screen flashes a few times and then plays but says that format is not recognized and i think it goes to 480. is that normal? it's a regular dvd no hd. the picture does look better so i guess it's converting it to near hd quality?

I'd suggest to RTFM :D

[Brons2]

ahh.... well it should work that way but i dont know for sure... ie it should be 1080i for dvd's but like i said its probably a menu option as long as your tv takes 1080 in via the dvi cable. your converter might not be able to process 1080p content though.

The HD-A2 does not output 1080p, which is why I did not bother with this promotion. It can only do 1080i, which is not a bad option as 2007 is the first year that virtually all 1080p resolution HDTV's can input 1080p signal. About half of the 1080p TV's in 2006 could input 1080p, and virtually none of them in 2005 could.

For 2007 the new thing was 1080p at 24 frames per second and HDMI 1.3. Some TV's had this, some didn't. Mine doesn't.

For 2008, a 120Hz screen refresh is the new thing. It's always something or another....

Of course, 720p TV's are still offered and they are not a bad option as it's really hard to tell the difference between a properly calibrated 720p TV and a properly calibrated 1080p TV. (hint...most people do not have their TV's professionally calibrated, which is a service that I think is worth it's weight in gold). I personally prefer 720p to 1080i as I think it is smoother for action scenes and sports.

[Brons2]

hdmi can potentially support 7.1 audio via dolby truehd or dts-master audio.... both are "next gen" audio formats but very few receivers support it yet so its not a huge loss.

the HD-A2 does not support 7.1 via HDMI according to the webpage...

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/hddvd_products/product.asp?model=hd-a2

However, it does have an Ethernet port for updates which is really nice. You can plug it right into your home router. Maybe they'll have a 7.1 update for the audio. My receiver doesn't support it anyways and I don't have 7 speakers so it doesn't really matter for me, and most other folks I'd have to think.

[Brons2]

Hey Coolaid I was poking around and I found this:

There is currently a bug in the product which limits HDMI output to 480P even when playing a HD-DVD if the TV set has a DVI connector. Toshiba is aware of the issue and hopefully will be releasing firmware soon to address it which can be upgraded either through CDROM or ethernet (another plug of the player)!

Plug the unit into an Ethernet port (your cable modem or router) and update the firmware and this might resolve your issues.