AfterDawn: News

Toshiba cuts prices of HD-DVD player

In a push to gain the upper hand in the format war over rival Blu-Ray, Toshiba announced at this year's CES that it will lower the price of its entry level 1080p capable HD-DVD player, the HD-A20 to a scant $600. The other two players in Toshiba's arsenal are the HD-A2 and HD-XA2 which carry price tags of $500 and $1000 respectively. Although the HD-A2 is cheaper, it also does not support the full HD 1080p resolution.

The Full HD experience is what Toshiba hopes will grab consumer's attention with this model. Even though it is not their cheapest model in the lineup, they're hoping that the 1080p feature will push people above and beyond what their 1080i capable HD-A2 has to offer. Of course, I'm sure they wont mind you picking up the $1000 model, the HD-XA2 either. Although the only discerning feature that can be found is the inclusion of the latest HDMI standard, 1.3. Dubbed as Deep Color, HDMI 1.3 claims to be a leap above and beyond HDMI 1.2, which is all that is equipped on the 2 lesser Toshiba models.



Source:
PC World

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 8 Jan 2007 5:44

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• 12 comments

• jziman

  Now this is what the consumer likes to see prices being cut. This is a wise move by the mfg. Get in to the people homes and let them sell it to there firends.

  8.1.2007 10:38 #1

• georgeluv

  pfffff, they are realy f#cking up right now, honestly. every day that goes by with the price of hd and blu ray being what they are more and more people are seeking the free bootleg solutions. f#ck a hd standalone. f#ck having to buy a hdmi tv. ill hook my tv up to my computer, get the 200 dollar 360 hd drive and rip hd movies and watch hd downloads all day for free.

  8.1.2007 12:30 #2

• borhan9

  I like price cuts too and especially with new products out there. I think companies have realizes that people can not afford products to be over priced so they make cheaper versions that give the same effect and then when they get used to the new product they will upgrade in the few years to come.

  9.1.2007 00:17 #3

• S2K

  georgeluv,
  I don't think you read the article. the price is coming down, not up.It will keep coming down.

  9.1.2007 06:33 #4

• hughjars

  Clever.
  
  That's the low, mid and high end of the market covered.
  
  Quality specs and competitive prices
  (with 300 new HD-DVD titles announced at CES this week to add to the approx 120 already available).
  
  .....and folks without a 1080p TV (which is most people) don't have to pay through the nose for an excellent high def HD-DVD experience.

  9.1.2007 10:04 #5

• ZippyDSM

  bah if they turely wanted to win the format war building a player for under 370 would do the trick ,sure the real price of it would be closer to 570 but your not goign to amke an ommlete without busting eggs and you cant make moeny without losing some.

  15.1.2007 06:50 #6

• hughjars

  The (2nd gen) Toshiba HD-A2 is currently on sale on US Amazon for $399 (approx £210)!
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-.../dp/B000IJV4BC
  
  Bargain or what?
  
  The coming 'entry level' Chinese HD-DVD players are known to be being priced lower than that (a prototype was demo'd at CES).
  Q2/3 of 2007 is being talked about.

  15.1.2007 13:01 #7

• ZippyDSM

  hughjars
  nice,but when will hollywood start useign 3 layered discs? kinda makes all current players pointless.

  15.1.2007 21:38 #8

• eatsushi

  Triple layered HD-DVD discs have limited uses at this time unless you have a super-extended edition 4-hour movie (LOTR?). The efficiency of the VC-1 codec makes dual-layer 30 Gig discs sufficient for a great majority of releases. Besides I don't think the studios will commit to 3-layered discs unless they're sure that majority of players are capable of playing them. It doesn't make good business sense to do so.
  

  "The flimsier the product, the higher the price."
  -The 82nd Ferengi Rule of Acquisition-
  

  16.1.2007 06:49 #9

• hughjars

  I'm not sure retail movies will appear on TL HD-DVD discs.
  
  It really does seem like many in the industry don't think it is necessary.
  
  However it might well be that this boost in capacity is to answer the demand from domestic home users (and possibly business users) wanting this size of capacity on their private PC burners.
  
  I can imagine it might be very handy.

  16.1.2007 14:09 #10

• error5

  I agree with eatsushi and hughjars. Triple layer discs will likely be used mostly for storage and will find very limited use for movies. The VC-1 codec makes this so. Case in point: The HD-DVD of King Kong has a 187 minute movie fitting easily in a dual layer 30 Gig disc while maintaining excellent video (5 stars) and audio (4 1/2 stars) quality.
  
  http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/kingkong2005.html
  

  Sony KDL-46XBR3 46" LCD HDTV 1080p
  Toshiba HD-A1 // Sony PS3 60GB
  Marantz SR 7500 // B&W604/602/LCR600 // Hsu Research VTF3 Subwoofer
  Panamax 4300EX // Cables & Wiring by bettercables, Acoustic Research, Tributaries, & Monster
  

  16.1.2007 14:26 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Good comments ^^
  
  they could use the 3 layered discs down the road in 2-3 years makeing sure the hardware side of it has players out that can support them.in any case its not needed right now,but it might be and if its later(when most players support it) it might can be a bonus to the consumer.

  16.1.2007 18:32 #12