In Defense of HD DVD at Best Buy
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Even with all of this misinformation and marketing buzz behind BR I can't figure out who would actually buy the unit. At $999 and with 4 or 5 titles released, it's hard to imagine Joe consumer going for it. And certainly the videophiles like us read these forums and know what's going on. So, who does that leave?
Dude! That's the Toshiba HD-DVD player there with the $499 sign on it.vurbano said:I just read a thread over at AVS on Best buy and Blu ray. Someone posted a picture of his local Blu ray display in Best buy....... powered by a toshiba HD-A1!!!!!!!!!!on top of the TV was all of the Blu ray titles in a Blu ray display. No mention of HD DVD.
No deceptive advertising in that photo. That TV just happens to have BR discs on it, thats all.
-John
jgantert said:
The whole thing looks like a giant Blu ray Display. You only find out the truth if you read the tag on the HD DVD player. To the guy walking buy he sees "blu ray" and a great picture and thinks Oh I want one of those sometime.
HD DVD Blu-Rau and Sony
I was in Sam's Friday and the sales man there told me that this Fall Sony would introduce a combination Blu-ray HD DVD player for $500.00. If true, and I doubt it (price), that would be wonderful...anyone have knowledge about that.
I was in Sam's Friday and the sales man there told me that this Fall Sony would introduce a combination Blu-ray HD DVD player for $500.00. If true, and I doubt it (price), that would be wonderful...anyone have knowledge about that.
Not gonna happen. There has been talk of a Samsung combo player. I don't think Sony (especially) would undermine there $1500 price point by releasing a player for much less that could read HD DVD. Crazy salesman!
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The Sony will be $999 not $1500. In any case there's no way Sony is going to go with a combo player this early in the game.
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...t?CategoryName=hav_bluraydiscsub&Dept=tvvideo
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...t?CategoryName=hav_bluraydiscsub&Dept=tvvideo
I read somewhere that they think that the outcome of this format war may not have one winner for a long time but two standing side by side relying largely on dual format players. But the early prices I've seen from such players is exceedingly high so I think I'll be staying with my Tosh for a good while.
When you think about it the prices really aren't that high. In terms of old dollars vs new dollars. Back in the 70's when Beta Max first came out the price was over$1,000f or a one hour recorder. I waited a bit and got a 2 hour recorder for $880. Also I paid about $650 for my first VHS recorder. (also 2nd generation maybe even 3rd) If I recall correctly when you could only buy a DVD player from that infomercial that played in the middle of the night, I think that went for about $900Again I waited and paid $600 for the second generation. And who could forget the debut of Directv. That went for $649 and $200 install for a single receiver and single LNB dish. Again I waited and got the Sony dual LNB dish with 2 receivers and did the install myself for about $800. Now factor in the cost of living back then compared to today and what your getting for your money today as compared to then. When you think about it that way today's offerings could be considered a bargain by comparison. Oh, did I mention I paid $98 for my first Beta movie. (Superman)
This is a repeat of the initial launches of DVD, DVD recordables for PC's , Beta, VHS etc....All early adopters got nailed and paid a premium for their eagerness (I was one of them too!)
If either format is to succeed, a price point must be reached that will encourage joe consumer to unload his $50 DVD player in favor of an HD player. Not saying that there will be a $50 player but I do believe the price point will have to reach $99.99 or else...BOTH will not make it.
There will always be those of us will to part with the $$ for HQ! (Like my Pioneer 59i at $1000 when it launched) After all... I REALLY can see a difference in color saturation, PQ etc...especially in an Upconverted movie!
I think I paid about $700 for my 1st DVD recordable for the PC (SCSI) and perhaps $12-15 per blank. (No overrun protection either)
Normal people (NOT US) will not pay $500-$1000 for an HD player...heck, most of them do not even have a stereo (5.1 system) that costs that amount!
To make matters worse, Joe Consumer will look at the Picture as it stands today and wonder WHY...)
Heck, Most cannot even discern the pixilization inthe current Sammy BR player ....BLEH!
When Blockbuster makes a move...things will get sorted out or failure is justy around the corner! <for both>
IMHO!!
Jeff
If either format is to succeed, a price point must be reached that will encourage joe consumer to unload his $50 DVD player in favor of an HD player. Not saying that there will be a $50 player but I do believe the price point will have to reach $99.99 or else...BOTH will not make it.
There will always be those of us will to part with the $$ for HQ! (Like my Pioneer 59i at $1000 when it launched) After all... I REALLY can see a difference in color saturation, PQ etc...especially in an Upconverted movie!
I think I paid about $700 for my 1st DVD recordable for the PC (SCSI) and perhaps $12-15 per blank. (No overrun protection either)
Normal people (NOT US) will not pay $500-$1000 for an HD player...heck, most of them do not even have a stereo (5.1 system) that costs that amount!
To make matters worse, Joe Consumer will look at the Picture as it stands today and wonder WHY...)
Heck, Most cannot even discern the pixilization inthe current Sammy BR player ....BLEH!
When Blockbuster makes a move...things will get sorted out or failure is justy around the corner! <for both>
IMHO!!
Jeff
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gizzer777 said:
I have to say that I disagree with this somewhat. When the HD DVD price point gets near $300 I think you might see a lot of people going for it. It does a great job of playing regular DVDs and you can rent HD DVDs online. If Joe consumer is willing to pay $500 plus for a game system then you would think he would pay $300 for an excellent dvd player.
Well, I went to BB today and the situation has gotton worse. The BD player is now hooked up where the HD DVD demo player was. The HD-A1 demo model is GONE, Its not even on the shelf with the regular DVD players, its no where in sight. No boxes of them, no display model, not even a price tag. What a crock.
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I got tired of waiting for Netflix so I decided to call BB to see if they had Enter the Dragon in stock. They did. I asked the associate to hold one for me and she said no need because no one buys these (HD DVD) movies. People are only buying Blue-Ray.
Neither NEED to make it with bust buy to be in the market. How often did you see a laser disc movie in BB? I have 3 Laser disc players and over 100 disks. True videophones will go to theater stores to get the equipment, nut big box stores. And that is the target market for these players until 2009 when the big change happens. I am the only person in my whole town with HDTV.
I picked up Enter the dragon for $9.00!! I had a print out to price match target (price = $19.99). The kid read it wrong and rung up $9.00. I was filling out some price match form when I relized what he had done. He had already processed the order and I told him of his error. He said don't worry about it!! "The mark up is huge on these things". I should get all my movies from them.
vurbano said:Well, I went to BB today and the situation has gotton worse. The BD player is now hooked up where the HD DVD demo player was. The HD-A1 demo model is GONE, Its not even on the shelf with the regular DVD players, its no where in sight. No boxes of them, no display model, not even a price tag. What a crock.
Same thing here in Albuquerque. Salesman told me that BD has better PQ and corporate is pushing BD.
Well, HD-DVD is in the ad this week.
The local Best Buy has the Toshiba player in the row with the regular DVD players (ie: no TV hooked up). They actually had one in stock. The BR player has its own setup, and several in stock. There was an open box BR player at $999 as well.
All that said, they have tons of HD-DVD discs. I think they might actually carry nearly every HD-DVD movie out there. There was a big display in the DVD isle, as well as an endcap in the regular DVD section.
-John
The local Best Buy has the Toshiba player in the row with the regular DVD players (ie: no TV hooked up). They actually had one in stock. The BR player has its own setup, and several in stock. There was an open box BR player at $999 as well.
All that said, they have tons of HD-DVD discs. I think they might actually carry nearly every HD-DVD movie out there. There was a big display in the DVD isle, as well as an endcap in the regular DVD section.
-John
