Meet the Venture SHD7000 HD DVD player
By Matt Burns 
posted Mar 25th 2007 11:08AM
posted Mar 25th 2007 11:08AM
Boy it sure took long enough, but finally, a company other then Toshiba is producing an HD DVD player. Sure, it might be made by the same company that produces those low-cost Walmart DVD players, but before you say anything, think back a few years. Remember when DVD players where a thing for AV geeks and gadget lovers, costing around $150 to $200 per player? Companies like Venture, APEX, and all those other random Chinese companies did what CE giants like Sony and Toshiba couldn't - get people to kick their VCRs to the curb with low-cost DVD players. We aren't saying those DVD players are still alive and kicking but those cheap units put a DVD player in every home across the country.
There aren't many details about the Venture SHD7000, besides it plays HD DVD movies. We are assuming it has the mandatory HD DVD requirements of persistent storage, network interface and HDi support but other then that, we have nothing. Hopefully when more details emerge, they will include a price of around $100 and a launch date that is sooner then later. Just when you thought the format wars where dying down, here come the Chinese. FYI - Venture is based out of Canada with a Chinese manufacturing partner, Alco.
Toshiba is about to drop the price of their entry level HD-DVD player to $399, so I would assume that this no-name player will have to be $299 or less to have a shot at landing some sales.
I have been on the fence waiting for an inexpensive (and stand-alone) entry point into HD-DVD or BR and this just may be the ticket. I'm not expecting good upconversion performance on regular DVDs, so my Oppo OPDV971H DVD player will likely stay around.
I know a lot of PS3 fanboys troll this site and I'll likely perturb them, but I don't think the introduction of a low cost HD-DVD player will sit well with the BR format. BR is riding PS3 inertia right now, but once the PS3 has achieved it's big intro sales phase they will need something to penetrate the non-gamer home market. So far, they have nothing...
It's POS companies like these that killed all profit margins in DVD players (and many other CE products as well) and doesn't make it lucrative for independent B&M CE retailers. With stores like CompUSA and Tweeter closing down, it won't be long before Busted Buy, Short-Circuit City and Walled-Mart are the only places you can buy CE, and we all know how "well informed" their staff are about CE.
>I know a lot of PS3 fanboys troll this site and I'll likely perturb them, but I don't think the introduction of a low cost HD-DVD player will sit well with the BR format.<
HDMike, I totally agree. The trolling on BOTH sides (and god-awful spelling and grammar; what exactly are "teh xBOx fanbois"?) must stop. One reason for the 360's success is the offering of HD DVD as an accessory. If the 360 launched at, say, $599 with this drive included, I'm not so sure shortages and the like would have followed well into the following months. HD DVDs didn't even appear on shelves until April 2006, a full four months after the console did, so many consumers might have questioned the high price in the first place. I'm also not sure that 360/PS3 console owners are particularly comfortable with using their high-priced consoles as dedicated movie players; no one can argue that this will, inevitably, produce more wear and tear on a console than usual.
The only reason the add-on hasn't sold anywhere near half a million is 1)they can't produce that many and 2)many people, contrary to popular belief, do not have HDTVs. And, almost half of the ones that do have no idea how to get a proper HD signal on their sets, a necessity if you're purchasing any HD movie player. The economy is not great right now and hasn't been for a long time. The winner of this "format war" could very well be the side with the most affordable next-gen players. At the very least, with each side driving prices down, everyone wins. I'm an HD DVD supporter, but I will certainly buy a Blu-Ray player when the price is right.
Since I am a consumer not a CE company I could care less if their profit margins go down. Cheap HD DVD players will drive down the price for Blu-Ray players. This is a win win situation for both sides. I am still waiting for another good deal on the HD DVD add-on.
@Larry:
"I am still waiting for another good deal on the HD DVD add-on."
Something you may be interested in -- starting on April 1st (through April 7th), Circuit City is having a deal where you can buy the Toshiba A2 HD DVD player for $399 and get 4 free movies from Circuit City and another 5 free movies from Toshiba -- so 9 movies (minimum of $180 worth of flicks) makes the player $220 or less, assuming you're the type of person who likes buying movies as opposed to renting.
It's an awesome deal.
This is EXACTLY what the industry needs to get High Definition movies going. If HD-DVD can offer you a player for $100 and get the price of movies under $25...I'm sold. They really have to put some value out there to entice people to go with HD-DVD. I have absolutely no preference WHATSOEVER for either format, I just want one to win already. Keep your fingers crossed gang.
I'll hold out for there hard drive version so I can dump my cable DVR.
Paul, there's no evidence that Microsoft can't produce enough HD DVD add-ons. They barely sold 100K; many WalMarts have discontinued them due to low sales (they were clearance priced at $130). They can't sell that many because it's a poor product - no HDMI support, glitchy audio with no lossless support, and loud device.
This isn't fair. APEX's supplier is (was?) being investigated for unpaid loans in the hundreds of millions of $.