Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player: $100, this Friday, Wal-Mart
By Ryan Block 
posted Nov 1st 2007 1:46AM
posted Nov 1st 2007 1:46AM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted Nov 1st 2007 1:46AM
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Are you people kidding?
1) their savior (transformers) sells pitifully less than they hoped (and reported) so their last hope (in their minds, because no one rational or informed thought it would do them a bit of good) has failed miserably.
2) Warner just stated two days ago that a) they were reconsidering supporting two formats and b) that they were committed to Blu-Ray (how that equals up to they're dropping Blu-Ray only the hdvd crazies could imagine)
3) Selling hdvd players at $99 isn't a positive move for the format, it's a desperation move by the manufacturer. Anyone remember how much a divx player cost just before they shut down? About $99.
These are all the signs of a desperate or dead format, why you all think this is good news is beyond rational.
You know what... Im going out and buying 3 of these... 1 for me, 1 for my bro and 1 for my mom.
Format War aside... If warner dumps HD DVD (Which I doubt) I will return these players for a full refund... its not like there is a limit on return policies...
This sounds like panic from the BD camp.............because #1 and #2 certainly aren't true and #3 is PURE speculation
@MI
Typical of you, another negative slander from h4idols bum buddy.Apologies Jimmy, you aren't in the same category as MI or h4.
MI, you are the one that is desperate not HD DVD with comments like that. If I was a BR fanboy, I guess I would be getting desperate in the face of defeat though, but I wouldn't stoop to you low levels.
Go and buy one @$98 you idiot& enjoy TOTAL HD and save the slander for bluray.com
Get a life.
Wow. I have been holding off on getting into the Hi-Def disc game, but at this price I can't resist. I will be picking this up tomorrow if it's this price at my local wal-mart.
BS, Warner has not said they are committed to BluRay. Go back to your circle jerk at Bluray.com
for the rest of the normal people, this $99 deal is eligible for the 5 free movies from Toshiba. Not that I like most of them, but someone will...
Just got back about a 1/2 hour ago from Best Buy to p/u one of two that they had (there was one left in the Saratoga Springs, NY store if anyone is nearby at about 2:30 p.m.).
We had a $50 gift card that we've been waiting to use, so w/ tax, my HD-DVD player cost me a whopping $56 - FIFTY SIX DOLLARS!!!!!! Wooooo HOOOOO!
At worst, the thing is an excellent upconverting DVD player for one of our non-primary HDTVs. At best, I got an HD-DVD player for $56 out of my pocket. Down w/ Blu-Ray :-)
Everything in Phoenix is now gone!!! Damnit!! That should though, that at the right price, consumers will go RED in a heartbeat. Suck it h4.....
Take the BB add into CC or Ultimate, or Fry's, or Sears and they will price match. CC did for me including the two free movies. I got 300 and Transformers.
"MI, you are the one that is desperate not HD DVD with comments like that. If I was a BR fanboy, I guess I would be getting desperate in the face of defeat though, but I wouldn't stoop to you low levels."
Are you kidding? What's your point, hdvd will win because you're obnoxious?
I make an argument on why this is meaningless and why I think hdvd is still going to loose, you say 'your a poopy head'. If you have no refutation for my points, that's fine, and frankly expected, but if you have nothing but obnoxious comments to support your format, even the K-Mart set won't want to join in.
@MI
Answer one question honestly and forget the BR rhetoric.
If Sony were selling BR players for $99, would you be on this site saying, & I quote your words................,
"Selling blu ray players @ $99 isn't a positive move for the format, it's a desperation move by the manufacturer....", "these are all signs of a desperate or dead format", end quote.
There is no way you would be saying that, you would be crowing very loudly how your side had just kicked a major goal and the end was near for HD DVD.
C'mon MI,we all get a bit excited and one eyed about our own team, me included, but you have to keep things in perspective.
It does not matter how you cut this, this is a major coup for HD DVD.
It's doubtful that this will be a coup. Very few units were up for sale at this price. The sales figures for this month will be published BEFORE black Friday.
So what you are going to see is Toshiba say there was a %60(lets say I doubt even that many were for sale.) increase in HD-DVD sales.
BD counters with, "that didn't even make a big dent in the total adoption numbers, HD-DVD is behind the ball even though they offered $100 players. What is their next move a fre player and 14 free disks?"
The timing is premature and in the pr war may hurt them. There just wasn't enough units to make a real difference. In addition the consumer price point is now adjusted to $100. Everyone is going to wait for the $100 players because they know it happened before. They may buy no players in anticipation of the black Friday units.
This could backfire. No doubt this will hurt BD but Toshiba may have hurt themselves quite a bit more.
Is Toshiba honestly turning a profit by selling $100 players and $15 hd-dvds? Can they afford to sell 5-10 million units with that kind of deal? Assuming a modest loss of $50 per player that is a -$250-500 million dollar profit.
What happens if the offer subsides and so does the sales? What about if the offer only sort of works? What can they do next give the players away for free?
@Joe
What if, what if, what if, what if, what if.
Boring.
Just another blu troll clutching at straws.
Why is it blu fanboys REFUSE to say anything positive??
I am very pro HD DVD, but I wouldn't hesitate buy one of these players at $98 if it was blu ray. In fact, i would probably grab a couple.
Your just pissed you paid a $1000 for your BR player and dammed if anyone else will get a bargain.
What do they teach you people at sony HQ... No matter vot happinz out zere boyz, allvays allvays allvays keep shtickin zee boot in, ve muzt vin zee propoganda var at all costz, ya!
ZIG HEIL
By Christmas it will be called "WHO RAY?"
@ Joe
I'm not a marketing historian, but deals like this normally do work. If any of the BD mfg did this, it would get the same response. It's nothing more than a "Black Friday" type promo that a retailer can do when they so choose to increase overall foot traffic in their stores.
@ Joe
I almost forgot the most important part: Toshiba ISN'T losing money on this product. Why? Because Wal-Mart and any other retailer who runs these types of ads have already negotiated a price with the mfg to sale the product in anyway they see fit. So WALMART might lose a few bucks with a customer buying the equipment and in turn, the customer buys a few HD-DVD titles, a new HDTV, some cosmetics, some groceries, etc, etc, etc.
Or better yet, think of it in terms of the XBOX 360 and PS3. Microsoft and Sony sell their systems at a loss. Customers who buy games for each system allows the mfg to recoup the cost of the system and also make a profit (Nintendo has the best of both worlds with the Wii, since they are not losing money on the system at all).
@ 800lb Gorilla
Love the post, but when did the Japanese start talking like Nazi Germany...it's like a new twist on "Hogan's Heroes".
I'm actually just angry I couldn't get one of these units with 7 movies. I might have considered the $150 with 7 movies but now that I know they are willing to go to $100 + 7 movies I will wait.
I will not be the only one. Many will wait now that the blood is in the water. HD-DVD players cost $100 any more is a rip off.
if it doesn't come with free movies it's a rip off.
@Ed
Have you not heard?
Sony has employed Zigfreid from "Get Smart" and put him in charge of public relations, fanboy education and troll recruitment.
800lb Gorilla aka smee, but don't tell anyone! :)
If anyone happens to be checking this post some Wal-Marts are putting these out at midnight tonight (manager's discretion). The one nearest me has 9 in stock, limit 1 per customer. I've already claimed two of them.
@ J
They aren't suppose to sell until 8am, but since I'm up I probably should make a run to WallyWorld!
My damn Wal-Mart not 24 hrs like it says it is on it's website
ed-
US automakers have been having issues for YEARS based on this type of strategy. The consumers keep expecting the discounts and won't purchase the cars without incentive they know are coming.
Microsoft also run a promotion very similar to this wit the xbox360 that failed. They moved 100k systems in around 5 minutes but sales tanked soon after and it didn't give them a significant long term boost.
Black friday sales move a lot of merchandise by selling some items at a loss. True the store eats some of that loss but it's not hard to see that Toshiba is taking a loss on those units to help adoption. They will get to charge off the loss as a tax advantage. Since they can no longer sell the old units, they have been less than $200 for months, they take a loss per unit and charge it off.
The loss leader effect has been seen in a variety of consumer sectors that haven't recovered. Mainly DVD players and DVD's. The main reason that CE makers and studios want a new HD format is to regain the margins that were lost on $40 dvd players and $5-10 dvds.
Dvd's already sell well and have low margins, why spend a ton making hd transfers and extra content to get the same pitiful profit margin?
@ Joe,
We are talking about the American consumers, right? Backfire or not, retailers and mfg will continue to have these kind of deals because the American consumer will still want something, anything, for free or as cheaply as possible.
Also I noticed that in one of your post, you were pissed that you missed the 7 disc deal @ BB (2 of your choice in-store, then 5 by mail -- my bro snagged one in Cali Thursday). Toshiba still offers the 5 disc by mail regardless of where you buy. Just go to their website.
Lastly, I just want to say how I appreciate people like yourself on these blog post and encourage you to help get rid of nimrods like "h4Idol". He/she/it? just doesn't get it.
@joe
What a load of shi*
You wouldn't take one if they were giving them away troll, why don't you just rack off back to BR HQ and lick some more ass.
@ 800lb Gorilla
lmao. you do know that your "aka" that you sent me is visible to others, right?
@ 800lb Gorilla
lmao. you do know that your "aka" that you sent me is visible to others, right?
Desperate now are ya.
I can see it. Arguing with the immense value that a $100 player and 7 free movies are? HELL YES I WOULD BUT IT.
even the movies alone are with it, hell if the movies were string out dvd's it would be a half decent deal.
Unlike you I don't have my head up my ass. I don't have a problem in the slightest with the format war or Toshiba.
I like movies. 7 hd movies for $14 each is worth it to me. A response like yours shows you're the one who is trolling.
H@Ed
Joe's playing you Ed, he doesn't want a HD DVD player, he's just painting a picture for other people to agree with, he wants people to empathize with his comments and as a result not buy HD DVD. He wants people to agree with him and be angry at Tosh.
He is a blu troll, just like h4, maybe worse.
h4 is just plain dumb, this troll is far more cunning!
Ed-
Southern or northern Cali. I was at work so I could only hit the online sites.
5 movies make it a bit sketchier but, they do have at least 1 movie in each category that I like.
Do you know if the A2 does 1080 via component?
Yeah this blog is chock full of idiots. I miss the days when people like nfinity were the worst of the bunch.
The quality of comments has really gone downhill and most comments lack humor or critical thinking.
American consumers may like the deals but companies have to make profit and have a plan for making profit. I see what HD-DVD is doing as a risky gamble because the timing is off. I see why early leaks of black Friday materials are bad. You are right we are talking about the American consumer. Once a product is reduced in price it doesn't recover.
The A2 player supports all of the HD-DVD features with the only negative being that it's 1080i only. What incentive will people get to pay more for hd-dvd? I don't get how Toshiba plans to profit. It looks like a desperate move but they aren't in a desperate position. The market is slowly growing BD and HD-DVD are growing with it.
If the stores intended to release the $99 as a loss leader the plan failed. The other items such as hd-dvd's aren't on sale either making people likely to snag the player without spending the premium on other items for the holiday shopping.
It's a good deal for the consumer but I'm not so sure for the business.
@ 800lb Gorilla
Hmmm...one can hope, right?
Besides, I told h4Idol the other night that he/she/it? should "get with the f'n program or go molest a barbie doll because that's all the worth to society that you've shown so far".
@ED
Yeah i know buddy, i thought it might slip through unnoticed, but after the double post reply I'm sprung now, lol.
So just so I have the facts straight, you are not a pro BR fanboy, you are format neutral and would happily purchase a HD DVD player and movies?
If that is correct you have my apologies. Unlike the BR fanboys here, I am happy to apologize IF i am wrong.
If that's the case however, a lot of your posts have conflicting attitudes and statements, perhaps you would like to state your stance so it is clear for all.
oops! it's past my bedtime.
I remember that post, I ROFL when I read that, 10 out of 10 Ed :)
@ED
I remember that post about h4, I ROFL when I read that, 10 out of 10 Ed :)
I don't need to be format neutral. I am pro BD but I like movies most of all.
I don't know if I would buy any movies beyond the ones that came with the player but if there was an exclusive that I really wanted I would get it.
Right now there aren't to many movies on either side I would want to own. I tend to go for animated films in hd since they gain the most. Anything I really wanted I can always get it on dvd.
I just like to ask questions as opposed to being spoon fed propaganda.
No one has yet to be able to answer my question on HD-DVD pricing. Every HD-DVD player has more features than a BD player. They have the same picture quality and codecs. I'd wager that with a small amount or redesign the compents on a HD-DVD player could be used for BD and vice-vera. How can HD-DVD do more and sell for hundreds less than a BD player and still make a profit?
If this is a war why is Toshiba's only ally a Chinese knock off company ?
What did they do to piss off EVERY OTHER consumer electronics manufacturer? You don't get to be that alone by accident.
@Joe
NorCal BB. Nfinity posted this weblink earlier in regards to 1080i vs. 1080p: http://blog.hometheatermag.com/geoffreymorrison/0807061080iv1080p/
hope that helps. also the 800lb gorilla is on your side now (if i understood one of his last post right -- i don't know, i'm tired. i just need to get my ass up early to get to Walmart when they open in the morning)
@joe
Don't worry about poor old Tosh joe, your crocodile tears are wasted here.
It's simple, when they run out of old stock A2's which will probably be sooner rather than later, everyone will revert to A3's @$150-$199.
No ones pissed, it's a few more $ but it's the new model.
@ED
No, 800lb Gorilla is not not. I still think Joe is a very clever blu zealot. Troll might be a bit harsh, but his posts are always anti HD DVD, they are just worded more politely than some others.
Joe, Microsoft is on Toshiba's side, plus all combo player manufacturers must have like Toshiba in some way. And let us see if the consumer electronics who went exclusively blue can have the last laugh. My money is on HDDVD ;)
Got mine. Thanks Wal-Mart!
Too bad the would only let me buy one or I could have unloaded my 360 add-on.
Oh well - for $99 you can't go wrong.
Just snagged one myself - Seekonk, MA
They've still got about 8 left.
What a great deal - I was going to sit on the fence for another
few months, but couldn't pass this up.
Went to Wal=Mart this morning to pick up a couple HD-A2s. At 7:58am, they told me they already sold out (even though the sale started at 8a). There was a 'miscommunication' and they started selling them at 7am. Bummer.
In WI, the price was $185. It actually says in the ad, 'Prices may vary in WI'. But by then I was intoxicated by the spending frenzy and I couldn't resist. Welcome to HD-DVD!
Just picked up 4 of them here in Columbus, Ohio!!!! Two are xmas presents, one is for me, and one is for eBay :-)
I got to Walmart at 8:10 and they were sold old. The Best Buy that I checked last night had zero. Bummer.
Just picked mine up in Kansas City, KS. The store had 30 available but in the time i was there they sold ~5.
Woot Woot!
Sadly they didnt have any of the movies for ~15 :( ill need to make a stop at best buy after work!
Thanks for the news engadget!
(with all the walmarts selling 10-30 of these this i cant wait to see the numbers in a few weeks.
Let’s have no illusions, this is purely an attempt by Toshiba to push more HD-DVD units not for sales of hardware but of titles. Because it is title sales that are going to make or break HD-DVD. Why are $100 HD-DVD players out this week? Because Warner is watching and this week is seeing the release of Spiderman 3 and the Spiderman Trilogy on Bluray. Since this is about sales of titles and since Transformers still didn’t capture the week for HD-DVD, Toshiba is hoping that by pushing their players at such a price, it will at the same time sell some titles to offset a strong Spiderman Bluray week at a time when Warner is ready to go exclusive for someone. Warner isn’t looking at sales of players, if it they were, then Bluray would have already won their hand, remember, Bluray not only has the PS3 base and stand alone players but also home media computer market with Dell, the #1 home computer retailer is pushing Bluray with their latest machines (along with Alienware which Dell now owns), same with Apple, both are platforms for HD media (rather than buying a standalone player). I wonder how many Dell computers will sell this week with Bluray drives as compared to the $98 HD-DVD machines? Hardware is not the issue, it is the software and it will be the software that will determine the winner. Just like my company, hardware purchases are considered just the platform to sell software. So if Toshiba can make a dent in the titles sold this week and stem the lead of Bluray titles sold, then their strategy may work. If however, when the numbers come out next week and Bluray still leads HD-DVD in titles sold, then all the $98 players will not make a difference, unless they can sustain that price and keep shelves stocked. Again, this is NOT about selling machines but about boosting title sales, pure and simple. Sony and other could employ this same strategy and they probably should but I’m guessing they will wait for the numbers to come in on titles sold before they react with slashing prices….
Another thing to consider, New Line, which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros, no doubt is pondering which format to put the Lord of the Rings on. Here’s a question, how many HD-DVD discs do you think a movie like LotR: Return of the King extended edition (4 hours 18mins) would take at 30Gb limitation and how many discs would it take at 50Gb limitation (not considering the yet to be used 51gb HD-DVD or 100Gb BD)? At full lossless quality (I’m sure Peter Jackson wouldn’t settle for anything less). My point is to those who say the capacity of the media doesn’t matter, think again….
I scoped out our WalMart yesterday and they had 10 units. For some reason I thought they opened at 8am, and arrived about 7:15, by then 7 players had already been sold.
I'm so happy that I was able to get one though.
Like others here, i had been avoiding HD DVD and Blu-Ray until a clearer picture of the future of the formats developed. But for $98, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot!
I picked mine up at the Walmart in Mishawaka, Indiana this morning. I got there at 6:00am to make sure, but I needn't have worried. I ended up first in the line. A line did form behind me around 7:15, but many of the people in it were after the cheap-o laptop being sold in the same sale. I would guess about 30 people total turned out by 8:00am. The Walmart had 10 of the Toshibas in stock. My original plan was to pick up two, but the Walmart was limiting to one per person. Oh well, I still made my initial foray into HD-DVD!