Shocker: HD DVD players vanishing from stock, sun to rise in the AM
By Darren Murph 
posted Mar 22nd 2008 9:22PM
posted Mar 22nd 2008 9:22PM
[Thanks, PeterK]
posted Mar 22nd 2008 9:22PM
The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
It's not just the players. I was in a local Target last night and I saw a total of five HD-DVD titles in the racks.
My local Wal-Mart only had one last week, the demo. Went there yesterday and it was gone. My Target has plenty of movies.
Podcasts like this can NEVER be too long!!
Yeah it's almost like HD DVD owners weren't in their glory swimming in pools of $8-$12 movies that they'll be able to watch and either keep or ebay later for at least what they paid. Then when the well runs dry in a couple of years they'll be able to pick up Blu-ray players for
less than $150 and discs for less than $15 each. It's a terrible time to be an HD DVD owner.
Quick comment note: Never use 'less than' symbols or posts will get cut off :)
This is relevant news and I'm glad they posted it.
Explain why it's relevant, and I'll hook you up with the email address with this buddy of mine that needs help cashing a million dollar check and is willing to split it with you. You can totally trust him, he's Nigerian.
In Ireland I noticed that my local Zavvi had totally obliterated their HD DVD stock. All that was left when I visited yesterday was an HD DVD widescreen display which was turned off and I expect that'll be gone soon too. The HD DVD space is now Blu Ray space. Zavvi were always much more format neutral HMV and used to split their shelf space almost 50:50 between Blu Ray and HD DVD. HMV split it anywhere from 80:20 to 95:5 and I expect they've done away with HD DVD as well.
That said, Zavvi is still a total ripoff for HD content. You'd have to be mad to pay their prices some of which are pretty ridiculous. The worst by far are Tartan Blu Ray discs which cost 50 euros!
Tim, not that I care all that much, but you -do- realize that the "pool" of HD DVDs will dry out a lot sooner than 2 years right?
You won't get -any- new releases as early as June 1st, earlier if Warner US gets fed up as fast as their French and German counterpart...
Just thought you might wanna know :)
I think if you have an HD DVD player that it's entirely reasonable to pick up cheap titles. I would also invest in external HD DVD drive so that I can rip them to PC and reburn them later if necessary.
@ 1stGreg
Yeah I do realize that, what I'm referring to is viewing months/years of cheap HD DVD's. For me personally, I figure another 8-9 months of Netflix HD DVD's plus another year or so of the cheap ones I've picked up during the sales. Yeah we won't get the new releases but I won't necessarily mind a few good upscales on my HD-XA2 until Blu-ray prices come down. There's always satellite and/or xbox live rentals to help fill the new release void as well. My point is that in the end, many HD DVD buyers like myself aren't really in as bad of a position as many sensationalist Engadget headlines would have you to believe. This blog has lost a lot of credibility in my mind over their treatment of the whole high def saga. HD DVD owners purchased looking for the same high def experience as Blu-ray owners, there's simply been no reason to disparage them the way this blog has. Unless it's no longer independent and just a mouthpiece for it's corporate parent. But of course that couldn't be the case...
all right, whats all the fuss about again? people get too sensitive when they dont agree with what they see/read here. you guys realize this is a blog right?