Wal-Mart: $98.87 Toshiba HD DVD player + National TV ad

From Engadget on November 1, 2007:

"Still waiting to jump into the high def disc game? Or just wanted another weaker, cheaper player for the last-gen TV you phased out to your rumpus room? Well, whatever your reasons, some (not all!) Wal-Mart locations will be selling Toshiba HD-A2s for $100 -- down from $200 -- this Friday (November 2). Ridiculous, we know. Blu-ray gonna fight back? We hope so, we'd really like to get our hands on one for under $300, and not just by using our hookup that sells gear out of his trunk, you know?"

In additions, Wal-Mart is running a national TV advert and an online promotion for the Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player. Scroll down to see the TV and web promotions (click on the images to go to Wal-Mart's promotional site.)

[ITR]

Looks like Toshiba got another friend.
$98 bucks...I'm sorry I'm sold.
Maybe my friend will let me use his 10% off Wally World discount...hmmm

Good news is the 5 HD DVD deal is still going on.
It still works for the A2 as well!

Wally World is also selling:
BDPS300 with Gridiron Gang and Open Season $488
HD A3 with 300 and Bourne Identity $298

[shmee]

that tOSHIBA hD DVD has all its features cut and plays movies at 1080i only

no one is SOLD on HD DVD that has no movies except some fanboys and XBOTS

BTW it is just a 1 day deal

[bluebrad1974]

Why would anyone with a 1080i/720p HDTV pay an extra $250 for a HD player that's only added function is 1080p? It's not like $3000 1080p tv's are flying off the shelves.

[BloodySinner]

I hope you all realize that shmee is really nasim. :-/

[Snukadaman]

your suppose too get 2 free at checkout...wow this is s good deal if it rings true...unless this one has the 2 free movies allready in the box...but the movies are like 300 and one other....check it out..and fight for them 2 extra hd-dvds...they all count towards sales...

[b777conehead]

the reason i want one that plays 1080p is when i upgrade my tv .to 1080p ill have my 1080p bluray player allready

[coolmatrix]

In yet another desperate attempt by the HD DVD camp to try to HOOK customers with less than what they pay for.

Sony PS3 is rolling out the $399.99 box on November 2, 2007.
http://blog.us.playstation....

If you want HD with Microsoft, you need to buy a two (2) DVD players: Xbox 360 and HD A2. What a joke! A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY SECOND.

With Sony, you buy ONE (1) HD player called PLAYSTATION 3 with the highest video (1080p)and sound output (7:1).

Toshiba HD (YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR) Hey XBOX owners, You love upscaling. SUCKERS.

Toshiba HD-A2
http://reviews.cnet.com/vid...

The good: Relatively inexpensive; excellent image quality on HD DVD; solid upscaling performance on DVDs; Ethernet jack for firmware upgrades; onboard Dolby TrueHD decoding; much faster load times than its predecessor.

The bad: No 1080p output; HD DVD could lose the format war; no multichannel analog outputs.

The bottom line: Offering most of the performance of more expensive players, the HD-A2 is an excellent value for budget-minded buyers looking to jump into HD DVD.
Specs: Sound output mode: Stereo;

PLAYSTATION 3. TRUE HD 1080p output. ENOUGH SAID!!!

[KingJames1906]

Plus 14.99 for HD-DVD Movies.

I'm IN!

[Ju]

Great deal! I could add HD-DVD to my PS3 and can play both worlds. Perfect. I'll see if I can get one.

[cuco33]

This came as a huge surprise to me! I least expected this. I already own an HD-A2 (great player) and will be shopping for movies that are $15 that goes with this sale. Might be tempted to grab a second player too ;)

And for those who preach 1080p, if you have a good 1080p tv it will deinterlace a 1080i image to 1080p. Want all the bells and whistles? Pay more for them. There are 1080p players. Most have an HDTV that does 720p/1080i. HD programming is of 720p/1080i. There is absolutely NO reason why you would skip out on or bash this deal unless only and ONLY if you are a trolling fanboy of a format. You fail if you can not see this as HD DVD forum making moves and trying to clear out inventory for the new gen3 models. You know how STUPID most of you sound preaching specs you know nothing about aside from what you read online on blu/ps3's websites?

Be a movie fanboy not a format fanboy. Not every film is out on BD exclusive studios. If you don't enter HD DVD, you still will be missing out on Transformers, Bourne series, etc...

EDIT: to athlon, that is the typical fanboy comment. Look at the studios both sides have. Just like you mentioned those exclusive to BD, look at HD DVD's. I'm sure there are no films from Paramount, Universal, Dreamworks, etc that you don't care for :rollseyes: and I'm sure you like receiving Warner titles that are delayed almost a year (i.e. Batman Begins) for no apparent reason... be a movie fanboy, not a format fanboy.

[athlon770]

For a last ditch effort for a format which is about to loose another backer, I think I will stay with my PS3 and look forward for these movies to drop like a hammer...

"Walt Disney Home Entertainment has Ratatouille, Cars, Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End shipping this year. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has all four Die Hard films, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Independence Day and The Simpsons Movie heading to BR-D this year and Master & Commander and Sunshine, and I, Robot slated for 2008. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, which also supports HD-DVD, has The Matrix Trilogy, all five Harry Potter films and the Ocean’s 11 Trilogy releasing on BR-D. Lionsgate Home Entertainment will bring War and 3:10 to Yuma to BR-D on January 8 and Good Luck Chuck and Saw IV later in the year. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment just released the Spider-Man Trilogy, the Hostel films and has Close Encounters of the Third Kind heading to BR-D this year."

So, what does HD-DVD have coming out? The Matrix Trilogy, all five Harry Potter films and the Ocean’s 11 Trilogy...wow, what a line up. :/ Oh, and what ever that other studio may have cooked up.

No, I think I will be quite happy with my PS3 purchase thank you very much.

EDIT:

Cuco, thanks for proving my point with your rebuttle, and if you remember in one of our earlier discussions, I stated my entire family is boycotting Paramount for taking a bribe to go exclusive HD-DVD. However, once they go back to neutral, yes, I will be picking up Transformers on Blue.

Lawman, this Friday the 2nd, starts at 8:00am and goes till they are gone, however, not all Walmarts are doing this! I posted a link later down the listing...

[Baron79]

If you have a good t.v. it should upscale the 1080i to 1080p , so why don't you do research insted of posting stupid comments to make yourself feel better about not having a HD-DVD player. No Movies , WTF are you talking about!? XBots? More stupid comments.Grow up!!

[lawman1108]

Every person who shops at Walmart is going to buy this thing because everybody wants HD but DOES NOT what to pay $400 bucks for it (or $500 in the PS3's case) This will change the sales number in a way you only dream it could for the PS3. I have 60gb ps3 for BR but I am buying this, so I will have each player no matter who wins. And as I have stated before I will not buy HD dvds until the price is $20 bucks or less.

[lawman1108]

Or next week?

[LOL PS3 IS JUNK LOL]

Blay-Ray slowly spreads its @ss checks and takes it from HD-DVD. I thought HD-DVD was dead????? Nope.....just getting warmed up. You guys are in for a hurtin' this holiday

8=========D~~~ (_*_) <--- (BD's @ss)

[IdontTakeSides]

WOW Toshiba getting extremely desperate I see..$100..damn thats cheaper than the PS2..which includes First gen DVD drives...and when sales don't pick up..what are we gonna see a $50 price tag...be CAUTIOUS ppl cheap hardware is never good..just ask the RROD COMMUNITY..!!!

BTW dude above dude Open Season is horrible is that the best HD-DVD can offer for family viewing..??..lmao..
HMM pity you won't experience the great Pixar and Disney films...No Simpsons....No Spiderman....SuperBad....POTC Trilogy....to name a few...

[ITR]

Actually this is what is needed to win over the masses.
For most folks anything over $200 bucks is a think about it purchase.
At $98 bucks..no one cares...plus you get 5 free movies via the rebate.
Perfect player for the Vizio and Olevia people.

[shmee]

u have to have good titles to win masses which is impossible for Toshiba.

wait for the initial reports on Spiderman 3 sales and dont commit suicide after seeing the results

[Snukadaman]

Im sure disney will support hd-dvd...cheap players...man i bet you ps3 owners are scared you wont be playing ps3 games no more...roflmao..dont worry kids...ps3 aint going no where...only blu-ray as a movie format will.

[cuco33]

to make room for new gen3 models. This is also HD DVD forum making moves. They know to win Warner Bros over they must get more players (and an increase in disk sales) for this holiday season. This is how they start. This is also Walmart's 'secret sales' they usually do before Black Friday.

To add, shmee, or should I say nasim... You mentioned Spidey 3 right? Check it out...
Spidey BD box set being outsold by a comedians SD DVD
http://photos-226.ll.facebo...

Spidey 3 BD being outsold by a workout video
http://photos-226.ll.facebo...

You were saying?

Be a movie fanboy, not a format fanboy. Not all movies are from BD exclusive studios.

[jiggyjay]

[email protected] I smell a desperate fanboy who seeing the death of blu ray! No good titles on HD DVD. Hmm let see...

Are you able to watch the Matrix trilogy on Blu?
Are you able to watch the Bourne trilogy on Blu?
Are you able to watch the Transformers on Blu?
Are you able to watch the Shrek 3 on Blu?

I know Blu does have some good titles but don't tell me that HD DVD has no good titles at all! And believe me HD DVD has enough backers to win the war. It all comes down to price and guess who's winning that battle?

[Omegasyde]

I love Blu-ray and am a avid supporter but seriously this is very tempting. 99 bucks now wow. I have a feeling Toshiba is loosing a chunk of change however for each player sold. There is no way the player should be this cheap even coming from brand quality like Toshiba's(good :).

THe blu-ray camp better do something besides promoting Spider man 3 and Pirates of the Caribean real soon.

Either that or their arrogance is going to cost them substantially.

[IdontTakeSides]

as we all know Sony is never a company to announce things ahead of time..im sure they can more than afford to drop the price when the most important shopping season arrives ...with all the major Blu-Ray backers.losing a sum of cash will eventually paying off in software sales.....we will see a price drop..not to mention some sweet movie bundles...

[Omegasyde]

I am sure you are right since what is the point of having a blu-ray player cost more than a ps3? Sure it could come with more HDMI ports, but sooner or later blu-ray player manufacturers have to play the price game with the new 400 dollar ps3.

[Snukadaman]

both formats lose money trying too get those players in peoples homes....problem with blu ray is it will be awhile until we see 200 dollar blu-ray players....or the ps3 drops too 300 dollars....either way one side will be winning this format war soon i think...200 dollar players now 100 dollars ones....but honestly i think that 98 dollar player is some sort of promotional thing....if they sell it for 98 bucks everyone else has too price match....dam am I glad I Jumped in with that hd-dvd add on deal and best buy.

[Omegasyde]

Will this price change 75% of Hollywood's point of view however?

[bluebrad1974]

Well a one day sale isn't going to do anything but momentarily spike sales. It seems more like a move to simply stay competitive with blu-ray. However if this price was permanent, pack your bags boys, wars over.

[TriggerHappy]

I will bet $200 that this is TRP's post...

btw, good news for HD DVD

[jiggyjay]

I'm going to try and pick up one of these! But no I need money for COD4 and Mass Effect!

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

They still want to make money right?

[OmegaKulu]

well, its a 1 day special... and I'm pretty sure the quantity is limited. Unless they are that out of their mind.

[friendly user]

THIS SALE ONLY LASTS A FEW HOURS.

These prices aren't officially dropped or anything like that. Great deal if you're looking for a cheapo 720p/1080i non TrueHD player.

[chrno]

very misleading title then.

[shelbygt33]

I work in the marketing field, and let me say you are a perfect example of why marketing works.

1080i gets deinterlaced by 1080p sets and the image won't be affected. 1080i is hd. 720p is HD. It is users like you who trust the Best Buy salesman.

[lawman1108]

If I sat you down and put a gun to your head and showed you 2 tv's one was a 45in Sharp 1080i and the other the same tv but 1080p and told you to show me which was which you would be a dead man.

[Prismo_Fillusion]

The problem isn't the players...it's that the HD tv sets cost way too much! (I know this is HD DVD vs BluRay unrelated)

Edit: Why would someone disagree with my fanancial disability of not being able to afford an HD television set? Laaaaaame!

@below: $800 is a lot of money my friend. Also, if I were to buy an HD set it wouldnt be 'i'.

[BLaZiN PRopHeT]

you cant get a 42in 1080i TV for 800

800 isnt bad to me for the size of the tv. and you cant tell the difference between i and p unless its over 50in. but whatever just trying to help

[FirstknighT]

This is the HD-A2 model. In other words it's the older model. They're probably trying to get rid of them to make room for the newer A3. But a hi defination player for under $100 and in the mother of all stores??? Looks like the hi def war is starting to favor the hd dvd side.

[Baron79]

I agree. How could anyone thinking of of getting into HDM not jump on this? It is such a good deal I want to buy a second HD-DVD Player.

[season007]

or maybe i am wrong

[the worst]

50pc they got or some kinda of catch
but if theres no catch 2 it
its a damm good deal

[ktchong]

I still think the one with the 7 free HD DVDs is a better deal. o_O

[TruthbeTold]

...if these cheap prices are the result of the dumping of discontinued or soon to be discontinued models? Of course that hasn't been announced, but these players are priced at what seems like liquidation prices. Add to that that the sale is for only one day, and it's curiously/suspiciously occurring before Thanksgiving, and really, I can't help but wonder. Even so, most of the people who buy at this price probably can't afford the more expensive players anyway, who don't see 1080p as realistic for them so this is a good way to get them onboard, and buying HD-DVD's for Christmas. This is alot of speculation on my part of course, but it makes sense I think.

[OmegaKulu]

but you also need to take in the consideration that for those people who can't afford a more expansive player, can they afford the extra cost on disc? I mean... when you at that low of budget, wouldn't DVD's pricing be more appealing via up scale rather than buying the more expansive HD discs?

[TruthbeTold]

Good point that the people who buy these most likely will not be buying as many DVD's as the people who buy the more expensive products. However, I suspect that most people who buy these cheap ones have been wanting to buy HD for a while, but have been mulling over whether to spend beyond their means. Now they don't have to, and can get the player, a few free DVD's to get them started, and a few more at Christmas for less than half the price they would have had they splurged or gone into debt. I think that they will buy a fair amount, and over the long term will be less active buyers, but still active. In order to get the player into more homes, Toshiba appears to be pulling their own style of PS3 move here, but with a "Wii" twist.

[OmegaKulu]

Good points, but then theres the studios, where 2 exclusive and 1 neutral right now, by the time those people are looking for HD discs and find the title they want sit on the other side... I wonder what they will think.

[TruthbeTold]

Should this kind of tactic put alot more of these players into people's living rooms, deals of exclusivity will undoubtedly be revisited once again. In fact, it may end exclusivity in that there will be Blu Ray for the Rich, upper Middle Class, and those living beyond their means; and HD-DVD, primarily in 1080i for the average Joe who actually cares about HD, but can't afford extravagance. Long term, I think the Average Joe would win out, since there are many more of them comparatively.

[Snukadaman]

But can someone correct me if im wrong but whatever new hd-dvd players receive in updates...these older models will also receive since they have too be connected too the internet right...so it dont matter if its older models or what..they all get upgraded too the same versions right?

[ITR]

^^^ Yes, they can be upgraded.
Via LAN update, DL ISO to CD-RW or call Tosh for an update disc.

Firmware 2.5

http://www.tacp.com/tacpass...

"This firmware update adds support for 1080p/24Hz output to the HD-A20 and HD-XA2 players. For the HD-A2, HD-A2W, HD-D2, HD-A20 and HD-XA2 players, it adds more on-screen language display options. In addition, this firmware update improves network connectivity for supporting the download of web- enabled network content associated with certain HD DVD discs, and also addresses certain disc playback and HDMI/DVI related issues identified by Toshiba."

[JokesOnYou]

I know one thing for sure this definitely can't hurt HD DVD's current position and it at least has the potential to be a major boost for HD DVD, and for sonykids trying to hate by calling it a cheap player in terms of quality, well it just sounds like fear because despite what you think Toshiba is recognized as a quality brand by many people, just like most Japanese electronics brands, so stop the hating sonykids you're not fooling anybody=

I guess its time I snatch one of these things up, hell its less than the price of 2 games and I buy plenty of games

JOY

[TheMART]

If this continues, BluRay is in for a surprise. THe mass of people wants their devices just the cheapest PLUS most people own a 720p/1080i HDTV not the expensive 1080p ones!

[bluebrad1974]

If this price sticks on HD-DVD then blu-ray is finished. $100 is a mainstream price and will move ALOT of HD players.

[wageslave]

This is a one day sale, but what does it tell us? If the new model is going to be $198 @ Circuit City, Wal Mart and other locations (remember the K-Mart move from yesterday), then we can expect to see players being sold for *LESS* than $198 through the holidays.

Sales, and price-competition is going to get that regular price down another $30 by January 2008.

The format war is over. These drives are going to be sold out everywhere... Toshiba, NEC and Sharp are *really* putting it to the BR people.

If I owned a PS3, I'd be thinking BR is going to be *another* failed Sony format... the PS3 has its own UMD now.

[BloodySinner]

Aggressive move by Toshiba, that's for sure.

[athlon770]

I am about as anti-HDDVD as you can get, and this is a very agressive pricing for the unit, even if it is for a couple of hours or a day. $100.00 is cheap. And if the posting by ITR (14.6) is correct, with a firmware update this unit will be able to output 1080p...well there will be a lot of people swung over by this. Even if Wally World only has 10 or 20 of these units per store to sell at this price, that is a lot of units going out the front door.

Blue will have to do something big to keep all the studios from swinging from Blue to Red that is for sure. This is def very agressive pricing and even though Red only has a couple of studios backing it, Blue will have a hard time keeping all the ones they have from going neutral or swithing over completly...Studios will go where the money is!

[anh_duong]

blody hell that is cheap. i might buy two.

[wageslave]

Im thinking the same thing! Ive already got the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add on (because it works with my PC, so I can use it with Windows Media Center and the future HD-DVD data discs...)

But man, that is a great deal. Im thinking for the price, I might pick them up as Xmass gifts for my family (but, they *also* have Xbox 360s, so I recommended they get the add-on (for the same reasons I did)).

This is an incredible deal.

[power of Green]

You can talk all the sh*t you wan't but you got to know the deals springing up all over the place will cause mass adoption forcing the Studio's to cater to a money making base.

[friendly user]

Good luck finding one. It's a half a day sale and as soon as they're gone it's over.

[JokesOnYou]

you're right its just one day sale, dammit I was thinking this was going to be the new low price at Wal-mart for this model, thats too bad cause this thing will be sold out quick while I'm working, dammmit.

JOY

[athlon770]

If you look at the flyer, http://holiday.ri-walmart.c... the sale starts at 8:00am and goes untill they are gone, also there is a limited supply at the stores, and not every store is doing this.

[xm15e2s]

This is an awesome price for an awesome HD DVD player!
People who are suggesting that this is "cheap hardware" need to research more and post less.

Blu-ray = Betamax.
Believe it.

[friendly user]

It's lacking 1080/24p, TrueHD.

I consider that a "cheap model"

I don't see why everyone is saying it's good news, it's a black friday sale. It's not an official price drop.

[Snukadaman]

You do some research you find some of the craziest things.....enjoy your campaign too try and talk people down from buying those cheap players..it wont work.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2...

[rbanke]

you have to ask yourself, Are people who are looking for the lowest price going to be shelling out the extra cash for hd movies? I think the ones who would go for this are the same type that really could care less about the difference between hd and sd.

[TheMART]

Yes they will. Why?

Because they buy a movie one at a time, and the amount spent at that time isn't high also. But spending it at once they don't spend a high amount. But does one care if they buy a movie every 4 weeks throughout the year or 10 movies at once?

[power of Green]

Crazzy sh*t a very bold, risky, desperate and smart move, a move that will monopolize the industry by default effectively canceling out any of the competitions past victories.

To say these type of deals are not lethal to Toshiba's competition is foolish and we might as well be writing off the nay-sayers and dissagree-ers as Chimps.

[FirstknighT]

I personally don't mind how much these players cost. It's the actual movies that are to expensive. Blu ray and hd dvd discs cost around $25 each. I like to walk into Best Buy once a week and buy 2 or 3 movies. Total cost would be around $45. With the hi def discs...total cost would be near $100. That's to much for me.

I own a Samsung Blu Ray player but I purchased it for the HQV processing which upconverts standard dvds to near hd quality. But I'll wait on the hi def discs once they come down to a normal price.

[chrno]

POW, learn to read - 1 day sale. I know that u hate blu-ray because it is assoicated with the ps3, but how would a 1 day sale at 99 dollars monopolize the industry? Sigh..

[Boldy]

You do know that after that 1 day sale, they will still be $200 while the cheapest blu ray player will be