Killer HD DVD Deal! YMMV

[SRW1000]

I stopped by American today, to check out their "Garage Sale." The ad listed an HD DVD player for $239. I asked the sales guy about it, and he showed me a DVD/VCR combi player. No, I told him I was looking for the HD DVD player.

He looked around, and found the floor model, which was a Toshiba HD-XA1. The original MSRP was $800, and the lowest price I've ever seen it was $400, so this is a dang good deal. A three-year extended warranty was only an additional $20, which I took, since this was a floor model. There wasn't a manual, power cord, connectors, or box, but I've got a collection of all that stuff anyway.

When he looked in the computer, he said that this was the only one left in the Milwaukee area, but you never know what might be found in one of the other stores (I found this one at the Brown Deer location).

Scott

P.S. Now that I've bought this player, I thoroughly expect an impending announcement by Toshiba stating they've abandoned the format, conceding victory to Blu Ray.

[flash]

P.S. Now that I've bought this player, I thoroughly expect an impending announcement by Toshiba stating they've abandoned the format, conceding victory to Blu Ray.

Congrats on the new purchase. :Badger

They are still selling the HD DVD add on for the Xbox 360 and sales are still going pretty strong so I wouldn't be too concerned on them abandoning the format any time soon.

[gparris]

SRW1000: I agree with flash, however, the format has many titles coming out this year alone and Universal/Focus Pictures uses it as its only format for now.

Now, as a upconversion DVD player, you couldn't ask for a better player...congradulations (but I understand your pessimism).:wave:

[SRW1000]

My comment was meant less to suggest that HD DVD was dead or dying, but just a dry take on the future, since I've committed to the format.

Now, I just have to wait until NetFlix ships out my first HD DVD.

I can't wait!

Scott

[gparris]

Let me know what the HD-DVD's playable condition was from this service.

Many of my standard DVDs came to me scratched when I used them as a service.
It has been reported that the high def DVDs, BD and HD-DVD, have also been damaged.
Since this can render their smaller disc pits unreadable, more so than standard DVDs, I have my doubts about Netflix or Blockbuster in this regard.

Thank you in advance!

[Paul S.]

I've gotten a ton of BD and HD DVDs from Netflix amd all have been just fine.


BTW, I think BD is gonna win from what I've seen. I've been far more impressed. Now I just need a reciever thta has HDMI audio stuff....

[SRW1000]

Let me know what the HD-DVD's playable condition was from this service.

Many of my standard DVDs came to me scratched when I used them as a service.
It has been reported that the high def DVDs, BD and HD-DVD, have also been damaged.
Since this can render their smaller disc pits unreadable, more so than standard DVDs, I have my doubts about Netflix or Blockbuster in this regard.

Thank you in advance!I will do this. I'm a little worried also, since regular DVDs can often be scratched a few weeks/months after release.

What the heck do people do with these things? I can't believe the condition of some of the discs we've gotten. I own quite a few CDs and DVDs, and you'd be hard pressed to find a single mark on anyone that I own. I treat the NetFlix discs exactly the same, but that's not the case for other people. I'm surprised that some of them even start to play.

I'll let you know. Next weekend we should be getting Serenity.

Scott

[SRW1000]

BTW, I think BD is gonna win from what I've seen. I've been far more impressed.So, any idea where I can get a $250 BD player? :D

Scott

[Gregg Lengling]

JVC finally owns up and says that BETA is a better format than VHS and stops production of VHS video-recorders!{fart} :stpat

Of course this should have waited til April 1st.....:rof:

[Matt Heebner]

I've gotten a ton of BD and HD DVDs from Netflix amd all have been just fine.


BTW, I think BD is gonna win from what I've seen. I've been far more impressed. Now I just need a reciever thta has HDMI audio stuff....


Damn it Paul, you are making it very hard to "wait this one out" as I have been saying I was going to do all along.

MUST......RESIST......URGE.......TO.......BUY..... ...

[gparris]

JVC finally owns up and says that BETA is a better format than VHS and stops production of VHS video-recorders!{fart} :stpat

Of course this should have waited til April 1st.....:rof:

Or at least moderated that on St. Patty's day - next Saturday...right?

[gparris]

Damn it Paul, you are making it very hard to "wait this one out" as I have been saying I was going to do all along.

MUST......RESIST......URGE.......TO.......BUY..... ...

If you get your hands on a PS3, the audio, even with an optical digital cable for sound, (tried that first) it is still very good and you get gaming, too.
The PS3 loads very fast, has HDMI 1.3 and Dolby TRUEHD support.

If you have a link to the internet, you can get your latest updates with its port, even on the 20GB model.

I bought the optional PS3 remote and like it better for BD movies than using the game controller.

Paul S:
I use a Denon AVR-4306 with HDMI (one connector does all) and it sounds fantastic with PCM lossless surround sound.:D

[flash]

BTW, I think BD is gonna win from what I've seen. I've been far more impressed. Now I just need a reciever thta has HDMI audio stuff....

CLICK HERE (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-owkQO7uxSIP/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?wm=fp&I=580HTS894) for a pretty decent HDMI all in one solution.

My brother picked it up from One Call for a killer deal and is fairly impressed.

[sp44again]

I use a Denon AVR-4306 with HDMI (one connector does all) and it sounds fantastic with PCM lossless surround sound.:D

I'm using a 2807 and yeah the PCM lossless is great with HDMI. I just bought NIN to see how DolbyTrueHD is with the PS3. Unbelievable!

[gparris]

For another example, I hooked up another HDTV setup with a Panasonic Blu-ray player that has 7.1 analogue outputs,
so far, the only BD player out there that has them to my Denon AVR-3805 with its 7.1 inputs.

The result?

Excellent audio, with a greater presence and surround field on all 8 channels as the AVR becomes an amplifier-only using the decoded audio from the BD player directly.
The BD movie I used was "Blackhawk Down" for its action surround audio effects.
The Denon AVR-3805, without HDMI inputs, sounded just as good as the one which did in comparison.

[bubbaridesfast]

CLICK HERE (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-owkQO7uxSIP/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?wm=fp&I=580HTS894) for a pretty decent HDMI all in one solution.

My brother picked it up from One Call for a killer deal and is fairly impressed.

I looked at that Onkyo, it doesn't play DVD+R only DVD-R, who uses DVD-R? It's old technology, that's why DVD+R was created I thought.

[jeffski]

Let me know what the HD-DVD's playable condition was from this service.

Many of my standard DVDs came to me scratched when I used them as a service.
It has been reported that the high def DVDs, BD and HD-DVD, have also been damaged.
Since this can render their smaller disc pits unreadable, more so than standard DVDs, I have my doubts about Netflix or Blockbuster in this regard.

Thank you in advance!






I once was a subscriber to Netflix. After I got not one but TWO dvds that were broken in half in 2 weeks time, that's all I needed to cancel my service. I've had much better service from Blockbuster online. I realize the Netflix broken dvds was most likely a postal problem, still , it turned me off from them.If a Blockbuster one comes broken,at least I can exchange it at the store right away.

[LoadStar]

I looked at that Onkyo, it doesn't play DVD+R only DVD-R, who uses DVD-R? It's old technology, that's why DVD+R was created I thought.

I still use exclusively DVD-R.

Neither +R nor -R are "old technology." While DVD-R was developed 5 years prior to DVD+R, there are only a few minor advantages to the + standard, mostly intended to improve burning reliability at higher speeds.

-R still has higher compatibility with DVD players, partially because -R and -RW are the only "official" DVD standards endorsed by the DVD Consortium, and partially because of the 5 year lead time for -R. Other than this, for the most part, you wouldn't notice any difference whatsoever between +R and -R, either writing or reading them.

The primary reason for the development of DVD+R was not technological - it was licensing (mostly the same reason for the concurrent development and current format wars between BluRay and HD-DVD.)

[bubbaridesfast]

I still use exclusively DVD-R.

Neither +R nor -R are "old technology." While DVD-R was developed 5 years prior to DVD+R, there are only a few minor advantages to the + standard, mostly intended to improve burning reliability at higher speeds.

-R still has higher compatibility with DVD players, partially because -R and -RW are the only "official" DVD standards endorsed by the DVD Consortium, and partially because of the 5 year lead time for -R. Other than this, for the most part, you wouldn't notice any difference whatsoever between +R and -R, either writing or reading them.

The primary reason for the development of DVD+R was not technological - it was licensing (mostly the same reason for the concurrent development and current format wars between BluRay and HD-DVD.)

While it's true that +R isn't officially endorsed, it is a technically superior format. It was actually created mainly to improve on -R, especially when it comes to error correction.

For more detail folks should read this: http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Why-DVDRW-is-superior-to-DVD-RW

[SRW1000]

Let me know what the HD-DVD's playable condition was from this service.

Many of my standard DVDs came to me scratched when I used them as a service.
It has been reported that the high def DVDs, BD and HD-DVD, have also been damaged.
Since this can render their smaller disc pits unreadable, more so than standard DVDs, I have my doubts about Netflix or Blockbuster in this regard.

Thank you in advance!Well, we watched Serenity on HD DVD. There were a few small scratches on the disc, but we didn't have a single problem with playback. No hiccups, pauses, dropouts, nothing.

This was our first HD DVD rental, and I was very pleased with the results. I don't know what we'll find down the road.

Maybe this would make a good thread, so people could see what kind of results they're getting from rental sources. Since we're all in the same geographic area, we're probably served from the same distribution center, so the quality we see might be more accurate than what we see through some of the national threads.

Scott

P.S. We didn't care for the movie itself, and I was a little disappointed by the picture quality. It didn't wow me as much as I had expected, and the non-CGI shots looked soft to me.

[Bebop]

Almost all the HD DVDs I received from Netflix played. The only one that didn't played was a cracked disk.

As for good looking HD DVDs:

Corpse Bride
Sahara
The Searchers (not bad for a 50 years old movie)
King Kong
The latest Mission Impossible
Batman
probably Happy Feet (when it comes out March 27)
if you want to Bugs Bunny in HD, Robin Hood

...and few more I can't remembered

[kevbeck122]

All of the HD-DVDs and BluRay discs I've rented from Blockbuster online worked fine.. other than the disc that cracked in the mail. I've probably rented about 5-10 of each type.

[gparris]

Toshiba is lowering its MSRPs on its players effective April 1st.
http://www.highdefdigest.com
Sony will try to play catch up with its new player coming out in summer listing for $599, still $200 more than the new price of the HD-A2, but it will output 1080p.
For a matching this feature and price point, the Toshiba HD-A20 at its new price of $499 will be still $100 less.
Prices are dropping for high def players and that is always good news.;)