Hi, This might be a bit premature, but I cannot get over the air HD channels where I live. And Suddenlink just took over Charter and doesn't even have there website up yet. And I am not interested in satellite. So since Netflix and Blockbuster online now offer HD rental titles, I've been thinking about getting a HD Dvd player. I was hoping someone could recommend a good reasonable priced one. Or if there are places that rent them by the month or something like that. I also have a xbox 360 and the are suppose to come out with a $100 add on HD Dvd Player. But I don't know how good a $100 player would be. I need your help, please anyone with any experience in this area. All advice is wanted and appreciated/ Thanks, Steve
You can get the Toshiba HD-A1 for as low as $375 at abtelectronics.com with coupon code. The HD-XA1 can be had for as low as $527 - both with free shipping. The only other standalone HD-DVD player availbale now is the RCA. Second generation players should be available starting next year and the 360 addon should start shipping in November.
I couldn't wait for the second generation players, so i went ahead and bought the HD-A1 and i totally love it.. The reviews for the Toshiba are very good, and the picture quality is breathtaking, also it upconverts like no other player i've ever owned, before i'd buy one of those upconversion DVD players i would spend a bit more and get this baby, the price on it has dropped as eatsushi pointed out.
@elusiv1: Congrats on your HD-A1. I agree with your use of "BREATHTAKING" to describe the picture quality of HD-DVD. Also it's upconverting ability is one of its most sought after features. Enjoy!
A little bit of mis-information in this thread. The A2 is coming out in a few weeks at $500. It's the second generation A1 without the 5.1 analog outputs. Unless your receiver has an HDMI input, I would definitely go with the A1 over the A2, even though the A2 should be a much faster player. The XA2 is coming out in December at $1000. It's the second generation XA1, except it will have HDMI 1.3 and output 1080p60. It has the same type chips as the Samsung BD player, in that it will interlace the 1080p24 from the disk to 1080i60, then with its seperate Deinterlacer chip, it will deinterlace the 1080i60 into 1080p60. Unless you have a 1080p tv with a poor internal deinterlacer, there's not a lot of motivation to shell out the bucks for this one. The Xbox 360 add-on is going to sell for $199, and will come bundled with a King Kong HD-DVD, and the 360 Logitech remote. A very good deal IMO. Hands on reports say that the add-on is very quick, much quick then the A1 or XA1, and the picture quality is also very good. The downside to the add-on is that there will be absolutely no way to get lossless audio from it. Both Dolby TrueHD and most likely in the future DTS-HD Master Audio will be decoded and output as 1.5mbps DTS. It will still deliver excellent audio quality, but you'll miss something from the original lossless. If you want my advice, I'll put it in these terms. If you were to go with a stand alone player and don't mind the slower load time, the A1 is going to be the king for not only audio and video performance, but build quality and value as well. If you're on a budget and don't mind missing out on the features that only a stand alone player can provide, the Xbox 360 add-on is a great value, and looks to be an exceptional player.
Mis-information? I don't think that was apt. Anyway, after the 2.0 firmware upgrade the HD-A1 at my store loads faster (still not on par with DVD players but very much improved), and the remote works like it should. I would buy the HD-A1. Ced
My bad - the 2nd gens are indeed coming out later this year. Ced: Any discounts on the HD-A1 at your store?
No discounts yet. For that matter emploeyes don't even get a discount! The new Hd-A2 isn't even in our system yet. I think Best Buy Co. wants to sell what they got first. Ced
i'm sure this has been asked countless times.1080i vs 1080p- would a regular joe with an untrained eye be able to see a difference.
If you have a 1080p display anything you throw at it is converted to and displayed as 1080p. Fixed pixel displays (LCD, plasma, DLP etc) are by definition PROGRESSIVE. Only CRT TV's are interlaced. If your display does a proper job of deinterlacing a 1080i signal then you won't see a difference.
I thought the Xbox HD add-on was 200$? maybe just in USA? hmm not sure. anyway.. There's not many out there to choose from. try Cnet for some reviews.. see how there getting rated. I'm sure by now in this day and age they can make a dvd player. And that is horrible that you can't recieve HD channels from your TV service. HDTV is insane.
@ Jeray, 1080i vs 1080p the truth: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/344032 --UPDATE-- The HD-A1 has been marked down to 399 and the Samsung Blu-ray player has been marked down to 799. Ced
Thanks for the heads up Ced. Is this price cut in all retailers or only at your store? Still I can't see myself paying more that $300 for the Sammy given all the issues. I also read somewhere that the 360 add-on was sold out at amazon.
The Best Buy website still has the HD-A1 at $499. If I see it drop to $399 (I'm U.S. military in S. Korea) I'll buy it.
The HD-A2 might be the one to get. Like the HD-A1, it's only $500 (at launch) but unlike the A1 it is 1. Smaller 2. Supposedly faster load times and 3. Has a better remote. Also, I believe if you purchase a Toshiba HD-DVD player before Feb 07 you can get 3 free HD-DVD's. Not bad for the price of $500.
Just to let you guys know, the Xbox 360 HD DVD is faster than the Toshiba model. Also, I have heard reports of being able to hook up the player to a PC so you may not even need a 360.
