Gizmodo: hd-a1

How to Get Your Hacked Obsolete Object on Gizmodo

AddyDugdale — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Chase Sechrist and Dan Weatherford went to work on Toshiba's HD-A1 HD-DVD player and, while it's pretty much only good as a doorstop now, at least it says something nice. [Doom9's Forum—thanks Mazyar!]

Dealzmodo: Refurbished Toshiba HD DVD Player For $179

Jason Chen — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:50:16 EDT

This may be the first-generation HD DVD player and it may be refurbished, but hot damn if this Toshiba HD-A1 isn't cheap. $179 is all you need now to get into the HD game, which is probably the cheapest place you can get an HD DVD player other than the HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360. [Newegg - Thanks Phil!]

Dealzmodo: Toshiba HD DVD Players With $100 to $200 Rebate

Jason Chen — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:40:00 EDT

If you're looking to get into the HD DVD game, Toshiba's got a set of rebates coming up that'll sweeten the pot. Starting May 20, if you buy a Toshiba HD-A2 (lowest price, $295 on Froogle) you'll immediately get a $100 rebate in store. Whether that means online store is qualified, we're not sure yet.

Three weeks after that, for the final week of the month-long promotion, Toshiba will offer you $200 back on any player Toshiba sells (like the HD-A1, which is slightly cheaper) if you buy a 42-inch Toshiba HDTV at the same time. Oh, and the Matrix Trilogy is being released May 22 as well, if that provides any more incentive. – Jason Chen

Update: We're hearing word that Amazon's participating as well, so it's not just B&M stores.

Sizemodo: LG BH100 Super Multi Blue Actually Smaller Than Standalones

Jason Chen — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 19:45:07 EST

How is this possible? How does LG's Blu-ray/HD DVD player end up being smaller than the cheapest HD DVD and Blu-ray player? Apparently by skimping on the HD features, though we don't imagine that'd add any noticible size to the device.

So if you buy a LG BH100 instead of the Toshiba HD-A1 and the Samsung BD-P1000, you save shelf space at the expense of cash ($1200 vs. $600 + $400).

More after the jump.

– Jason Chen

Thanks to Sizeasy!

Toshiba HD-A2: Loses Weight, Runs Faster

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:09:32 EST

Toshiba's first HD DVD player was a big letdown. It was slow, chunky, and did nothing to wow HD fans. Last week, Toshiba started shipping its second generation player, the HD-A2, which was supposed to be slimmer and load twice as fast as its predecessor. So, how did it fare?

Well, the folks at Home Theater Blog seem to like the new player. Not only does it cut the load time in half (it takes about 30 seconds to load a disc), but it's also a lot thinner and more modern-looking than the VCR-like HD-A1. The guys also seem to like the HD-A2's new, easier to use remote. Image quality, however, has remained pretty much the same, so I still wouldn't recommend buying one, though it's nice to see some improvements coming from the HD DVD camp. – Louis Ramirez

Toshiba's HD-A2: First Impressions [via Home Theater Blog]

Dealzmodo: $100 off Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player Plus 3 Free HD DVDs

Travis Hudson — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:51:26 EST

Amazon is offering up this HD DVD player for $400 shipped. The player was originally announced with a $500 price tag, Amazon has since knocked off $100 directly. No rebates, no BS. Also, buy 3 HD DVD movies with the purchase of the HD-A1 player and receive them for free, after mail-in-rebate.

You may want to do a bit of research before a purchase like this, some reviewers like the player and some others completely despise of it. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Dealhack]

High-Def Haiku: Win a Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player

Travis Hudson — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:45:36 EDT

We're giving away a biggie—the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player valued at $499. To win this it is pretty simple, write up a haiku about high-definition video. A haiku is a style of poetry. It is a three-lined poem—the first line containing five syllables, the second line containing seven syllable and the third line containing five syllables. Another shorter style can do three syllables, five syllables, three syllables for the three lines of poetry.

HD Toshiba
Your DVD is so hot
Like a Dell laptop

To enter, e-mail your entry to contests@gizmodo.com with High-Def Haiku in the subject line. The deadline is next Friday, September 29. The standard Gawker Contest Rules apply and only one entry per person, please.

Sponsored by HD DVD. The Look and Sound of Perfect.

Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player Reviewed (Verdict: "A Disgrace")

Charlie White — Tue, 16 May 2006 13:48:36 EDT

Reviewers at Consumer Electronics Net weren't impressed with the $500 Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player, calling it "a disgrace." Fan noise, crashing, a clumsy remote and slow performance doomed the first-to-market player, and the reviewer wasn't too impressed with its standard-definition DVD up-rezzing capability, either. There were even choice words for electronics retailer Best Buy, where a duplicitous blueshirt tried to sell the reviewer an unnecessary $100 HDMI cable, denying that there was already one included in the box. Said the reviewer of the Toshiba player:

"Please, do yourself a favor and don't go through the trouble of buying it, setting it up and being frustrated by it. Wait until this format is more mature, because now, it reminds me of the early days of MS-DOS computing. The only reason I give it more than one star is because of the high quality of its video. Not recommended under any circumstances. 2 out of 10 stars."

Overall, it's a disappointing performance for the HD DVD player for which we had such high hopes. It can only get better.

Review: Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player [Consumer Electronics Net]

Toshiba Preps HD-DVD Assault for March

gizmodo.com — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:25:41 EST

Despite the almost total lack of support, Toshiba hasn't given up on HD-DVD yet. Blu-ray be damned, they are introducing two HD-DVD players onto the market this year: The HD-XA1 and HD-A1. They are promised for March of 2006.

Both players are backwards compatible with regular DVD, offer 720p or 1080i resolution, and lossless sound. They also use some kind of "advanced" navigation system known as iHD, but that wasn't shown in action during the press demo. The HD-XA1 will retail for $799.99 and the HD-A1
will go for $499.99.

Full details after the jump...

HD-XA1
-High end cosmetics
-HDMI Output
-720p / 1080i output
-UP conversion for DVD
-Interactive Functions
-Internet Connectivity
-USB ports for gaming
-Built in Dolby and DTS Decoders

HD-A1
-Same minus some cosmetics, no frills