Gizmodo: toshiba hd-a2

90,000 HD DVD Players Sold Last Weekend

Charlie White — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:05:26 EST

Reducing the price of those HD DVD players to a rock-bottom $99 must be catching on, with 90,000 of its HD DVD sold last weekend. Most of them were those Toshiba HD-A2 players (pictured here) sold by Wal-Mart and Best Buy, locking horns in a price war, and resulting in a welcome reduction in inventory of those older models. The source "close to retailers" refused to be named so this might as well be a player count of 900k. Who knows?

Toshiba didn't really have anything to do with those price reductions. It figures. If the company is losing hundreds of dollars on each player, selling 90,000 of them is probably nothing to brag about. Just think, if the company loses $500 per player, we're talking $45 million over one weekend. Apparently, somebody really wants the HD DVD format to emerge victorious. Or just wants a bigger piece of the retail pie and to get old tech off their shelves pronto. [Video Business]

Best Buy Matching $99 Toshiba HD DVD Player at Walmart

Brian Lam — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:21:00 EDT

The bloodbath has begun. Best buy is matching Walmart's $99 sale on Toshiba's low end HD-A2 HD DVD player. They're sold out online but local pickup might work for you. I can't help but wonder how much is lost on these players. If any, since they're heavily based on DVD tech. And what is Blu-ray going to do about this? [Best Buy via Chris Null]

Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $199 with...

Charlie White — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:36:53 EDT

Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $199 with free shipping, HDMI cable and five HD DVD movies [Value Electronics]

Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray Player Drops Below $500

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:51:11 EDT

Whether it is lower production costs or a new need to compete seriously with Toshiba's HD DVD camp, Sony has sliced $100 off of its original pricing for the BDP-S300 Blu-ray player, to a list price of $499. That's still high given the fact that a) the PS3 lists for just $100 more and offers Blu-ray playback and a lot of extra functionality and b) Toshiba's $399 HD-A2 HD DVD player is easy to find for under $300.

Is this enough of a price break, keeping with Sony's traditional "brand premium"? Or will Sony continue to pursue Toshiba down below the hard deck, where stakes are high and profit margins are low? Will Sony ride into the danger zone, so to speak? We'll certainly know by Christmas. – Wilson Rothman

Sony cuts price on new Blu-ray player [AP]

Toshiba's HD DVD Players Getting a Price Drop

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:58:15 EDT

It looks like the Blu-ray camp managed to scare the pants off Toshiba with all of their world domination talk so in response, Toshiba has lowered the MSRP on the HD-XA2, the HD-A20, and the HD-A2 down to $799, $499, and $399, respectively. We knew these drops were coming, and the timing couldn't be better to help boost HD DVD's lagging sales. – Louis Ramirez

Toshiba's MSRPs Beginning April 1st [AVS Forum]

Toshiba to Roll Out Cheaper HD DVD Players Next Week?

Charlie White — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:07:36 EST

Toshiba is taking the gloves off next week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where the company might introduce a third line of HD DVD players that will be even cheaper than its current versions. Toshiba chief Yoshihide Fujii offers this tantalizing hint: "At first I thought the price threshold is $499. Maybe coming next is $399 and after that is $299."

Perhaps Fujii isn't aware that Toshiba's much-improved HD-A2 player (pictured above), released a couple of months ago, can now be found on the web for $399. But that $299 price could be a number that opens the floodgates for HD DVD player sales. We'll be at Toshiba's CES press conference on January 7, and we'll bring you details as they happen. – Charlie White

Toshiba Plans HD DVD Push [PC World]

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]