Toshiba Offers $100 Rebate + 5 Free Movies

[CochiseGuy]

From HighDefDigest -

The HD DVD Promotions Group today announced that Toshiba will be offering a month-long $100 rebate on new HD DVD players, bringing the entry-level list price for a stand-alone HD DVD player to a record-low $299.

Beginning this Sunday (May 20th) and continuing until June 16th, consumers buying Toshiba's HD-A2 model player will receive an an instant, in-store rebate of $100. During the final week of the promotion (from June 10th through June 16th), Toshiba will extend the $100 rebate to any Toshiba HD DVD player, and will offer an additional $100 rebate to consumers purchasing both an HD DVD player and a 42 inch (or larger) Toshiba HDTV.

The HD DVD group says the rebate will be available across a wide range of retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, HHGregg and Amazon.com.

Consumers taking advantage of this Father's Day-timed rebate are also eligible to choose five free HD DVD titles (from a selection of fifteen), as part of a previously-announced promotion, which ends July 31, 2007.

Hard to go wrong with this deal.

And just in time for The Matrix Trilogy (May 22 release date), currently available only on HD DVD.

 

[JoeSp]

Wow, is this desperate or what? It makes no differance because as deals go this is a super one. Now if I can just move another player into the rack without the wife seeing it.

 

[teachsac]

Wow, is this desperate or what? It makes no differance because as deals go this is a super one.

No. Extremely good marketing.

S~

 

[navychop]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=96967

 

[r.jones1116]

Death blow to bluray

 

[JoeSp]

Not really. The $399 has been out over a month and there has been no change in sales ratio of BD to HD-DVD discs. Maybe this will jump start HD-DVD again but there are some really big BD titles coming out over the next 2 months and I see this as a preemptive strike to BD. I don't think it is going to work cause when mom and pop go into the store and look for Disney it is still only on BD. That, my friend is the real death blow --- to HD-DVD.

 

[vurbano]

mom and pop dont even have an HDTV and they sure as hell aint gonna have a PS3

 

[CochiseGuy]

Not really. The $399 has been out over a month and there has been no change in sales ratio of BD to HD-DVD discs. Maybe this will jump start HD-DVD again but there are some really big BD titles coming out over the next 2 months and I see this as a preemptive strike to BD. I don't think it is going to work cause when mom and pop go into the store and look for Disney it is still only on BD. That, my friend is the real death blow --- to HD-DVD.

Hopefully Mom & Pop will understand they'll need to spend at least $600 to buy a player to play those Disney BD titles and if they decide to go with a PS3 they'll need the latest & greatest equipment to enjoy those BD disks - an HDMI receiver to hear those great PCM sound tracks in multi-channel. And a recent HDTV with HDMI, or fork over another $25 for an adapter for component.

Actually, those $399 prices for HD DVD have had an effect - from 70/30% BD in Sony's infamous March 18 report it narrowed to 52/48% three weeks ago and 60/40% a week ago.

I don't see any death blows from either side. Both formats will continue to be around. Some will insist on waiting until there's only one, others will pick one based on price or content, and some who really enjoy HD content will buy both.

 

[BlackHitachi]

mom and pop dont even have an HDTV and they sure as hell aint gonna have a PS3

LMAO!! No joke.

 

[navychop]

Yep, looking more like both might survive. Not sure that's a win for consumers, though.

 

[CochiseGuy]

Yep, looking more like both might survive. Not sure that's a win for consumers, though.

Competition is always good for the consumers. Without Dish, DirectTV & cable competing, can you imagine what we would be paying for HD TV service?

The difference is we can see the same content on almost any of those choices, selecting only on quality & price. What's bad is the studios trying to make us choose a high def disk format based on their allegiance. All studios should be neutral and let us chose on quality & price. :up

Keeping HD DVD in the game will lead to that.

 

[mike123abc]

mom and pop dont even have an HDTV and they sure as hell aint gonna have a PS3

Mom and pop are likely to have an HDTV... People in thier 20s and 30s are the usual people to have young kids. The grand parents may still have old TVs, but HDTVs are big sellers to people in their 20s and 30s. There are not a lot of parents of young children in their 50s and 60s.

 

[navychop]

Well, I don't agree that all studios should be neutral. That's just not how the war is fought. But for 2 formats to continue indefinitely will end up just costing us more. The dual format players will cost more, or having two players will cost more. Eventually, I suppose it could be like the 33 & 45 RPM records. Maybe.

I have come to appreciate that there were two to start with. You're right, with the competition, prices have come down and improvements made faster than if there were only one. But long term I think we'd be ahead with just one format. If the matter can be decided this year, people can start buying with confidence. With larger sales, prices can come down more, and more high def releases can be expected.

 

[JoeSp]

Toshiba's move to price their player at $299 with the $100 off is a really great deal. It is a great move to try and improve their market share. But the bottom line is discs sales not player sales. And right now BD is still out selling HD-DVD and continues to do so. When HD-DVD has a big title they get close but nobody gives out prizes to second place.

Toshiba's problem is that they are on an island basically by themselves with Universal holding on (to payolla) and M$ just hoping this war can last long enough for their internet service to get rolling. All the other major players are not only sticking with BD but are now bringing out their second generation players. This just six months after the real launch of BD in November.

Combo players are not going to help HD-DVD but BD because the bulk of hits over the last 5 years are coming out on BD. POTC intial comments point to a highly rated BD maybe the first real referance disc for BD. I for one like that Toshiba is pushing the low ball price as it will force the BD manufacturer's to combat the low prices with their own low cost player.

The other thing of notice is that most of the titles on HD-DVD that everyone is getting excited about are going to come out on BD (Matrix specifically) so it is real interesting that the only thing that the HD-DVD camp can really get excited about is the low cost player.

However there is a word of caution -- manufacturer's that give you a 25% discount and free product usually do that because their sales are tanking compared to expectations. And here is the rub, it is not the standalone sales that are tanking it is the discs sales. If Toshiba and the HD-DVD camp cannot reclaim their lead in HD-DVD discs sales over BD then it is going to be a long winter for them. Especially since most BD manufacturer's see BD players under $400 for this Xmas and the other unspoken fact -- most HD-DVD movies that have also come out for BD have sold more BD discs.

Toshiba's move is to change that perception because if they can not they will not get anyone on the BD side to come over to theirs and they risk losing what support they currently have. Studios that make HD-DVD will continue to as long as Toshiba sells players but at some point even they have to start making decisions on the long term prospects of HD-DVD being number two or of the HD formats dying because one will not go away. When they start making decisions on survival of a high def disc format they will go with who is number one and right now and for the forseeable future that is BD.

 

[navychop]

My concern is that if I buy into both formats, I'm setting myself up. Sure, I may have a dual format player, or two players, and movies in both formats. And then later one format fails. I can watch the movies I have in the losing format for years- until the player dies. At some point, replacement players for the losing format will no longer be available- same for repairs.

Then I'm back to replacing movies. Sure, new technologies will come out, better than these high def discs. But not that much better. Sure, we did the same thing when DVDs replaced tape- but we knew VHS quality was poor when we bought it. So DVDs were "enough" better than tape to be worth buying those movies again. Some of them, anyway. Maybe most. But high def discs are so close to the "big screen" quality that there just isn't going to be another huge leap in PQ. Maybe the future formats will concentrate on size and ease of use or beyond 2D realism. We may keep these high def discs and watch them for the rest of our lives. Nobody's going to take the original "Gone With The Wind" and convert it into 3D or holograms. I think.

 

[JAG72]

To make the deal even better this week you can buy the HD-DVD player at Best Buy for $299 with 5 free from Toshiba. If you add the Matrix collection for $79 you also get 2 more HD-DVD's free on the spot. This makes the deal $380 with a total of 10 HD-DVD's. Pretty good way at getting a player and a bunch of movies.

 

[CochiseGuy]

My concern is that if I buy into both formats, I'm setting myself up. Sure, I may have a dual format player, or two players, and movies in both formats. And then later one format fails. I can watch the movies I have in the losing format for years- until the player dies. At some point, replacement players for the losing format will no longer be available- same for repairs.

Then I'm back to replacing movies.

I dunno, I'm usually pretty frugal with my spending, but the way I look at it, most things you buy become obsolete in one way or another. My 2003 SUV is worth 1/4 what I paid for it and if I keep it long enough replacement parts will be hard to find or no long available. The compressor on my AC went out on my 10 yr. old house went out recently and the repair guy said that model is no long available, so it's going to cost me almost twice as much to replace it. If I bought a Dish 622 DVR and Dish service becomes more expensive or less quality than DirectTV, I'd have to buy a new one if switched service - or moved to a city where cable was a better deal.

My home theater system is one area where I feel I get reasonable value for my discretionary spending, so I spend. I really enjoy high def movies on disk, so I have both formats. And while I have a pretty decent collection of movies, I rent via Netflix as much as I own. My criteria has always been if it's someone I'll want to watch several times & whenever I want, I buy it. If I think one viewing or a viewing every few years, I rent it.

I just think you guys that are waiting until you're absolutely sure there will be one and only one "winner", you'll be waiting for some time, if not for a very long time or forever, and you're missing out. This HD DVD promotion is a good way to get your feet wet, or go dual format.

 

[JAG72]

I just think you guys that are waiting until you're absolutely sure there will be one and only one "winner", you'll be waiting for some time, if not for a very long time or forever, and you're missing out. This HD DVD promotion is a good way to get your feet wet, or go dual format.

The war will soon be over!!! I just purchased a HD-DVD standalone player today so it is sure to lose. At least that is the way my luck goes.

 

[bchris2597]

Was In Costco today in and saw their version of the HD DVD A2 which is the HD DVD D2 for $249.....I think Im going to take the plunge.....

 

[bidger`]

The war will soon be over!!! I just purchased a HD-DVD standalone player today so it is sure to lose. At least that is the way my luck goes.

As someone who got involved with the DVD-Audio/SACD war, well more like a small skirmish, by purchasing a Pioneer universal player in early 2003, I don't have much enthusiasm for this format war and kinda hope they both fall on their faces for being so short-sighted and greedy.

Having said that, "The Matrix" on DVD was one of the reasons I first got into that format and the price point of $299.99 for the player is pretty attractive. Must resist.