Yeah i think it was your post that made me want to get it. I was a bit shocked when it was more. I can't remember now if it was $70 or $80.

I saw 5 RCAs at the WM in Nashua, NH, but the price sign was missing so I don't know if it was marked down. Can anyone tell me how the RCA differs from the Toshiba? The Toshiba has had firmware updates available to fix some problems, is RCA doing the same?

the faceplate/color/remote are the only differences as far as the machine is concerned.

not to sure how RCA is handling firmware updates though.

It's the same. you just upgrade with the same firmware, afaik.

Update, went to Best Buy on lunch and they were out of the Toshiba HD-DVD players. Actually got a very helpful electronics guy to put in a customer order (or something like that) that would ship the player directly to my house. The 12% coupon wasn't working either but he overrode it to give the discount. I had about $240 in gift cards, so after the service plan it came out to about $330 total. Now all I've got to do is wait until Monday I suppose, I had to order the cables from monoprice and got in on the Amazon 10% HD-DVD deal, so I should be ready to go. Thanks for the help.

You got about as good a deal as I did Congrats! Let us know what you think when you get it...the good and the bad. And make sure you upgrade the firmware...depending on which one you get. 1.4 is coming out next week.

I'm just now reading about the new upgrade, that rocks. Waiting until Monday's going to suck, I'm sure I'll be seeing all new flaws in my normal 1300+ SD-DVDs

Oh, you have no idea. Even upconverted, my SDs now look so soft that it's difficult to watch them if I've just finished watching an HD DVD. When that happens, it's best to just walk away for a while to let the "HD memory" fade a bit. Then the SDs don't look quite as bad.

BTW, it sounds like I'm not the only one in Boise with a "mini-Blockbuster" in his home (as my friends call my DVD collection).

Its amazing how bad even the best DVDs look after watching HD DVDs for awhile. I'm going to be replacing a lot more of my movies than I imagined.

Well I already upgraded Perfect Storm, Serenity, and Chronicles of Riddick from my collection on the first 3 titles I bought. I swore I wasn't going to upgrade anything but absolute favorites and new releases, from the sounds of it, I'm going to have to eat some crow on that one. What sucks even more is that I'm addicted to the DVD Mega Changers (I've got 4, one in my room, one in living room and 2 in the bedroom for myself and the wife) and I've got to go back to the single disc player. Whenever the winning HD side comes up with a changer, I'll pay WHATEVER THEY ASK. Ah well, just that lazy.

Well, I spent all day "working" today and was able to hit several of the Wal-Mart locations around Knoxville(Oak Ridge, Rockwood, Turkey Creek, Lenoir City and Chapman Hwy). No luck and I only found HD-DVD's and the RCA player in two locations. I also checked two Best Buy's and a couple Sears locations. Best Buy couldn't tell me much when they would be in, but Sears is showing an availability date of 7/5/06.

I am hoping to find one at the Wal-Mart near Johnson City tomorrow for the previously advertised price of $400.

Does anybody live near that location that would be willing to check on the availability of this player and possibly pick one up for me?? I will be in Newport tomorrow and I am willing to make the drive up if one is available.

Thanks!

I used to live near Johnson City, TN. There's a Best Buy there, fyi.

Thanks... If I make the drive up, I will check that Best Buy out as well...

I just noticed something and I don't want to sound like an idiot, but what is the difference between the all black Toshiba HD-DVD player Wal-Mart sells and the black/silver unit that is sold at Best Buy, Sears and most other places? Is this just a special model made for Wal-Mart similar to what Denon does with some of their models?

Thanks,

yep. it's a wal-mart "exclusive."

absolutely nothing different about it besides the color.

That is what I was thinking.....

Thanks for the clarification!

The model number of the all-black player is HD-D1. The black/silver player is HD-A1. As freaky says, other than the color they're identical.

GREAT NEWS, I was able to pick up the Toshiba unit at the Wal-Mart in Johnson City, TN. The best part was, it rang up at $385.00. They still have 2 more units left and they are located on an endcap marked Clearance. I never thought I would purchase a DVD player from Wal-Mart!

I also picked up SwordFish since that was the only title they had I was interested in.

Now, I have to upgrade my projector so I can use this player...lol Until then, I will take it to my brother's house and see how it looks on his Samsung 61".

Holy shit! $385???

Congrats man, I checked everywhere in Idaho and they had no Toshibas, but I won't complain, mine will be here soon. It also sucks that since yesterday, my Walmart went from having about 10 HD-DVD discs available to buy to 3. They got about 8 BD discs in, and they said that they took over all the HD-DVD spacing, even though they don't have a BD Player yet.

I called Wal-Mart and they said they don't carry any kind of HD-DVD player. My local Circuit City said they were expecting the RCA between now and July.

Coach,

Was it marked $499 and rang up at that price? Is this only happening with the Toshiba?

I was emailed by fellow Dvdtalker Arholmes letting me know that he saw three of the Toshiba units at this Wal-Mart on Saturday. So, I started calling and checking as many Wal-Mart locations as I could as I was coming down to Knoxville from Cincinnati. I asked on Store manager about the HD-DVD players and he told me that the reason why Wal-Mart was getting rid of the Toshiba units in favor of the RCA players was because Toshiba dealers were getting upset that customers could go to Wal-Mart and get the same player they were selling....Not sure how true this is...

Anyways, this location had it on a clearance endcap. It had a $499.00 price tag on it with the red clearance tag underneath it marked at $400.00. When I took it to the register to ring up, it came up at $385.00. The associate was in just as much shock as I was. Another associate came over and said that they were giving extra discounts on clearance items today because they had so much of it.

The funniest thing about this was, I called this same location on Monday night and the associate told me that they had never sold a Toshiba DVD player...lol I am not positive, but I think the same associate was working today and made a comment about me purchasing a HD-DVD player...lol

Lucky dude you are Coach. Does anyone know of these on sale at any Alabama walmarts? I wouldn't mind getting a Black model. I think knoxville is a little to far to drive. Plus, they would probably be sold out by the time I got there.

You took the words right out of my mouth!