Wal-Mart to sell $299 Chinese HD DVD Players soon?
04-20-07, 06:49 AM
#1
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Wal-Mart to sell $299 Chinese HD DVD Players soon?
Found this on Engadget, sounds like pretty big news for HD DVD...
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/20/t...er-on-the-way/
Get ready to get your cheap HD on kids. Wal-Mart just threw down some serious green for a batch of Chinese-made HD DVD players. Just as they brought DVD players down to near-disposable status, their deal for 2 million HD DVD players produced by China's Great Wall corporation will ultimately do the same for hi-def optical. The guts are developed by Taiwan's Fuh Yuan with a touch of help from Japan's TDK. How much? A magical $299, that's how much -- $100 less than the cheapest available HD DVD rig (Toshiba's A2) and half of Sony's $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. It's not clear when we'll see the first units on Wal-Mart shelves, only that the final shipment from the order is expected before 2008 is over.
04-20-07, 06:56 AM
#3
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Originally Posted by DVD Josh
It's fun to play with numbers. The cheapest price for the A2 is $309. Now why would I pay $10 less for an inferior machine? No reason, that's why.
04-20-07, 06:59 AM
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Originally Posted by DVD Josh
It's fun to play with numbers. The cheapest price for the A2 is $309. Now why would I pay $10 less for an inferior machine? No reason, that's why.
04-20-07, 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Qui Gon Jim
Walmart is the biggest retailer. For mass market success, a product needs to be available there. Comparing the online price against a Wally price is apples to oranges.
04-20-07, 09:03 AM
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Last edited by Damed; 04-20-07 at 10:20 AM.
04-20-07, 09:21 AM
#9
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Originally Posted by speedyray
Well if it takes till 08 to get them this will be no news at all. Toshiba will likely have players cheaper than that by 08.
04-20-07, 10:19 AM
#10
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If the players get decent reviews, and pop up for less than 250, I may have to jump on board.
04-20-07, 10:27 AM
#11
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Fantastic news. And I'm glad I got my A2 for not much more than that... although I still haven't had time to sit down and watch a single movie from start to finish. 
04-20-07, 10:37 AM
#12
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Originally Posted by tonyjg
I'm almost waiting til you see FULL SCREEN HD-DVDs on sale at Walmart !!
04-20-07, 10:40 AM
#13
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I would be surprised if "FULL SCREEN" HD DVD does eventually surface. Except this time it will be pan and scanning 2.35:1 movies to fit on the 16:9 display without bars. Perhaps even cropping or stretching classic 1.33:1 films.
04-20-07, 10:53 AM
#14
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This was taken from the link, they updated their story
Update: Pull back the reigns HD DVD fanboys, Akihabara now says that they've made a "huge mistake" with their translation: the original source called it "藍光 HD DVD and 藍光 means Blu-RAY." In other words, Blu-ray HD DVD. Huh? Word to the wise: since both formats use blue lasers, it's best to wait for an English press release before either camp celebrates.
Last edited by DJ_Longfellow; 04-20-07 at 12:02 PM.
04-20-07, 11:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Groucho
I would be surprised if "FULL SCREEN" HD DVD does eventually surface. Except this time it will be pan and scanning 2.35:1 movies to fit on the 16:9 display without bars.
04-20-07, 12:03 PM
#17
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Originally Posted by cultshock
Yeah, that already happens on some HD cable channels, doesn't it?
Plus, this might be for Blu-Ray, not HD-DVD as what the link says now.
04-20-07, 12:34 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by cultshock
Yeah, that already happens on some HD cable channels, doesn't it?
Channels like HBO are cropping 2.35:1 stuff to fit in 16x9
Universal HD is taking 1.33:1 shows (Knight Rider, Equalizer) and cropping to fit in 16x9
TNT HD is stretching some 1.33:1 shows (Charmed, etc.) to fill the frame
etc.
I don't think anything like this has hit the HD DVD/BD realm, but if it goes mainstream, it's only a matter of time.
I'm fine with it, as long as the OAR (whatever that may be) is avaialble as well. That's worked out fine for standard DVD and I don't see why it won't work for HD as well.
04-20-07, 01:18 PM
#19
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While not a movie, Dragon's Lair is the first. The recently released BD is a 1.78:1 chop job from the 4:3 OAR. The funny thing is, the PC HD version (which is on a DVD with a fraction of the space) contains the original ratio plus a 5:4 version.
04-20-07, 02:06 PM
#20
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However, as far as I can tell, the changes to Dragon Lair were approved by its creator, Don Bluth. Not exactly an example of changing it for the Wal-Mart crowd.
04-20-07, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by DJ_Longfellow
This was taken from the link, they updated their story
Not too shabby for a format that Sony has declared dead 17 times already this year...
04-22-07, 07:24 PM
#25
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Originally Posted by Suprmallet
However, as far as I can tell, the changes to Dragon Lair were approved by its creator, Don Bluth. Not exactly an example of changing it for the Wal-Mart crowd.
Originally Posted by bboisvert
I'm fine with it, as long as the OAR (whatever that may be) is available as well. That's worked out fine for standard DVD and I don't see why it won't work for HD as well.