[Ruined]

This is a fantastic player, my dad has one. It has stunning output for HD DVD and DVD. In terms of being "outdated," it is 720p/1080i and HDMI 1.2A which is not the latest - but for most people getting the latest (featured in the HD-A35 and HD-XA2) will not make much of a difference anyway. A good HDTV does inverse telecine on 1080i to retrieve the original 1080p signal, and HDMI 1.3 doesn't do much unless you have one of the new Onkyo receivers that does TrueHD decoding - even then its not all that special because this HD-A2 player can do decoding of TrueHD internally and pass it lossless over PCM HDMI. If you don't have an HDMI receiver, simply use the DD downcovert from the optical port.

In short, jump on this deal. There is an HD-A3 coming out but its virtually the same thing as the HD-A2 except with different styling. Its not worth the extra cash.

The only case I'd say that the HD-A35 might be worth the extra money is if you have one of the new 120hz HDTVs that can display 1080p24 without judder (Sony A3000 models), or one of the new Onkyo receivers that can do TrueHD bitstream. But even then, you have to evaluate whether its worth $300 more as you could still use the HD-A2 without issue even with the latest HDTV and receiver gadgets to go with it.

Go for it, you can't lose at $99. Heck, you can't lose at $199 either!