Toshiba HD-A2 $98.87 at Wal-Mart this FRIDAY ONLY

[Ruined]

Bill Hunt seems further and further disconnected from reality with each rant he goes on.

his new blog rant summary:
"OMG I WANT TO PAY $1000 FOR MY HD PLAYER! MORE EXPENSIVE IS BETTER! BOSE RULES ITS MORE EXPENSIVE!"

oookay. Man, if Warner goes HD DVD Exclusive in the next 6 months which is a very real possibility, I can't wait to see the 10 page digitalbits meltdown rant to go with it. That will be comedy gold.

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Or possibly jealous your camp of choice can't come even close to matching it?

I own players for both formats.

GREAT article by Bill Hunt right there by the way.

[Taxi]

He doesn't seem to want to remember his history.

The original XBox and then the 360 sold for under its manufacturing costs for years as well.

It's the software, Bill. The hardware is a one-time sale (and possibly at a loss). Software sales go on into the future. And on, and on...

Seems pretty simple to me.

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Taxi

The original XBox and then the 360 sold for under its manufacturing costs for years as well.

The Xbox lost by a LARGE margin... the 360 is already second and could easily be third by the time this generation ends.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by MooglePorn

The Xbox lost by a LARGE margin... the 360 is already second and could easily be third by the time this generation ends.

It's going to be pretty hard for any console to lose to the PS3 in the US. Its losing by a nice healthy margin. Last month it was the worst seller of any videogame console still in production

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Taxi

He doesn't seem to want to remember his history.

The original XBox and then the 360 sold for under its manufacturing costs for years as well.

It's the software, Bill. The hardware is a one-time sale (and possibly at a loss). Software sales go on into the future. And on, and on...

Seems pretty simple to me.

I think MS can still afford to lose money on everyone of their game consoles. Toshiba, I dunno.

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by MooglePorn

The Xbox lost by a LARGE margin... the 360 is already second and could easily be third by the time this generation ends.

Lost what? Money? I'm not talking about console wars here, Moog, I'm talking profit.

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Taxi

Lost what? Money? I'm not talking about console wars here, Moog, I'm talking profit.

Yeah, it lost that too. MS lost money inthe game biz every year since it got into it.

And Ruined, A)I'm talking overall, not just US, and B) I think it's funny you can say that when we're only a year in and Sony's heavy hitters aren't even out yet, while all of MS's are.

[nick1091]

For anyone planning on picking this up tomorrow:

Earlier tonight (around 8:30 PM EST) I called the closest WM to me and spoke with a manager.

He said they'll have 10 HD-DVD players on hand. When I asked if the sale starts at 8AM as per online, he said that the 8 AM is only for the Supercenters, which will "re-open" at 8 for the specials. For this particular location, the specials go on sale starting at their normal store open of 7 AM. So for those not planning to go to a WM Supercenter, I'd double check.

FWIW, he said I was the first call he'd received re: the HD-DVD players. He said everyone else who called either wanted the laptops or the TVs, of which he'd only have five each.

Wish my wife luck - while I'm braving NY traffic to get to work, she'll be with the huddled masses hoping to score a player! Looking forward to getting the HD-A2 to supplant my HDAO.

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by Taxi

Lost what? Money? I'm not talking about console wars here, Moog, I'm talking profit.

I just realized I said something Signature worthy Yep, thats me, praising myself.

[BoSoxMole]

Can I still get 5 free HD-DVDs with this?

[pizza]

Got one! The store by us opened at 6 a.m. (the rest open at 7 a.m.) and there was no one else around for this. My wife had to ask a sales clerk where the players were. The clerk then brought out 15 boxes. Best of all, she didn't have to wait till 8 to pay.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by BoSoxMole

Can I still get 5 free HD-DVDs with this?

Yep.

[Monrozombi]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Yep.

is the form for the 5 free hd-dvds inside the box (I haven't opened it yet) or is it online?

[littlebib]

Originally Posted by jbat31

I know how much Ruined loves Bill Hunt, but i thought i would through today's bits editorial

from thedigitalbits.com

Keep in mind, contrary to the opinions of some online, we don't think HD-DVD is a bad format at all. If it were the only HD format around, we'd be all over it here at The Bits. But Toshiba is effectively paying studios to support it, and now they're practically giving the hardware and software away. Do you suppose we'll see free HD-DVD player offers in Cracker Jacks and cereal boxes next? $50 players? $25 players? 2 for 1 players?

He really does come across as if he's not in favor of lower prices. If standard DVD players had stayed at $300+, do he really think it would be as popular as it is?

[Mr. Furious]

Let me preface this by saying, I'm getting a player, but I'm now going to have to pay to have it shipped.

Wal-Mart only had 10 units in stock here in Eden Prairie, MN. So basically, my Dad gets there and they've already got people (at 7:30 AM) with the players in the carts waiting for 8 AM to roll around so they can buy them. I could complain about releasing the product early, but I realize it wouldn't have made much difference. If there were 10 people there at 7, they'd have been the first in line anyway. What I do think is retarded is the stock levels. If you've only got 10 units, you KNOW you're not going to meet demand. All you do succeed in doing is pissing off your customers. I fail to see how vastly under-preparing for a sale like this is going to help the format or build any good will with Wal-Mart shoppers.

I knew I had a good reason for hating that store.

At least I found one in another state. I'm having my brother in law ship it to me from Fargo, ND. Apparently they had like 60-70 players. Yeah, go figure.

[Rileydog]

i didnt go- decided i wanted the a-35

but, the fried i referenced above did and there were like 40 at the one here in charlotte, although he said the movie selection at 14.99 was shitty.

[elfman]

Just picked up mine. It will replace my 360 HDAO, which will move permanently to the PC.

There were 5-6 people in the store waiting with me, and this Supercenter had about 42 on the pallet. I'll stop by later anyway and see how well they sold.

Woot woot!

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by Monrozombi

is the form for the 5 free hd-dvds inside the box (I haven't opened it yet) or is it online?

You can get it online if it's not in the box.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Monrozombi

is the form for the 5 free hd-dvds inside the box (I haven't opened it yet) or is it online?

You can get it here:
http://thelookandsoundofperfect.com/...ption_form.pdf

Just as a heads up, I'd avoid TROY and FULL METAL JACKET off that free title list because signficantly superior versions of each have already been released:

Troy Director's Cut (better video quality, added director's cut scenes)
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/977/troy_dc.html

Full Metal Jacket Deluxe (better video quality, more supplements)
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1032/...jacket_de.html

[sub780lime]

I wont be able to go until about 830 PST so hopefully mine still has some...

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

Let me preface this by saying, I'm getting a player, but I'm now going to have to pay to have it shipped.

Wal-Mart only had 10 units in stock here in Eden Prairie, MN. So basically, my Dad gets there and they've already got people (at 7:30 AM) with the players in the carts waiting for 8 AM to roll around so they can buy them. I could complain about releasing the product early, but I realize it wouldn't have made much difference. If there were 10 people there at 7, they'd have been the first in line anyway. What I do think is retarded is the stock levels. If you've only got 10 units, you KNOW you're not going to meet demand. All you do succeed in doing is pissing off your customers. I fail to see how vastly under-preparing for a sale like this is going to help the format or build any good will with Wal-Mart shoppers.

I knew I had a good reason for hating that store.

At least I found one in another state. I'm having my brother in law ship it to me from Fargo, ND. Apparently they had like 60-70 players. Yeah, go figure.

Sorry, Mr. F, I merged your post into the original one. We already had too many threads regarding this "sale".

[Sehnzeleid]

Went to one of the local Wal Mart's to pick up Face/Off ($20) and right when I was at the cashier the last A2 was sold (@ about 10 a.m.) at the opposite lane out of a lot of 15. The employees seemed shocked it was only $99.

[Astrakan]

Alrighty, here's some bits and pieces related to this topic from various closed threads:

First a screenshot that can be used when price matching the deal at other stores:

Originally Posted by firestorm

Came across this on a truck forum of all place. I don't know if this is someone's blunder, yet to be fixed, or what. Hopefully not!

Toshiba - HD DVD High-Definition DVD Player

Then a link to an avsforum thread where users discuss their experiences doing price matching:

Originally Posted by Ruined

Word on the boards is that if you bring a printout of the Walmart or BB ad to Circuit City they will match the price! So now you can get $99 HD-A2 players from any major retailer!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=931815

And finally something from a thread whose original title was "Walmart + HD DVD promotional alliance official."

Originally Posted by Ruined

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcfpJDcmq5M

And there is the proof.


So, in terms of retailer promotional alliances, it looks to be like this for Q4/xmas:

HD DVD - Walmart/Sam's Club, K-Mart/Sears
Blu-Ray - Target/BJ's

Note that all of them seem to be selling software for both sides, but some are pushing one format over the other in terms of players.

Here's the original threads, in case you want to read what others had to say:
Toshiba HD-A2: $99 at Best Buy
Circuit City matching $99 HD-A2 offer from WalMart/BB
Walmart + HD DVD promotional alliance official.

KM

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by Taxi

Sorry, Mr. F, I merged your post into the original one. We already had too many threads regarding this "sale".

No worries.

It basically is costing me $20 to ship it from ND to MN. So it's not horrible, but I think it's retarded that WalMart couldn't figure out that this is going to be a big sale. Not having enough stock to last more than 2 minutes is just dumb.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

No worries.

It basically is costing me $20 to ship it from ND to MN. So it's not horrible, but I think it's retarded that WalMart couldn't figure out that this is going to be a big sale. Not having enough stock to last more than 2 minutes is just dumb.

I wonder how big a stock of hd-a2 players there are in general. This is a product that's being phased out, and they were already selling at a good rate even before the $99 price. I guess Walmart based its supply on demand in the area. Perhaps Eden Prairie didn't have a huge demand for hd-dvd and so it didn't get as many players.