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

[SilentBob]

Wal-Mart is doing 3 weekends of special sales leading up to Black Friday sales and this week you can grab the HD-A2 for less then $100. Who the hell in their right mind could pass this up as a nice jump into the format


Here's the proof

[videoworx]

At this rate, it'll be $49 next week...

[Derb]

And the week after that you might find your next cereal box a little heavy.

[EM3]

Free with Proof of Purchase!


My Wally World still has no players.

[Mr. Furious]

Alright... at this price, I can't resist buying one. I'll be making a trip to WalMart.

[Rileydog]

how is this player- my buddy at work wrote me about it and i was considering it at that price

is it outdated already, have hardware issues, hdmi compatable, bit rate, etc.

i was looking at getting the a-35 since i thought it was the newest, or the new samsung dual format player


thoughts? is this an acceptable long term investment, or am i going to wanna upgrade real quick? 99 is ridiculously cheap and HD DVD's are only 14.99

can you still get the mail in on the 5 free movies? Best buy has it for 180 with 2 free movies on the spot PLUS the mail in

[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 In terms of being "outdated," it is 720p/1080i and HDMI 1.2A which is not the latest - but for most people getting the latest (featured in the HD-A35 and HD-XA2) will not make much of a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!

[Rileydog]

but it doesnt output 1080p?

I dont remember my Onkyo model, but I am fairly certain it outputs true hd

is tha tonly available in the newest wave- mine was brand new in February?

[sambow87]

If I had an HDMI receiver i'd be all over this and upgrade my A1. Then again, my A1 has pretty much been flawless and I regard it as a member of my family.

$99 is an excellent price for something like this. Going to be an amazing Q4 for HD DVD.

[ganthc]

I can attest that the hda2 is a solid machine. I have had very few issues with it (all have been corrected with firmware), and it's a great entry machine into hd. The fact that it outputs only 1080i for me was not a big deal as my hdtv is 720p/1080i. But for others, it really is a "throwaway" price (and I'm referring to the money, not the player) to get one at Walmart if you can find it.

Something tells me they won't have enough, and it is "while supplies last."

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Rileydog

but it doesnt output 1080p?

No, but the point is it doesn't need to. Your TV will convert 1080i to 1080p without signal loss assuming you have a name brand; 1080i contains ALL of the data that would be in the 1080p output, it just needs to be reordered. That process is called inverse telecine. You will not see any difference between a 1080i and 1080p HD DVD player on a 1080p TV in most cases due to this process.

I dont remember my Onkyo model, but I am fairly certain it outputs true hd

is tha tonly available in the newest wave- mine was brand new in February?

Your onkyo probably does support TrueHD, but with the HD-A2 you can still get TrueHD anyway through the PCM5.1 HDMI output. You would simply connect the HD-A2 to your Onkyo via HDMI and then the Onkyo will get TrueHD via multichannel PCM because the A2 has a builtin TrueHD decoder. I have the DTC-9.8, one of the top Onkyo models paired with an A35 and I can tell you that bitstream output doesn't sound much different than having the player decode. In fact, I have the A35 set to output PCM anyway because it works better with IME in older HD DVDs.

I will have a review on Sunday of the HD-A35 paired with an Integra DTC-9.8 and Sony KDS-60A3000. All I can say as a preview, though, is that the extra features are mainly hype. I'd go with the HD-A2 if it is your first player, how can you go wrong at $99?

[BoSoxMole]

Wow, thats a damn good price.

If I wasn't so damn broke, I'd go get one. Not for me, because I could care less. But for my dad for X-Mas.

[Ruined]

Moved here, as mods did not want a seperate thread it seems.

Here is Walmart's HD DVD promo ad:

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

Bodes very well for HD DVD sales this xmas

[jbat31]

so if my audio receiver has a coax input for audio and the optical one, then i would not be able to get 5.1?

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by jbat31

so if my audio receiver has a coax input for audio and the optical one, then i would not be able to get 5.1?

Yeah, you should. At this price, the hd-a2 is really something any movie lover on this forum should buy. You don't have to go full bore into hd movie buying if you don't want to, but it does do a good job of upscaling, and there are those certain titles you can get and really enjoy in high def.

[Pirate]

It's going to suck if Wal-Mart doesn't have more than a few of these. I've told several friends about this sale and I was thinking about getting one for my study.

[jbat31]

best buy has the 99 dollar price as well, at least online it is

[SilentBob]

Originally Posted by jbat31

best buy has the 99 dollar price as well, at least online it is

They are sold out online but you can look up your store inventory and place an in store pickup for the price.


Here's the link

[jbat31]

the best buy route seems best since you wont have to hunt for it

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by jbat31

the best buy route seems best since you wont have to hunt for it

All my local BB's are sold out.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

All my local BB's are sold out.

If they sold out online @ $179, what are the odds they have them in store for $99?

Online @ $179 Sold Out

[plissken99]

What advantages does the A2 have over the A1? Thinking this could be a nice free upgrade, as I'm sure I can sell the A1 for $100 at least.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by plissken99

What advantages does the A2 have over the A1? Thinking this could be a nice free upgrade, as I'm sure I can sell the A1 for $100 at least.

Differences: HD-A1 vs. HD-A2
--
Boot time: A2 is about 20-30 secs faster to boot.
Disc Load time: A2 is about 20-25 secs faster to load discs.
Size: A2 is half the height of the A1.
Interactivity: A1 has a faster processor than A2, and hence HDi menus look a bit smoother on the A1.
Outputs: A1 has analog 5.1, A2 does not - decoded TrueHD over HDMI only, and both have downconverted coax and/or optical outputs.
Remote: A1 remote sucks, A2 remote is good
Error correction: A2 responds better to scratches/smudges, A1 is less sensitive to discs out of spec
HDMI: A2 has less compatibility issues than A1
Build quality: A1 is heavier, A2 feels cheaper
Style: A2 looks much nicer than A1, I think most would agree

Those are the differences!

If your A1 is working fine and you don't just want another player (for the bedroom, kitchen, etc) and will be selling your A1 for an A2, I'd recommend skipping the A2 and getting the A35 instead so you can upgrade significantly not only in speed but also features.

[Sehnzeleid]

Originally Posted by plissken99

What advantages does the A2 have over the A1? Thinking this could be a nice free upgrade, as I'm sure I can sell the A1 for $100 at least.

It's about half the load time, but otherwise, not much else if anything. I would say the A1 is a better player all around.

[jbat31]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Differences: HD-A1 vs. HD-A2
--
Boot time: A2 is about 20-30 secs faster to boot.
Disc Load time: A2 is about 20-25 secs faster to load discs.
Size: A2 is half the height of the A1.
Interactivity: A1 has a faster processor than A2, and hence HDi menus look a bit smoother on the A1.
Outputs: A1 has analog 5.1, A2 does not - decoded TrueHD over HDMI only, and both have downconverted coax and/or optical outputs.
Remote: A1 remote sucks, A2 remote is good
Error correction: A2 responds better to scratches/smudges, A1 is less sensitive to discs out of spec
HDMI: A2 has less compatibility issues than A1
Build quality: A1 is heavier, A2 feels cheaper
Style: A2 looks much nicer than A1, I think most would agree

Those are the differences!

If your A1 is working fine and you don't just want another player (for the bedroom, kitchen, etc) and will be selling your A1 for an A2, I'd recommend skipping the A2 and getting the A35 instead so you can upgrade significantly not only in speed but also features.

so if my audio reciever does not have hdmi, can i get the normal 5.1 dolby that i am used to if it has coax and optical. If so i think i may buy one. I found a wall mart that has a ton

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by jbat31

so if my audio reciever does not have hdmi, can i get the normal 5.1 dolby that i am used to if it has coax and optical. If so i think i may buy one. I found a wall mart that has a ton

Yes, what happens is the Toshiba will decode the DD+/TrueHD/DTS-HD signal to PCM and then re-encode it to Dolby Digital for optical output to your receiver. You obviously won't get the full fidelity of TrueHD or high bitrate DD+, but you will get Dolby Digital 5.1 quality (standard DVD) sound just fine. You will be able to hear sound on every single HD DVD released no matter what as builtin decoders are part of the spec; that is one of the draws of HD DVD - the sound and video play on EVERYTHING.

In the future, if you decide to upgrade to an HDMI receiver you will then be able to get full fidelity DD+/TrueHD/DTS-HD sound instead of the downconverted DD5.1 you will get on your current receiver. But yeah, it'll work fine for you.

[Sehnzeleid]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Outputs: A1 has analog 5.1, A2 does not - decoded TrueHD over HDMI only, and both have downconverted coax and/or optical outputs.

Another difference is the A1 (and XA1) has Burr-Brown DACs for each channel (5.1 & 2.0 outputs) while the A2 uses a stereo Wolfson DAC for its 2.0 output.

Also I'm unsure if the A2 does this (or any other non-first gen model), but the A1/XA1 upsamples all internally decoded audio to 96kHz/24-bit.

[plissken99]

So no upgrade in terms of PQ for HD or HD-DVD? So I'd be upgrading for faster load times. Dunno, got a friend who needs to transition. Think maybe I'll get the A2, and give him my A1 for Xmas since he doesn't have an HDMI reciever he can use the analog outs.