HD-A3 for $199 with 10 free movies - HOT!

D

dR.Jester

2[H]4U
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kingkaeru said:
Folks, I will lock this thread if it turns into a technology debate/discussion thread. Lets not go down that road here. If you like the deal, good. If you can find a better price on the SAME unit elsewhere, post a link.
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Original Post Below
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Best Buy now offers 3 free HD-DVD movies after ordering the Toshiba HD-A3 player.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...HD-A3&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1186003898783 - Price in cart is $199


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat135100050035 - 8 movie offer!

For a limited time, get 3 HD DVD titles of your choice for free, instantly — plus 5 more from a selection of popular titles by mail-in rebate — when you buy any Toshiba HD DVD player.

Plus, as a special limited-time bonus, Toshiba HD-A30 and HD-A3 HD DVD players come packaged with 2 free HD DVDs — The Bourne Identity and 300 — right in the box. (Only while supplies last.) That's a total of 10 free HD DVD movies with these models!
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5 free movie redemption form here:
http://thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/perfect_hd_dvd_offer_redemption_form.pdf
 
Damn, I bought it last night when the offer was for only two extra movies. Did in-store pickup on the player and shipped the two movies.

I called them to see about sending me the third movie since they're always talking about price protection and that sort of thing on their ads, and since I just bought it 8 hours ago. I was told that they had to open a ticket and it'd be 5-10 days before I know anything. Why do they make this stuff so difficult for customers. I should be able to call up and they should see the problem and let me add the third film over the phone.

Either way, a great deal and excellent picture watching 300.

I tried to get in on the Wal-Mart deal Friday but arrived there at 8.10a and they were sold out. Pisses me off that the ad is still played during every commercial break. Why do such a huge campaign on something that they knew would sell out in minutes? Disappointing your customers can't be a good thing?
 
I just picked up one of these on bb website. Quite a surprise to me that these are already on sale. To me it makes no difference between 1080 because I never sit that close lol, but to others it might- what sold me though is 300 and borne inbox, plus the 3 dvds of your choice from any on the website minus box sets and preorder, but thats about 150$ value alone? If you've been looking to jump into the hd-dvd player upgrade..don't pass this up!
 
cerebrex said:
If only it was 1080p.

Still... awesome deal.
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If only you knew before you spoke.

1080p televisions will deinterlace the frames back to 1080p or do the required pulldown. You'll get no quality loss as long as you're not using a cheap 4th rate Chinese HDTV with a cracker jack box deinterlacer.
 
I am a big hd dvd supporter

but ps3 now is 400 dollars with 5 free movies + 1 bundled

:confused:
 
it already comes with 2 in the box, doesn't it? With this deal, you actually get 10 free!
 
Folks, I will lock this thread if it turns into a technology debate/discussion thread. Lets not go down that road here. If you like the deal, good. If you can find a better price on the SAME unit elsewhere, post a link.
 
Got me one!

dsc03312ce3.jpg
 
Heavily considering getting one of these for my father for Xmas. But I keep thinking how early it is already and that there are probably going to be better deals.
 
I'm not trying to get into a tech argument- I have a legitimate question. How are these different from the A-2's? They're (currently) about a $100 more but both do 1080i. What am I missing?

Assuming there's advanced tech in there, seems like a good deal.
 
aramis said:
I'm not trying to get into a tech argument- I have a legitimate question. How are these different from the A-2's? They're (currently) about a $100 more but both do 1080i. What am I missing?

Assuming there's advanced tech in there, seems like a good deal.
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A2s only come with five free movies, correct? Even if it's identical I'd say this seems like a better deal. Transformers, plus 300, plus Bourne, plus two other movies of your choice is worth more than 100 bucks.

The A3 is mostly identical to the A2. I've heard reports of marginally faster load times plus they're updated cosmetically. If you use optical for sound the A2 can actually be a better choice, I think the A3 only does DD640 or something through toslink. But anyone not living in the stone age should be using HDMI anyway. =P
 
the A3 is 3rd gen, smaller and lighter also and comes with more free movies.

:D:D
 
I think the A3 only does DD640 or something through toslink.
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This is almost correct. The A2 can convert lossless (or close to lossless, ie: DD+) audio tracks to DTS @ 1500k, whereas the A3 can only convert to DD @ 640k (this is obviously if one is using a S/PDIF out). If one is using HDMI, there is no difference between the players.
 
I bought one of these tonight and picked up Cinderella Man, Transformers, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

I still need to buy the 5 and send off for the rebate though.
 
Sasiki said:
I bought one of these tonight and picked up Cinderella Man, Transformers, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

I still need to buy the 5 and send off for the rebate though.
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No no no no!!!!!

You send in the rebate, and they ship the selected movies to you.

You DO NOT buy them and then send in the rebate for cash.
 
Damn, I don't know if I should return the Walmart deal with the HD-A2 :( 5 extra free movies is sooo hot. =\
 
w1retap said:
If only you knew before you spoke.

1080p televisions will deinterlace the frames back to 1080p or do the required pulldown. You'll get no quality loss as long as you're not using a cheap 4th rate Chinese HDTV with a cracker jack box deinterlacer.
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Oh, well if this is indeed correct, my bad. So let me get this straight... 1080i is the same thing as 1080p? They have the same number of lines? There's no way you can look at two side by side examples and tell a difference? It's impossible?
 
cerebrex said:
Oh, well if this is indeed correct, my bad. So let me get this straight... 1080i is the same thing as 1080p? They have the same number of lines? There's no way you can look at two side by side examples and tell a difference? It's impossible?
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A 1080i player splits the 1080p24 into fields, and the display does 2:3 pulldown to 1080i60, and then reassembles the fields into 1080p60. They are 100% visually identical assuming you don't have a cracker jack box de-interlacer in your 1080p television. If it isn't a 4th rate Chinese offbrand HDTV, you're good to go.
 
1080p24 to 1080i60 into 1080p60 is not the same as 1080p24 displayed at 72 or 120hz.

A=Frame 1
B=Frame 2
C=Frame 3

1080p60 displays as AAABBCCCDDEEEFFGGG

1080p24 at 72hz(on my pioneer plasma) AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFGGG


You gotta have a 1080p24 signal for this to work right.
 
I almost bit, but those mail-in choices are just horrible. A, B, and C all have at least one decent (not good) movie, but D and E are just damnably bad. I understand that the studios don't want to cannibalize sales with the 5-free offer, but free is too expensive for some of these movies.
 
chase123 said:
1080p24 to 1080i60 into 1080p60 is not the same as 1080p24 displayed at 72 or 120hz.

A=Frame 1
B=Frame 2
C=Frame 3

1080p60 displays as AAABBCCCDDEEEFFGGG

1080p24 at 72hz(on my pioneer plasma) AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFGGG


You gotta have a 1080p24 signal for this to work right.
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But how many TV's accept 1080p24? For the vast majority here, this HD DVD player is fine. You're just confusing them.

You have a TV that accepts 1080p24, congratulations, now stop posting.
 
The majority of new generation higher end models(Samsung 69-71-81, Sony XBR LCD, Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas, etc.) do handle a 1080p24 input correctly. I understand that many people do not have one of these. However, that isn't justification for the spread of misinformation about the output of this player and how tv's interpret it.

I bought my Dad one because it fit his tv, but it isn't a great solution for someone who wants to get the best out of their system.
 
Finally someone making some damn sense in this thread. To say that 1080i and 1080p are discernable, assuming quai-optimum viewing, is absolutely retarded.
 
jaegertech said:
I almost bit, but those mail-in choices are just horrible. A, B, and C all have at least one decent (not good) movie, but D and E are just damnably bad. I understand that the studios don't want to cannibalize sales with the 5-free offer, but free is too expensive for some of these movies.
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You're really buying the player in this deal, not the movies. It's like saying a car for 5000 less than it typicall sells for is a bad deal because the gas they filled it up with is regular as opposed to premium. Some people are picky.
 
w1retap said:
If only you knew before you spoke.

1080p televisions will deinterlace the frames back to 1080p or do the required pulldown. You'll get no quality loss as long as you're not using a cheap 4th rate Chinese HDTV with a cracker jack box deinterlacer.
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+1


1080i is fine with any sort of decent components
 
celwin said:
You're really buying the player in this deal, not the movies. It's like saying a car for 5000 less than it typicall sells for is a bad deal because the gas they filled it up with is regular as opposed to premium. Some people are picky.
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I don't view this as a $200 player with 10 free movies; I view it as a $100 player with 10 $10 movies. That seemed like a good deal and worthwhile purchase to me. Well, seemed worthwhile until I realized that five of the movies were going to be mediocre and a further two just plain bad. The player alone probably be available at $100 again soon; I'll wait.
 
However, that isn't justification for the spread of misinformation about the output of this player and how tv's interpret it.
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There is no misinformation being spread. If your TV accepts 1080p/i at only 60 fps, than the HD-A2/3 will look identical to the HD-A20/30 (assuming the TV can deinterlace correctly). That was the issue some people didn't understand. You brought up a whole different issue that most people don't care about since it does not apply to them. The people who buy TV's that accept 1080p24 know enough to buy the higher quality HD DVD players.
 
There is no misinformation being spread. If your TV accepts 1080p/i at only 60 fps, than the HD-A2/3 will look identical to the HD-A20/30 (assuming the TV can deinterlace correctly). That was the issue some people didn't understand. You brought up a whole different issue that most people don't care about since it does not apply to them. The people who buy TV's that accept 1080p24 know enough to buy the higher quality HD DVD players.
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The person who commented on the output of this player did not state what TV he owns. He may own a tv that accepts and properly displays a 1080p24 input.
 
chase123 said:
The majority of new generation higher end models(Samsung 69-71-81, Sony XBR LCD, Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas, etc.) do handle a 1080p24 input correctly. I understand that many people do not have one of these. However, that isn't justification for the spread of misinformation about the output of this player and how tv's interpret it.

I bought my Dad one because it fit his tv, but it isn't a great solution for someone who wants to get the best out of their system.
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Ok so basically one line from samsung, one line from sony (well their SXRD do it too), and one plasma company actually display the frames correctly. Other TV's such as panasonic and samsung plasmas accept 1080p/24 signals but that doesn't mean its displayed correctly. The vast majority of TV's are still 60hz and quite frankly we've been watching movies like this for ages.
 
Raxxath said:
Would this player look the same as 1080p on a Samsung LN-T4665F?
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Your eyes won't tell the difference. Samsung uses good deinterlacers. If you look up the reviews on that TV, it scores nearly perfect on pulldowns and deinterlacing.
 
w1retap said:
Your eyes won't tell the difference. Samsung uses good deinterlacers. If you look up the reviews on that TV, it scores nearly perfect on pulldowns and deinterlacing.
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Good to know. I just finished setting it up a couple of hours ago... its big, and beautiful :D.
 
Damn...I just ordered Saturday night and got the 9 free movies. Just ordered again so I can get 10 movies, going to have to return my other order when it arrives.
 
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