HD DVD Player at Buy.com

Status
Not open for further replies.
Damn that's cheap. Plus 2 movies to boot. Good upscaling Dvd player if nothing else.
 
I ordered one, quality's same as Bluray and at this price with two movies what's not to like? There's tons of HD-DVD titles around for $5-12 online, versus $17-30 for most Blu titles. I don't like that there won't be new releases for it, but I'll probably sell my normal DVD player and use this as a replacement until I finally go Blu. Only thing I worry is if it breaks ever whether I would be able to find another to play my library of HD-DVD's...
 
And Bluray players are still $400+ What a scam.
Click to expand...

Come on!
HD-DVD is a dead technology like Betamax.

I agree that Blu-Ray is too expensive but HD-DVD is not an alternative anymore.
IMO, buying an HD-DVD player is a waste of money and time.
 
RadXge said:
Come on!
HD-DVD is a dead technology like Betamax.

I agree that Blu-Ray is too expensive but HD-DVD is not an alternative anymore.
IMO, buying an HD-DVD player is a waste of money and time.
Click to expand...

for people like me who would like to watch some hd movies while waiting for bd to come down in price this seems good. theres a few hundred hddvd's out there.
 
Just picked one up! Time to start collecting some HD-DVDs they can hang out with my 150+ laserdisc collection. I <3 Dead Technology !
 
Thanks, I went for one. Was going to buy 300 anyways and needed a replacement dvd player for the bed room. The fact I can play my hd-dvd's on it, even better.
 
Adionik said:
Dude cassette players on amazon are $5 shipped!!!!!1111
Click to expand...

Wow, cassette players play DVD's, a current format, as well as a disc format that is the same thing essentially as Bluray quality-wise with many cheap, modern titles available? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME BEFORE!

LOL.
 
Just a heads up after some quick research this seems to be a re-branded Toshiba HD-A3 and there are several people that have up graded their SHD7000 using the Toshiba HD-A3 firmware 3.0. Just something to think about for people worried about getting a Venturer product.
 
RadXge said:
Come on!
HD-DVD is a dead technology like Betamax.

I agree that Blu-Ray is too expensive but HD-DVD is not an alternative anymore.
IMO, buying an HD-DVD player is a waste of money and time.
Click to expand...

IMO you are wrong.
 
tpfaff said:
IMO you are wrong.
Click to expand...

Agreed. For $60 you are getting a decent upscalling DVD player with the added option to play HD DVDs that just keep going down in price.

At $60, its not really an investment, so does it really matter that HD DVD is dead?
 
Raines8416 said:
Damn really? I guess this Sony one for $229 at amazon must be a pricing error...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PALZE0
Click to expand...


Did you even bother reading any of the reviews on that? :rolleyes:

That really makes me want to run out and buy one - NOT.

Here's one:

"209 of 217 people found the following review helpful:
Doesn't quite live up to the Sony reputation, but you get what you pay for., December 6, 2007
By CPR "xfilebuffyfan" (Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews

I recently upgraded my living room to a modest hi-def system to prepare for a larger remodelling of my theater room. To weigh out the results, I purchased a 46" Polaroid HD LCD and a Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD Player player and the Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. I wanted to see the results of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD before investing in more expensive units.

I must say that the image and sound quality of the Blu-Ray player is quite impressive, but as noted in other reviews - loading (waiting) times for certain discs are very slow. HDMI hookup was easy and the menu system worked great. At first sight the DVD upscaling was astonishing. But... there is always a but...

I also had to upgrade the firmware twice since purchasing, which was less than 3 months ago. Out of the box, it needed a firmware upgrade to play most of the recently released movies. Very recent movies, such as Superbad [Blu-ray], Ratatouille [Blu-ray], and Live Free or Die Hard [Blu-ray] needed a firmware 3.30 - which stalled and eventually crippled my unit with a permanent "NO DISC" display statement to every attempt. The install did not recognize and since then it refuses to play any discs - including standard DVDs, CDs, as well as Blu-Ray Discs. I contacted their 800 number twice and spent about an hour over the 2 days going through system saving steps, unfortunately all failed. Be careful with your firmware updates - they are both necessary, yet another root of other more hazardous problems.

If need be you may want to purchase an extended warranty to save yourself from this kind of problem; this is what I should've done. I was lucky enough to be within my warranty which gave me full protection for parts & labor (not including UPS shipping fees to Sony). But, if this had been after the waranty? This could've been a potentially expensive technological occurrence. And, what about next time?

There needs to be a ethernet port or some other way to access updates online direct to this player, a wireless method possibly? My Toshiba HD DVD player has the CAT-5 ethernet port and it makes updating (not exactly simple) more flexible. Sony's website offers the image (ISO) burn to DVDR method for updating, but this seems unpolished at best. The steps for Sony's firmware update are so precise and drawn out, but ultimately imperfect in design. The mail away disc is easy enough, but this takes at least 7 business days. Expect more and more updates too. I originally called on a 2.6 firmware update disc in September and they were backordered. The expected delay was somewhere between 3-4 weeks before delivery. All of this was right before I found out that a 3.20 and even 3.30 were available soon after.

If you are someone that purchases lots of new movies (I.E. the new releases every Tuesday), then beware that the movie content / security updates are constantly driving the player software updates - which are so hurried that they may or may not have major glitches. You will most likely need an update straight out of the box, so check the Sony website OFTEN.

Currently my player has been sent off for repairs and is at Sony in PA. In the meantime I have decided to fall back on a Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player. I decided to not purchase another Blu-Ray S300, so that should be a big hint to how I feel about buying this unit. For all of the enjoyment I received from it, there was equal anguish. I can neither say it's the worst or the best, but I can say the possibility exists for problems similar to my own. Honestly I wanted to give a 2.5 stars (somewhere in the middle), but I left it at 2 stars instead of rounding up. The Blu-Ray technology needs more trial and error experience, unfortunately we are the $400-per-unit-guinea pigs.

Update as of 12-10-2007 - The Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player that I purchased has restored my faith in Blu-Ray technology. Nothing is ever perfect, but this is proof of progress at least. See my review for details. I really like this player, hands down the better of these two designs.

Update as of 01-09-2008 - My player is unfixable. The firmware update 3.30 somehow ruined the hard drive, so it's unfixable. Sony gave me the choice of waiting a couple of months for a refurbished unit or paying $200 more for a new S500 series player (the next cheapest unit available direct from Sony). I elected (and with protest) to upgrade to the S500, which now is unavailable. What was to be a 5-7 day wait now has gone to over a month. Where does this all end? If I was shopping for a Blu-ray player today, the S300 would be my last choice. The price has dropped on Amazon nearly $80 in the last few months, yet it is still only slightly cheaper than some players designed recently - The S300's drive is an old design that Sony is currently still supporting with firmwares (but for how much longer?). Sony customer reps told me that they have not been producing this unit for some time now, it's a 2006 design - which in this market of ever-changing technology is a lifetime ago.

P.S. - Since my first review at least 2 more firmware updates have released for this unit making at least 5 firmwares changes since September of 2007 that I am aware of."
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
GoldenTiger said:
I ordered one, quality's same as Bluray and at this price with two movies what's not to like? There's tons of HD-DVD titles around for $5-12 online, versus $17-30 for most Blu titles. I don't like that there won't be new releases for it, but I'll probably sell my normal DVD player and use this as a replacement until I finally go Blu. Only thing I worry is if it breaks ever whether I would be able to find another to play my library of HD-DVD's...
Click to expand...

any suggestions as to where to find good hd dvd deals
 
ballpoint said:
Upscaling is so Wal-Mart. Get a Blu-ray player morons.
Click to expand...

How bout not threadcrapping? If you don't want one, don't post. It's for people that are interested in a cheaper alternative, although "expired," technology to blu-ray. Calling people morons only makes you sound like a 13 year old.
 
GoldenTiger said:
I ordered one, quality's same as Bluray and at this price with two movies what's not to like? There's tons of HD-DVD titles around for $5-12 online, versus $17-30 for most Blu titles. I don't like that there won't be new releases for it, but I'll probably sell my normal DVD player and use this as a replacement until I finally go Blu.
Only thing I worry is if it breaks ever whether I would be able to find another to play my library of HD-DVD's...
Click to expand...

Do you remember Laser Discs? You can still find used players for that format.

I bought the 360 HD-DVD add-on last week since it was cheap and new from newegg ($34.99) and came with the media remote, which by itself is $25.
 
For $60 it is tempting, especially if your like me who still owns his HD-DVD discs and who's only player is that noisy xbox360. Still though I never heard of that brand of player, so I am passing on the deal. I'll just live with the 360 till I eventually repurchase the movies on Blu-Ray.
 
The HD war may be over, but most people aren't cheering the winner.

Blu-Ray is worthless to most people until the prices justify what your getting. I'm perfectly willing to wait a few years until BR (players and disks) comes down in price and it's firmware becomes more stable. I buy maybe 25 movies a year at roughly $12 per movie average which works out to $300.00. Just how many BR movies would I be getting? And no, quality doesn't make up the difference in cost as there are very few movies worth watching more than once or twice.
 
Maybe, to make jackstarts like yourself feel better, we can rename this thread Really Good Upscaling DVD Player at Buy.com (oh and it plays HD-DVD's too) Would that make you play the "shut the hell up and get outa this thread" game??

Oh and BTW, dvd's are still outselling BR by a retarded amount, yet by the end of the year every third person will have a HDTV?? Hmm......
 
I have a blu-ray players (PS3) and bought into HD-DVD after they threw in the towel (when the 360 drives hit $50 initially).

I've bought a grand total of 4 blu-ray discs, when they still did buy-one-get-one free deals, so even then I've only paid for two. Mostly I rent them from NetFlix. I haven't bought a single once since they stopped offering the deals after the collapse of HD-DVD. I'm not paying $30-40 for a movie, it just isn't happening.

On the other hand, I've bought about 20 HD-DVDs, and the only one I've paid more then $10 for was Transformers.

Sure HD-DVD may be a dead format, but there is still plenty to enjoy about it (and by that I mean plenty of cheap movies to buy).
 
Omegas, I hope your not after my butt cause I agree this would be a good deal. I was taking offence to Ockie and his dissing of a cheap HD player (with cheap movies also available). Maybe he has money to throw away, but most everyone else is wiling to wait a long time for Sony (and partners) to join the real world with it's BR product pricing.
 
Old_Way said:
The HD war may be over, but most people aren't cheering the winner.

Blu-Ray is worthless to most people until the prices justify what your getting. I'm perfectly willing to wait a few years until BR (players and disks) comes down in price and it's firmware becomes more stable. I buy maybe 25 movies a year at roughly $12 per movie average which works out to $300.00. Just how many BR movies would I be getting? And no, quality doesn't make up the difference in cost as there are very few movies worth watching more than once or twice.
Click to expand...

Since quality doesn't matter for the cost, I'm surprised you aren't still using VHS :p
 
Old_Way said:
Omegas, I hope your not after my butt cause I agree this would be a good deal. I was taking offence to Ockie and his dissing of a cheap HD player (with cheap movies also available). Maybe he has money to throw away, but most everyone else is wiling to wait a long time for Sony (and partners) to join the real world with it's BR product pricing.
Click to expand...

Where did I diss a cheap HD player? :rolleyes: So Pathetic that you even make shit up :rolleyes:

And before you try and fire off some more bs, try this for facts, I have twice the amount of HD-DVD movies than I have bluray, and my bluray player collection is outnumbered by HD-DVD 3 to 1. ;)
 
Ockie, the difference between VHS and CD's was huge. The differences between upscaled CD's and HD disks are noticable, but not worth 2x the money as Sony... and obviously you... believes.

And for the record, I didn't swap my VHS out for a CD player until they came down to reasonable prices either. I'll let early adopters, like you, pay the premiums.

Edit to add: Your comment of "The HD-DVD war is up, give up aleady...." reads to me as a negative comment on buying this cheap HD player.
 
Old_Way said:
Ockie, the difference between VHS and CD's was huge. The differences between upscaled CD's and HD disks are noticable, but not worth 2x the money as Sony... and obviously you... believes.

And for the record, I didn't swap my VHS out for a CD player until they came down to reasonable prices either. I'll let early adopters, like you, pay the premiums.
Click to expand...

You just enjoy assuming don't you?

You assume that I believe that. You assume that I buy blurays (like I said already but you failed at reading) when I own more than double the HD-DVD collection than I own bluray. You assume that I paid some sort of premuim because being an early adopter. You assume bluray movies are twice the price (evidently, you fail at shopping too).


You assume way too much. Next you are going to label me as some sony fanboy because you assume that I'm some pro sony guy when I said nothing in favor of sony or bluray anwhere in this thread yet.
 
FYI, Fry's sells the 360 HD-DVD add on for $40. I bought one myself and a ton of HD movies for $10/each. Can't beat that!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top