If your right about the $500 price, I totally rescind what I said. However, according to USA Today or was it the LA Times, I think in an article today, they stated categorically that the lowest HD DVD player would be above $1,000 and obviously didn't mention your $500 price.
If the article was in the LA Times (I don't remember which, sorry), then I'd give it less credibility. This is the same newspaper, I kid you not, that last Friday, had a big story on the front page of the newspaper, about some Los Angeles guy who they thought might have broken a record for going to movies in a year- aproximately 175 or so, big F ing deal, I find it hard to think that someone who goes to an average of 3 movies a week for a year is setting a record!