Quote Originally Posted by dean_martin
*Toshiba's upscaling is very, very good through its hdmi connection. That's my experience playing sd dvds on the older A2 using its hdmi connection.
The XA-2 and the A-35 alos upscale very well. But so does the PS3, Samsung BD-P1200, the Panasonics, the Sony, and all of the bluray players.

*Be prepared to wait approx. 4 mos. for your freebies. I bought my player on Aug. 29 and probably sent in my paperwork the first week of Sept. I got my freebies the first week of Jan.
In a short while you will be getting alot of HD DVD movies off ebay for cheap.

*I saw an advertised price of $265 on the Sony 300 BR player (not sure of the complete model #, but it's the one with "300" in the title) over the weekend from one of the big chains. It may have been Best Buy. I think it included 5 freebies thru the mail too but don't hold me to it. That's the lowest I've seen for a Sony BR. How do these do with sd dvds?
Its the Sony BDP-S300, and it does upscaling on par with the A2

*Personally, I think Warner played a role in sticking it to consumers by waiting until AFTER the Christmas shopping season to make its announcement - not just afterwards, but IMMEDIATELY afterwards. That's like pulling the rug out from under a whole segment of hd converts. It may not be a lot in absolute numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if Toshiba/HDDVD players outsold BR players in the last quarter of '07.
Dean, Warner announced at IFA 2007 in September that they would be looking at the fourth quarter sales figures and make a decision in early 2008 of which format to exclusively support. Sales figures remained 2-1 in favor of bluray throughout all of 2007, and player sales in December had Bluray standalones outselling HD DVD's, and bluray players including the PS3 outselling HD DVD 4-1. Worldwide, Bluray players have outsold HD DVD 4-1 in Europe, and its a complete blowout in Japan at 95% of all players sold. Warner looked at all of this, and decided to support bluray. It was a smart decision, and this format war has to end if this market is going to grow.

Toshiba didn't not promote their format well worldwide or in the states. They didn't get the studio support they promised, and their strategy of cutting prices to the point that every player is a loss has backfired and cost Toshiba $420 million dollars in losses. Their stock is down, and they are borrowing money to fuel these new price cuts on their players. They have not gotten a bluray manufacturer to switch to producing an original designed HD DVD player like they promised Paramount, and they were not sucessful in getting a bluray exclusive studio to switch sides as they have promised Paramount.

At least Warner is honoring their contract to the end, unlike Paramount which pulled product immediately and destroyed it cancelling orders left and right.