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$99 Toshiba HD DVD player on Friday at Wal-Mart?

I called 2 wal-marts here and they both sold out almost instantly. One of them had 40 units and sold out in 10 minutes.
 
I was the first one in line and got mine along with 2 movies. I got Batman Begins and Four Brothers.
 
No 1080p would make it absolutely useless for me if I was on the market.

Both my HDTVs are 1080p and let me tell you Virginia there is a difference.

And Viva La Difference! :D
 
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I went down to the local Wal~Mart and picked up one of these HD A2 players, got it home and updated the firmware. It is awesome! I got a new TV that I also updated the firmware on and if there is a difference in 1080i and 1080p I, like 99.9% of the folks, can’t see it. The A2 is also great at upconverting existing backups you already have and I haven’t found a recordable disc it won’t play yet, that was a concern of mine. My advise to anyone is go find one of these and buy it at this price.
 
Galileo2000 said:
No 1080p would make it absolutely useless for me if I was on the market.

Both my HDTVs are 1080p and let me tell you Virginia there is a difference.

And Viva La Difference! :D
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your tv will detect the telecine flag and deinterlace correctly giving a 1080p image. Just because the player outputs the 1080p image as interlaced doesnt mean squat.
 
the absolute best possible picture coming out of a hddvd or bluray machine is going to be the original, unaltered 1080p24 signal. That is how the disks are encoded.

The issue however is how your projector or television processes this- for example, most tvs output at 60hz- meaning they have an uneven multiplier of source frames. A pioneer plasma will output at 72 hz, meaning it is an even 3x multiplier of the source signal, giving the best possible image quality
 
Galileo2000 said:
No 1080p would make it absolutely useless for me if I was on the market.

Both my HDTVs are 1080p and let me tell you Virginia there is a difference.

And Viva La Difference! :D
Click to expand...

*sigh*

If you have a 1080p display, it will de-interlace the 1080i output of the player and provide you with 1080p.

I can't believe how widespread this 1080i myth (fud?) is. The only way 1080p output would be necessary is if you had footage shot at 60fps. All movies are shot at 24fps, so the point is moot.
 
I want to add to this 1080p discussion now that I have my new HTPC. HD DVD on my new HTPC looks as good as Blu-ray does on my PS3. The difference in quality that I was seeing between the Xbox 360 HD DVD vs the PS3 Blu-ray simply comes down to component vs HDMI. So, yes, I think that if you have a DECENT 1080p tv, playing 1080i content on it will be no different in reality than 1080p. :agree:
 
SamuriHL said:
I want to add to this 1080p discussion now that I have my new HTPC. HD DVD on my new HTPC looks as good as Blu-ray does on my PS3. The difference in quality that I was seeing between the Xbox 360 HD DVD vs the PS3 Blu-ray simply comes down to component vs HDMI. So, yes, I think that if you have a DECENT 1080p tv, playing 1080i content on it will be no different in reality than 1080p. :agree:
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Thanks for this information, SamuriHL. I've read essentially heard what you said in numerous places but I prefer to hear it from someone I actually trust. :)

That said, I figure if I do grab one of these cheap 1080i players I realize what I'm getting and it's a "starter kit" that also just happens to come with some free HD-DVDs, as well, which definitely sweetens the deal. Down the road I can move the cheap-o HD-DVD player to another room and pick up a better 1080p player once the price has dropped on that, right?
 
DrinkLyeAndDie said:
Thanks for this information, SamuriHL. I've read essentially heard what you said in numerous places but I prefer to hear it from someone I actually trust. :)

That said, I figure if I do grab one of these cheap 1080i players I realize what I'm getting and it's a "starter kit" that also just happens to come with some free HD-DVDs, as well, which definitely sweetens the deal. Down the road I can move the cheap-o HD-DVD player to another room and pick up a better 1080p player once the price has dropped on that, right?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I started out with the Xbox 360 as my HD DVD player. Now that I have the HTPC I've moved up in the world. Eventually I'll get a dual format Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive to stick in the box and then I'll really have a superior HTPC. Nonetheless, for 99 bucks, an HD DVD player, even if it doesn't have all the features you want, that comes with 5 free HD DVD movies is definitely a sweet deal. And as I said, if you get a 1080p TV then rest assured, you will still VERY MUCH enjoy the 1080i source picture. :)
 
You missed the sale at Wal~Mart so that point is moot as well.
 
Spanky said:
You missed the sale at Wal~Mart so that point is moot as well.
Click to expand...

Naw, other places have had it on sale for 99 bucks, as well, such as Best Buy. I suspect that as we get closer to Black Friday, we'll see more deals like this.
 
SamuriHL said:
Absolutely. I started out with the Xbox 360 as my HD DVD player. Now that I have the HTPC I've moved up in the world. Eventually I'll get a dual format Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive to stick in the box and then I'll really have a superior HTPC. Nonetheless, for 99 bucks, an HD DVD player, even if it doesn't have all the features you want, that comes with 5 free HD DVD movies is definitely a sweet deal. And as I said, if you get a 1080p TV then rest assured, you will still VERY MUCH enjoy the 1080i source picture. :)
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Here's an LG combo BD/HD DVD player for $252.00:

http://www.pccyber.com/?v=Product&i=DVDRW-LG-GGC-H20L
 
Well it's a nifty player for the money, I'm putting it through the mill today. I'm impressed with the upconversion, of course the more data the better, movie only backups work best. And unlike some of the other brands, this one plays them all.
 
$252.00 CAD. For those in the US, that'll kill em. :D USD's are not doing so well in the global economy these days. Newegg has that one, too, for 299 only they're out of stock. I've been looking at it, but, it REALLY isn't in the budget. The HTPC I just put together wasn't in the budget either, but, um, well, it was worth it. :)
 
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