Walmart declares HD winner

{OF}Blong · 04-25-2007, 06:32 AM

http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback184.html

sorry but looks like the end for blue ray. Pretty interesting read and backs up the post MT made.

ARX|Frag4U · 04-25-2007, 02:50 PM

Sweet..HD-DVD all the way.

ChemicalWarrior · 04-25-2007, 03:33 PM

Just waiting for a real source on this however, everything has seemed to spawn off the first rumor which has not received any true validation nor has a second agreeing rumor came through. We'll see, but whoever it is, will be the winner of this format war I believe.

{OF}Blong · 04-25-2007, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChemicalWarrior

Just waiting for a real source on this however, everything has seemed to spawn off the first rumor which has not received any true validation nor has a second agreeing rumor came through. We'll see, but whoever it is, will be the winner of this format war I believe.

yeah I was just at our local walmart and all I found was blue ray movies. No HD DVD movies in sight

{OF}MillerTime · 04-27-2007, 05:19 AM

no winner yet....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070426/tc_zd/206255

{OF}MadD! · 04-29-2007, 08:08 PM

In high-definition news, much ado was made of a supposed leak on AVS Forum that Wal-Mart, TDK and the Chinese manufacturer Fuh Yuan were working to bring 2 million $199 HD-DVD players to Wal-Mart stores later this year. The news, despite being unofficial and unconfirmed by any of the parties involved, spread widely and led to editorials around the Net on how Wal-Mart has decided the format war (click here for a typical example). Unfortunately, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart had this to say to PC Magazine yesterday: "The article... was full of inaccuracies and we had no participation in it. Most of the facts, including the purchase, were untrue. Not sure how it originated." Fuh Yuan has also issued this statement on their website: "We are sorry to correct the statement that we have two million HD-DVD players order from Wal-Mart and manufactured by China Great Wall Group. The actuality is that we had not received yet. We are asked to provide the schedule to Wal-Mart and cost to determine the quantity even more than two million, if the cost is good enough and timing is correct. So the capacity is under consideration. Any qualified manufactured base group will be welcome."

It's no surprise that Wal-Mart is investigating making available in their stores the cheapest players possible, whether they be HD-DVD or Blu-ray. Driving prices in their stories down as low as possible is what they do. But here's the problem with cheap Chinese HD-DVD players that a lot of people are glossing over. The kind of people who might buy a $199 HD-DVD player at Wal-Mart are not the kind of people who are likely to want to have to deal with software glitches, firmware updates and disc/player incompatibility problems. Right now, Toshiba and Universal can't yet tell me why the HD-DVDs of The Good Shepherd and Children of Men aren't working in Toshiba's top of the line player. If Toshiba is having issues with their BEST player, does anyone really think a $199 Fuh Yuan player won't have even MORE problems? Who's going to do tech support for Fuh Yuan? Wal-Mart? One would also expect the kind of people who want a $199 high-def player are also going to be the kind of folks who might also want Disney movies for their kids. That's not going to happen on HD-DVD. Not to mention, with cheap Chinese players available at $199, what other major hardware manufacturer is going to want to try to compete with that? There's no profit margin. LG and Samsung are making combo HD-DVD/Blu-ray Disc players available because they rightly perceive that there's a market for such players with high-end enthusiasts. But those players are going to cost in excess of $1000. There's no incentive at all for companies like LG or Samsung to try and compete with the likes of Fuh Yuan on budget players at Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, the prospect of $199 HD-DVD players will force Sony, Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and the other major Blu-ray Disc player manufacturers to lower their prices faster (which, as Home Media editor T.K. Arnold pointed out in a recent editorial, may be an unexpected advantage of the HD format war). By the end of the year, a number of name-brand Blu-ray players will be available for $399 or less, with even cheaper models likely to follow in 2008. Cheaper players that WILL play those Disney high-def movies.

ARX|Frag4U · 05-02-2007, 01:20 PM

Everything now days is made in China. Just like back in the 80's when everything was made in Japan.
Seems to me we either support China or some other Asian country.

Harbinger · 11-15-2007, 04:36 PM

Ah well, looks like I've gone blu-ray. Oh and it also plays games

{OF}Blong · 11-15-2007, 10:36 PM

NIIICCEEE setup. if the ps3 had games it might be a worthwhile investment but they dont. I wont get into blu-ray till they drop below $200 and that might be a while to wait. however talking with one of Sony's top executives (actually a junior VP) they are VERY worried that blu-ray wont fare well this christmas because of HD DVD putting out $98 stand alones. They cant compete with those prices. however there are talkings of blu-ray players coming down to $250ish range here in the next couple weeks (I am assuming black friday but everything I see for black friday are $399 players and a Panasonic for $350). One thing Blu-ray has is Disney. Lots of parents in this world but then again shrek 3 just came out on HD DVD. From looking at forums and talking to the Junior VP things dont look good for blu-ray in this current situation will the christmas season change things around? Only time will tell. Either way nice setup

. Oh and watch the dust on that ps3. apparently if you send it in for repair (should you need warranty repair) sony will refuse to work on it if it is dusty. Something about its a health hazard for their technicians.

Harbinger · 11-16-2007, 07:05 AM

Really, it was just waiting for the announcement of rumble on the PS3 that was keeping me away. We're starting to see the games now and there's lots more on the way. Plus the fact that I also have a 360 means I don't have to worry about games.

HD DVD players are being very aggressive on the pricing but I'm not sure if it will be enough. The PS3 at $300 (same in the U.S. and Canada) is pretty tempting considering the 2 in 1 factor. It's one of those things you can debate about until you're blue in the face (or is that blu?) but no clear cut winner is going to be decided anytime soon.

Thanks on the setup. 42" Sharp Aquos, Harmon Kardon AVR (5.1) with 5 Polk Audio speakers and a Klipsch Sub. Then there's an HD PVR (160 GB HD) , Macbook Pro (optical digital out btw) a 20 GB 360 (on my 3rd) and a 40 GB PS3). I'm all ready to settle down for the winter