Ya this is great for HD-DVD, lets see how it does this holiday season.

You won't able to find any A2s at walmart after the sale after today. The A2 is a discontinued model so there won't be any more shipments.

Is the A3 going to be $200 when it comes out?

@ Whatever - Is there a print ad or did you just print it from the Internet?

Shxt. I got back from Wal-mart 10 mintues ago. I decided to drive there at 7:40am, got there at 7:59am. I walk in, I was like cool, no line. Then I get to the center and there was this HUGE line. I thought people were just paying for little things cuz I didn't see much in their cart. I went to the players section and no HD DVD in site. I then saw the center counter hold up HD DVD player and someone was purchasing it (front of that long line I saw). I tried to look behind the counter and but I couldn't even see any left. I tried to walk to the end of the line but it took forever because there were like 50+ people. So I got in line to see what's going on.

So this is the story. There were around 30 HD DVD players available and they were sold out more than an hour before 8am!!!!!!!!!! They were passing out "tickets" to people in line outside the store before 8am. The first person in line got there at 5am in the morning!!! At 8:30, it was 50F outside. Not THAT cold compared to east coast, but it's not warm for sure, and it was definitely colder at 5am. Most people I see were people going there before work, or they were ladies/men around early 40s+. This lady was like "I came here for the HD DVD player. I heard it's really good price. But if they don't have any more, I can wait." It shows most people are willing to wait till price drops to low and affordable price. So all along, this format war is really race to drop hardware prices to mass adoption levels, and software will follow. That was always Toshiba's strategy and now we are seeing it at work.

It's cool in some way, but dissapointing in another because I was thinking of grabbing 2 of them, one for my sister's bday/xmas, and the other for my parent's xmas gift.

Also, when I was walking out, these 2 ladies had 2 in their cart. So it seems it's limit 1 per person, so some people were bringing additional people to get an additional ticket for the HD DVD player.

This is like HUGE for Toshiba and HD DVD!

A3 is available bundled with 300 and Bourne Identity in the box at Sears on black friday for $169.99.  Ofcourse, the 5 HD DVDs through mail in rebate is still available too. :)

I tell you - BR won't drop prices like this. Toshiba basically wants this player sold and out of the way for their new players. And folks tout the BR lineup. Let me tell you one thing - if there are tons of players - an insane install base, you don't think the studios won't reverse course? Only the Sony camp will stay the course. The others are looking at the bottom line.

What I find funniest is how MS's 360 HD DVD starting this HD DVD craze. And in essence, this HD DVD/BR fight is really being somewhat swayed by two of the biggest game makers. BR is only in the running because of the PS3.

This is going to get messy if Toshiba keeps doing things like this. The playing field is definitely going to be level soon ...

From the AVS forum it seems that stores got anywhere from 20-30 units -- basically a pallet. If that is indeed the average number, there are approximately 4000 wal-marts in the United States. If we assume 3500 of them got players and the average was 25 units per store, we are looking at a total shift of about 85,000 to 90,000 players moved. Add to it the paltry number moved by price matching and the few that Best Buy and CC had, I'm guessing it probably will net about 100K new players moved into users hands. If that is the number, we probably can expect no more than about 200-300K HD-DVD titles moved at retail over this period as well.

While these numbers are OK as a start, they are far from enough to provide a major momentum shift.

There is something here for Toshiba, however. If they want to win this war and win it now, They need to put their A3s down close to the same price. Nix the 5 free BS deal and go 2 or 3 free in store for $129 or something along those lines. This sale and the response (more or less immediate sell-out) proves that Joe Six Pack's heart and mind will be won with low prices and not fanboy rhetoric, marketing, or any other sleight of hand.

Game delays hurt.
Lost exclusives hurt.
High prices hurt.

But none of these alone could cause irreparable damage to the Playstation 3. But imagine for a moment, the total devastation that would be unleashed upon Sony's gaming division, if the company's Blu-ray format LOST to HD DVD. Personally, i don't think it will happen. I think both will survive. But I honestly believe Blu-ray's destruction would be more damaging for the Playstation 3 than Final Fantasy XIII going Xbox 360 exclusive.

The Planet Earth series is great, when I first got SKY HD I watched the whole thing on BBC HD. Looked really amazing, then again thats because the earth is Amazing

At $99 I would be really tempted to buy a HDDVD player as my present DVD player is slowly dying, if only I lived in the US.........hey one sec, is it region free?

Pity it isn't an online deal.