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03-21-2007, 04:05 PM
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#1 of 25 
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Local Time: 10:03 PM
Local Date: 10-10-2008
Posts: 45
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Price drop on the X-A2
I just received the XA-2 model today. The price at Amazon dropped to $599.99 on Monday. That made the decision to buy or not buy much easier for me and I bought one. Even if I only get a couple years out of it watching HD-DVD and enjoying upconverted SD DVD, it seems like a worthwhile purchase.
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03-22-2007, 08:11 AM
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#2 of 25
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Member
Location: GTA, Ontario
Join Date: Nov 2001
Local Time: 01:03 AM
Local Date: 10-11-2008
Posts: 319
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
Enjoy - that is an excellent price
I used that same justification to get the HDA2 - am very happy with it
HD DVD in the house
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03-22-2007, 11:12 AM
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#3 of 25
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Member
Join Date: Aug 1999
Local Time: 09:03 PM
Local Date: 10-10-2008
Posts: 852
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
I've been sitting on the fence for a year. And, quite frankly, I thought I'd be sitting on the fence even longer. But the multiple reviews that have overwhelmingly rated the Toshiba HD-XA2 as just about the finest up-converting SD-DVD player on the market have had me leaning over the center of the fence since January. And Amazon's sub-$600 price point caused me to fall off of the fence on Tuesday. My XA2 will be delivered today. (Unfortunately, I won't be hooking it up right away because I'm waiting for my Pioneer VSX-72TXV A/V Receiver to return from having the firmware upgraded. Hopefully, I'll have it back tomorrow.)
I don't know which format (or both formats) will survive in the long run. But if the reports on XA2's SD upconverting are true, my current DVD collection will be very happy!  If I never buy a HD-DVD title, I'll easily get $600 worth of enjoyment out of the XA2.
Mark
Format Neutral!
(But prefer HD DVD!)
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03-23-2007, 09:27 AM
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#5 of 25
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Don Monteith
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Local Time: 12:03 AM
Local Date: 10-11-2008
Posts: 15
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
Great choice!! I have had mine for a couple months now and I love it. I just upgraded the firmware yesterday and it looks fantastic. I watched TROY. What an amazing HD experience. Have fun!!!!!!
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03-23-2007, 10:07 AM
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#6 of 25
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Local Time: 12:03 AM
Local Date: 10-11-2008
Posts: 516
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
The HD DVD camp has fired a major shot in the format war. Expect BluRay to follow suit over the coming weeks.
I'm hoping that by the time I make my purchase in July, the X-A2 will be at or around $500, leaving some room for the purchase of a BluRay at a later date.
Here is a recent "Breaking News" from TWICE (This Week in Consumer Electronics);
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It’s Official: Toshiba Cuts HD DVD Pricing
By Greg Tarr and Alan Wolf
New York – Toshiba made official its long-rumored HD DVD player price cuts, dropping the expected retail price by $100 each for the entry HD-A2 (to $399) and the step up HD-A20 (to $499), and by $200 on the top-of-the-line HD-XA2 (to $799).
The price moves, which go into effect April 1, were published in a flyer and a catalog distributed to attendees at a store celebration event for local retailer Datavision March 15.
Jodi Sally, Toshiba A/V products marketing VP, confirmed the prices to TWICE this morning.
Datavision is adding to the new prices a $50 instant rebate. In addition, purchasers of any of the players qualify for five free HD DVD titles offered through a separate Toshiba promotion.
Sally denied speculation that Toshiba had made the price step because Sony had recently announced plans to sell a $599 Blu-ray Disc player later this year, and Samsung’s Blu-ray model has been aggressively price promoted on the Internet.
“Price moves like this are planned pretty far in advance,” she said. “It has always been our strategy to really plan strategic pricing and promotions long-term with this category.”
The instant rebates advertised by Datavision are offered by the retailer and not backed by Toshiba, she said.
Sales of HD DVD players have been doing well this year, Sally said.
“As of last week, Amazon.com was showing the HD-A2 and the HD-XA2 players in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots of all HD DVD players,” she said.
As for the future incentives, Sally hinted that some major HD DVD title releases will be coming soon, but declined to elaborate until the studios make official announcements.
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03-23-2007, 10:27 AM
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#7 of 25
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Member
Join Date: Dec 1969
Local Time: 01:03 AM
Local Date: 10-11-2008
Posts: 12,179
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
Quote:
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“As of last week, Amazon.com was showing the HD-A2 and the HD-XA2 players in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots of all HD DVD players,” she said.
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Uh... behind what? I presume that for this to be good news for Toshiba, numbers one through four have to be upconverting DVD players or the XBox 360 add-on.
Jay's Movie Blog - A movie-viewing diary.
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"What? Since when was this an energy ball movie?" - Overheard during a screening of Takashi Miike's Dead Or Alive
"What the hell religion are you people?" - Overheard during the Captain Marvel serial at SF/29
"If I feel even one bullet hit me, I will rip your lungs out through your nostrils!" - Ron Silver as himself, "Heat Vision And Jack"
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03-23-2007, 12:16 PM
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#8 of 25
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Local Time: 10:03 PM
Local Date: 10-10-2008
Posts: 45
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
So far, so good. I got my new X-A2 up and running without too many hassles. I watched Babel in HD and it looked great even though this movie is probably not the best source for testing HD.
However, I also watched my SD DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean and I was really blown away! I don't even have an HDMI connection to my RPTV, just component (so no upconversion), but the pictures quality seemed better than my old DVD player (A Toshiba progressive scan model from about six years ago, model "SD something"). Very 3-D film-like experience. Maybe it's just a new owners delusion, but it sure seemed to be much better.
What's clearly not delusional is the improvement in sound quality. I was using a digital coaxial output from my old player to my receiver. I decided to use a 5.1 analog connection with my new X-A2 to be able to get Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus. The sound improvement was miraculous! I'm not sure if the improvement is due to the quality of the DACs in the X-A2 or the change to a 5.1 analog connection. Either way, the sound was exquisite. My receiver is a 6 year old Marantz SR-18, which was one of the better mid-range priced amps when it was made.
I also like the fact that I can tweak the speaker and video settings through the HD-DVD player. I made slight adjustments to contrast and brightness to improve the PQ without having to tweak the basic settings on the RPTV. The X-A2 has 3 picture settings that you can program so you can switch back and forth between them depending on the source material. For example, I can use one picture setting when I watch a HD-DVD at 1080i, and another setting when watching a SD DVD at 480p.
So far I'm very happy with my decision to purchase the X-A2 at what I consider a reasonable price for the technology.
Forgot to mention that my set is a 6 year old 57" Toshiba widescreen RPTV CRT that displays up to 1080i.
Last edited by Thomas W : 03-23-2007 at 12:26 PM.
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03-23-2007, 01:47 PM
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#9 of 25
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Local Time: 05:03 AM
Local Date: 10-11-2008
Posts: 1,021
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Re: Price drop on the X-A2
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Seaver
Uh... behind what? I presume that for this to be good news for Toshiba, numbers one through four have to be upconverting DVD players or the XBox 360 add-on.
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They seem to be #3 & #4 on all of the DVD players: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...pf_rd_i=172514 |
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03-23-2007, 11:09 PM
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