Is Best Buy Souring on HD DVD?

Nils Luehrmann · 05-22-2006, 12:01 PM

I ask as a visit to the North West (Gateway Plaza) Best Buy in Austin this weekend really caught me by surprise.

As I understand it, Best Buy is/was HD DVD's largest North American retail partner. BB hosted several of the early HD DVD demos, and at least at this location had an elaborate rollout with lots of publicity. They had an HD DVD displayed on their largest most expensive 1080p display right in the center of the display area where customer traffic is at it highest. In addition to the running HD DVD demo loop, BB also had several HD DVD marketing handouts with the BB logo printed on them.

I had not been back since the opening, but as I was right next door shopping at CompUSA I decided to go in and see if the HD DVD demo had changed, and what new displays they might have added.

At first, I couldn’t even find the HD DVD demo! They had moved the demo to the farthest right-hand side of the display area where almost no customers ever go to. In fact oddly enough, right next to the area of the store where they are clearing out entertainment furniture, which they are abandoning due to poor sales.

Adding insult to injury, the HD DVD player was now hooked up to a small (under 40”) 1080p display by Westinghouse. There was no audio hooked up, and only one HD DVD handout. There were several HD DVD titles stacked behind the demo for sale with most priced at $30 a piece and several previously released titles at $25 a piece.

I located the floor manger, the GM was not available, and he said they made the move because of the lack of sales, and that they were having too many returns.

Keep in mind; the BB at the Gateway Plaza is located in one of the better retail areas in Austin and located only a few miles from large neighborhoods with +$500k homes. So of all their locations in and around Austin, this should have, and was presumably expected to have sold more HD DVD product than any of their other locations.

If this location is souring on HD DVD it makes me wonder if BB is having a change of heart.

Andrew Bunk · 05-22-2006, 12:34 PM

Ouch.

I haven't seen much of any HD-DVD presence at the 3 Best Buy's I frequent, and they are also near affluent areas.

JohnS · 05-22-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote:

and he said they made the move because of the lack of sales, and that they were having too many returns.

I'm wondering why, or if this was a copout

Randy Korstick · 05-22-2006, 01:43 PM

My Best Buy changed their display to a much smaller one now too. They had no players in stock. I asked an employee if they were having alot of sales on these or if they just didn't get alot of inventory. He told me they did have quite a few but they had so many returns and exchanges is why they no longer have any in stock. This is in Inland Empire in So.Cal. I noticed the same situation in an Orange County BB too.
So they may just be getting tired of all the returns until a more reliable player is released.
I think the Digital Bits review of the Toshiba HD-DVD player is far more accurate than the HD-DVD plants and fanboys here want us to believe.
I had no intention of getting HD-DVD but the $499.00 price was tempting me but now I'm definately back on the not getting one side with all the Player Problems. To me pushing it back until it works correctly like Blu-Ray is doing is way more important than being the 1st out of the gate. Quality product or lack of is remembered by consumers far longer than who had the cheapest player 1st.

Walter Kittel · 05-22-2006, 01:58 PM

Quote:

I think the Digital Bits review of the Toshiba HD-DVD player is far more accurate than the HD-DVD plants and fanboys here want us to believe.

How many people in this thread own a Toshiba player? Probably just me, and I have had no problems to date with content playback. So I'm a little tired of hearing how awful this player is from folks who don't actually own one.

( Yes it takes a little while to boot, and the remote is terrible; but I've setup my universal remote, and the load times don't bother me a bit. )

- Walter.

**HTF Ads**

Scotty_McW · 05-22-2006, 02:28 PM

I've had my XA1 for about two weeks now and haven't had a single problem. Bost BBs that I frequent have always had the discs in stock on release day. The only problem I've had is that they don't have the discs in the front of the store with the rest of the new releases.

JohnS · 05-22-2006, 02:42 PM

These people who are buying these players at Best Buy then returning them, probally don't own a 1080p TV or a high end TV to get the full pleasure out of the player. So these people are probally returning them becuase they don't see that much of a difference, or are in fact probally returning them becuase they don't have it hooked up correctly.

All these returns can't be defectives.

Andrew Bunk · 05-22-2006, 03:09 PM

While I agree not all of them are likely defective, I still think that where there's smoke, there's fire.

Even if only 1 in 10 had problems, that's still much too high for my taste. I'm not a gambling man.

Nils Luehrmann · 05-22-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel

How many people in this thread own a Toshiba player? Probably just me, and I have had no problems to date with content playback. So I'm a little tired of hearing how awful this player is from folks who don't actually own one.

First of all, while I wouldn't necessarily compare Toshiba's HD DVD players to Yugos, I also know you don't have to own something to know it has problems.

On the other hand, even a brief look through the many HD DVD threads on this and other forums has several posters who were first posting glowing reviews of their player and then followed it up over several days with one return after another. So clearly some players are having problems, and not just mere inconveniences as you might have us believe.

Far more to the point, your response was completely unjustified. Not only is this thread about the possibility that Best Buy might be having second thoughts about their support for HD DVD, but not a single person posted in this thread saying, and I quote, "how awful this player is". I shared what I was told from the floor manager at BB, and Randy was sharing his opinion on the accuracy of the Digital Bits review and how that may explain why BB is apparently getting a lot of returns.

It's great that you have a HD DVD player that hasn't any serious issues with it, and it is great that you are such a strong supporter for that format. However not only are there far more appropriate threads for discussing the known issues with these players (there is a dedicated thread for that BTW), but to attack everyone who has posted in this thread for saying HD DVD players are awful is not only incorrect, but on the verge of qualifying as a grade A thread fart.

AL KUENSTER · 05-22-2006, 03:18 PM

I was in a local BB yesterday here in Vegas, and did not see the HDDVD display at all or any discs, they must have moved everything out of sight. To be fair however I didn't ask were their HDDVD display was.

Jeremy Little · 05-22-2006, 03:30 PM

The early rollout displays were merely temporary. The new Westinghouse set up *WAS* the plan all along. Those early displays should have all been disassembled and the new one should be located on a prominent home theater endcap. Ours is right near the entrance to the checkout lanes.