Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Toshiba HD A2 for $98.87

Personally, I’ve rather there not be a ‘winner’. Competition keeps things lively and interesting because one will always be doing something cool to get the upper hand over the other.

I’d just like to see both formats continue with enough support for both to encourage the main stream player manufactures to build true “universal” players that play everything very well. When this (if this) happens, companies like Oppo will start shipping excellent performing, but reasonably prices units, and, you’ll get that great customer support that Oppo provides.

While I really do not have a preference for either format and enjoy both equally, I prefer my PS3 over the A2. The PS3 is very fast, has great functionality and is a joy to use compared to any player I’ve had so far (including DVD). When the A35 shows up, I’ll be very interested to see how it compares to the PS3.

I would caution anyone who is considering buying one of these players to consider your resolve for resisting the upgraditis bug. This is a teaser. By meaning, it’s an excellent marketing strategy to get fence sitters off the fence. When you get the A2 and see how good HD is; you are going to be hooked. HD is very, very addictive. I know I’m a downright HD junky now and just can’t seam to resist anything that comes out. I’ve blown over ten grand in the last year on electronics that I would not have spent if HD/BR had not come to market. First it will be the $99 A2, then it will be the new 1080P display, then it will be a Blue Ray player, then you’ll want to “hear” lossless sound so you’ll get a HDMI audio processor, then there will be a “new and improved” HD player, then the “new” BR player, then the “new” audio processor…..and so on. I’ve come to know you regulars and how ALL of you have upgraditis real bad, one year from now…….

I was wondering about the A2 or A3 before I jumped on the A2 last week for $200 (hopefully I will find a local Walmart with them for $98 tomorrow and return the first one). Anyway, the A2 and A3 seem to have the exact same specs except the A2 actually has one thing going for it that the A3 doesn't. The A2 will "downgrade" Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus to a 1.5mbps DTS stream for those of us without an HDMI receiver. The A3, although newer, "downgrades" those to a 640kbps Dolby Digital stream. It is nice to have the higher bandwidth of the A2.

I am going to call my Walmarts this afternoon to see which ones will have it tomorrow. We have 11 Walmarts in a 20 mile radius, so one of them should have them.

hmmm Maybe there should be a stickied thread that is only open between Jan. 1 and Jan.31 (to allow for Christmas goodies.) Everyone who wishes can post their current setup and it's not editable again until next January for people to list their new setup.

I could provide everyone with a place to show off their gear and a place for others to make fun of those who were infected with upgraditis.

Maybe even include a line where they list 'planned' upgrades so we can see how bad we are at sticking to plans.

Call it "The Official Annual Upgraditis Health Watch Report" or some variation that makes a good acronym.

OK bad idea, it just might further the spread of the outbreak.

Apparently Best Buy in the states now has the A2 listed for $99 but none available for shipping. They could be waiting until tomorrow to have it available but you can check online to see if your local store has any. Good luck to all you A2 hunters!!!

I can't seem to find any good, comprehensive comparison chart of the Toshiba models, but I think I'm going to hold off for one with 5.1 analog outs since my receiver is not HDMI capable.

It really seem like all the players are missing something or another in comparison to each other, and since I have the XBox add-on, I'll let it suffice till a higher-end model is on sale....

(subject to change in the next 12 hours.....)

The only way to get 5.1 analog outputs is the XA2, and that runs about $600+.... You could get the $98 A2 and a new HDMI receiver (like the Onkyo TX-SR605) that also does all of the HD audio, including DTS-HD Master Audio for that price!

the A35 also has analog outs.

FWIW, the best comparison I found this morning was at Crutchfield. When you wrote $600+, I checked back to Crutchfield because I thought it was $500 there.... and God knows Crutchfield is usually more expensive than the others.

Alas, it's true, and seems to be a far better price than most and they're known for good service too: Crutchfield

They also offer the 5 free HDDVD movies and a 5.1 DTS music demo disc....

According to the Toshiba web site, it only has 2 channel analog out. Of course, with no pictures of the back of the device, it is hard to confirm that. Toshiba's web site has been wrong before...

I stopped by a Walmart today over lunch and when I asked about the $98 HD-DVD player, they said that it was a "misprint" and it should have been $198. A misprint on a web site? Crazy talk!

They did have an increased selection of HD-DVD movies finally, and they were actually running an HD-DVD movie in the HD-DVD player instead of the last time when they had just a standard DVD in it...