HD-A2 $198 @ Wal-Mart

[HDefinicktion]

Well, if you have not heard, there have been numerous stores around the country selling the Toshiba HD-A2 for $198.  I stopped in to my local Wal-Mart in Mukwonago, and talked to some of their associates about it. They had about 15 of them in back, but when they tried to ring one up, it said "Sale Not Authorized."  The person helping me said that the managers got the pallet in, but didn't know what to do with them yet.  He said their were for a sale coming up.  Does anyone know when Wal-Mart sales flyers go out...are they mid week, or Sunday?

I have been tossing the idea of getting the HD-A20 for awhile, but now with this price point, and my 720p TV, I would like to jump in.

[Ralph Kramden]

I read about this at Avsforum. Apparently Walmart can't sell them until Nov. 3. This is a great price, but the DVD's are still too expensive for me.

[Steve Mann]

NICE... I was just considering buying one of these... Looks like I'll be waiting till Nov 3rd. Glad I saw this thread.

[JDrama]

Ralph I agree the prices for HD DVD's are too high and if they lowered them to a $19.99 price the HD DVD camp would achieve larger market penetration. But if this is holding you back from purchasing a HD DVD player you may want to consider joining BlockbusterOnline or Netflix. I personally am a BlockbusterOnline member and I am extremely happy because I can view all the HD DVD titles I want and they ship really quick. In fact the majority of titles I request are now shipping from a Milwaukee address so the wait is much shorter.

[HDefinicktion]

I have been getting Blu Ray movies from Blockbuster online for a bit now, but I have never seen a place to rent HD DVD's.  I thought Blockbuster was dedicated to just Blu Ray now....

[klwillis45]

In store is BR only, online offers both.

[HDefinicktion]

I went and double checked again, I guess since they are trying to push Blu Ray they don't list HD DVD on the main category.  It was under collections....thanks, this will make having one of these easier as well.

[Steve Mann]

I called three local WalMarts and they all said that they didn't have any but they would be getting them in on Nov 1st for the 'flyer special'. They're holding them all back for that advertised special. I've now heard Nov 1st and the 3rd. I guess I'll have to check on the first and see if they're there yet.

[gparris]

Steve Mann: I am very excited for you with all your new construction and setup.
Once you plug the output from your HD-A2 to your projector (using HDMI), you should see a visible difference with HD DVD on that big screen of yours.
For my 70" 720p screen, I use the 1080i output setting and let the display do the converting:
It seems, at least to me, to look sharper at this setting vs. 720p output and the HD-A2 only outputs 1080i/60 (not 1080p as the HD-A20 does).
-Even with a toslink optical audio connection to your current AVR, the 1.5Mbps hitting your amp and speaker layout has got to sound more awesome that it already does!

Let us know what HD DVDs you might be trying to get to start it up!:wave:
(or maybe we can provide some suggestions).

[SRW1000]

Ralph I agree the prices for HD DVD's are too high and if they lowered them to a $19.99 price the HD DVD camp would achieve larger market penetration.

If you're not opposed to buying online, Amazon prices all their HD DVD at 30%, putting a lot of their titles (not all) below $20.

I agree with your Blockbuster and NetFlix recommendation.   That was the single biggest reason for my purchase of an HD DVD player.

Scott

[Steve Mann]

Steve Mann: I am very excited for you with all your new construction and setup.
Once you plug the output from your HD-A2 to your projector (using HDMI), you should see a visible difference with HD DVD on that big screen of yours.
For my 70" 720p screen, I use the 1080i output setting and let the display do the converting:
It seems, at least to me, to look sharper at this setting vs. 720p output and the HD-A2 only outputs 1080i/60 (not 1080p as the HD-A20 does).
-Even with a toslink optical audio connection to your current AVR, the 1.5Mbps hitting your amp and speaker layout has got to sound more awesome that it already does!

Well! For once I got lucky... I saw in a thread on AVS that Circuit City also had the HD-A2 for $197. I checked their website and sure enough. Once you add it to your cart, it's at $197. So, I called the Brookfield store and they said they had ONE left. They didn't know anything about the price. When I told them that, he had to do a price look up and sure enough. Their computers had it at the same price.

Since it was the last unit, they couldn't hold it for me. I had called about 2:00 PM and said I would be there at about 4:15. He thought it would still be there as it's not an item that was flying out the door. So... I left work at 3:30 and got there a little early just to make sure. Thankfully, it was still there.

Btw.. I had called Best Buy too, as I knew they would price match, but they didn't have one unit in any of their stores. This kinda makes me wonder why the supplies are so limited everywhere.

Anyway... I just finished setting it up in the theater. It freakin' rocks! I did just as you suggested. Video is being fed to the projector via HDMI and audio is going to the amp via an optical link. I picked up the 'Transformers' (on HD-DVD of course) while I was there at CC. The picture looks absolutely tremendous. It's almost unbelievable. The sound is spectacular too, though it seemed a little lower than normal. I had to crank up the volume a bit. Fortunately, I have plenty of headroom with my amp/receiver.

Let us know what HD DVDs you might be trying to get to start it up!:wave:
(or maybe we can provide some suggestions).

I'll have to start a thread for HD-DVD suggestions. I think DeepDiscountDVD is due for a 20% off sale next month. I'll have to be sure to take advantage of that.

[gparris]

Great news!
Glad it all worked out and you even picked up "Transformers", a HD DVD that got a good rating from highdefdigest (see link on this forum's main page).
As for the sound, you are doing fine, it's just the audio that is tweaked up a bit since it coming out of the player/disc, just as the director intended (as is the picture).

What the panel on your AVR is indicating for audio coming in?
When I used Toslink optical for audio my AVR on my HD-A1 , the AVR panel display would indicate "DTS" instead of "DD+" to get the 1.5Mbps out of the player, as many HD DVDs use DD+ for audio.

Now, I use HDMI-equipped inputs for audio and video so there is no compromise and I can manuver the 5.1 audio (if it comes that way from the discs) to DPLllx processing for 7.1 surround effects.
Note standard DVDs with legacy Dolby Digital have a audio output range up to 468Kbps, so the 1509Kbps (1.5Mbps) is a much faster bit rate=better audio overall.

Congradulations on the setup, price and good first selection for your HD DVD...tell us more as time goes on!:wave:

[vetrev]

I've had the HD-A2 for about three months now. Coincidently, we just bought Transformers tonight and cranked it up. I buy almost all my HD DVDs from Amazon. They are about $5 less than Best Buy. I signed up for Amazon Prime and they're at my door in two days or less. Can't get any better than that.

[Steve Mann]

I've had the HD-A2 for about three months now. Coincidently, we just bought Transformers tonight and cranked it up. I buy almost all my HD DVDs from Amazon. They are about $5 less than Best Buy. I signed up for Amazon Prime and they're at my door in two days or less. Can't get any better than that.

Another great place is DeepDiscountDVD (http://www.deepdiscount.com). They usually have low ever day prices and then about twice a year (with one coming up in November) they have 20% off everything sales. It looks like their price for Transformers is about 90 cents more than Amazon at the moment. It's always a good place to price check against. I've been buying from them for over 5 years and have never had a problem.

[Steve Mann]

...What the panel on your AVR is indicating for audio coming in? When I used Toslink optical for audio my AVR on my HD-A1 , the AVR panel display would indicate "DTS" instead of "DD+" to get the 1.5Mbps out of the player, as many HD DVDs use DD+ for audio.

Sorry... I meant to get back to you on this...

I'm seeing DTS on my Yamaha RX2400 receiver too using a Toslink optical connection. So, I'm getting the larger bit rate, but am I truly getting DD+?