Marketing gimmicks, 2 hour wait in line to find out they are sold out and only had 2-5 available at that price. So get a raincheck if possible on the item.
Last time no rainchecks were available for these one time specials.
The A2 isn't worth over $100.00 bucks anyway, cheaply constructed unit in my opinion.

It does perform a pretty nice downconversion of the HD Signal (home videos on 3X DVD) to SD Resolution on it's S-Video or Composite outputs for SD TV's. Not bad at all.

Marketing gimmicks, 2 hour wait in line to find out they are sold out and only had 2-5 available at that price.
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I just came back from Walmart. I spoke to the Electronics Department manager who told me that every Walmart in the country received thirty Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD players and that the sale is tomorrow at 8:00 AM. In my local Walmart they are in the back room until tomorrow morning. He also said that the units cannot be scanned before that because it will come up as "Not to Be Sold". The sale is part of their Friday Secret Sale Specials as I mentioned above. Those will run every Friday until Christmas.

So when you say "Ask for a Raincheck", that does not apply to any item from that type of sale. It never did in any store or from any vendor anywhere that I am aware of.

John

Thanks for this find!

I will scout today and buy tomorrow. If there is no limit, Im gonna get a few of them. Perfect to move the friends/family to HD and as a freebie to HD wedding clients.

The bummer is knowing the slow startup and functioning times, need for a firmware update out of the box and clunky size.

The bummer is knowing the slow startup and functioning times, need for a firmware update out of the box and clunky size.
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Not as heavy or as large as the HD-A1. I would check this thread before deciding upon which firmware to use on these units. Not all work well.

Also, the units may already have the latest firmware if they were recently manufactured.

To see which firmware you have Go To:
Setup-->General-->Maintenance-->Update. After clicking on update, the numbers you see are the current firmware version. The First Number is the firmware version.
If you decide to update the firmware:

Burn it to a CD using Active@ Iso Burner.

Follow the Installation instructions exactly.

The news seems to be spreading like wildfire so the long lines seem inevitable, but they do have thirty of them in each store and they are there already.

John

I have the A1... the A2 is pretty slim compared to it.

I wish Wallmart was selling them in Canada... at that price I would pick up another 2!!

There had been a link to the 5 free HD-DVD deal... anyone still have that?

Edit: I found the pdf for the 5 free DVDs (http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/hddvd/data/pdf/Toshiba_Online_Rebate_R08.pdfLink[/link]), but they aren't any movies I'd really care about (The Hulk, Darkman, Troy). Is there a link to free movies that are actually any good or for open choices?

Darkman? NOT GOOD?

I must now place you on my IGNORE list.

Way to funny! You know, I used to love Darkman... but is that really the movie that you highlight to promote the newest of the new technology?

Just got back from Walmart. I arrived at 7:45 and there were only two people ahead of me. One was getting the HD DVD player and the other was getting the plasma TV. The line for the $340 laptop was by layaway. At 8:00 AM I bought one. By then there were a lot of people in line to purchase them. They did in fact have 30 of them and it was one per customer. Very well organized. Will use it to demo along with my projector. My HD-A1 will stay hooked up to my home theater.

John

I went to Wal-Mart this morning and there was a long line for laptops but when I asked the "associate" about the HD-DVD players she said they didn't get any in. I thought it odd as when I looked on their website yesterday it showed that they were available at my store. Oh well.

j razz

I got one this morning as well. I will keep my original one in the living room along with my TV and this one I will use either with my projector or with a 37" portable Toshiba LCD HD TV, depending on the size of the gathering. I have yet to do a project that wouldn't fit on a dual layer DVD+R. I'm just glad that I can finally show my stuff in HD on my mobile setup.

Well, I managed to get the last two of them after going to three stores.

The first stores were out by 8:20 and 8:45 am. They only had about 15 per store in VA. There are about 4,000 WM stores, so 60,000 HD-DVD players sold today. Not really that many in the scheme of HD.

The $14.00 HD-DVD selection was not very good.

Bottom line: My parents and brother will at least see video of the kids in glorious HD!

"I'm just glad that I can finally show my stuff in HD on my mobile setup." Exactly. That's why I purchased it also. I went to Wal-Mart in Connecticut @ 7:30 am, there were 6 people in line already, and it filled up pretty quickly after that. They only had 15 to sell and had to turn people away.

For me, it means that for $98 the HD format war is over. I have something that I can use until the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD dust has settled. At the worst, I have an obsolete $98 system that I use with my projector for mobile situations.

I just couldn't drag myself over to Walmart this morning, but Best Buy Business also had these today (online) for $98 or so (now sold out), so I expect we will see more product at this price point from now on, especially since we're heading into holiday shopping season....

Picked 2 today fisrt store had them all lined up at the elec dept with a sign advertising the price. only allowed to buy one. went to another store(want one for work one for home) they had no sign were way in the back and nobody buying them.
So.. now whare the thread on burning HD DVD to Std DVD discs......
search come up with a few but wondering if some one has the proceedure down.

YESSSSS!

Great to see this kind of discussion - I've got an A1 and may have to pick up an A2 for the office - hopefully this will be the Christmas that HD finally gets in a few "normal" peoples homes :)

Currently $130 shipped at circuitcity.com

EPIRB:

First, update the firmware to 2.5.

Then look at the HD-DVD threads.

Im burning one right now.

Im using Ulead MF+ ($79) and the HD PowerPack plugin ($19) to create the HD-DVDs. Check the threads.

Have patience & fun.

Thanks Jeff !
thats what it semed as i was searhing thethreads that Ulead MF+ was the way to go . I downloaded the trial, and it is somewhat misleading as it says you can do HD DVD but isnt clear you need the plug. kinda found that out after more research. I dont think you can get the plug as a trial so Ill probably bite the bullet and buy them both.
About how much content can you fit on a std DVD-R? I am looking to fit aproox 10-15 mins. each