Early adopter beware: Toshiba's HD-DVD players hit the shelves

March 6, 2006

A few days before or after April Fools' day, store shelves and online retailer product pages will begin filling with Toshiba's HD-DVD players. While they can both spin standard DVDs, their real appeal is the ability to play back a new disc format called HD-DVD that delivers movies and other video in high-definition quality. The $800 HD-XA1 will arrive first, followed closely by the $500 HD-A1. Given the minor differences between the two, detailed in the previews below, the extra $300 seems like a waste to us. In fact, we don't recommend purchasing either of these players now unless you have money to burn and you really, really want high-def on disc, now!

The format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is still in its first stages--way too early to call--and the stakes are high for Hollywood and hardware manufacturers alike, especially Toshiba and rival Sony, the principal backer of Blu-ray. Toshiba is betting that being first to market with these two players will help give it the upper hand, because there are lots of so-called early adopters who won't balk at the price tag. That's fine for them, but for the rest of us, news of impending Blu-ray products (such as Sony's PlayStation 3 game console), further drops in pricing, more solid studio support, and especially, more compelling titles in both formats, are all worth waiting for.

More resources

Latest HD-DVD and Blu-ray news CES 2006: Early details on Blu-ray players Toshiba's Xbox 360 HD-DVD strategy The Screening Room: Is there any reason to buy HD-DVD now?

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: who cares? Both formats cripple analog output TalkBack: Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD--VHS vs. Betamax part II?