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First introduced by HD DVD Promotions Group early this year, the first Chinese-manufactured, headquartered in Canada Hi-def player that could change the outcome of the format war is here. The Venturer SHD7001 is finally available for sale at Warmart and Target store. I don’t know about how much influence it has over format war but priced at $199 is hardly shattering the already-low-price Toshiba units.
Don’t get me wrong, the price is decent but they are too late in the game. The Toshiba A2 at $99 already set the tone weeks before Venture set foot on US soil. Besides, SHD700 is only capable to output 1080i, that would not please the HT-Enthusiasts. The long waited affordable HD-DVD player may not take off as planned.
The lead-free hi-def player is boxed with Troy and Hulk HD version. It supports HD DVD, DVD, DVD-R/-RW, CD, CD-R/-RW, VCD. Audio format- Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD (Core only). SHARC Floating-Point Digital Signal Processors. HDMI, Optical Output and Ethernet Connection.
Ps. There are rumors about Toshiba and Walmart will team up once again offering 5 rebate + 7 instant free HD-DVD titles with the purchase of A2/A3 at $199 and $299. It is coming this Friday, we’ll keep you informed.
Show me where to buy an HD-DVD player for $99 from Best Buy or Circuit City. It’s special sale deals only :P
Yeah I think we understand that, endian. The point is that since we’ve seen HD-DVD hit the $99 point, no matter how briefly, it takes away the wow factor that the price of these generic units usually have. I’d bet you could find the Toshiba units for $199 without much trouble. Again, kinda makes the Venturer price not so amazing. And, well, that is the point of this article, is it not?
littlendian.
Yes you are right and that was on sale value only, it didn’t last long. We were hoping the supposingly dirt-cheap Chinese Player come out with a shocking number but that didn’t happend. Besides, firmware support on problemtic HD-DVD playback could be a concern to a new comer like Venturer. For the same price, i think i’ll stick with Toshiba.
Jeez the wya you guys comment & report this.
Anyone would think that everyone had an HD TV already, that the majority of HD Tvs out there were not 720p/1080i anyway and that the Playstation 3 format (for that is all that Blu-ray is right now) could possibly ‘take’ the adult a/v market.
Wake up guys.
There’s a long long ways to go in this.
HD DVD is getting the a/v market and everybody is still happy to buy ordinary DVD to upscale on their players.
The one thing that stands out in this is that those who write this kind of stuff have been listening to one side a little too much…..is it the advertsing revenue that ‘helps’ formulate such attitudes?
Dave,
The report is not taking side on and i favored none. I’m riding along in both and not waiting for a winner to pick side. I’m loving the price war that brought down the price to bottom and honestly i don’t think i could afford 2 standalone & 2 game console in each format if were for competitive market.