Now that is a complete HD setup! Next-Gen HD gaming and Next Gen HD Movies. The Elite has HDMI out so you can get all the HD goodness, plus you can run an optical out for audio. Here is what Crunch Gear has to say:

 The Xbox 360 is hands down the best on the market. The titles are all there and a 120GB drive ensures you’ll have plenty of room for extra content. The matte black finish alone is worth the extra dough. And the PS3 stinks! The HD DVD player is just an added bonus for those of you who have an HDTV and may already own an Xbox. Setup is easy and the extras on HD DVD discs are pretty neat to play around with. You’re already on Live, which means you’re connected to the Web so it only makes sense that you’ll be accessing the extras. I only watch Transformers anyway. Megan Fox is HAWT in HD.

Yes, Megan Fox is hawt in HD; we blogged about that here, but we make no claim tothat discovery because her hotness speaks for itself!

We jump on the bandwagon as well and suggest this setup for any gamer who wants HD movies.

The 360 Elite retails for 449.99 and comes with 120 Gigs of storage. If you are waiting for the possible coming IPTV or want to download loads of HD movies and shows, this is the setup for you.

If that price seems steep to you and you want HDMI out, the 360 Pro has HDMI out, only a 20 Gig HD, and retails for $349.99. Here is Microsoft’s comparison chart.

Crunch Gear
 

Wal Mart has started selling the Venturer Electronics HD DVD player for 199.98. about $200.00 less than the entry level D player. Target is selling the same unti for 249.99. I guess a more affluent demo shop at Target. The specs on the unit are respectable, with inclusion of Dolby TrueHD decoder (something the Xbox 360 HD DVD player lacks) and HDMI. The unit also upconverts SD-DVD to “near HD DVD quality” according to the manufacturer’s web page. Additionally the remote for this unit looks strikingly similar to the remote for Toshiba’s HD DVD players. Unlike the similarly priced Toshiba units, it does not appear this unit comes with any free HD DVDs.

We will post a review if and when we get our gruby hands on this unit. My guess is that this is the A3 in a different metal shell.

Wal Mart
Target

Best Buy is selling the Toshiba A30 for $399. Tell the Best Buy sales associate about the Circuit City price for $379 and they will honor that price. Additionally you will recieve 10 free HD DVDs with your purchase: 300 and The Bourne Identity are are included in the box; Best Buy will give you 3 HD DVDs of your choice (less than $34.99) from the store shelves; and Toshiba gives you 5 by mail-in rebate. It is a great deal to be sure.

The A30 is a great unit with HDMI resolutions up to 720p 1080p and 1080i and up-converts to 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p. We hooked up our unit to an Onkyo TX-SR505 Home theater receiver with HDMI switching with and HDMI cable for video and optical outs for audio. You are pretty much stuck with HDMI/optical connections as there are no multichannel analog outs. We use optical outs religously so we were not put off by this lack of analog outs. Why would you want to use analog component outs anyway? The only downside I can see is if you want to use multichannel analog outs for CD audio - but we have a nice CD player for that, right? The A30 supports a Dolby TrueHD so we think the lack of analog component outs is irrelevant.

The A30 performed well with a crisp picture even at 1080i. Importantly the A30 up-convertrs SD DVDs so this is a valid replacement for that 10 year old DVD player. When watching the SD DVD Madagascar the A30 registered at 480p but our TV indicated that it received a 1080p picture. Regardless the picture was stunning with a marked difference over a SD DVD player.

Performace on HD DVDs was fine as well. The remote is clunky and our universal Dish remote did not recognize any codes to control the A30. Although we did not test it with the top-of-the line Logitech harmony remotes, we are confident those universal remotes will operate this unit. Remember that these reviews are for the average customer. That said, the average customer may be stuck with an extra remote.

All in all, this is a solid unit and is a great entry level HD DVD player - I can see these Toshiba units around for a long time. In the setup menu there was a shaded option selection for “multiformat discs” this indicates to me that with a firmware update this player may be able to play the alternative BD format discs.

This is easily a recommended player for this format. With the upconvert this player could be on your shelf for years to come. With the HMDI and optical connections and upconvert I prefer this unit to the XBOX 360 HD DVD player.

click the link for tech specs

Click to continue reading Toshiba A30

According to the HD DVD Promotional group sales for HD DVD players for the past year, including Xbox 360 players, have reached 750,000 units - about twice as many DVD units sold in its introductory year. According to the group the number of standalone HD DVD players exceeds the number of standalone BD players sold to date. BD sells more movies (at leaset in Europe), but that is not an indicator of acceptance and it is unclear whether the free HD DVDs included with HD DVD promo offers are considered “sold” HD DVDs.

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Gizmodo is reporting that there is a BD player on sale with 10 free DVDs; this is a deal very similar to recent Toshiba and retailer offers. the big difference of course is that the BD player is about $200 more expensive than the Toshiba A3.

Of course, the free movies you get to choose from include Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary Edition, House of 1,000 Corpses and Van Wilder, but there are a few good titles in there like T2 and Sharon Stone’s first cooter-displaying flick. Imagine that in 1080p. The p is for poonany.

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