Here’s the best way to receive a PS3:
http://www.us.playstation.com/EP/Promotions/296
Maybe one of you will try this out.

I don't own a PS3. My friends tells me that startup time is a few seconds and DVD insert/eject lag is minimal.

On my PS3, I’ve only played 1 Blu-Ray film so far but I didn’t see that much of a difference in the start-up time compared to DVDs. A lot of people won’t even notice it.

My A3 arrived from Amazon today. Having done my homework the first thing I did was plug it into my ethernet router and update to software version 1.3. Version 1.3 is reported to fix a lot of problems.

HTH

Update,

I expected to be waiting a while for my A3, but I was notified that it will be here tomorrow via UPS! Dang, I will have to wait to test it out, as I'm leaving for the weekend tomorrow afternoon.

Mike

Venturer HD DVD player $200
 

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/..._Wal-Mart/1217

If they intend on competing against the Toshiba A3, this thing should be around 50 dollars less.

Another Wal Mart (not so) Secret Sale
 

I really regret not buying the $100 HD DVD player.

heath

"Planet Earth" looks absolutely stunning on my plasma TV, watched from the HD-A2! The absence of a digital sound output is a downer, audio is output either via HDMI or via regular stereo analog pair. I don't have an HDMI receiver yet, so I have to make do with analog stereo. Still works for me, I don't have a 5.1 setup anyway.

What a coincidence!

I just got the series on HD-DVD from Amazon yesterday and took a look at the first two episodes on my early Christmas present, a Panasonic 1080p Plasma. [The series is also available on Blu-Ray.]

Wow! [How many times have you heard that expression before?]

The combination of viewing it on a large screen plus the detail afforded HD really allows these incredible nature images to shine.

Short of seeing it in a theater, or IMAX, this is about as close as I think I've ever "experienced" something so visually compelling at home. I know the series was shown on the Discovery Channel, but since I don't have cable, this was a real eye opener.

One of the coolest things about the show are the wide landscape shots that feature a bear/wolf/puma/impala moving about that one can still make out clearly.

Very cool.

For anyone that hasn’t checked yet, Amazon has lowered the price of the Samsung BD-P1400 to $297.95 and the Toshiba HD-A30 to $249.98.

From IMDb:

"Even On Biggest Day, Hi-Def Players Can't Beat Ordinary DVD Players
Putting those reports of huge sales of high-definition video players on Black Friday in perspective, Video Business magazine said on its website Friday that while 57,000 HD DVD and Blu-ray players were indeed sold the day after Thanksgiving, 600,000 standard definition DVD players were sold on the same day. The trade magazine, citing research by market analyst DisplaySearch, also observed that while 62 percent of the high-definition players sold on that day were in the HD DVD format (largely as a result of a $99 one-day only deal initiated by Wal Mart), Blu-ray players, because of their higher costs, accounted for 52 percent of the total revenue."

Guess that explains everything!

heath

What would be interesting is how many HDTVs are sold compared to HD disc players. I suspect people aren't buying HD players in anything remotely close to HDTVs.

I suspect many people who spend $1000-$3000 on an HDTV won't spend $200-$400 on a player.

I'm a guy who has owned an HDTV for 3.5 years, and I don't own either player (though I wish I'd bought the $99 HD DVD player, as I've said a thousand times already, lol).

heath

Update:
The current Amazon price for the BD-P1400 is now $269.98 and the HD-A30 is now $239.98.