[RootbeaR]

"Canadian shoppers on the losing end of the high-definition format war will have some reprieve, thanks to electronics retailer Future Shop, which is offering to take now-obsolete HD DVD players in exchange for credit towards another purchase."
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0..._shop_high_def

[technologyslice]

They have to take them back. They are useless now and people paid good money for them.

[RootbeaR]

Originally Posted by technologyslice

They have to take them back. They are useless now and people paid good money for them.

I doubt people bought them with the notion that whatever they bought could be taken back depending on the outcome of the format war.

Do you hear of other sellers offering the same deal? First one I have seen. Little stereo shop on corner here doesn't.

Did Sony recall and refund for Betamax? Any retailers that sold the units?

[TechGuy]

I agree -- maybe things are different in Canada, but in the US, I don't believe retailers would be under any obligation to to provide a refund just because the technology is now obsolete. It's nice to see a company giving such customer service, even if it was primarily to get headlines.

[jls242424]

Originally Posted by technologyslice

They have to take them back. They are useless now and people paid good money for them.

Useless now ?? Hardly. My version 1.3 Toshiba A3 plays plently of regular dvd's also and upscales plus I got 7 free HD movies. Lets see a BluRay for this price at TigerDirect or anywhere else. http://tinyurl.com/2oygjh Just watched a regular dvd "American Gangster" yesterday on my A3 and it looked great. CircuitCity was offering a deal where you to bring back your HD player if bought within the last 90 days and apply the cost to a new overpriced BluRay. You can get lots of HD movies via eBAY for half the price of retailers. http://search.ebay.com/HD-Movies_W0QQfromZR41 Personally I'd never spend $27.50 + for any movies, BluRay or HD.
So as far as HD being useless, your wrong..I'll take my HD over your highly overpriced http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23262620/ BluRay anyday.

"Right now, there’s not a lot of incentive to drive pricing down.”
You'll want to upgrade
But cost isn’t the only factor. If you bought a Blu-ray player last year, chances are you could wind up buying another one next year as well. That’s because most stand-alone Blu-ray players are essentially version 1.0 and not upgradeable.

And you will be wanting to upgrade, “otherwise you’ll have an obsolete product next year,” said Enderle.

“One of the differences between HD DVD and Blu-ray is that the HD platform was complete when it went to market, because you could connect it to the Internet for updates, patches or security fixes,” Enderle said. “Most Blu-ray players have no network connection, except (for those that are) on the PlayStation 3.”"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505396/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/...it_city_hd_dvd

[jls242424]

"UPDATE 3/20/08"
http://tinyurl.com/2v5dvt

Still Cost to much
http://tinyurl.com/24k3jv
Sony has announced two upcoming Blu-ray machines with Profile 2.0 support: the BDP-S350, available this summer for $399, which can be updated to the latest profile over the Internet when it's available; and the BDP-S550 ($499), which will ship with Profile 2.0 in the autumn.

BUT NOW. Good News for BestBuy HD customers
http://tinyurl.com/27ezrb
Best Buy, having served both sides like an arms dealer, has some compassion for the defeated and, more importantly, would hate to see them lose their taste for new gadgets. That’s why it’s setting aside $10 million to give away in $50 gift card increments to any of its customers who bought an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox drive before February 23.
(See details and qualifying models.)
Use the gift card to treat yourself to anything you want in our stores or online. Gift Certificates will be mailed beginning on March 17, 2008. The Gift Certificates recipients have been compiled to an alphabetical spreadsheet. Gift Cards will be mailed following the alphabetical listing at a rate of approximately 10,000 per day. If you received an e-mail or phone call advising that you will received a gift card, you can expect to receive the card within four-six weeks.

If you qualify and haven't received yours by May 1, 2008, please call us at 1-888-BEST-BUY to verify your eligibility (have your receipt handy, if possible).

Good news (even if you didn't buy from us)
Be assured that your HD DVD player will continue to play existing HD DVD titles (and upconvert standard DVDs to near-HD quality) as it always has. If you purchased a Best Buy service plan with your HD DVD player, we will continue to honor it for the life of the plan. If, however, you wish to trade in your HD DVD player and HD DVDs, we offer a convenient way to do so via our Best Buy Trade-In Center. Beginning March 21, visit BestBuyTradeIn.com to get an instant estimate of the value of your HD DVD player and movies.

And this just in:
Blu-ray's Reward: It Becomes A Hacker Target
http://tinyurl.com/24lvnu

In a statement loaded with unabashed glee, SlySoft, the Antigua-based maker of DVD copying software, claims to have cracked the digital locks on Blu-ray, and says its next version of AnyDVD software will make copies of Blu-ray discs in unprotected form.

Keep in mind, Blu-ray's relative ability to keep hackers at bay was supposedly a factor in its victory over HD-DVD (big piles of cash helped, too). SlySoft cracked Toshiba's now-defunct HD-DVD format last year. What's more, SlySoft claims to have kept the hack a secret until it was sure Sony's Blu-ray had won the format war and Toshiba's HD-DVD was dead and buried.

SlySoft CEO Giancarlo Bettini suggests that his firm's achievement should cause the studios to reconsider abandoning HD-DVD. He crows:


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505396/
[/quote]

[jls242424]

Originally Posted by jls242424

"UPDATE 3/20/08"
http://tinyurl.com/2v5dvt

Still Cost to much
http://tinyurl.com/24k3jv
Sony has announced two upcoming Blu-ray machines with Profile 2.0 support: the BDP-S350, available this summer for $399, which can be updated to the latest profile over the Internet when it's available; and the BDP-S550 ($499), which will ship with Profile 2.0 in the autumn.

BUT NOW. Good News for BestBuy HD customers
http://tinyurl.com/27ezrb
Best Buy, having served both sides like an arms dealer, has some compassion for the defeated and, more importantly, would hate to see them lose their taste for new gadgets. That’s why it’s setting aside $10 million to give away in $50 gift card increments to any of its customers who bought an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox drive before February 23.
(See details and qualifying models.)
Use the gift card to treat yourself to anything you want in our stores or online. Gift Certificates will be mailed beginning on March 17, 2008. The Gift Certificates recipients have been compiled to an alphabetical spreadsheet. Gift Cards will be mailed following the alphabetical listing at a rate of approximately 10,000 per day. If you received an e-mail or phone call advising that you will received a gift card, you can expect to receive the card within four-six weeks.

If you qualify and haven't received yours by May 1, 2008, please call us at 1-888-BEST-BUY to verify your eligibility (have your receipt handy, if possible).

Good news (even if you didn't buy from us)
Be assured that your HD DVD player will continue to play existing HD DVD titles (and upconvert standard DVDs to near-HD quality) as it always has. If you purchased a Best Buy service plan with your HD DVD player, we will continue to honor it for the life of the plan. If, however, you wish to trade in your HD DVD player and HD DVDs, we offer a convenient way to do so via our Best Buy Trade-In Center. Beginning March 21, visit BestBuyTradeIn.com to get an instant estimate of the value of your HD DVD player and movies.

And this just in:
Blu-ray's Reward: It Becomes A Hacker Target
http://tinyurl.com/24lvnu

http://tinyurl.com/yv6n2g

In a statement loaded with unabashed glee, SlySoft, the Antigua-based maker of DVD copying software, claims to have cracked the digital locks on Blu-ray, and says its next version of AnyDVD software will make copies of Blu-ray discs in unprotected form.

Keep in mind, Blu-ray's relative ability to keep hackers at bay was supposedly a factor in its victory over HD-DVD (big piles of cash helped, too). SlySoft cracked Toshiba's now-defunct HD-DVD format last year. What's more, SlySoft claims to have kept the hack a secret until it was sure Sony's Blu-ray had won the format war and Toshiba's HD-DVD was dead and buried.

SlySoft CEO Giancarlo Bettini suggests that his firm's achievement should cause the studios to reconsider abandoning HD-DVD. He crows:


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505396/

[/quote]