Looking for HD DVD Player for mostly upscaling...

unotis · 07-21-2008, 11:56 AM

Wow, I was trying to help the OP find a really good HD DVD player for upscaling as he requested, so I went and looked around to see if I could find one and inform him about it.

He has not responded here to let us know if he's found one yet, so I bought one even though I don't need another one, but I finally found a new still in the box XA2, the guy had bought it new in December but when Toshiba dropped out of the format war he just left it in the box to see if he wanted to keep it or not.

The long and the short of it, from reading postings on some of our sister sites he got convinced to dump it, I semi tried to talk him out of it but he has friends and people on the other forums that bad talked HD DVD so terribly he couldn't be talked out of it.

I gave up and decided what the heck, I ended up giving him $123.00 and I then went on line to a national warranty company and got a additional 2 year in house warranty with a 20% discount coupon I had received because I have used them before for several other Electronic devices, that warranty only cost me a additional $15.99

So I got basically a new XA2 with 4 months factory warranty and an additional 2 years in house warranty for a grand total of $138.99!

I'm glad this thread got started otherwise I would have never been looking in the first place.

So if any other Blu-Ray supporters here want to bad mouth HD DVD some more, kindly do so I can get some more great deals!

Nikopol · 07-21-2008, 12:01 PM

awesome deal, unotis!

At least the XA2 is in good hands now.

unotis · 07-21-2008, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikopol

awesome deal, unotis!

At least the XA2 is in good hands now.

Yes, I didn't want to make the guy mad at me, so he just took what available cash I had at the time which in fact was just short of $123.00 (it was $122 and 85 cents change).

I paid for the warranty with a credit card online at the warranty company's website.

I feel both great and bad at the same, great because I got probably the best HD DVD/DVD upscaler made for a stupid low price and bad because lack of knowledge as to what a high quality player the fellow had and his ignorant friends did him a disservice by talking him into getting rid of it.

**PFC5** · 07-21-2008, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unotis

Wow, I was trying to help the OP find a really good HD DVD player for upscaling as he requested, so I went and looked around to see if I could find one and inform him about it.

He has not responded here to let us know if he's found one yet, so I bought one even though I don't need another one, but I finally found a new still in the box XA2, the guy had bought it new in December but when Toshiba dropped out of the format war he just left it in the box to see if he wanted to keep it or not.

The long and the short of it, from reading postings on some of our sister sites he got convinced to dump it, I semi tried to talk him out of it but he has friends and people on the other forums that bad talked HD DVD so terribly he couldn't be talked out of it.

I gave up and decided what the heck, I ended up giving him $123.00 and I then went on line to a national warranty company and got a additional 2 year in house warranty with a 20% discount coupon I had received because I have used them before for several other Electronic devices, that warranty only cost me a additional $15.99

So I got basically a new XA2 with 4 months factory warranty and an additional 2 years in house warranty for a grand total of $138.99!

I'm glad this thread got started otherwise I would have never been looking in the first place.

So if any other Blu-Ray supporters here want to bad mouth HD DVD some more, kindly do so I can get some more great deals!

If you want to sell it for around $175.00 I would definitely be interested in it, but I am sure you want to keep it for yourself.

I need a HD DVD player or two for myself as I am down to only one that is working.

unotis · 07-22-2008, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFC5

If you want to sell it for around $175.00 I would definitely be interested in it, but I am sure you want to keep it for yourself.

I need a HD DVD player or two for myself as I am down to only one that is working.

No, I'm not interested, I finally got one for much less then I ever dreamed I would get one, I was really really lucky.

Although there is one on eBay right now that looks really good for the money.

It is a Factory Refurbished and still sealed XA2 with an HDMI cable and 5 HD DVDs for right now $230.50.

The auction has around 10 hours left, but who knows how much it will go up.

You could watch it and see if it becomes a really good deal for you.

I would suggest using www.auctionsniper.com and setting up an automatic bid at a price you could live with, you could arrainge to have the bid put in with just 7 to 5 seconds left on the auction, then if you are the high bidder at the price you want, no one else would have a chance to rebid and raise the price.

You could then get a really inexpensive warranty through Square Trade warranty online, probably get 2 years complete warranty for less then $30.00

The auction number is 230271970300.

Good luck, you've obviously had some problems with buying HD DVD players, it is funny that all of mine have been perfect and this is my fourth one.

unotis · 07-22-2008, 02:53 PM

Well the auction is still at the same price and has just over 5 hours left.

Actually, 5 hours 40 minutes as of right now.

This could be the very best deal available right now on for all intents a like new Toshiba Factory refurbished XA2 with HDMI cable and 5 HD DVDs included.

Even if it goes for $300 and you add the $30 shipping, you could add the 2 year warranty as I mentioned above and remember you're getting at least $50 worth of HD DVDs and at least a $6 HDMI cable.

I hope someone on this forum at least tries to get it using www.auctionsniper.com.

What have you got to lose?

Either you'll get a great deal for the best upscaling DVD player available or you won't, no harm no foul.

Chris Gerhard · 07-23-2008, 04:37 AM

There are some really great prices on HD DVD players now. The HD-XA2 unotis found for that price and the DV-HD805 that was clearance priced at Shop Onkyo and the customer returns being liquidated are some examples. The players do need to work and not break for any of it to have been worthwhile, so only time will tell how great a deal all of this is. With PFC5's three failures and all of the other reports here and High Def Digest and AVSForums, there can't be much question that the players are breaking at a higher than acceptable rate.

Chris

unotis · 07-23-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Gerhard

There are some really great prices on HD DVD players now. The HD-XA2 unotis found for that price and the DV-HD805 that was clearance priced at Shop Onkyo and the customer returns being liquidated are some examples. The players do need to work and not break for any of it to have been worthwhile, so only time will tell how great a deal all of this is. With PFC5's three failures and all of the other reports here and High Def Digest and AVSForums, there can't be much question that the players are breaking at a higher than acceptable rate.

Chris

I don't believe that the players are breaking at a higher rate then regular DVD players do, probably the opposite.

On other forums stating such are sometimes fueled by people with a hidden agenda and also people that have something bad to say about something will repeat it to dozens and dozens of people and people that have nothing but good things to say only tell a few close friends or family.

It is human nature, I wish I could truthfully say I've seen problems with any of mine or even any of the ones my family and friends have bought (which combined equals 10 of them).

They've all functioned perfectly except for one A1 that needed a part replaced right after it arrived and that was fixed with a week and covered fully under warranty, especially after the round of firmware updates were loaded.

In fact from what I've read and seen, the early Blu-Ray players had 10 times the problems then the worst HD DVD model ever did (A1?) so I've always been a lot more wary about buying a Blu-Ray player then a HD DVD player, I watched and waited until they came out with one that was reasonably problem free, that was the main reason I bought a PS3 that and it could be upgraded to meet the new specs coming out.

ping.brady · 07-23-2008, 09:44 AM

POP QUIZ:

which would you choose to watch DVD (upscaling):

PS3 > HDMI > Onkyo
OR
Tosh A3 > component / toslink > Onyko

**PFC5** · 07-23-2008, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ping.brady

POP QUIZ:

which would you choose to watch DVD (upscaling):

PS3 > HDMI > Onkyo
OR
Tosh A3 > component / toslink > Onyko

I would use the A3 myself, but I do not have the A3 so I am assuming that the upscaling equals the A2.

I did a comparison with my 720p DLP with both the PS3 and the A2 and the A2 did a better job with the test screens from DVE.

Hope this helps!

**PFC5** · 07-23-2008, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unotis

I don't believe that the players are breaking at a higher rate then regular DVD players do, probably the opposite.

On other forums stating such are sometimes fueled by people with a hidden agenda and also people that have something bad to say about something will repeat it to dozens and dozens of people and people that have nothing but good things to say only tell a few close friends or family.

It is human nature, I wish I could truthfully say I've seen problems with any of mine or even any of the ones my family and friends have bought (which combined equals 10 of them).

They've all functioned perfectly except for one A1 that needed a part replaced right after it arrived and that was fixed with a week and covered fully under warranty, especially after the round of firmware updates were loaded.

In fact from what I've read and seen, the early Blu-Ray players had 10 times the problems then the worst HD DVD model ever did (A1?) so I've always been a lot more wary about buying a Blu-Ray player then a HD DVD player, I watched and waited until they came out with one that was reasonably problem free, that was the main reason I bought a PS3 that and it could be upgraded to meet the new specs coming out.

This may be true with many of the reports posted, but I doubt you or anyone else would put me in that group.

I AM frustrated since even the used one I bought on eBay from 2nd Turn Electronics came DOA for playing HD DVDs, just like my current A2.

Now they want to either refund the money which means I am out the shipping (both ways?) or have me keep it with a $11.00 credit. Why would I want it without the HD DVD playback? I already have countless SD DVD players to use for only SD DVD playback. Apparently they do not want to exchange it for one they have that works.

This is why I always avoided fleaBay before.

Chris Gerhard · 07-23-2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unotis

I don't believe that the players are breaking at a higher rate then regular DVD players do, probably the opposite.

On other forums stating such are sometimes fueled by people with a hidden agenda and also people that have something bad to say about something will repeat it to dozens and dozens of people and people that have nothing but good things to say only tell a few close friends or family.

It is human nature, I wish I could truthfully say I've seen problems with any of mine or even any of the ones my family and friends have bought (which combined equals 10 of them).

They've all functioned perfectly except for one A1 that needed a part replaced right after it arrived and that was fixed with a week and covered fully under warranty, especially after the round of firmware updates were loaded.

In fact from what I've read and seen, the early Blu-Ray players had 10 times the problems then the worst HD DVD model ever did (A1?) so I've always been a lot more wary about buying a Blu-Ray player then a HD DVD player, I watched and waited until they came out with one that was reasonably problem free, that was the main reason I bought a PS3 that and it could be upgraded to meet the new specs coming out.

The people reporting HD DVD player failures are often HD DVD supporters, without any agenda. The shutdown bug that plagues the HD-XA2 may or may not be fixable by a firmware update, I don't know what causes it. I would say that the 25% ratio reporting the issue is a serious problem for owners. It might be much worse since a vote for no problem can't be changed to a yes if the problem starts after several months and there are reports it has. The players have always appeared to me to be very well made so I am surprised and there can be little doubt at this point that the HD DVD player failure rate is greater than the DVD player failure rate.

Your claim that the Blu-ray player failure rate is worse than the HD DVD player failure rate is absurd. Samsung has had problems getting firmware to allow their players to operate properly, but the failure rates are low across all brands for Blu-ray.

Chris

unotis · 07-23-2008, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFC5

This may be true with many of the reports posted, but I doubt you or anyone else would put me in that group.

I AM frustrated since even the used one I bought on eBay from 2nd Turn Electronics came DOA for playing HD DVDs, just like my current A2.

Now they want to either refund the money which means I am out the shipping (both ways?) or have me keep it with a $11.00 credit. Why would I want it without the HD DVD playback? I already have countless SD DVD players to use for only SD DVD playback. Apparently they do not want to exchange it for one they have that works.

This is why I always avoided fleaBay before.

Unfortunately that is a problem with buying on eBay, the best advice is to research the person you're going to buy from as best you can.

eBay is full of con artists looking to rob someone blind, if you buy from them just make certain that if the item does not function as reported in their auction then they will accept a full refund including shipping, if they won't then don't buy from them, if they do accept that stipulation then keep it and print it from their email response.

Then if it doesn't work and you've got their assurance they will fully refund and if they balk and it doesn't happen then just contact your credit card company and have them reverse the payment and you have proof you could send them where they said they would accept to a full refund of it anyway but have refused to do so yet.

You've had a lot more trouble then I've ever had with HD DVD players, also lets say it was an unknown problem that you discovered after it arrived and if you've bought some good reputable warranty coverage then you're covered that way also.

When you buy from FeeBay then you just have to be extra careful and then you should have very few problems.

A lot of sellers are actually very honest, it is just the small crooked minority that cause the problems.

unotis · 07-23-2008, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Gerhard

The people reporting HD DVD player failures are often HD DVD supporters, without any agenda. The shutdown bug that plagues the HD-XA2 may or may not be fixable by a firmware update, I don't know what causes it. I would say that the 25% ratio reporting the issue is a serious problem for owners. It might be much worse since a vote for no problem can't be changed to a yes if the problem starts after several months and there are reports it has. The players have always appeared to me to be very well made so I am surprised and there can be little doubt at this point that the HD DVD player failure rate is greater than the DVD player failure rate.

Your claim that the Blu-ray player failure rate is worse than the HD DVD player failure rate is absurd. Samsung has had problems getting firmware to allow their players to operate properly, but the failure rates are low across all brands for Blu-ray.

Chris

Or so they claimed to be HD DVD supporter/owners, we've all seen on this forum and others, people who try to claim they own one or the other of the two high definition format players and it was clear from what they posted they obviously did not nor ever owned one of them (whichever one they were complaining about).

They were fanboys with a hidden agenda trying to damage the reputation of the other format they didn't like, no more no less.

And my god how soon people forget (or in your case maybe refuse to remember), the early Blu-Ray players (and yes several were Samsung) not only had a lot of problems with picture quality and even playing any number of the Blu-Ray discs and the percentage of problems that cropped up with the Blu-Ray stand-alones were much higher and they lasted much longer then even the early one or two HD DVD players that had early and quickly fixed temporary problems.

The only real problems HD DVD players had was with the 1st generation A1 and to a lesser degree the XA1 and those problems were ironed out very quickly with production changes and or firmware updates and also with a few early versions of HD DVD movies and also a few early combo discs (and those were fixed quickly).

Anyone saying that there were and are still any high number of defective HD DVD player models, is in my opinion lying or not very knowledgeable about them, probably reading false posts on forums and repeating them as fact.

If you can come up with any links from a non biased source (not a forum blog) that backs up you claims of high HD DVD player problems or failures, then kindly do so, I would like to see and read them.

Otherwise to repeat such unfounded rumors is just a passive/aggressive way to keep fighting the long dead format war.

And I'll admit most of my information on the Blu-Ray problems have come from owner's posting problems on forums and reading articles published in magazines about the problems cropping up and they weren't the type of fanboy attacks that we've all seen that were posted on the forums, just concerns and requests for help to correct the problem.

daleb · 07-23-2008, 01:01 PM

I would consider selling my XA1 for shipping cost + a token for my trouble. I'm not using it...I have the disk for the latest update waiting to be installed (or updated through the ethernet port.).
It's a great player, but so far the Sammy 5000 is handling every format I throw at it. I don't think the upscaling on the sammy is any better than the XA1, but good enough at this stage.

07-21-2008, 11:56 AM	#16
unotis UNOTIS Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: FLORIDA Age: 54 Posts: 3,378	Wow, I was trying to help the OP find a really good HD DVD player for upscaling as he requested, so I went and looked around to see if I could find one and inform him about it. He has not responded here to let us know if he's found one yet, so I bought one even though I don't need another one, but I finally found a new still in the box XA2, the guy had bought it new in December but when Toshiba dropped out of the format war he just left it in the box to see if he wanted to keep it or not. The long and the short of it, from reading postings on some of our sister sites he got convinced to dump it, I semi tried to talk him out of it but he has friends and people on the other forums that bad talked HD DVD so terribly he couldn't be talked out of it. I gave up and decided what the heck, I ended up giving him $123.00 and I then went on line to a national warranty company and got a additional 2 year in house warranty with a 20% discount coupon I had received because I have used them before for several other Electronic devices, that warranty only cost me a additional $15.99 So I got basically a new XA2 with 4 months factory warranty and an additional 2 years in house warranty for a grand total of $138.99! I'm glad this thread got started otherwise I would have never been looking in the first place. So if any other Blu-Ray supporters here want to bad mouth HD DVD some more, kindly do so I can get some more great deals! __________________ Harman/Kardon TC30 universal remote Martin Logan Odyssey speakers Martin Logan Center Channel speaker Velodyne DPS-12 Powered Subwoofer B&W rear speakers Toshiba XA1, XA2, A2 HD DVD players Panasonic BD60K Panasonic TH-42PZ700U 1080p plasma Panasonic 34" Tau CT-34WX50 widescreen HD-ready CRT Vizio 32 Inch 1080p LCD Monster Power Center Motorola Dual Tuner DVR/ HDTV capable Officially PURPLE HD DVDs = 105 Blu-Ray Discs = 45 with 5 on the way Last edited by unotis; 07-21-2008 at 12:00 PM.

07-22-2008, 02:53 PM	#21
unotis UNOTIS Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: FLORIDA Age: 54 Posts: 3,378	Well the auction is still at the same price and has just over 5 hours left. Actually, 5 hours 40 minutes as of right now. This could be the very best deal available right now on for all intents a like new Toshiba Factory refurbished XA2 with HDMI cable and 5 HD DVDs included. Even if it goes for $300 and you add the $30 shipping, you could add the 2 year warranty as I mentioned above and remember you're getting at least $50 worth of HD DVDs and at least a $6 HDMI cable. I hope someone on this forum at least tries to get it using www.auctionsniper.com. What have you got to lose? Either you'll get a great deal for the best upscaling DVD player available or you won't, no harm no foul. __________________ Harman/Kardon TC30 universal remote Martin Logan Odyssey speakers Martin Logan Center Channel speaker Velodyne DPS-12 Powered Subwoofer B&W rear speakers Toshiba XA1, XA2, A2 HD DVD players Panasonic BD60K Panasonic TH-42PZ700U 1080p plasma Panasonic 34" Tau CT-34WX50 widescreen HD-ready CRT Vizio 32 Inch 1080p LCD Monster Power Center Motorola Dual Tuner DVR/ HDTV capable Officially PURPLE HD DVDs = 105 Blu-Ray Discs = 45 with 5 on the way

07-23-2008, 01:01 PM	#30
daleb High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Clovis, CA Posts: 7,582	I would consider selling my XA1 for shipping cost + a token for my trouble. I'm not using it...I have the disk for the latest update waiting to be installed (or updated through the ethernet port.). It's a great player, but so far the Sammy 5000 is handling every format I throw at it. I don't think the upscaling on the sammy is any better than the XA1, but good enough at this stage. __________________ Samsung PN50A650 plasma, Arcam AVR350, Dali Ikon6 (Vokal2&OnWalls), Outlaw Audio LFM-1EX sub, Anti-Mode 8033B, Oppo Digital BDP-83SE, Roku Digital, Furman Elite power conditioner

Similar Threads to Looking for HD DVD Player for mostly upscaling...
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Toshiba ED DVD Player!	E55 KEV	SD DVD Players and Discs	153	06-11-2009 08:04 PM
NON-SRT DVD Player from Toshiba coming NEXT WEEK for $149!!!!	Super XP	High Definition Media	2037	10-30-2008 05:33 AM
Scenario of how HD DVD wins format war quickly!	unotis	HD DVD Players	172	10-02-2007 05:02 AM
Novice seeks HD-DVD player help	mrdcool	HD DVD Players	30	09-24-2007 04:40 PM
NeuNeo HVD2085 Upscaling DVD player - In-Depth Review	PFC5	SD DVD Players and Discs	20	05-19-2006 02:00 PM
New TV, new DVD player, new forum member, new question	Holliday	SD DVD Players and Discs	7	03-30-2005 05:45 AM

07-21-2008, 12:01 PM	#17
Nikopol Uwe Boll's my hero Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Maelstrom Blu-rays: 14 Age: 5 Posts: 6,374	awesome deal, unotis! At least the XA2 is in good hands now.

07-23-2008, 04:37 AM	#22
Chris Gerhard High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 8,941	There are some really great prices on HD DVD players now. The HD-XA2 unotis found for that price and the DV-HD805 that was clearance priced at Shop Onkyo and the customer returns being liquidated are some examples. The players do need to work and not break for any of it to have been worthwhile, so only time will tell how great a deal all of this is. With PFC5's three failures and all of the other reports here and High Def Digest and AVSForums, there can't be much question that the players are breaking at a higher than acceptable rate. Chris

07-23-2008, 09:44 AM	#24
ping.brady Ignorance Expert Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 157	POP QUIZ: which would you choose to watch DVD (upscaling): PS3 > HDMI > Onkyo OR Tosh A3 > component / toslink > Onyko