View Full Version : UK Launch date for Toshiba HD-DVD player or any other HD -DVD player?
DHAKA
03-07-2006, 11:36 AM
Does anyone have any idea when exactly we unfortunate UK Consumers ( we always get 2nd class treatment than other side of the pond!:nono: ) will get our hands on our own Toshiba HD-DVD players. I hate that everytime we get 2nd class treatment in terms of new technology launch. Just hate it!!!!!! GRRRRR.....
laser
03-07-2006, 12:29 PM
Does anyone have any idea when exactly we unfortunate UK Consumers ( we always get 2nd class treatment than other side of the pond!:nono: ) will get our hands on our own Toshiba HD-DVD players. I hate that everytime we get 2nd class treatment in terms of new technology launch. Just hate it!!!!!! GRRRRR.....
I have to agree with, and it would be nice to get our hands on this new technology. However look at the firmware upgrades for the Tosh player and the fact that the Samsung Blue ray player and/or the Sony Blue ray discs are nowhere near what they could be in terms of PQ, then it might not be so bad to wait a few months for the technology to stabalise. We might hopefully get films which are encoded correctly and hardware which doesn't crash or lock up.
It is a pain in the backside when you want to part with the cash, but I think the wait, in this case, might be a wise move.
I don't think anyone knows when the HD-DVD products will ship in Europe but I would expect HD-DVD to be available in the run up to Christmas, probably October, November time, if only to get players out before PS3.
DVD launched in Europe six months after Japan and the US if that is anything to go on. Blue ray will definately not see a European launch of a set top player until November, after/when the PS3 is released and even then I doubt we will see a release until next year of a set top BD player. I think Sony will attempt to kick start the market with PS3 first.
Games Guru
03-07-2006, 12:35 PM
Unless you are made of money it really is worth sitting on your hands until we know a bit more about both technologies and who is most likely to win. It does seem quite close but HDDVD has the edge IMO.
laser
03-07-2006, 12:42 PM
Unless you are made of money it really is worth sitting on your hands until we know a bit more about both technologies and who is most likely to win. It does seem quite close but HDDVD has the edge IMO.
I'm it total agreement, unless you really have loads of dosh to burn.
I get the impression that these high def disc formats have been rushed to market very quickly, in terms of the hardware players and disc encoding.
I'm it total agreement, unless you really have loads of dosh to burn.
I get the impression that these high def disc formats have been rushed to market very quickly, in terms of the hardware players and disc encoding.
Excuse me. I dont have load of cash. Have been waiting for HD-DVD players for last 2 years and when it is out it is not here in the UK!:mad:
In case you didnot notice that a lot of people are paying almost double the amount to import it from US! At least we would have paid little less than that in £sss. :rolleyes:
Phil Hinton
03-07-2006, 2:44 PM
I have spoken to Toshiba recently and they are going to announce the release date in Berlin in September. I dont want to say too much at the moment as the interview is going to be in a future podcast, but the UK will score in feature terms.
Matt Horne
03-07-2006, 2:51 PM
I reckon tosh will only release the XA1 not the A1 and I reckon it will come in about £500 (i.e they will follow the pattern like in Japan for only selling the "higher" end model)
Its no surprise that the UK are further down the rollout strategy as the HD market in the US is further developed than here in terms of Sat broadcasting and having access to pre-recorded hidef in the past (DVHS). So it is no surprise that Tosh have started the worldwide release in the US.
I would hardly say we are being treated as second class..
Forest Fan
03-07-2006, 3:48 PM
HD-DVD for the UK has arrived today in the form of the Qosmio laptop. Mines arrived in London and they're dispatching it today for delivery at my home address tommorow.
If I wasn't in need for a new PC I would have got one of the US HD-A1's from Movietyme £430 delivered. I can see the UK one's being around the same price or at minimum £300. The first 2 players are region free for HD-DVD and supposed to be getting firmware updates to allow 5.1 Dolby True-HD and they've been pretty quick in firmware fixes for the initial issues.
As for PQ and disc encoding HD-DVD is already spot on. It's Blu-ray that is having issues.
Packetfront
03-07-2006, 3:54 PM
HD-DVD for the UK has arrived today in the form of the Qosmio laptop. Mines arrived in London and they're dispatching it today for delivery at my home address tommorow.
If I wasn't in need for a new PC I would have got one of the US HD-A1's from Movietyme £430 delivered. I can see the UK one's being around the same price or at minimum £300. The first 2 players are region free for HD-DVD and supposed to be getting firmware updates to allow 5.1 Dolby True-HD and they've been pretty quick in firmware fixes for the initial issues.
As for PQ and disc encoding HD-DVD is already spot on. It's Blu-ray that is having issues.
Will you be able to play PAL and NTSC DVDs on the Europan Qosmio?
Forest Fan
03-07-2006, 4:29 PM
I don't see why not. I'll be able to confirm this week
HD-DVD for the UK has arrived today in the form of the Qosmio laptop. Mines arrived in London and they're dispatching it today for delivery at my home address tommorow.
If I wasn't in need for a new PC I would have got one of the US HD-A1's from Movietyme £430 delivered. I can see the UK one's being around the same price or at minimum £300. The first 2 players are region free for HD-DVD and supposed to be getting firmware updates to allow 5.1 Dolby True-HD and they've been pretty quick in firmware fixes for the initial issues.
As for PQ and disc encoding HD-DVD is already spot on. It's Blu-ray that is having issues.
How much is this lappy?
Will you be able to play PAL and NTSC DVDs on the Europan Qosmio?
I have a Qosmio (not the HD-DVD flavour) and the hardware does support PAL/NTSC but the software either prevents playback of region 1 or allows 5 changes to region code.
AVI
Forest Fan
03-07-2006, 9:05 PM
How much is this lappy?
Well thats the painful part. It costs £2200. But I was going to spend about £430 on a US HD-DVD player and £1500 on a new PC. I wanted a PC that would be ready for High Def but the parts and how too hasn't been proven yet. So realistically I would have had to upgrade the PC in a year or so to allow it to play HD-DVD and Blu-ray.
With the Qosmio you can do 720p on HDMI which the HD-A/X1 cant do properly and the laptop's screen can do 1080p. You still cant get a decent small lcd monitor with HD res and HDCP so I thought extra couple of hundred was worth it for a nice tiday machine that looks like it can do just about everything I wanted.
I'm just hoping i'm not let down by the audio on the HDMI output to my amp.
The US owners of the Qosmio say its a better player than the stand alone players. I'm hoping they're right