Toshiba launches consumer HD DVD player in Australia at last

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 30 October 2006 22:02

Your IT - Entertainment

With HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players available in top-of-the-line laptops from Toshiba and Sony, and with Samsung and Panasonic launching their Blu-Ray players in the past couple of weeks, Toshiba’s standalone consumer HD DVD player has launched in Australia at last.

The only catch? The are two models, and the first, the HD-E1, won’t be available in stores until December 10, while the more capable HD-EX1 won’t arrive until February 2007. Both models are being distributed by Castel, Toshiba’s Australian distributor for Toshiba’s AV range of products.

The HD-E1 is a 1080i capable model, and will retail for AUD $1099, while the HD-EX1 can output to 1080p, but will retail for $500 more at AUD $1599. Both players will come with a copy of Apollo 13 on HD DVD free in the box.

Both players are ‘backwards compatible’ with existing DVDs and CDs, but only the HD-EX1 will be able to upscale DVDs to HD quality on compatible HD capable screens.
Toshiba’s prices are cheaper than comparable Blu-ray players, and at this early stage, the movie selection is limited for both formats, with only really a handful of titles available, with more set to trickle out in the first few months of 2007.

This cautious approach is understandable, as most movie studios took a bath on movies created for the Sony UMD disc – the small disc used in Sony’s PSP handheld device. The reason? The discs were simply too expensive. When the price was dropped recently in Japan, sales of UMD’s went through the roof.

At the launch I was able to make the comment that the movie studios should simply bite the bullet and make the prices of HD DVD and Blu-ray discs cheaper. Currently they will sell for a premium over existing DVD titles, so you can expect they’ll be in the AUD $30 to $40 range.

One of the representatives asked me what the cost should be. I volunteered $20, as this price was clearly cheaper than DVD discs, and would give people an instant incentive to spend their money again buying the same movie they already own on DVD.

I don’t quite remember the exact response, but it definitely wasn’t enthusiastic. I think the movie studios will have to learn the hard way the lesson of making the products affordable. Then they’ll sell by the bucket load!