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Get a Toshiba HD DVD player and 7 movies for $129.99

The format may be doomed, but the deals are just getting started. TigerDirect has the Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player for $129.99, including 7 movies (5 by mail, 2 in the box).

rickbroida
rickbroida
Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
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Rick Broida
TigerDirect

Welcome to the HD DVD Deathwatch, Day One. TigerDirect has the Toshiba HD-A3 player with 2 movies in the box (300 and The Bourne Identity) and 5 more by mail, all for just $129.99. That's practically a Black Friday price, which begs the question: Could this be the beginning of the end for HD DVD?

As you've no doubt heard by now, Warner Bros. Entertainment has decided to put its high-def eggs in Blu-ray's basket. It remains to be seen whether HD DVD can survive this move--the format's not much good if there are no movies available for it--but it could produce some killer deals on players. Like this one.

CNET hasn't officially reviewed the HD-A3, but you can check out a summary and some user ratings (7.2 out of 10 on average). The key thing to note here is that the A3 tops out at 1080i, not 1080p. I don't consider that a major shortcoming (my eyes can't see a difference between the two), but videophiles will no doubt raise the red flag.

What do you think? Good time to scoop up a clearance-price HD DVD player? Or is there no sense spending money on a doomed format? I'm eager to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, don't wait if you want this player; I guarantee they won't last long.