Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive Plus 6 HD DVD Movies - $168.99

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.buy.com/prod/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player/q/loc/108/203249984.html' target='_blank'>http://www.buy.com/prod/xbox-360-hd-dvd-player/q/loc/108/203249984.html</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/203249984.jpg" /> <br /><br />Microsoft has dropped the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive to $179.99, but here's an even better deal: Buy.com has it for $178.99. Sign up for Google Checkout, and get another $10 off. That makes it $168.99. Make your purchase by September 30th, and you can get five HD DVD movies free by mail. That brings the total to six HD DVD movies, a Universal Media Remote, and the HD DVD drive for just under $169. Did I mention shipping is FREE?<br /><br />I just placed an order myself (cancelled my order with Amazon which I've been waiting days for them to fill). Here's a tip: if you already have a Google Checkout account, sign up for a new one under a different email address to get the $10 off. Worked for me.<br /><br /><i>(Ed by mod JC: Price changed to $178.99, from $169.99, just after posting this article. Still a great deal!)</i>

[Felix Torres]

Brave man.

You're not afraid Google will pull out of the checkout business and send a repo-man to take back everything you ordered through them? :twisted:

[Chris Gohlke]

Buy.com has bumped the price up to $178.99

[Jeremy Charette]

Indeed they have. That sucks. Guess I jumped at just the right moment!

Still, $168.99 is a great deal.

[Jeremy Charette]

Brave man.

You're not afraid Google will pull out of the checkout business and send a repo-man to take back everything you ordered through them? :twisted:

:lol:

[Felix Torres]

Well, if you're into classic swords-and-pecs dramas, BB is giving away a copy of 300 HD DVD with the drive, this week.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&amp;id=pcmcat128600050027

[Jeremy Charette]

That's a good deal too, just keep in mind you'll have to pay tax in most states.

[Felix Torres]

Death and taxes...
Thing is this deal--coupled with the one-day $149 deal BB had a few weeks ago--suggests the price-cutting/deal-making on the drive will continue.

All a matter of what deal meets your requirements.
Free 300 should sway a few buyers, no?

[Jeremy Charette]

I absolutely think it will. Not to mention it will sell a bunch more copies of 300 on HD DVD, evening out the sales numbers in the fight with Blu-Ray.

I've seen some chatter that the reason Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD is largely because retailers weren't expecting HD DVD demand to be as high as it is, and are having trouble keeping up with demand.. As a result, there's plenty of Blu-Ray stock in stores, while popular titles like 300 are frequently sold out on HD DVD, which makes HD DVD sales numbers look artifically low.

[Jason Dunn]

...while popular titles like 300 are frequently sold out on HD DVD, which makes HD DVD sales numbers look artifically low.

Yeah, I had to wait almost two weeks for my HD-DVD copy of 300 to show up. Kind of lame they didn't realize it would be a big seller. :roll:

[Jeff_R]

Those I know in the industry have been saying for months that we could expect, particularly in the XBOX360 drive, a massive fire sale for HD-DVD to get their numbers up before the holiday season; the pressure is really on for HD-DVD and everyone knows this holiday season will almost certainly put the nail in the coffin one way or another. And here the fire sale is.

With more and more stores turning away from HD-DVD, they need much better numbers going into the holiday season or else HD-DVD faces being locked out of the premium shelf space. With the addition of HiDef and the mainstreaming of consoles, a lot of stores are screaming about the shelf space they have to devote to media. ANYTHING that allows them to reduce the list of things they need to find shelf space for is welcome.

I'm sure these OOS stories are true, and the reason for them seems self-evident; simply the stores accepting the trend which has been steady and, AFAIK, unchanging since Blu-ray's debut. 2:1 has been a pretty unchanging hard floor. I haven't heard any time where Blu-ray did not outsell HD-DVD by at least 2:1, and in some cases 3:1 or more. Not a single non-exclusive title, not a week where both released major titles, not any quarter or YTD. 2:1; that's a tough one for retailers to argue against. It will likely just keep getting harder to find HD-DVDs; it's simply a very unfortunate side effect (or really, "end result" would be more accurate) of this format war.

[Jeremy Charette]

I don't think it's a fire sale at all. Just the opposite. I think it's a planned drop in price due to economies of scale. HD DVD players have been in production for a good year now, and with greater volumes come greater efficiencies, which equal price drops.

I'd bet Microsoft had planned on dropping the price of the HD DVD drive all along, and that this price drop was in the works for many months before it was revealed to the public. Ditto for Toshiba.

HD DVD will be the first to $199, and the first to $99. At that point, they will outsell Blu-Ray in massive numbers, and the bulk of sales will be to the average consumer, not the early adopter. When that happens, it will be hard for Blu-Ray to keep pace. I'd also bet money that HD DVD discs will be the first to hit $19.99, and $14.99. The manufacturing technology is cheaper (using existing DVD production equipment), and they'll see economies of scale in the discs before Blu-Ray will.

[Felix Torres]

I'd also bet money that HD DVD discs will be the first to hit $19.99, and $14.99.

What a shark! :wink:
Amazon already has most HD-DVDs at $19.99.

[Jeff_R]

Well, those are interesting ideas... I agree that the Xbox drive will likely be the first to $99, but that's not really an apples/apples comparison, as it is simply an add-on drive for an existing gaming console. The price point to average consumers (and the average consumer, the ones that make DVD-level sales numbers, don't own a 360) would be add-on drive+base system, which puts it in the close neighbourhood to PS3 price. To say "They already own an Xbox, so the HD-DVD ownership cost is $199, or $99" is as true as saying "They already own a PS3, so Blu-ray is the first one to FREE". Obviously, neither are accurate reflections of total cost of ownership.

As far as HD-DVD sales catching up to Blu-ray, to the point where Blu-ray can't keep pace... well, I don't see any trends showing that, but it will definitely spell an interesting new chapter if that happens.

[Jeremy Charette]

I didn't mean the add-on drive will be the first to $199 and $99, I mean the standalone players will be the first to $199 and 99.

They've already won the race to $299.

[Felix Torres]

I didn't mean the add-on drive will be the first to $199 and $99, I mean the standalone players will be the first to $199 and 99.

They've already won the race to $299.

And $239. :twisted:

The price war really comes down to one question: Who will Wal-Mart pick?
What will they ship on Black Friday? A $199 iLO HD-DVD or a $299 Funai BD?

I'm staying tuned...

[Jeremy Charette]

Yup. That'll be the moment the tide shifts. Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Best Buy. Black Friday. Alot of eyes are going to be watching.