Tosh HD-EP30 with 7 free discs a bargain?

firstborn · 23 Jan 2008 at 00:28

I'm fannying around holding off buying a high def source at the mo for my Somy 40W2000, but noticed that the Toshiba HD-EP30 can be had for 120 quid that includes 7 free discs. 6 out out of the 7 are watchable for me - so is this a bargain whilst I hold off??

Apologies if this is old news - only spotted the deal today.

Bigpops · 23 Jan 2008 at 00:46

I must admit, i'm sorely tempted myself. If i didn't already have the xbox HD-DVD drive and an HTPC, i'd have bought one already.

It's also an excellent upscaler for standard DVDs too so i've read.

kidloco · 23 Jan 2008 at 02:01

i wouldn't buy one just for hd until the format is over, and right now it don't look good for hd DVD , but the toshiba is a great DVD player, as good as you will find for £200.

So if you think of it as buying a great DVD player that happens to play hd DVDs then its a bargain.

Angler · 23 Jan 2008 at 02:22

I was looking to get a decent upscaling DVD player in a week or two but when i saw on Sunday the price drop on the EP30 I thought go for it

7 HDDVD's and a good player for £120 sounded good to me

firstborn · 23 Jan 2008 at 12:10

kidloco said:
i wouldn't buy one just for hd until the format is over, and right now it don't look good for hd DVD , but the toshiba is a great DVD player, as good as you will find for £200.

So if you think of it as buying a great DVD player that happens to play hd DVDs then its a bargain.

Aye, trouble is that I already have an upscaling player. Just fancied trying to make full use of my TV until the format war is over - would also like Serenity in hi-def as well. Still tempted......

the_dead_parrot · 23 Jan 2008 at 12:33

No doubt its a great deal but its very much a last ditch effort by HD-DVD. A few weeks ago it was around £200 so an £80 price drop is huge and really shows how desperate they are to shift the players and try to reignite the format. If you already have an upscaling DVD player I wouldnt bother to be honest. Save what you money you would put into this and wait until theres a definative winner. Though at the min blu-ray looks like it is...

stoofa · 23 Jan 2008 at 13:02

As said above - this is realy the last ditch attempt by the HD-DVD crowd to try and win some customers.
Soon after all but one of the major studio's announced that they were either moving to Blu-Ray or would be releasing on both formats the HD crowd slashed prices - hence the price you see now.
If this plan fails and there still isn't the uptake of HD-DVD then really it will be game/set/match Sony.

If you don't have an upscaling DVD player right now then it might be worth the investment.
I wouldn't however invest too much into HD-DVD's - especially at the moment.

kidloco · 23 Jan 2008 at 13:43

firstborn said:
Aye, trouble is that I already have an upscaling player. Just fancied trying to make full use of my TV until the format war is over - would also like Serenity in hi-def as well. Still tempted......

If you have a decent upscaling DVD player then leave it mate, these price cuts are for a reason, its a last ditch attempt at saving a format that appears to be on its way out, maybe if they released players this good at this price in the first place then they wouldnt be in this situation, maybe if they would have sent more then 1 person in a 2x2 booth to the recent huge tech expo then they wouldnt be in this position..... it is a shame, I really wanted them to win (sorry, I just disslike Sony!)

I had around 7 films on HD DVD (I had a Xbox360 HD DVD Addon, and sold it) I planned on keeping the films for when I bought a decent standalone player. After all the recent press on film companies jumping ship I sold them on the bay, didnt want to be left holding onto Betamax tapes.

My advice is to stand back and let the dust settle, once its decided you will see all the major players concentrating on the one format and producing well priced quality players.