X360 HD-DVD Addon $200 (digitimes.com)

[scooby_dooby]

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060814A5023.html

According to Digitimes it'll be price around $200 USD. That's not bad, but I think I'll pass for now.

 

[Bobbler]

Isn't that what was stated previously? I vaguely recall a $199 pricepoint announced or maybe it was just heavily rumored.

Seemed like a pretty reasonable price to me... Not low enough to make me buy one at it's launch, but something to keep an eye on (depending on PQ and fan/drive noise).

 

[scooby_dooby]

Isn't that what was stated previously? I vaguely recall a $199 pricepoint announced or maybe it was just heavily rumored.

Seemed like a pretty reasonable price to me... Not low enough to make me buy one at it's launch, but something to keep an eye on (depending on PQ and fan/drive noise).

I think that's been conventional wisdom, but we've had no confirmation.

 

[Siraris]

Seems like an awful high price point for an add-on. It's one thing for Sony to include it in the box and charge more, and another thing for Microsoft to sell it seperately, on top of the fact that ALL it does it play movies, whereas Blu-Ray in the PS3 also plays games.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Seems like a backward way of looking at things! (i.e. "Here's a relatively cheap next gen console, we'll let you decide if you want to pay more for the movie playback")

 

[Acert93]

Seems like an awful high price point for an add-on. It's one thing for Sony to include it in the box and charge more, and another thing for Microsoft to sell it seperately, on top of the fact that ALL it does it play movies, whereas Blu-Ray in the PS3 also plays games.

Not that I find it exciting, but there may be a market for it: People who want HD DVD but don't want to spend $500 for it.

Personally I am glad MS left HD DVD out of the 360 as it keeps costs down for people who, you know, what a console to only play games. I personally cannot justify $200 extra for HD DVD or BluRay. I wish Sony had gone the same approach. Come 2007/2008 when I jump into next gen I get the feeling my options, price wise, are going to be limited for this very reason.

Of course those wanting to be early adopters of BluRay and willing to pay a premium will look at it the other way.

 

[Bad_Boy]

About what I figured. I couldn't see it being cheaper than 200, or more than 300.
I dont think it's a bad deal if you can hook it up to your PC without use of the 360.

 

[RavenFox]

Seems like an awful high price point for an add-on. It's one thing for Sony to include it in the box and charge more, and another thing for Microsoft to sell it seperately, on top of the fact that ALL it does it play movies, whereas Blu-Ray in the PS3 also plays games.

Sounds about right so lets see here...$399 + $200 = hmmm

 

[Acert93]

About what I figured. I couldn't see it being cheaper than 200, or more than 300.
I dont think it's a bad deal if you can hook it up to your PC without use of the 360.

Big "if". That could be a nice little combo though and add a ton of value to millions of consumers. It could also drive down cost in the long run and make it a FAR lesser risk for MS, Toshiba, and retailers to carry. It would be a product with more than a 1 or 2 year life cycle. I could see a $99 HD DVD PC/Xbox 360 external drive being enticing, if HD DVD keeps significant market share, in a year or two. I am not too sold on either format right now, but once you get it under $100 you can take a few more risks. Of course the media is still expensive, so unless you were getting the dual media disks...

 

[Black Dragon37]

Seems like an awful high price point for an add-on. It's one thing for Sony to include it in the box and charge more, and another thing for Microsoft to sell it seperately, on top of the fact that ALL it does it play movies, whereas Blu-Ray in the PS3 also plays games.

So true.
Pointless statement here, but I'm writing this from my PSP.

 

[Inane_Dork]

$200 would not make the 360 the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market. Unless, of course, they dropped Core pricing.

 

[AntShaw]

Im fairly satisfied with the $200 pricepoint. This is marketed right at me I feel (and I would imagine not the only person in a similar situation):

I had no problems paying $399 for a 360 back at launch. It has fulfilled it's duties thus far and has been well worth the investment. At this point I am very interested in PS3 but a $599 pricepoint seems daunting. I am also very interested in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, but a $500-$1000 pricepoint is quite harrowing as well.

The format war holds over my head, and also brings in a lot of doubt, in choosing a format so early.

BUT...here we have at $200 a HI-Def movie player at what I consider a much easier investment then $500-$600.

Which will keep me satisfied until im ready to buy a PS3 once the price drops to a price drops once or twice. I feel like I get to have my cake and eat it as well. Combine this with the fact that I happened to look at the HD-DVD selection on Netflix (where I rent not buy 95% of my movies) and was rather impressed at this early stage.

Im looking forward to this officially now, and will buy one at launch (availability allowing.)

 

[ZiFF]

$200 would not make the 360 the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market. Unless, of course, they dropped Core pricing.

MS said cheapest for people who already own a 360.

 

[expletive]

$200 is probably fair but i felt that $150 would have been a real value. Guess they really are trying to make money this gen...

I'd really like to know if you can play 360 DVD games from it too.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Im fairly satisfied with the $200 pricepoint. This is marketed right at me I feel (and I would imagine not the only person in a similar situation):

At this point I am very interested in PS3 but a $599 pricepoint seems daunting. I am also very interested in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, but a $500-$1000 pricepoint is quite harrowing as well.

Not quite sure what your saying. 399(360)+200(hd-dvd)= 599. Or is my math wrong?

 

[AntShaw]

Not quite sure what your saying. 399(360)+200(hd-dvd)= 599. Or is my math wrong?

Where I stand now:
360=$399

Where I would stand with unlimitted $$:
360($399)+PS3($599)=$998 or...
360($399)+HD-DVD standalone ($500)=$899 or...
360($399)+Blu-Ray standalone ($999)=$1398

Where I will most likely be standing:
360($399)+HD-DVD($199)=$598

Where I will be standing down the road:
360(399)+HD-DVD(199)+PS3($399)=$997


So since I won't be getting a PS3 until further down the line, with the availability of the HD-DVD add on, I get to enjoy Hi-Def movies until I am ready to plunk down the rest of the loot to get a PS3. In the short term, I will still be able to enjoy Hi-Def movies with a Hi-Def media format that has already saturated into the market. In the long term, I will be able to get/enjoy Blu Ray if the market leans that way.

Since I will be buying a PS3 at some point, this HD-DVD add on will allow me to hold out a little longer until price drops. Im not an uber gamer, and don't need 2 game consoles. But I would very much like to enjoy Hi-Def movies.

So again, a win-win and I still feel like I get to have my cake and eat it to. $200 price point for HD-DVD addon is good to me. Granted cheaper would be nicer, but I will suffice.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Not quite sure what your saying. 399(360)+200(hd-dvd)= 599. Or is my math wrong?

No his point is he bought a 360 which provided him with nearly a full year of next-gen gaming, and was in his opinion well worth the money. Now the options available are a $500-600 ps3, $500-1500 standalone, or $200 hd-dvd add-on.

edit - beat me to it

 

[NavNucST3]

Not quite sure what your saying. 399(360)+200(hd-dvd)= 599. Or is my math wrong?

I think for some people it is easier to pay $399 some 9+ months ago and then pay $200, than $599 right off the bat.

EDIT: What they said

 

[AntShaw]

No his point is he bought a 360 which provided him with nearly a full year of next-gen gaming, and was in his opinion well worth the money. Now the options available are a $500-600 ps3, $500-1500 standalone, or $200 hd-dvd add-on.

edit - beat me to it

Wow. You said it in much easier and much less words!

 

[Inane_Dork]

MS said cheapest for people who already own a 360.

Really? Well, that was a non-announcement.