X360/HD-DVD Europe sales
- Thread starter PiNkY
- Start date
I am not in Europe but in where I am (bay area Cali), I have not seen one unit available in stores at my local BB, Circuit City and Fry's.
...or that there were/are only very few units available. Unlike the U.S. the add-on is, afaik, on of the first HD-DVD players to launch in Europe and the BR/HDDVD selection is really limited (saw 3 or 4 different movies for each format in a big retail store) so I am a it surprised at the demand.
Yeap I would be it some of both. Still right now its the lostest cost way to get someting in HD assuming you have or planned to get a 360. And I figured that lower cost way is probably motiving some into looking into this more.
/me sheepishly raises hand as some one that has thought hard about getting said add on for his HDTV/360 setup.
I was thinking of getting one when I was at Best Buy the day after thanksgiving. They had about 6 or 8 available. I didn't buy it because the selection of videos was very limited. I came back tonight from the same store and all were gone. I guess they are selling very well. I still am going to wait a while.
silhouette
Regular
Amazon has plenty I guess, it is listed as in stock for a while..
Shark Sandwich
Regular
I've seen them in stock at the local Target and a couple Gamestops. I almost bought one, but really, there is only a handfull of videos I'd actually want to watch (Goodfellas, Terminator 3, Full Metal Jacket, King Kong, Enter the Dragon, Army of Darkness, Charlie/Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). It's really not worth it to me to make the plunge yet. Maybe if I had a HUGE TV and kickass home theater system, I'd do it.
Here's the list of all HD-DVD releases http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_DVD_releases
On a related note, can you rent HD-DVD movies anywhere? Hollywood? Blockbuster? Netflix?
Here's the list of all HD-DVD releases http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HD_DVD_releases
On a related note, can you rent HD-DVD movies anywhere? Hollywood? Blockbuster? Netflix?
silhouette
Regular
Netflix.. I do not know if you can from Blockbuster or Hollywood.
Netflix yes. They have a very good selection so far on both HD DVD and BRD.
Managed to get one this evening by an incredible stroke of luck : the store I went to had a single unit left, preordered by someone. Sadly, that someone's credit card didn't work, so he couldn't take it.
Just installed it and watched the beginning of King Kong, the picture quality is absolutely amazing (playing in 720P on my Mitsubishi projector).
Just installed it and watched the beginning of King Kong, the picture quality is absolutely amazing (playing in 720P on my Mitsubishi projector).
DeathKnight
Regular
Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are renting them in limited locations right now (guess they're testing the water).
Jon Brittan
Newcomer
X360 HD-DVD sales in the UK
It seems like sales of the 360s add-on HD-DVD drive in the UK have been absolutely incredible.
All online sites are sold out and have so much backorder they can't confirm a future delivery date as yet. The person at PC World's central office told me they had around 15,000 of them and they sold out well in advance and have had constant requests since.
I bought my 360 off the shelf a week after launch from a local Tesco's who had the largest stock of 360's of any non-gaming store in the UK and demand there was immensely high at that time, I dropped in there early this morning (around 6am, they're 24 hours) incase they had any. Apparently they hadn't received any (funny given the high number of 360s shipped there) and had already received numerous enquiries that morning before I got there.
I'm personally amazed, I didn't think the uptake of HD capable TVs was even that high over here yet, but it seems everywhere has sold out, still got plenty of orders on hold and are receiving more and more enquiries. I'd like to know the total numbers shipped into this country, but if PC World got 15,000 it seems like a fair number must be here altogether.
I'd suggest it also makes the competition between HD-DVD and Bluray a little stronger than it may have been otherwise given we're still months away from PS3.
It seems like sales of the 360s add-on HD-DVD drive in the UK have been absolutely incredible.
All online sites are sold out and have so much backorder they can't confirm a future delivery date as yet. The person at PC World's central office told me they had around 15,000 of them and they sold out well in advance and have had constant requests since.
I bought my 360 off the shelf a week after launch from a local Tesco's who had the largest stock of 360's of any non-gaming store in the UK and demand there was immensely high at that time, I dropped in there early this morning (around 6am, they're 24 hours) incase they had any. Apparently they hadn't received any (funny given the high number of 360s shipped there) and had already received numerous enquiries that morning before I got there.
I'm personally amazed, I didn't think the uptake of HD capable TVs was even that high over here yet, but it seems everywhere has sold out, still got plenty of orders on hold and are receiving more and more enquiries. I'd like to know the total numbers shipped into this country, but if PC World got 15,000 it seems like a fair number must be here altogether.
I'd suggest it also makes the competition between HD-DVD and Bluray a little stronger than it may have been otherwise given we're still months away from PS3.
... Where have you been in the last year?? HD-Ready and HDTVs have been one of the success stories in the UK this year. Amazing acceptance and growth. Mostly fed from the fact that people just like LCD and Plasma flatscreens cause they're flat, not necessarily because of HD. And obviously due to huge price drops.
HD-Ready flatscreens are everywhere all the time, papers, posters, TV... everywhere..
Premeditated impulse-buying, eh? I think they can take you to jail for that sort of thing..
Jon Brittan
Newcomer
... Where have you been in the last year?? HD-Ready and HDTVs have been one of the success stories in the UK this year. Amazing acceptance and growth. Mostly fed from the fact that people just like LCD and Plasma flatscreens cause they're flat, not necessarily because of HD. And obviously due to huge price drops.
HD-Ready flatscreens are everywhere all the time, papers, posters, TV... everywhere..
But it's all relative, a lot have been sold relative to original expectations, but I live in a highly affluent area of Cambridge and many of my friends are in London, we are all in the right demographic for HD screen sales and yet I can still count the number of HD screens I've seen in peoples homes on relatively few digits and the ones with decent size HD screens are even fewer and farther between. Then couple that with the fact that not every HD screen owner owns a 360 and the sales rate of these HD-DVD drives is still very surprising.
There's also the fact that, as you said above, a lot of buyers like them 'cause they're flat and not necessarily because they're HD, so that's yet more who probably wouldn't be sucked into the HD-DVD market just yet.
It'd also be interesting to know just how many people with small HD screens or even with SD screens actually end up buying the HD-DVD drive through relative ignorance...
Anyway, I'm still surprised by the rate of sales, I just didn't expect it to be in that much demand and definitely with as little advertising as it has received over here.
Premeditated impulse-buying, eh? I think they can take you to jail for that sort of thing..
Yeah, you know the online kind of impulse buying. Checked all online retailers --> Sold out for weeks (months in some cases)... And since I live in town centre, I then decided to ckeck the large stores --> same deal.
What is, in your opinion, the acceptable size for a HD screen that warrants buying a HD-DVD drive?
I watch a 26" CRT SDTV from about two and a half meters - that would be 8 feet for citizens of Her Majesty - and I definitely could use some more resolution on it. I haven't seen HDTVs smaller than that.
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