What Is HD DVD? Now What?

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by: IvanjFinch | Total views: 4 | Word Count: 357 | View PDF | Print View
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Toshiba and Microsoft aren't the only big losers with the fall of HD DVD. An estimated 1.3 million customers are now stuck with these useless machines. To make it up to buyers, retail giants like Wal-mart, Circuit City, Best Buy and Amazon are offering to offset some of the cost.

Manufacturers like Samsung and Sony are looking to win buyers' affection with machines that cater to both Blu Ray disc and HD DVD owners.

Best Buy is offering a $50 gift card to people who purchased an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox360 unit before February 23rd. The gift cards should all be automatically mailed out by May 1st to "Reward Zone" customers or people who bought warranties. Other customers must call 1-888-BestBuy and have a receipt or credit card information ready, as proof of purchase. Best Buy also offers a trade-in center to scrap the old player, although you will not be getting a particularly good return on your investment. For example, a Toshiba HD XA2 unit, originally priced at $1,000, may fetch you $148.50 and HD DVDs $2.70 each.

Similarly, Amazon is the most recent retailer to jump on the $50-Giveaway bandwagon. Some Amazon customers received an email, stating: "New technologies don't always work out as planned.

Similarly, Wal-Mart shoppers will receive full refunds on returns of HD DVD machines, provided that customers still have their receipts. Anyone who purchased an HD DVD player on or after November 1st can return their player by April 30th to receive their money back and dispose of the old machine. Customers who were unfortunate enough to lose their receipts may want to turn to Best Buy's trade-in center for a reprieve.

What about all those XBOX360 users who hoped HD DVD would make their machines more updated and with better quality? Microsoft hasn't exactly been bashful about their bitterness and contempt for the Blu Ray disc format.

They've at least agreed to offer an XBOX360 firmware upgrade, via the internet, that offers "compatibility improvements" and "additional support for network features." One can only hope they get with the times and sign on with the winning team, which has been Sony's Blu Ray DVD.
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