K-Mart discounts Xbox 360 HD DVD player to $5

[lostn]

K-Mart stores have discounted the discontinued Xbox 360 HD DVD player to just $5. So if you ever wanted a piece of Xbox 360 ancient history, then now is the time to snap it up!

K-Mart stores have discounted Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 HD DVD Player to $5.00 as the retailer moves remaining units of the defunct high-definition peripheral.

A buyer on the discount website Slickdeals.net purchased an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player for $5.00 in Greensboro, NC.

The device, which allows Xbox 360 owners to play Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD format titles, launched in Nov. 2006 for $199.99.

It was later discounted to $179.99 in a price war against Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray disc format.

http://news.punchjump.com/article.php?id=6270

[vinnie97]

K-Mart locations are few and far between compared to times past.

[chris gerhard]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

K-Mart locations are few and far between compared to times past.

Yes and K-Mart stores that actually have an XBox 360 HD DVD in stock are far fewer and much further apart.

Chris

[bluskiessmingatme]

LOL, are you serious? If you are, this could be one of the funniest things ever. Hey, didn't the Xbox add on come with a couple HD DVDs inside? Maybe K-Mart will be the place where they dump all the HD DVDs the stores sent back, not Big Lots.

[goatmother]

I'd buy one for $5. I'm doubting the local K-Mart actually has them in stock though.

[Favelle]

$5 is cheaper than most external DVD readers, LOL!!

[vinnie97]

^eggzactly, it's easily worth more than that (though upon cursory glance at Newegg I could only find an external DVD writer as low as $50, no ROM drives).

[Sbert]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

^eggzactly, it's easily worth more than that (though upon cursory glance at Newegg I could only find an external DVD writer as low as $50, no ROM drives).

yup, that's the only reason I could think about buying it. If you have a macbook air and need an external drive?

[vinnie97]

heh...or if you don't care about aesthetics and/or you have a collection of HD DVDs, you have a ripping tool at your disposal in this device.

[Sbert]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

heh...or if you don't care about aesthetics and/or you have a collection of HD DVDs, you have a ripping tool at your disposal in this device.

I thought about this, but it just wouldn't make money sense to do this, unless you waited 3 years for prices on BD burners to come down and had a sizeable HD DVD collection already.

Basically, by then the hd dvd's you want will be available on blu-ray so, there would be no point in doing this.

1) HD Drive = xbox addon - 5 dollars
2) HD Discs that you want to rip - 5-10 dollars each.
3) BD Burner = 250+ dollars
4) Time to rip and re-encode to BD specifications - overnight.
5) BD blank disc = 8 - 10 dollars a piece.

Also, keep in mind some of those discs will also have new audio streams when they are redone. I'm sure kingkong will be redone as well.

Anyhow, seems like a bigtime loosing proposition to do this.

In the end, everyone will have a cheap bd player, so...I imagine any HD DVD's that you do have, you should rip and but it on a BD disc. If i had 20+ hd dvd's I would purchase one to rip.

[vinnie97]

Yea, exactly...for those already with an HD DVD collection (or you don't want to wait around for titles to get released on BD), #2 can be omitted from the cost itemization.

Also, if you just want to create digital backups on hard drive for an HTPC solution and/or for future disc authoring/burning purposes, you can scratch off #5.

[Sbert]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

Yea, exactly...for those already with an HD DVD collection (or you don't want to wait around for titles to get released on BD), #2 can be omitted from the cost itemization.

Also, if you just want to create digital backups on hard drive for an HTPC solution and/or for future disc authoring/burning purposes, you can scratch off #5. In the case of #3, I think the price has fallen to ~$200.

wow, I didn't think the burners were down to 200 already. My entry point for a bd burner is probably going to be 150. Might be able to get one this holiday season!

Also, the prices are for now, and I would imagine in 3 to 4 years, bd discs will be 2-3 dollars a piece and the burners at the 75-100 dollar range - which would make it fairly affordable thing to do.

[vinnie97]

I edited my post...I went to Newegg and only saw $300. I think there are some LG burners on the cusp of being released, one of which has an MSRP of $200.

[hdinred]

I bought one brand new for $50 on eBay. When Toshiba’s SUC player comes out, I’ll be out of HDMI ports, so I’ll unhook my Toshiba HD DVD player and use the add-on if I ever want to watch an HD DVD movie.

Makes one wonder what would have happened if they launched at a mass-market price of $99 for the add-on. Probably the biggest mistake by Microsoft / Toshiba in the format war.

[JA410]

Best Buy had 'em just a month ago for $50