HD DVD and class-action lawsuits, oh my
Not that you couldn't see this coming from a mile away: Toshiba is pulling the plug on the HD DVD player.
So it's probably not a good idea to spend $130, the going rate for a Toshiba player (but I'm sure that price is falling as we speak). Just wait until the prices on Blu-ray players come down as more companies look to make 'em.
One thing that's pretty interesting: Toshiba Corp. President Atsutoshi Nishida "voluntarily brought up the possibility of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. as he fielded questions from reporters, acknowledging that the idea of disgruntled HD DVD owners had occurred to him," according to an AP article.
Not sure what is more puzzling: That he is actually worried such a thing would happen or there's really enough HD DVD owners out there who honestly had no idea their chosen format's future was in doubt to begin with.
Comments (6)
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We practically had an HD player thrown at us when we bought our TV, so we've got a nice hunk of future nostalgia sitting in our entertainment center right now.
I have to hand it to Sony; they finally got one right. Given their history with format wars of this kind, and given the clear manufacturing advantages to HD-DVD, I really thought they were going to go down screaming "but ours is the better technology!" once again. I think it was all over once they signed Disney -- they suddenly captured every single family with young kids (and quite a few with older... a-hem... kids) in a go.
For once, the better format's won out over the lower price. Of course, as bandwidth gets cheaper and high speed Internet connections more ubiquitous, I doubt BlueRay has a very long life ahead of it, either...
Posted on February 20, 2008 7:53 AM
The story is not accurate, such that with Beta technology you could only use Sony tapes, with HD DVD, you can still playback standard DVD's so there are many years of use with the product.
Still not pleased how Toshiba ended the product, but if no one is supporting the product what more could they do?
Posted on February 26, 2008 10:53 AM
The fact that you can play standard DVDs on the HD DVD player makes it all the more mystifying Toshiba Corp.'s prez "voluntarily brought up the possibility of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. as he fielded questions from reporters, acknowledging that the idea of disgruntled HD DVD owners had occurred to him." So I'm not so sure the story is inaccurate. Rather, it seems as if the head of Toshiba is inaccurately assessing the prospects of a class-action lawsuit. Just really odd that he would raise that kind of wild speculation in public in the first place. I'm sure Toshiba's lawyers were smacking their foreheads.
Posted on February 26, 2008 11:09 AM
I purchased a Toshiba HD DVD 8 months ago
for 500.00 and now it is just a regular DVD.
What can I do as a consumer for a class action law suit? Best Buy offered me 50.00 gift certificate becuse they feel my pain (Ha)
I would have never purchased it if I was aware
that it would be obsolete in 8 months and they were advertising this on TV 4 months ago! What about consumer rights. This is bull, I want to get people in on a class action lawsuit. Any takers call me and we can roll some heads!
Bob Bowers 619-434-6696
Posted on March 25, 2008 7:36 PM
I entirely agree. The way Toshiba offered up free DVD's with a player during Christmas to lure customers, and then discontinued HD technology 3 days after the return period seems suspicious to say the least. That seems to me to be more than unethical business and approaching illegal business. Is there a way to file a class action law suit?
Posted on May 22, 2008 11:19 PM
I would just like to get the free 5 HD movies that Toshiba/Microsoft offered. I mailed the rebate forms to two different addresses and both were returned marked "BOX CLOSED"
Posted on June 14, 2008 11:57 AM