Venturer To Ship HD DVD Player In Time For Holidays

[Ian]

Chinese manufactured HD DVD players are finally on the way. Venturer Electronics announced today that they will be shipping the SHD7000 in time for the holidays.

http://www.alcoelectronics.com/news-details.aspx?id=15

Venturer Electronics today announced the launch of its first HD DVD player for the North American market. Responding to strong consumer demand for high definition video playback devices, Venturer will introduce the SHD7000 that offers the superior HD movie experience as defined by the DVD Forum.

Featuring 1080i video output and an HDMI connection, the SHD7000 is designed to be compatible with the vast majority of HDTVs already in North American consumers' homes. With Ethernet connectivity to the network , the SHD7000 also allows users to access bonus features from movie studio web servers and unlock special prerecorded content on some HD DVD discs. Dolby TrueHD rounds out the high definition experience by presenting the HD DVD disc soundtrack as it was meant to be heard, virtually equal to the studio master.

In addition to its HD DVD playback capability, the SHD7000 will upconvert standard DVDs to near HD picture quality via its HDMI connection, allowing a consumer's existing library of DVDs to look better than ever. CD playback is also supported.

No word on price yet.

[Grain]

Bound to be fairly cheap. A shot in the arm for HD-DVD, IMO cheap players will have a significant role to play in this format war. It still may not dictate who, if anyone, wins though.
I'm interested to see if the rumors about Warner dropping their dual format status are accurate, or just hype.

[dolphinius_rex]

Bound to be fairly cheap. A shot in the arm for HD-DVD, IMO cheap players will have a significant role to play in this format war. It still may not dictate who, if anyone, wins though.
I'm interested to see if the rumors about Warner dropping their dual format status are accurate, or just hype.

There has been nothing to suggest Warner will change their position in the format war. They're making the most money out of any film studio, and ~66% of their HiDef content sales $$$'s come from Blu-Ray. And unlike Paramount, they can easily make $150 million on Blu-Ray alone in 12-18 months

As for this "cheap" HD DVD player. I'm waiting to see the price still, and also waiting to see if they even launch. Venturer isn't exactly known for their reliability.

[Grain]

I'm interested to see if the rumors about Warner dropping their dual format status are accurate, or just hype.

There has been nothing to suggest Warner will change their position in the format war.

I think "they" were reading more into the departure of Warners HD department head (can't remember his name or official title) than was accurate. Still, a lot of rumors have been coming true as of late, on this one I'd not bet the farm .

They're making the most money out of any film studio, and ~66% of their HiDef content sales $$$'s come from Blu-Ray. And unlike Paramount, they can easily make $150 million on Blu-Ray alone in 12-18 months

If they stay status quo, I've no complaints.

As for this "cheap" HD DVD player. I'm waiting to see the price still, and also waiting to see if they even launch. Venturer isn't exactly known for their reliability.

I wasn't aware they even manufactored, I thought they just sold re-branded hardware. It is bottom drawer stuff though, Canadian Tires "feature" line

[Ian]

According to this, its going to be $199.

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/hd-dvd-player-srp-199/4707

Announced today as the cheapest entry-level HD DVD player Venturer's SHD7000 HD DVD player gets a price.

We just talked with a representative from the company who said the suggested retail price will be $199.

Normal sellers of Venturer products include Wall-mart, so a price around $150 in stores should not be impossible. We will see.

[vinnie97]

So retail around $150 for the holidaze.

Re: Warner not switching...just like there was no indication that Paramount was gonna pull an HD-DVD switch, right?

[Wesociety]

Venturer confirmed on email with me, “The US retail price will be $199.99″.

[vinnie97]

That's the MSRP...Wal-Mart rarely sales items at MSRP, right?

[Ian]

Since Walmart buys in bulk, they often sell below MSRP. I wouldn't expect it to be as low as $150, but maybe $180-$190.

Personally, I'd rather spend the extra $30-$40 and get a Toshiba, especially if I could get the free movies.

[dolphinius_rex]

Yeah... this player is going to need to be MUCH cheaper then the low end Toshiba, or qualify for the 5 movie deal, in order to generate much interest.

Well, alternatively, the 5 free HD DVD could just end.