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For the record, at Circuit City (both online and in the store), you can get a 60" SXRD for $2299 ( http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=152039&WT.mc_n=... ).

I only point this out as you get on their case for being uppity and rude, but you quote a price from a month ago, by your own admission. Given the fact that this is a significant time in terms of consumer electronics, prices are bound to have changed.

Just my two cents.

edit: corrected time frame.

Edited 2007-06-22 19:05

$2300 is still a lot of money for most people. The HD-DVD player I am reviewing is for consumers who never invested more than $1000 on their TV. That's where the "budget player" comes in. I don't understand why you slap in the face this and that, YOU around here, YOU who read this web site are all geeks! Geeks want the best of the best all the time -- even if sometimes they don't have the money for it. But this player I reviewed, is a BUDGET one, it's the cut-off version of the HD-XA2 model. And people who will buy this player, don't make more than $70 ,000 a year and they definitely don't buy XSRDs every 6 months. They have a TV, and they stay with it. Don't let the "geek side" of you start thinking that people have 1080p TVs. People DO NOT have 1080p TVs. Very few do.

And I wasn't rude. Rude, was the person I was replying to. If you had someone replying to you that way, you would have reacted the same way. Cut me some slack here.

Edited 2007-06-22 19:31

People are complaining about the cost of the PS3 at what $499? To pay $2300 for what is essentially just a TV is pretty expensive.

That's exactly what I am saying. I could say the difference VERY SLIGHTLY, and yet I have a 55" TV

OMG!
Of course you can't make the difference, I bet your source is from broadcast. That's exactly what I said elsewhere. You can't make the difference, but that's not at all because of what you think. The bandwidth allocated to the signal and the compressed interlaced signal is the reason you won't see any difference.

And sound, is WAY more difficult to tell apart, especially because most people don't even have a theater surround system, and the ones who do usually bought it for $50 (I bought mine for $350)

Nonsense! The difference is the same as between a compressed 128 bps MP3 and a CD. Even with crappy material, you will hear the difference. It won't be obvious immediately depending on the material, exactly like a HD display with HD versus SD content.

You are wrong, again. You can ask Thom, he has a full 1080i TV, and it's only 17". At 32", it's a piece of cake

Wrong again. If it's a 1080i TV like you say, that is, again, marketing material. 1080i means it's a CRT, and no CRT can display all the 1080 lines. They are compatible, but can't display them all, except very expensive labo ones used by broadcasters to verify their source, and they're bigger than 17".

I said 55" for $2600 at 1080p, not 1080i. SXRDs are not that cheap. We looked them up, just a month ago in fact with my husband. They were about $3000 for a 46" I think

When I said you were wrong, I couldn't imagine just how much. That's why I specifically told you about SXRD RPTV, which are NOT the same as the LCD ones.
These don't come in 46" size, these are 50", 55" (in Europe), 60", and I think 70". And I'm sure the 50" model is below $2000, and the 60" model must be below $2600.

you think you know everything about me and what I know and what I don't

On the matter of HD hardware, that's just because it shows. I sure enough don't know everything about you, but when you say you are all technically inclined in your family, so what you say must be absolute truth, that's just deceiving. But you're welcome to prove me wrong on all the things I responded to, about region-unlocked DVD hard to come by in the USA, about all HDTV being more expensive than $2600 at sizes above 50", about all digital HDTV not being progressive, about 1080i/p HDTV not useful below some size (40" usually), ...

> between a compressed 128 bps MP3 and a CD.

YOU DON'T READ what I said. I said most people don't have the AUDIO SPEAKERS needed to TELL the difference.

>I bet your source is from broadcast.

WTH are you talking about?? What broadcast source?? I am talking about HD-DVDs that were shot as 1080p.

>1080i means it's a CRT,

It's a 17" LCD.

>These don't come in 46" size,

Are you going to bust my balls over details? I looked at XSRDs as I said a month ago, I didn't memorize all the tech specs by heart. I am not a fanatic you know, neither I am looking forward to buy one (I was just checking them out cursory in the Sony store, with my husband).

You are taking a LOT of things out of context, and there is no point trying to change your mind. Your replies are simply POLEMIC, and I don't understand why. In fact, whatever you write here is not in the context of a budget HD player. It is my opinion that even most families in the developed first world countries don't have huge speakers or 1080p TVs. They have more normal hardware (usually, 32" 1080i TVs, cheap surround system or none at all). And for THESE families, this budget player DOES THE JOB.

So, stop breaking my balls about details. You are a GEEK and you look at details even how a pixel would look different than its neighbour. Normal people DO NOT see the difference. People who would buy this player, are NOT engadget/gizmodo readers.

Please reply in your comments in a way that makes sense for THIS product, not what we can buy if we had as much money as Bill Gates or if were all MIT researchers that would scrutinize every bit of technological detail. This product review is NOT about these kind of consumers. This is why there is a more expensive Toshiba model that does more. Because each one is targeted at different markets. Can you please now do your commenting with the appropriate point of view??