Earth Day: A Good Day to Get Planet Earth or Watch it Again
by Pravin on April 22nd, 2008 in shopping.
April 22 is observed around these here parts as “Earth Day” and what better day to rekindle your love of HD DVD and Mother Earth than with another viewing of an episode or two from the remarkable Planet Earth disc set?
This was my first HD DVD purchase over a year ago, coming just a couple of days before my player did. A few months ago thousands took advantage of a big sale at the Discovery Channel store to buy the Discovery version and they’ve been sold out since. If you’re still looking for a deal on this title, head on over to the PBS store, where it’s being sold as an overstock item for only $29.99. Though the picture at the site shows the BBC cover, I am pretty sure they are actually selling the Discovery Channel version because brand new sets of the BBC version are still going for around $45 at Amazon.
There are some difference betweens the two versions, such as the fact that the Discovery version is 1080i, has Sigourney Weaver as the narrator, and each episode is about ten minutes shorter since that’s the way they all aired on the channel. Despite those differences, a lot of people have bought and loved this version a lot.
Coupon code “WELCOME15″ brings that price down a couple of dollars at the ShopPBS store, by the way, and it appears that some aspect of this discounted price also ends on April 28.
- Planet Earth at ShopPBS.org
- Planet Earth HD DVD at $29.99 at Discovery store
- “Your HD Collection is incomplete without Planet Earth” – Post from last year
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
It better be the BBC version w David Attenborough . It says so at the site. That’s the one I want.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Already bought it last Christmas, but only watched one episode yet.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
PBS’s site states that the $29.99 copy is actually the BBC Video one and not the Discovery Channel one. The last sentence pretty much states this with the 90 minutes of additional footage, which is also not in the Discovery version, and narrated by David Attenborough.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
It would make sense that it’s the BBC version since PBS and Discovery Channel are not related to each other, but the price is almost too good to be true. I have heard that ShopPBS.org is already back-ordered on this title, and I’m sure we’ll find out from the first customers to receive their boxes about which version it really was.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
This title went into back ordered on earthday because of the deal, and partially because word of mouth about a $50+ HD DVD set being nearly half price.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I’ve also read in a couple of places that some people re-checked their orders and have found their orders have been cancelled.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Mine shipped on Wednesday.
Unless the website was inaccurate in several ways, it’s the BBC version. It was marked down as part of the ongoing overstock sale, which explains the price. There was an additional 15% off as an Earth Day discount and I got a 15% discount for creating a new account. Price ended up being $21.67 before tax and shipping.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Let us know when you receive it, whether your version is BBC. By the way, the item is not even available at the site any more. It went from being on sale, to back-ordered, and cancelled for some, to not available at all.
$21.67 is an amazing discount, especially considering that the main reason for a PBS store is to raise funds for a non-profit organization.
April 26th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Pravin,
Thanks for the tip. I was looking for Planet Earth, but I wasn’t willing to spend $60 for it. I ordered it off PBS for $25.49 thanks to your tip. The order is currently back-ordered with 2-4 weeks before it will be filled. It is supposed to be the BBC version. It seems the PBS overstock sale was a little too successful for Planet Earth HD DVD.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
FWC is reporting that Blu-Ray has a 91% share of Hi-Def format sales. WOW amazingly HD DVD still has 9% since the format to retailers is dead and there were no considerable releases on it.
I hope the Sony fanboys start tooting their horns about now. It is about time they deserve it, I mean HD DVD has been dead for what 2 months now and still holding almost 10% of all Hi-Def format sales!
P.S. I recently went purple. I am very disappointed in myself, but I couldn’t pass on getting a PS3 for $220. Still though unless there is a blu title that I want to see in HiDef, I will just buy the SD version. And I will buy twister in HD DVD when released. Just so HD DVD can have one last hurrah!
April 28th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
@Rick I’m not a fanboy of any system but I have to agree with the statements you’ve made.
About the Planet Earth… Love the HD DVD, but I’m disappointed that there isn’t anything extra with the DVD, when watching the series on Discovery Channel there was lots of cool behind the scenes stuff that I wanted to see on the DVD. Stuff like how long the camera guy had to sit in the jungle to catch that bird do his thing, and all the little details like that, that made the series on the Discovery Channel so cool to watch.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:25 am
I just got an e-mail saying that my order was canceled. I ordered pretty early in the morning that this was posted. So it must have sold out really quick.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Got my cancellation notice today also. : (
April 30th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
My order was cancelled also.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Not that anyone can order anymore, but I got it and it was in fact the BBC edition. Yay!