HD DVD Players Also Available for $0
by Pravin on November 4th, 2007 in news.
We’ve seen some amazing deals on the entry-level HD DVD players these last few days, with each new offer outdoing the last or matching it with an intriguing twist such as throwing in more free movies. As the dust temporarily settles, it appears that the HD-A2 is going to be about $99 until everybody starts to run out of them. Its successor, the HD-A3 is going to be about the same price at those few stores where the computers or clerks are confused, or closer to $199, with room for discounts or promotions to take it lower.
There are two legal ways of getting a player for $0. One is to receive it as a present (many people bought HD-A2s at Walmart for this very purpose), and the other way comes from contests and giveaways.
In the “Toshiba HD DVD Difference Sweepstakes” NBC is giving away a 52″ Toshiba LCD TV, and an unspecified HD DVD player (probably an HD-A3), if you happen to live in the areas that receive certain NBC stations (WNBC, KNBC, WMAQ, WCAU, KNTV, KXAS, WRC, WTVJ, KNSD, KING, and KARE — which appears to cover a large number of viewers in the USA). This contest runs until December 30, 2007, and you can enter at www.hddvdnbc.com. The contest has a football theme, so you may be able to catch the commercials during a game, but you’ll see a version at site as well.
The other giveaway has a Star Trek theme, and is probably a little easier to win, but only if you can get to New York City. According to details from www.startrek.com, the first 400 customers for the newly remastered Star Trek disc set at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square will receive a bag of Star Trek goodies, and the first 120 to purchase the set will also receive a free Toshiba HD DVD player. The Virgin Megastore over in Union Square has the same promotion, but only the first 30 customers get the HD DVD player.
StarTrek.com has their own Star Trek box set giveaway. Ending on November 23, you can enter their contest that features the remastered series box set and an HD-A3 player.
This Virgin promotion is a lot like one held in the U.K. in September where the first 400 fans got a goodie bag, and the first 150 fans who bought The Complete Matrix Trilogy got a free HD DVD player to watch it on.
If you know about any other contests or good deals on HD DVD players, please share them in the comments.
UPDATE: I forgot about Amazon’s Heroes-themed contest involving the Xbox 360 and HD DVD add-on player.
