Toshiba to Deliver HD DVD Recorder

By Nate Mook | Published June 22, 2006, 12:27 PM

Toshiba on July 14 will launch in Japan the world's first HD DVD recorder, following the debut of its HD DVD player in March. The device, the RD-A1, will include one terabyte of hard disk space and can store up to 130 hours of high-definition programming.

But Toshiba's new recorder won't come cheap. Estimated pricing in Japan is 398,000 yen, or $3,470 USD. Still, the company hopes to sell 10,000 units by the end of 2006. Launch plans for the device in the United States and Europe has not yet been decided, Toshiba said.

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they must be smoking crack to suggest a retail price that high!!! you can get (2) 500GB SATA drives 16MB cache for $410. You could even go with (2) 750GB Seagate SATA with 16MB for $374 each and have 1.5TB of space for recording to HD. And the recordable Blu-Ray recorder from Pioneer BDR-101A is $950. Combining both together in a highend PC and you would still be under the $3500 that Toshiba wants... I'll pass until the drives get under $200 and the media is under $2 a disc..

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Just a little pricey! I just bought a VCR/DVD Recorder Combo... I can record on both VCR and DVD and direct from camera or DVC to either VCR or DVD, mind you it can only hold 8.5 Gig's of data and not 100's of Gig's... but it did only cost me $165.00 not $3500.00.

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For that price, I'll take 5000 of them! What a steal!

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The 3.5k HD DVD recorder look very attrictive when you compare it to the 1.3k Blue ray player.

I mean, are they freaking serious? How many unit they think they going to sell with a price tag like that?

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What about compared to a $950 Blu-Ray recoder?

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Prices are always insane when something new comes out; I remember reading about the first recordable CDs in Popular Science years ago and how recorders would cost many thousands of dollars. I didn't think I'd ever be able to own anything like that, but now they are practically disposable. Someday a recordable Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive will be a minor purchase.

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That is a pretty big chunk of change to spend on a format that may not be the standard. Hell, thats a lot to spend without considering the format.

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Hell that's a lot of money to spend on a recording device, period.

I may not have HD but I DO have Dual layer 8.5 gig. So I have to buy a few more to equal the amount on a HD disc, so what?

I can buy enough disks R/W for 100 bucks to last me a lifetime.. I don't mind swapping a disc or two.

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I have a dual layer burner as well. At three for $20 I have never bought any dual layer disks.

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yep, I know what ya mean... I have had a DL burner for quite some time.. and the first time I have used the DL capability was last week... but seriously the prices for these discs must go down its rediculous.

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