HD DVD – Coping with Technological Obsolescence
Toshiba and Microsoft aren’t the only big losers with the fall of HD DVD. An estimated 1.3 million customers are now stuck with these useless machines. To make it up to buyers, retail giants like Wal-mart, Circuit City, Best Buy and Amazon are offering to offset some of the cost. Additionally, manufacturers like Samsung and Sony are looking to win buyers’ affection with machines that cater to both Blu Ray disc and HD DVD owners.
Best Buy is offering a $50 gift card to people who purchased an HD DVD player or HD DVD Xbox360 unit before February 23rd. The gift cards should all be automatically mailed out by May 1st to "Reward Zone" customers or people who bought warranties. Other customers must call 1-888-BestBuy and have a receipt or credit card information ready, as proof of purchase. Best Buy also offers a trade-in center to scrap the old player, although you will not be getting a particularly good return on your investment. For example, a Toshiba HD XA2 unit, originally priced at $1,000, may fetch you $148.50 and HD DVDs $2.70 each.
Circuit City is now accepting HD DVD returns in-store only. According to Gizmodo and Digg readers, Circuit City is offering to give a store credit or a same-price, "trade-up" refund to consumers who would rather own the Blu Ray player. This is one of the best deals offered but it hasn’t been widely promoted. Additionally, Circuit City has slashed the price of the LG BH-200, a combo player that will read both Blu Ray discs and HD DVDs to $599.99, after the instant savings.
Surprisingly, in a statement from Toshiba, that is the manufacturer of the inferior HD DVD technology, the company has refused to make any concessions to the 1.3 million consumers who bought the players. "There is nothing wrong with the products," Toshiba argues, "So we aren’t accepting returns from customers. Customers understood that there were two competing formats and understood that one of them would probably prevail, so they made the decision to go with HD DVD." Despite their lack of sympathy, at least confidence in the generosity of retail giants can continue. Though it has cost retailers thousands, if not millions, they have done the right thing to keep consumers happy and coming back to the store for Blu Ray media, if nothing else.
By Tech Editor
