Thanks for posting the egadget link Gonk. OPPO's 983 has generated quite the discussion on the AVS forum so I expect there will be many anticipating OPPO's future Blu-ray player, me included. I hope news about the player this summer translates to a Blu-ray player available before the end of the year.

I am going to sit this out a while. Now all the manufacturers will be concentrating on Blu-Ray players, so I'd hope the competition will drive down player prices. Maybe by the end of 2009 will bring mass market prices with most of the teething-pains elliminated in a new(er) format. Of course, it would not surprise me if Toshiba began developing a next-generation format to undermine Sony's Blu-Ray. Buying into emerging technology these days has slightly better odds than a Vegas book.

Anyhow.......off to Wal-mart at lunch to see if there's any HD DVD deals!!

Gonk, second the thanks for the engadget article. I guess that’s the announcement I was waiting on. Be careful what you wish for.

So now it's a waiting game for me. Since the Panasonic DMP-BD50 is scheduled to be released mid year I have to wait anyway. So maybe there will be an update on the OPPO Blueray in the meantime. Logic and my gut tell me to wait for the OPPO, emotion wants to by the Panasonic the first day it’s available.

Maybe, just maybe the "New" 990 will be out at the same time. (What a nice upgrade package)

If you are looking for a deal on an HD DVD player, check out Circuit City. They are dropping the Toshiba A3 to $99.00 with 7 free movies.

Here is the link.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/20/so-it-begins-toshibas-hd-a3-falls-to-99-at-circuit-city-come/

Appreciate the link, however tempting I am going to put my money towards a blueray player.

On the lighter side: After Gonk and Butchgo posted links from engadget I browsed the site for a little while. I came across this article I thought was amusing:

Top ten things to do with your now-defunct HD DVD player:

Gimmes
eBay
Doorstop
Entertainment center cup-holder
Destroy it. Office Space style.
Oh, the humanity

1)Mail it to the office of Howard Stringer in protest of Blu-ray's victory.
2)Plug it into your clothes dryer's 240-volt outlet. Woops, honey! My bad, guess we have to buy a Blu-ray player now.
3)Finally, replace your Betamax player.
4)Buy the Blu-ray player of your choice, put it in the box, attempt to return it as "defective."
5)Channel it through Whoopi Goldberg and make some pottery with it.
6)Put a Blu-ray disc in the tray and then call up Toshiba when it doesn't work. Repeatedly.
7)Put it in a time capsule, just to confuse future generations.
8)Buy a few dozen of 'em and build a little hut for your Blu-ray player.
9)Lock it alone in a room with a few lethal weapons... let it die honorably.
10)Use it to upscale DVDs, which is all you ever used it for anyways

Top Ten Things To Do With Your Now-Defunct HD Dvd Player

Thanks for the suggestions edcon. I will be needing to put one of them to use here soon enough. God I love buying on impulse.