I dont see any reason to pay an extra couple hundred for the HD-XA1.

Personally, I jumped in and bought the A1 instead of waiting for second generation players. Reason being, i got it for $400 and it has analog inputs (I can now enjoy Dolby TrueHD). The new player is supposedly faster, but that's the only real beneift I've heard over the A1. Maybe fewer bugs as well.

I have been very pleased with the A1 and would recommend to anyone.