What's Toshiba replacing the Toshiba HD XA2 with?

Rwwear: You missed my point... Toshiba built under $400 HD-DVD players that looked stunning, they weren't crap! They had more features than any SONY BLURAY player or any other manufacture's bluray player. The other point it that until someone brings out an under $200 player mainstream america is not going to adopt HD anything.... They want MP3 prices and are quite happy with their HD Cable and Direct TV because they don't have to pay for hardware.

Sony, Samsung (Class action suit for their 1.0 players is currently happening), Panasonic, Pioneer etc... are all more expensive and don't have even an ethernet jack that the $100-150 HD-DVD players had..

SONY IS SETTING THE STANDARDS FOR BLURAY AND UNTIL THEY FULLY DEFINE 2.0 (looking like end of year) ALL BLURAY PLAYERS will be lacking the hardware that Toshiba HD-DVD players had.. the only one that can be upgraded right now it the Sony Playstation 3. PIP, internet streaming etc... HD space for downloadable content...are all missing.

So no other manufacture can add features or make better players until Sony authorizes it.... Just like the delays in SACD or yesteryears..

Sony has recently announced the next generation of Blue Ray players, and all of the above issues seemed to have been resolved, with the curious exception of SACD support.

I am waiting for the Denon 3800 to show up in the US to determine whether a top quality Blu-ray machine is worth purchasing (I am particularly concerned with how it handles/upscales regular DVDs). The bad news is that the price appears to be dauntingly high for now.

The history of all consumer electronics products is that with time they get better and the price drops. The computer I bought 10 years ago cost 10 times more than the one I bought last yeat and doesn't hold a candle to it. Blu-ray will be no different, Sony bashers notwithstanding. As for downloads, assuming bandwidth catches up and makes download times reasonable, it is unlikely that the high-res sound formats available on Blu-ray will accompany the downloads. This will be particularly bothersome when it comes to concerts. A-goner's should be concerned about that.

Cytocycle,

I had no dog in this hunt, but you are sounding a sour note. Prices will fall when all companies, including Toshiba, come to market with their own BluRay players and the format becomes a commodity just like SD DVD players are now, e.g. a model is available at every corner drug store for 50 bucks. If Sony won the right to drive the schedule for this to happen, then give them their props. The reason why two channel audio is somewhat immune to this silliness is because, in the big picture really, the stakes are so low.

Some companies will execute lower cost versions better than others (my bets are on OPPO), and high end rigs that actually work and do everything but brush your teeth will hit the market even sooner. In any case I can see all the HT buffs agonizing over whether we should use the digital converters in our BluRay player, or in our Processors. "I think the BD's HQV Reon-VX has slightly better reds, but the 7.1 sound stage and attack is a little more dynamic using the processor's DTS-HD® Master Audio compared with the BD's THX™ Ultra2™, don't you?" Wish everyone luck threading that needle.

PS - I went to Onkyo's website yesterday and noted they are touting a $899 HD DVD player as the bees knees. Ouch!