Although not the complete screw-by-screw disassembly that we're accustomed to, here's your first chance to get a glimpse inside Toshiba's new HD-A1 HD-DVD player and check out the magic circuitry delivering all that 1080p goodness. First off, it seems to be very well built. The HD-A1 also has 1 gig of DDR2700 and the main processor (apparently a Pentium 4-M 2.5GHz) has a heat piped cooling system. So, it's basically a power laptop from 2~3 years ago without a HDD and a videocard. Interesting...

miglaugh> hmmm, that player is little more than a computer wrapped around an ATA drive. The one they use is the NEC HR-1100A, which is supposed to go for about $500 all by itself. Seeing the player on amazon for $499 must mean that they are getting a real good deal on the drive.

I heard estimates around $300 in parts for the HD-1A (MSRP is $500).

miglaugh> First things first though, must have an HDTV before any attention is payed to this crap. Just thought the pricing was interesting enough to comment on.

Yeah, I'm still using a 26" Toshiba CRT (1996). I don't plan on getting a new TV anytime soon. Too pricey and there's not enough HD content out there to make me think about switching yet.

hmmm, that player is little more than a computer wrapped around an ATA drive. The one they use is the NEC HR-1100A, which is supposed to go for about $500 all by itself. Seeing the player on amazon for $499 must mean that they are getting a real good deal on the drive.

First things first though, must have an HDTV before any attention is payed to this crap. Just thought the pricing was interesting enough to comment on.