These aren't off-brand players either, but genuine Toshiba HD-A2s. Granted they don't do full 1080p, it's still impressive none the less. http://www.electronichouse.com/article/toshiba_hd_dvd_players_bust_200_barrier/
I was looking at that one on amazon yesterday, it helps that i have a $50 amazon gift cert to boot. and my TV is only 720p/1080i so that works too.
I would pick one up but I want to get one thats 1080p, that way its even with my ps3. Plus these are the old model ones and they are just making room for the new ones so I'll wait. Right now my tv is only 1080i but my next one will be 1080p so might as well get a good player when I do. I think I'll wait till February to pick one up.
I would still wait until after the holidays. Warner Bros is supposed to finally pick a side 1st quarter and considering the 2-1 sales ratio of 300 in favor of Blu(and blu moives in general), the logical choice for them is looking like Blu-Ray. If Warner drops HD DVD it would be a major blow to the format.
My tv can take the whole 1080p, so I'm not getting anything HD unless it goes whole hog. but this is the sign that HD is starting that magnificent migration downward in price. Yay!
How much cheaper do you expect them to get? You can get a 32" LCD for under £500 thesedays, thats half what I paid for mine a couple of years ago and almost a third of what a good 32" SD CRT would have cost you 8 - 10 years ago.