July 27th 2006

Toshiba's RD-A1 Goes On Sale

RD-A1 plus lady with fan

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Other Toshiba RD-A1 news stories

Toshiba Delays RD-A1 HD-DVD Recorder >> Toshiba HD-DVD Recorder - The Details >> Toshiba Plans HD-DVD Recorder >>

Toshiba RD-A1 Reviews

1 online here >>

UK visitors click here to check prices

It's been on and off, then on again, then delayed a little, but finally Toshiba has released its (theoretically stunning) RD-A1 HD-DVD recorder in Japan.

The recorder went on sale as the sun came up on 27 July, a full two weeks after the initial planned launch. The delay occured when manufacturing difficulties meant that Toshiba was concerned it could not fill initial demand.

If that demand is as high as Toshiba is expecting then there must either be some very rich people in Japan, or a lot of people who are prepared to go without food to own cutting edge technology. The RD-A1 retails for ¥398000, or about US$3400.

You can see some pictures of a launch event at Impress, although you'll need to be able to read Japanese to understand the commentary (no we couldn't so don't ask us).