Venturer HD DVD Player Surfaces at Wal-Mart

The long-anticipated budget HD DVD player from Venturer has finally arrived, and is being sold by Wal-Mart for $199.

Back when it was first announced in late August, Venturer's SHD7000 player had been expected to break low-price records this holiday season, but with Toshiba's entry-level HD DVD players being sold for as little as $99 earlier this month (also at Wal-Mart), Venturer's HD DVD launch has lost a bit of its thunder.

Still, with Wal-Mart carrying the player, there's no telling how many Christmas shoppers may be wooed by its low price. (At press time, the retail giant was offering the player at select stores and online for $199.)

According to early reports, the player is functionally identical to Toshiba's HA-A3 HD DVD player, offering 1080i video output via HDMI and Dolby TrueHD support.

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.