New HD DVD Recorder From Toshiba

It looks like Toshiba is full of energy when it's time to think about new HD DVD products. The company just unleashed a new VARDIA hybrid HD DVD / HDD recorder in Japan. The new 600GB RD-A600 and 300GB RD-A300 feature a pair of digital hi-vision HD tuners, Firewire, and HDMI and can write to HD DVD-R and DVD-RAM/R/RW media in addition to their respective hard disks. Impressive? Sony, Panasonic and Samsung should be looking at this product.

How much would you be ready to pay for a product like this? What about ¥200,000 (about $1,643) for the RD-A600? That sounds like a reasonable price for a first generation recorder like this one. The North American model will probably be even lower. The RD-A300 costs $199 less and the only difference is the hard disk size.

Availabilty: Later this year…