OTOH, virtually every new media product that's succeeded has been adopted by the XXXy people early in the game, so perhaps its an omen about the mass sell-through of HD DVD. The people like me who jump into a tech first have to hang tough while the 'chicken-and-egg' issue works out - many people won't buy until there's enough media, but the media people hold back a lot of releases until there's a sufficiently sizable installed base of players. Remember how long it took for blockbusters like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars" to come to DVD? Seems ridiculous now that DVD has practically wiped VHS from the map.
BTW, rumor says - so don't shoot this messenger if the rumor is wrong :-) - that Best Buy is going to match the Wal-Mart pricing. Whoo-Hoo!
$49.94!
Suspecting crap, I went to the ultranerd AVS to see what they say. So far, they are decent comments considering the price. AVS Forum Owners Thread on Magnavox DP170MS8