I looked last weekend for any HD disk players available on store shelves. I went to large Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, BJ’s — all of which have extensive space devoted to large screen TVs.
I found only one player, hiding on a back shelf, unpriced, at Sears. I think the price of the players, plus the incompatibility issue, is hurting sales of the TVs. Retailers would rather sell on the basis of cable and satellite signals. Mostly sports.
Last weekend was the best...and worst!...weekend to shop for an HD DVD player. Wal-Mart's sub-$100 pricing forced the hands of most of the other major retailers, who also dropped their prices to unprecedented levels, and HD DVD players were sold out within hours throughout most of the country.
Don't give up, though - Black Friday is less than 2 weeks away! :-) Rumors are thick and furious about upcoming days unbelievable pricing on HD DVD players...so you'd have a good chance of picking up a fantastic bargain soon.