The Brits Get Venturer First

The Office, melancholic rock bands, even Mr. Bean - the U.K. is home to cool things that eventually come our way. Now, the U.K. QVC TV Home Shopping Channel will be exclusively selling the Venturer HD DVD player starting Dec. 29, according to the manufacturer. The hardware's star status as a cheap HD DVD player has dimmed somewhat in light of Wal-Mart and Best Buy pricing Toshiba models for $99. 
Still, the U.K. QVC will be offering the Venturer SHD7001 for a cool 50 pounds. That's the equivalent of $103.23, as of Thursday's current exchange rate. Hey, that's pretty close! On QVC, the Venturer will come bundled with HD DVD copies of Troy and Hulk.
There is no word on whether Venturer will soon be offered on the U.S. QVC channel and/or at domestic retailers elsewhere. However, Target's Web site is posting the player, but fuzzily says it will be available in two to six weeks. The chain is listing the player, which carries a different SHD7000 model number, for about $250. It's not clear if there are key differences between the SHD7001 and SHD7000.
But it sounds like people anywhere can also grab the Venturer package at the U.K. QVC Web site.
In terms of features, the Venturer SHD7001 is equipped with Dolby True HD and outputs to 1080i video when using a HDMI connection. It also upscales standard definition discs into near high-def quality.
Well, at least Venturer management seems jazzed that their players are finally coming someplace, as the company did announce the player way back when in August.
"We are very excited about this product launch," said Venturer sales director David Rouse in a statement. "QVC will be able to demonstrate the features and benefits of HD DVD and make it available to consumers at a knockout price. At last an affordable solution for many thousands of HDTV owners."

Posted by Susanne Ault on November 29, 2007 | Comments (1)