Call this a dose of healthy consumer skepticism. The HD DVD Promotions Group has often pointed to the fact that Chinese manufacturers had committed to building low-cost HD DVD players. Up until now, those manufacturers have been missing in action: Toshiba has generated all of the price activity on the HD DVD front. Venturer Electronics, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, is the North American brand for one such Hong Kong-based manufacturer, Alco Electronics. In advance of the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Venturer announced it would be selling the SHD7000 HD DVD player in time for the upcoming holiday season through "national retailers with retail prices expected to be one of the lowest among entry-level HD DVD players."

If true, that's going to make the high-def player market very interesting: Already, Toshiba's 1080i HD-A2 player can be found for as little as $225. But it also begs, just how lost cost can Venturer go? And for a market of early adopters that's looking to expand beyond the early adopter, well, even if they come in at $25 or $50 less, is that enough incentive in these early days to go with anything other than a name brand?

So who is Venturer? The company's Web site goes on to say "since 1988, Venturer has focused on making the latest technologies affordable to North American consumers."

That's fine: I might buy an inexpensive, knock-around portable DVD from Venturer, without having the backup of the company behind it. But I have to wonder how they will fare on a complex piece of home electronics intended to complement my home theater (you know, the one with expensive 42-inch plasma screen I don't personally own, but I'm sure many potential buyers of this player do own). On the Venturer Web site, I found only the phone number for their technical support line. And the company's technical support is handled by www.1800customersupport.com, which also covers brands like Wal-Mart's Durabrand and Audiovox.

A low price is great—that is a win for consumers. The biggest question in my mind falls to the technical support issue. If companies like LG Electronics, which went months without updating its BH100 Blu-ray Disc player, are having problems keeping on top of issuing firmware updates, how will a manufacturer who outsources its technical support and who isn't used to having to issue scores of firmware updates stay on top things to provide a satisfying home entertainment experience? I wouldn't want to buy a high-def player with the thought that the next time new features are introduced, I might be waiting a while, or even left high-and-dry, before I can get the firmware updated so I can use those new features. Or, for that matter, play the disc at all.

The reality is, both Blu-ray and HD DVD high-definition players remain complex. And the kinks are not out of the system yet. Both formats have required firmware updates in order to handle new features, and I fully expect them both to require more updates in the future, as disc developers come up with new ways to code content. This will work itself out eventually, but for now, I can't in good conscience say I'd be willing to sacrifice an in-house technical support team for saving a few dollars.

source: Melissa Perenson, http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005295.html