If you're looking to get into high definition movies for your home theater, the price of admission just got a little cheaper!

With the imminent release of the third-generation Toshiba HD-A3 entry level HD DVD player, many stores are offering the second generation HD-A2 for less than $200! As far as I know, the HD-A2 and HD-A3 are functionally identical, with only minor changes to the exterior styling.

I have seen news of sub-$200 pricing at Wal-Mart (in-store only) and Circuit City, but now Amazon.com has gotten into the game and is currently offering the HD-A2 at $197.99 (prices can and do fluctuate). Because this is a previous-generation model, supplies are going to be limited, so if you think that these units will be around in a couple of weeks, you may be disappointed.

This special price includes the 5 free movies by mail offer from Toshiba, so if you need to justify your purchase, if the movies are worth $25 each, it's like getting the HD DVD player for $75. How can you argue with that?

As a point of comparison, the least expensive Blu-ray high definition player (the other HD disc format) I could find is the Samsung BD-P1400 at $390. That's a great price for a Blu-ray player, but it doesn't have an Ethernet jack for online updates and features, and it's not compatible with the Profile 1.1 requirements for the interactive features on upcoming Blu-ray titles.