Best Buy has embraced the holiday cheer a bit early. Not only did they match and beat Walmart"s $100 HD DVD deal, but when they ran out of Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD players they gave their customers HD-A3s instead. The HD-A2 is a discontinued product, meaning that Best Buy could have simply told all those that had ordered one that the stock had finished, and cancelled all purchases. The retailer instead decided to replace all backordered HD-A2 players with the third-generation device which retails for $299.99.
"Because we value your business, we will be fulfilling your order with the next generation Toshiba HD DVD Player (model # HD-A3) that is replacing the HD-A2 in Toshiba"s lineup of HD DVD Players," reads a letter sent to the Best Buy customers. On top of getting a newer product for the same ridiculously cheap price, customers automatically, since the deal applies to all third-generation Toshiba HD DVD players, get the movies "300" and "The Bourne Identity" in addition to the five free movies that can be had after a mail-in rebate.