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Got my XA2 for $439.99 thank to this Forum. - Page 2

post #31 of 72
9/2/07 at 10:20am
Sorry to all if my comment seemed sanctimonius, or moralistic. Personally I simply do not like BB and for the most part do not do business with them. I can understand the drive to a get a good deal, and quite frankly if BB staff is going to repeatedly ignore their own coupons...well at some point there is no ethics in this - there was a business decision made somewhere to ignore training (and not just technically).

I asked my wife so as to "calibrate" my opinion and she said "it's all war - get what you can from them" - but then again, she's an attorney. (a good one, and ethical too!).

So, I stand sanctimonious and moralistic. But, I have to complement the forum members in general - for what I can see and read, most everyone has acted in good faith and fairly with each other and in their respect for the businesses the purchase from (that said as if anyone cares about my opionion!!!).
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post #32 of 72
9/2/07 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dad1153 View Post



Yes BillZ, you are indeed a nasty, bad and naughty boy! Naughty, naughty, naughty!!!

Hahahah! that picture cracks me up now!

Actually anything politically related cracks me up now! I'm glad I post on the AVSForum and not some political forum because the political situation in the U.S. is just so bizarre.

Sorry for the topic change
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post #33 of 72
9/2/07 at 1:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelHDDVD View Post

Hahahah! that picture cracks me up now!

Actually anything politically related cracks me up now! I'm glad I post on the AVSForum and not some political forum because the political situation in the U.S. is just so bizarre.

Sorry for the topic change

yes,he was a very naughty naughty boy..i like when he said,im not gay on tv.
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post #34 of 72
9/3/07 at 10:53am
Damn you Worst Buy!

I just started relaxing my boycott on Worst Buy not too long ago but it seems I may have to start again.

Here is my story: Got my 12% coupon ready and headed down to the local BB in Tampa on Labor Day around noon. Went to the Magnolia section and found the XA2 with a price tag of $799.99.

After waiting 20 minutes, this cute girl asked if I needed help. Told her I wanted an XA2. She looked it up on their computer and couldn't find it. She said they don't carry the XA2. Uh, oh. I had a feeling this was not going to turn out good.

I pointed to the XA2 display and said that one there. She pulled the price tag and looked it up that way. Sure enough, $499.99. She said she has one in the back but it would take a while to check. And then just stood there. I said I have all day. Please check.

10 minutes go by and she comes back stating that the last one was sold earlier that day! Dammit! You kidding me? Missed it by 2 hours at most? So I said please check if any other local stores have them. She looked and no one local has them. Warehouse is out. On backorder. Can't order. Maybe Orlando or Daytona Beach or Melbourne has them? Uh, no thanks.

So I ask about the display model and how much they would sell that to me for. She said it isn't for sale. What? She said its a brand new model and that they couldn't sell it until its been discontinued. Hello! Why do you think its currently marked down to $499 from $799 and that there aren't any in the warehouse and on backorder?

Here is the best part: So I asked when that would be? She says they couldn't sell the display model till 2011 at the earliest! I just stood there in disbelief. At this point, I was so agitated that I was about to go off. Instead, I regained my composure, shook my head, and walked off. Thought about asking for a manager but knew it would be pointless. Stupid Best Buy drones. I knew I should have went in there last night.

Well, looks like I'll be holding on to my A1 that much longer. Guess I'll wait for an XA3 to be announced or for Amazon or Value Electronics to blow out the XA2's. Now those are companies to be loyal to.

Again, damn you Worst Buy! Damn you to hell!
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post #35 of 72
9/3/07 at 11:04am
^^^Sorry to hear that. Does not surprise me.

If it makes you feel any better my XA2 may be going back and I may be putting the old A1 back in its place. There is a very high pitch faint noise that comes from the XA2 (mine atleast and one other forum member that commented) that is distracting considering it is about 2.5' from my head. This makes the noise less tolerable than the A1 for me. The A1 I can deal with as it is only fan noise. I may try to hunt down a replacement (I got the last one at the BB I went to and the 2 stores I went to prior were out) or put the XA2 in the closet behind the HT which I am trying to figure out how to do right now.
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post #36 of 72
9/3/07 at 12:42pm
I think I might have the best "bad experience" story of trying to buy an XA2 from BB. I am actually in the process of getting the problem fixed so I don't want to go into details right now since I think I might jinx myself, given that I just might of had bad luck all together trying to purchase it. Give me a few days and I will definetely post my story, problem solved or not.
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post #37 of 72
9/3/07 at 1:39pm
Well,

I picked up the XA2 for $499 today. I am "officially" neutral. I also have a Sony BDP-S1.

It took a lot of thought for me to make this move. It is not as simple as pick-up a player and get five free movies and duh-duh..

My Sony is hooked up directly to my Pioneer via HDMI (I use the analog outs for sound).

I now need to use "that" HDMI cable to run to my NAD pre/pro and this meant that I needed two new HDMI cables (one for each player) and I also needed to pick-up a temporary fiber optic cable for the Toshiba. My NAD only has one set of Analog inputs (used for the Sony) so now on top of this I also need to go buy an analog switcher and then the cables on top of that for the analog out on the Toshiba.

Todays out the door price with four movies to get me started, two HDMI cables and a temp fiber optic cable and tax was around $820 or so and this does not include the analog switcher or cables I will need to buy to use with the analog out on the Toshiba.

I can see where most folks are frustrated with this war bs. It really is an expensive obligation.

The big plus now is I can enjoy any movie out and the Toshiba will most definately play SD disks better than the Sony.

Finished lunch while I typed so time to go to that snake pit of cables of mine and rehook everything up.

I will let you know how it went later..

-Rick
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post #38 of 72
9/3/07 at 1:45pm
Ordered a IR extender type box on the reccomendation of a fellow forum member (thanks Gary) so I can now put the XA2 in the closet. Noise problem solved
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post #39 of 72
9/3/07 at 5:02pm
...
Quote:
Originally Posted by krik View Post

She says they couldn't sell the display model till 2011 at the earliest! I just stood there in disbelief.

LOL , don't worry krik, I'll be dealing with the drones up here trying to find me one. If they have two I'll grab one for ya!
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post #40 of 72
9/3/07 at 7:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cilent1 View Post

...

LOL , don't worry krik, I'll be dealing with the drones up here trying to find me one. If they have two I'll grab one for ya!

She did state that Florida Mall might have one. Didn't realize there was a Magnolia there. Quite honestly if they do have more than one I *MAY* be willing to drive up there and pick it up if they agree to hold it for me. Of course, they better do me right and honor the 12% coupon for all that gas!
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post #41 of 72
9/3/07 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toe View Post

Ordered a IR extender type box on the reccomendation of a fellow forum member (thanks Gary) so I can now put the XA2 in the closet. Noise problem solved


Glad to hear you got it worked out but I must admit I'm a bit envious.
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post #42 of 72
9/3/07 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CETA View Post


Todays out the door price with four movies to get me started, two HDMI cables and a temp fiber optic cable and tax was around $820 or so and this does not include the analog switcher or cables I will need to buy to use with the analog out on the Toshiba.

-Rick

Please tell me you didn't purchase those $100 HDMI cables from Best Buy. Do your wallet a favor and get some nice ones from monoprice.com That should lessen the sting somewhat.
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post #43 of 72
9/3/07 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by krik View Post

She did state that Florida Mall might have one. Didn't realize there was a Magnolia there. Quite honestly if they do have more than one I *MAY* be willing to drive up there and pick it up if they agree to hold it for me. Of course, they better do me right and honor the 12% coupon for all that gas!

You do realize that coupon is good only through close of business today?
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post #44 of 72
9/3/07 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckNaked View Post

You do realize that coupon is good only through close of business today?

The one I have is a print-out I got online and it states offer good from Aug 29-Sep 5, 2007 in store only.
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post #45 of 72
9/3/07 at 8:16pm
I've been lagging behind a bit in my research on the whole HD media subject, and I finally spent some quality time on it yesterday and today. Once again AVSers come through with the goods. I too had the infamous 12% off coupon, and was thinking I'd be able to use it on the A20 (I didn't bother to read it until I got serious about it).

After talking to a friend about it today, I came to the conclusion that
1) If I wanted an A20, I'd do well to just wait to see the verdict on the A30.
2) With the XA2 still being the flagship with no replacement this year, there was not much reason to delay purchase if that was what I wanted. Upconversion was pretty compelling (something my Denon 1920 does only a fair job at), and I've got a fair number of quality DVDs.

So having called and asked about inventory at my local store earlier today, I raced over to the BB in another suburb with a Magnolia Hifi (a 10 min drive at 8:48 PM) and walked in to find the manager of the store in the HT section. He had just finished selling a family an A20, and I asked about the XA2. He showed me the three he had in stock on the shelf right there, and we talked for a bit. I was surprised that he was knowledgable, even refering to a little information found here on the forum. I thought he was helpful, and fair in his statements.

Since it was closing time, I didn't want to keep him longer, so I told him the I wanted the XA2 and that I had a 12% off coupon, and asked him if it applied. We looked at it and he concluded it didn't (though at first he said it should...). I told him I had bought my receiver and DVD player from them two years ago, and said I'd buy the XA2 if he could give me the discount.

He said he'd go back to the terminal and see what he could do. I went back to the counter, and he told me, "it's letting me apply a 10% discount, but not 12%."

Then he asked me would I still like it, and I agreed. I feel good about it because I didn't try to trick him into giving me a discount; I was up front with him, and feel like he was very fair. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of service that he gave me.

I also bought a couple HD DVDs (the coupon did apply here...he said). He talked to me about them, making suggestions and recommendations - it was a good buying experience - he was very helpful. Definitely raised the stock of BB in my books.

I've joined the flock, and taken the red pill!!! Now I just need to set it up! Thanks for all the AVSers have posted about HD DVD!

Thanks!
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post #46 of 72
9/3/07 at 9:45pm
Regarding krik's experience:
1. Yes, BB cannot sell the display unit until it is officially discontinued. Makes sense to me, how can you fight real policy?
2. It shows 2011 as a 'placeholder date' because they really don't know the date it WILL be discontinued. They are just employees, the big boys in the ivory towers make these decisions.

I too did not like BB very much. Occasionally there will be an idiot of an employee who will annoy me. But guess what, just about every company, on nearly every level, has idiots working there. You just need to try again sometimes.

Lately I have had more than 50% decent experience with BB. I feel it is fair to give them a chance and I picked up the XA2 from them yesterday.
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post #47 of 72
9/4/07 at 12:56am
I work for best buy and when somthing does not apply to the coupon, most of the time i give the customer the benefit of the doubt and give them the discount anyways so they are happy and come back, not every store is generous. Since im on the the forums all the time, I do what i can for the consumer since very one says best buy sucks. Some of us are just more informend than others... The way i see it, if the product is still currently being sold and we cannot order them for a while, why not sell the display to the customer , make them happy, and put out a new one when we get more, other wise i see it as teasing the customer... It sad that every stores sop is different and we all cant be on the same page...
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post #48 of 72
9/6/07 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rimirele View Post

I think I might have the best "bad experience" story of trying to buy an XA2 from BB. I am actually in the process of getting the problem fixed so I don't want to go into details right now since I think I might jinx myself, given that I just might of had bad luck all together trying to purchase it. Give me a few days and I will definetely post my story, problem solved or not.

I think I might have gotten the problem fixed. Ok, here it goes. The last few weeks I was on the fence on either buying the XA2 or wait for the A35 and really didnt know what to do. Then came this thread that BB had it on sale for 500 plus a 12% discount with the coupon, well that did it for me. I went this past Saturday to my local BB here in Memphis to purchase it. Sure enough I got the last player they had in stock (brand new in the box, sitting on the shelf) and didn't even have a problem with the coupon at all. As I walked out of the store I felt so good about my purchase. My family was in town and I didn't even open the box, I figured to wait till Monday morning after they left. Monday morning came around and the first thing I did was to open my new player. The first thing you see is the owners manual so I figured to read that first before I take the player out of the box. I sat down and looked through it seen what it was capable and what not. For whatever reason I closed the manual and I noticed the cover of it. And there it was, it read "HD-A20"! I quickly took the receiver out of the box and checked it and it also had the model number HD-A20 on the back of it. Now you can just imagine what was going through my mind, nothing but anger. That very minute I threw on a shirt and went straight to BB. The drive is about 25 mins and had plenty of time to pretty much drive myself crazy going over there. I was thinking that since this was their last one in stock that they weren't going to be able to get me another one. I also thought that they might blame me and think that I was trying to pull a fast one on them (that thought quikly went away since I wasn't at falt here nor would I do such a thing). As soon as I pulled into their parking lot I also realized that it was Labor Day, what was I thinking! It was 11:30 in the morning and the store was full of shoppers. The line for returns was long and it took me about 30 mins to finally talk to them. I told the guy my story and he checked to see what he can do. He came back and said that the best they can do was to refund my money, which would have been fine if this was an item I can go to any other store to purchase but we all now that this player is getting harder and harder to find and not to mention that I got a great deal on it. He told me that no other store nearby had it instock and basically I was stuck. He also did tell me that I can call Toshiba to see what they would say but 9 times out of 10 they would tell customers to take it back to store where you bought it. Well I chose to do so, I walked out with my XA2 box (w/A20 inside it) and figured to try to call Toshiba. As I sat in the parking lot I got on the phone and dialed the number outside of the box for Toshiba, no answer(duh its Labor Day). Then as I was about to drive out of the lot I see a BB van with their 888 number. I called them thinking that they were also going to be off but thankfully they do work on Labor Day. I talked to a girl in customer service and told her my very long story and said that I didn't want the money back, I wanted the player. She was able to locate ONE in the Nashville store. So what she did was call the store manager there and told him to ship it out to Memphis. Then she got back on the phone with me and told me to go by BB today and it should be there with my name written all over it. I couldn't thank her enough. Now I am thinking this was too easy, with my luck something could go wrong. Sure enough I went to BB first thing this morning and asked to see if my player had arrived. Come to find out it did arrive but since it didn't have a note on it to set it asside for me they decided to put it on the shelf, and lucky for me nobody purchased it. Then they bring it up to the front and finally my nightmare is over. Did a simple exchange and that was it. Though I did check to see if it was the right one this time. So I just got home and haven't connected it yet but just been inspecting it to see if it is all ok, the box had a tear on the side of it. Everything looks fine but what I did notice and maybe you guys can tell me about yours but my remote looks like it has some slight scrathes on it (damnit I hope this wasn't a display model!). The player was still in the plastic bag and the wrapping looks original. I guess I just can't win with this experience. Now I just have to see if funtions properly, hope everything goes well there. Well there you go guys my nightmare with the XA2 purchase.

Can anyone tell me what model number remote came with your XA2?
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post #49 of 72
9/8/07 at 1:33pm
Curses... foiled again!

My Pioneer VSX-74TXVi receiver will not pass video through HDMI... I can't see picture. I bought it in 2005 so it needs the ROM update.... erg. Still haven't seen an HD DVD picture yet...

Bummer. I guess I can rewire things to hookup the PJ to the HDDVD output, maybe I'll try that tonight.

Now comes the challenging job of rewiring everthing in my rack. I've been telling myself I need to do this, I guess I have an excuse now!
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post #50 of 72
9/8/07 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rimirele View Post

I think I might have gotten the problem fixed. Ok, here it goes. The last few weeks I was on the fence on either buying the XA2 or wait for the A35 and really didnt know what to do. Then came this thread that BB had it on sale for 500 plus a 12% discount with the coupon, well that did it for me. I went this past Saturday to my local BB here in Memphis to purchase it. Sure enough I got the last player they had in stock (brand new in the box, sitting on the shelf) and didn't even have a problem with the coupon at all. As I walked out of the store I felt so good about my purchase. My family was in town and I didn't even open the box, I figured to wait till Monday morning after they left. Monday morning came around and the first thing I did was to open my new player. The first thing you see is the owners manual so I figured to read that first before I take the player out of the box. I sat down and looked through it seen what it was capable and what not. For whatever reason I closed the manual and I noticed the cover of it. And there it was, it read "HD-A20"! I quickly took the receiver out of the box and checked it and it also had the model number HD-A20 on the back of it. Now you can just imagine what was going through my mind, nothing but anger. That very minute I threw on a shirt and went straight to BB. The drive is about 25 mins and had plenty of time to pretty much drive myself crazy going over there. I was thinking that since this was their last one in stock that they weren't going to be able to get me another one. I also thought that they might blame me and think that I was trying to pull a fast one on them (that thought quikly went away since I wasn't at falt here nor would I do such a thing). As soon as I pulled into their parking lot I also realized that it was Labor Day, what was I thinking! It was 11:30 in the morning and the store was full of shoppers. The line for returns was long and it took me about 30 mins to finally talk to them. I told the guy my story and he checked to see what he can do. He came back and said that the best they can do was to refund my money, which would have been fine if this was an item I can go to any other store to purchase but we all now that this player is getting harder and harder to find and not to mention that I got a great deal on it. He told me that no other store nearby had it instock and basically I was stuck. He also did tell me that I can call Toshiba to see what they would say but 9 times out of 10 they would tell customers to take it back to store where you bought it. Well I chose to do so, I walked out with my XA2 box (w/A20 inside it) and figured to try to call Toshiba. As I sat in the parking lot I got on the phone and dialed the number outside of the box for Toshiba, no answer(duh its Labor Day). Then as I was about to drive out of the lot I see a BB van with their 888 number. I called them thinking that they were also going to be off but thankfully they do work on Labor Day. I talked to a girl in customer service and told her my very long story and said that I didn't want the money back, I wanted the player. She was able to locate ONE in the Nashville store. So what she did was call the store manager there and told him to ship it out to Memphis. Then she got back on the phone with me and told me to go by BB today and it should be there with my name written all over it. I couldn't thank her enough. Now I am thinking this was too easy, with my luck something could go wrong. Sure enough I went to BB first thing this morning and asked to see if my player had arrived. Come to find out it did arrive but since it didn't have a note on it to set it asside for me they decided to put it on the shelf, and lucky for me nobody purchased it. Then they bring it up to the front and finally my nightmare is over. Did a simple exchange and that was it. Though I did check to see if it was the right one this time. So I just got home and haven't connected it yet but just been inspecting it to see if it is all ok, the box had a tear on the side of it. Everything looks fine but what I did notice and maybe you guys can tell me about yours but my remote looks like it has some slight scrathes on it (damnit I hope this wasn't a display model!). The player was still in the plastic bag and the wrapping looks original. I guess I just can't win with this experience. Now I just have to see if funtions properly, hope everything goes well there. Well there you go guys my nightmare with the XA2 purchase.

Can anyone tell me what model number remote came with your XA2?


I'm glad you had the problem resolved.

The remote is all-black Model # SE-R0251


.
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post #51 of 72
9/8/07 at 4:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rimirele View Post

...but my remote looks like it has some slight scrathes on it (damnit I hope this wasn't a display model!).

Peel off the remote condom.
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post #52 of 72
9/8/07 at 5:15pm
Picked up the last one today (they have floor model left) at BB on colonial if anyone's looking in central fl. They even said they'd still give me the coupon deal if I brought it in! Guess I'll show a little love for BB....today.

Thanks all
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post #53 of 72
9/8/07 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billwgd View Post

Peel off the remote condom.

Thanks BruZZi and billwgd! Yes that solved the scratch problem. So far so good. The mfg date is July 2007 and it has the 1.5 firmware update. I am waiting for the new update to come out instead of updating it to the 2.2. I've watched only 2 SD DVDs (Anchorman and Blood Diamond) and no HD DVDs yet. The PQ is great! Even though its been a while since I've watched a SD dvd, so I can't compare it to anything. I really just got into HD recently. So far here is my setup:

Sony KDS-50A2000 tv
PS3
Toshiba XA2
Nintendo Wii
Klipsch Reference series 5.1 speakers
NO AV RECEIVER!!!!

I am looking into the Denon 3808 or Yamaha 3800. Anybody have suggestions?
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post #54 of 72
9/9/07 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
brought my receipt into BB today and they returned and resold me my XA2 so that it now icluded the 2 free offer.

XA2 cost me $439.99 ( they gave me the 12% discount on the $499 price ) and I grabbed 2 combo disks that would have cost $70
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post #55 of 72
9/9/07 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillZ View Post

brought my receipt into BB today and they returned and resold me my XA2 so that it now icluded the 2 free offer.

XA2 cost me $439.99 ( they gave me the 12% discount on the $499 price ) and I grabbed 2 combo disks that would have cost $70

Did the exact same thing today, except I got 2 non combo discs. $439.99 for 7 free movies and the XA2. Hell of a deal!
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post #56 of 72
9/9/07 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toe View Post

Did the exact same thing today, except I got 2 non combo discs. $439.99 for 7 free movies and the XA2. Hell of a deal!


I am going to do the same thing. Hell of a deal until A35 comes in which is cheaper and probably more advanced.

That is why I think I am going to cough up another $80 and add extended warrenty to my purchase. Which is basically a replacement warrenty for the next 2 years.
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post #57 of 72
9/9/07 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vahid View Post

I am going to do the same thing. Hell of a deal until A35 comes in which is cheaper and probably more advanced.

That is why I think I am going to cough up another $80 and add extended warrenty to my purchase. Which is basically a replacement warrenty for the next 2 years.


Once the FW updates come out for the XA2, it will be the better player between it and the A35 considering it has the Reon.
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post #58 of 72
9/9/07 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toe View Post

Did the exact same thing today, except I got 2 non combo discs. $439.99 for 7 free movies and the XA2. Hell of a deal!

I just got back from BB and sure enough I got to HD DVDs. The Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy. Man this deal gets better and better!
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post #59 of 72
9/12/07 at 2:16pm
Has anybody in the Seattle area found a Best Buy that has an XA2 in stock? If so, please share. Thanks.

Bradley
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post #60 of 72
9/12/07 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by btp View Post

Has anybody in the Seattle area found a Best Buy that has an XA2 in stock? If so, please share. Thanks.

Bradley

I just bought a floor demo from Magnolia Audio/Video but I think I got the last one. I had to go to Lynnwood to get it.

I paid $499

Try calling around though, maybe you will get lucky.
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