In DVD wars, winner on Main St is Blu-ray

Toshiba suffered several setbacks in recent weeks, including Friday's announcement by retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) that it would abandon the HD DVD format and only stock Blu-ray movies.

"Toshiba's plan all along was to be the low-price version. If Wal-Mart isn't going to sell their players, who will?" Prange said, noting that Wal-Mart calls itself the low-price leader.

Akeem, the Circuit City sales assistant, said he was still selling lots of players in each format. And for customers who did not necessarily care about the format, there is a model by LG, selling for $599, that plays both HD and Blu-ray.

And Best Buy's Michael said some people were buying Toshiba units, even though they know Blu-ray will be the format of the future. "They figure that HD discs will become cheaper."

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)