Chicago (IL) – Toshiba rings in another round in the battle between the Blu-ray and HD DVD high-definition forward and said that it will make the $299 promotional price tag for the HD-A2 HD DVD permanent.

Compared to its more expensive sister models, the HD-A20, which sells for $399 and the HD-XA2, which remains at $799, the HD-A2 comes with the same core feature set, but is only capable of displaying videos in 720p and 1080i resolution (and not in 720p/1080i/1080p). Other differences include a downgraded remote as well as the absence of an analog 5.1 audio port in this entry-level model.

Blu-ray players are currently about 50% more expensive (if we leave refurbished and open-box items out of consideration). Online shops are offering Sony’s BDP-S300 or Samsung’s BD-P1000 players in the $450 – $550 range.

On the PC side, Toshiba announced a new version of its desktop replacement notebook series Satellite P205. The model P205-S6347 is now available with a 720p-capable HD DVD drive. Other features of the notebook, which will retail for about $1450, include an Intel Core 2 Duo 5450 (1.66 GHz) processor, Intel’s 4965AGN draft-n Wi-Fi chipset, 2 GB memory and a 200 GB hard drive.