OTAHD: it is the A2, it was introduced earlier this year at 500$. It is a clearance item because the third generation is coming out. My guess is that Toshiba is dumping for two reasons
1) to get rid of excess volume on an old model (which is normal)
2) because Warner did some talking a few days ago (A VP said that Warner was going to stop their neutral stance and also said they will continue to support BD)

I guess they are also worried because they are losing the stand alone player sales. The market was 60:40 at the beginning of the year and is now 54:46. That is a relatively big loss in SI sales, which means that there is a good chance that BD standalone players are outselling HD DVD.

Since the player has been dropping since it came out, my opinion is just wait for the next larger firesale.

PS. The 169 is the black Friday sale.