The first Blu-Ray players under $300.00 will be available Memorial Day
weekend. The one downside I see is that it will be Wal Mart that has it first.
Not to crazy about buying electronics from them because ever thing I buy from
there seems to cease working within a few months. I do believe that other
stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City will follow suit a few weeks after
Wal Mart rolls out the players.
It appears Funai a Japan based company and sold under the Magnavox brand will
make the hardware. Funai first announced its intentions to bow a Profile 1.1
Blu-ray set-top player during January’s Consumer Electronics Show. Sub $300
pricing was anticipated, but street dates and retailer partners weren’t
provided.
I believe the $200 mark is the ultimate goal for Blu-Ray players. The sub $
300 players should give sales a boost for a while.
This marks the first time at Wal-Mart that Blu-ray set-top players will
launch with price tags that dip below the $399 PlayStation 3. Currently, Blu-
ray set-tops start at $399. During the 2007 holidays, several BD players did
temporarily fall below $300, but set-tops have since risen back to the $399
mark this year.
The PS3 will remain one of the most advanced Blu-ray devices on the market.
The console is firmware upgradeable to Profile 1.1 and Profile 2.0 with BD
Live. Funai’s players are not expected to playback BD Live Web-enabled
features.
Saturday, May 24, 2008