Sony Closes HD Player Price Gap Price on Blu-ray Players to Drop to $499 Sony is closing the price gap between its entry-level Blu-Ray player and rival Toshiba’s HD-DVD player. In what some media reports are calling the fastest price decline in consumer electronics history, the BDP-S300 Blu-ray player will carry a price tag of $499.Full Story>
I am a cheap bastard, but I have to admit the PS3 is a bargain considering all it does...BD Player, running Linux, etc. However, as a stand-alone game console I feel the PS3 needs to sell for $399.99 or less in order for it to reach mass appeal.
$499?? oooooo ahhhhhhh. Only 250 bucks more to go, 350 to 400 bucks when you add in 5 free movies.So I guess it will be able to compete when its selling for $99 bucks. Call me when that happens. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=851951&page=1
I wish they would announce some good games. Bust-a-Move anyone? Oh well. Atleast I have dug out some of my ancient PS1 games and they are actually playable with the latest firmware update. Oh well...
As for this thread, what's the big deal with a $500 BR player? So basically right now, BR has price matched HD's players from a year ago when the HD-A1 came out at $500. Whoopie.
If you want a real most likely future-proof BR player, you will need the PS3 or atleast a BR player with Ethernet connection.
I'ld love to get a stand alone BR player and ditch the PS3, but I don't see any viable stand alone that is as feature rich as the PS3 or as upgradable as the PS3.
The PS3 is primarily a premium gaming system...that just happens to be an outstanding BD Player and run Linux quite nicely too. What games can be played on an HD DVD stand-alone player? And what operating systems can you load onto them? As for the XBox360, it was pointed out the HD DVD options will cost an addition $199 for this capability. It's just not an apples-to-apples comparison to considered the PS3 as a stand-alone BD player only. To be honest, I am not interested in a BD stand-alone player until the price comes down a couple hundred dollars...and I really don't need one since I have two PS3.
This weekend I noticed Costco had a Toshiba HD DVD player selling for $249.99 after $100 instant rebate...a very tempting price until you realize Blu-Ray will probably have 80% of the HD disc market come next summer. Still, the offer comes with five (5) free HD DVD movies (rebate) which is a good deal if you have already purchased a number of HD DVDs. I have never considered HD DVD, but I just may take them up on this offer and pick-up a player this week. Heck, the better the HD DVD offers the faster BD prices will drop. I don't mind being caught in the middle of a price war...it's all good for us!
A huge mystery is why (11-years after the Telecommuncations Act of 1996 was enacted) can't I purchase a stupid cable set-top-box at the local Wally-Mart, Besty-Buy, Circuitous-City? Really! Sony had a wonderful HD DVR with free built-in TV Guide On Screen and Cablecard support, but they pulled it off the market more than a year and a half ago. The only other cable STB on the market is the Tivo Series3 which, after paying $600, then requires the owner to fork-over a monthly Tivo fee. Ugh! (sorry to get off-topic)
