Sony Unleashes "affordable" blu-ray player

[icarus]

With the next gen format battle being neck to neck with blu-ray and HD-DVD this leaves very little room for error. Sony has hopefully introduced a new Blu-Ray player that hopefully will give Blu-ray a little more power in this on-going battle. With a current sales lead of 3:1 according to the latest Nielsen VideoScan statistics.The new player titled BDP-S300 that will retail at $599 should help sony maintain thier advantage. This player is set too release this summer. With all the features of the current $1000 blu-ray players, and it being significantly smaller than its predecessors, makes the BDP-S300 a great buy for any blu-ray fans.

[edtyct]

I'm not sure that Blu-ray has as much of a lead as Sony says, despite Nielson. Warner's has a different projection for the sale of films, and how much of a dent on that market Sony's gamers will make is undetermined. Entry into HD DVD hardware will still be less expensive despite Sony's introduction of the new model this summer. But the real aces in the hole are LG's dual-format player, which is now a living, breathing animal, and Warner's introduction of a dual-format disk, which is proving very intriguing to those studios that like the prospect of appealing to everyone. One more thing to note is that the lower costs associated with producing disks for the HD DVD format is important to fringe studios, which might not be able to afford hi def if Blu-ray were the only show in town. The porn industry, for one, is not to be underestimated as a player in this market.

[Dusty Chalk]

We already had a thread on this (http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=21846).

[edtyct]

I've never been there. Oh well, carry on.

[AVMASTER]

I've read some reviews on the LG unit with mixed results; no 1080p, no interactive menu on HD-DVD,high pricing, and audio issues. Despite those early reviews I actually have quite a few customers waiting for my first shipment; God bless the early-adapter!

[KaiWinters]

I am holding out for a sub $400 US unit or a bit more for a dually...lol.
I suppose I am cheap cheap cheap but after living through the VHS/Beta wars and owning a nice collection of vhs tapes and buying my first...gotta have it right away...vcr for over $300 with the "wired" remote lol then watching prices plummet to nearly nothing...and the same for DVD's I am just not all that fired up to plunk $500 smackeroos on a player that is selling for $300 a year or so later.

[lewburgh]

I couldn't agree with you more Kai! I recently started to do some research- HD DVD or Blu-Ray? After a brief period I came to the realization that this is ridiculous. Both formats are overpriced especially Blu-ray and I would imagine within the next year the prices will fall considerably.

[edtyct]

Not being interested is anyone's prerogative. But overpriced? I bought a Toshiba HD A1 player for less than $350. It isn't the slickest quickest DVD player I've owned, but it's definitely the best DVD player I've owned that also plays hi def disks with hi def audio. And to do both jobs, it cost me much less than my Sony ES. The relatively high prices on the current hi def players are hardly indicative of a conspiracy against consumers; prices can't fall until people start buying and production escalates. In the meantime, I've heard that Toshiba came out of the gate prepared to lose as much as $200 per player sold.

[daviethek]

My company is owned by Toshiba and I will hold off stock purchases.