I can't muster any surprise at Sony's attempt to take maximum advantage of a new format's release. There are plenty of reasons not to invest in a Blu-ray player--not the least of them is that Blu-ray's spotty performance thus far, based solely on Samsung's entry. But Pioneer and Panasonic, which have no stake in PS3, have patiently been refining their players without any pressure to release them before they were ready. I will be surprised if these players don't improve on Samsung's. There's no reason to suspect, that with smooth production, Blu-ray won't look every bit as good as HD DVD, and that's saying something. And we know what's in store regardless of CES 2007. The wrinkle is that the cheapest of the lot for Blu-ray is $1000. You can get a Toshiba for less than $500.