Holy Moly Blu-Ray Disc Players below $300

I'm not really into video, but it sounds like the half-wits in the mass market electronics / entertainment software industrial complex have finally realized that hardly anyone is going to pay $850 for a fancier DVD player when the one they already own gives them virtually perfect pictures and sound as it is. It's the lesson learned from the way that mass market consumers ignored SACD and DVD-Audio.

It's like Gillette selling the Fusion razor cheap, because once you own one, you have to fill it with a pricey Fusion cartridge every week or two. If you "give away" the players, then you have a market that wants to buy Blue Ray and HD-DVD discs. If no one buys the players, then no one will buy the discs. Sony has the advantage of being in both the hardware and software markets.

Holy Moly Blu-ray continues to win on Amazon.

Although I expected more gains by HD-DVD from the Blu-Ray loss when Paramount went HD-DVD exclusive in August.

HD-DVD must be very disappointed with the results...

Just remember that when the 1st progressive scan players came out, they were very expensive also. Now you can get them for under $100. Hd and Blu Ray players will be dropping steadily and will probably end up down to what std players sell for now. Shortly most std players will be collecting dust in the corner, just like our VHS players are today.

The Sony BDP-S300/S301 is an absolute piece of garbage. It's not worth even the reduced price.

If you're looking for a relatively low-cost stand-alone Blu-ray player, the Sharp BD-HP20U is a much better machine for about the same price.

FYI I own both players.

12-20-07: Jdodmead
Just remember that when the 1st progressive scan players came out, they were very expensive also. Now you can get them for under $100. Hd and Blu Ray players will be dropping steadily and will probably end up down to what std players sell for now. Shortly most std players will be collecting dust in the corner, just like our VHS players are today.

In mid-2000 when DVD was already 2-3 years on the market, I bought a $1000 1999 Pioneer Elite on end-of-year closeout for $500 to make way for the new progressive scan models. It could *read* DD 5.1 and DTS off the disc, but couldn't process it internally. In another couple of years progressive scan DVD players with internal DD and DTS processors were $99 at warehouse stores. Now they're $39; $59 if you want one that upsamples via HDMI as well.

Around 1986, VHS Hi-Fi machines came out at around $1000 and were still $350-500 four years later. They were still around $250 in 1998. Now you can't even FIND one unless is also has a DVD drive.

But HD DVD came out in April 2006 at $800; Blu-ray in June/July at $800-1000, and today, 1-1/2 years later, you can get HD DVD players for $199 and 1080p Blu-ray players with 5.1 analog audio outputs for $280.

The hi-def player prices are dropping at a faster rate than anything ever before, but there is also plenty of room for features that should be added. For one thing, you can't get the hi-rez audio off most of the players unless you have a digital processor that handles the audio portion of HDMI, at least HDMI 1.1 as multi-channel uncompressed PCM. Otherwise, you're listening to some kind of downmix. It's my understanding that the Sony BDP 300 doesn't internally process TrueHD, so the 5.1 analog output is actually a downconversion.

So unless we go out and buy AV receivers and Pre/Pros that do HDMI audio, most of us won't hear TrueHD or lossless DTS until these players have hi-rez internal processors to put out hi-rez uncompressed analog audio via the 5.1 or 7.1 outputs.