Holy Moly Blu-Ray Disc Players below $300

Wait! Wait!! Don't buy yet!!!

Pzuckerman,

Interesting direction of this thread. I am assisting some friends and relatives in purchasing HD video and audio equipment and have been doing some shopping. Within the last twelve hours I read an article in What HiFi about the PS3, talked to a sales person today who is using one as his Blue-ray player and game console, and just now read your posts here. So if somebody feels that they must purchase an HD DVD or Blu-ray player now that is capable of true high definition and upscaled DVD playback, I would advise them to consider the PS3.

Video playback from the PS3 looks like it is as good as or better than the top of the line Blue-ray or HD-DVD players, the PS3's software is easily and automatically upgraded via WiFi in your home, and the on board processor is super powerful. And it plays games. The only caveat is that better sound can be had in top end Hi Def players from Sony and other makers (at over three times the price). If you have access to a decent DAC in your receiver/processor, then digital sound signals can be processed there for high quality playback.

When the PS3 first came out priced at $600, I thought that was a stupid marketing move on Sony's part. Can you say "Macintosh"? But if Sony can sell them to enough households and get folks to use the player as the heart of their home entertainment system, then that is the kind of viral product everybody in sales is looking for. Watch out Microsoft...

PS - I saw a 720p/1080i Toshiba HD DVD player today for $179. I have not seen any full or limited resolution HD players for $99, yet... But that is why I originally said "Wait!" in response to this thread. It is only a matter of time before true Hi Def players and TVs are a dime a dozen.

I have no dog in this fight, yet. Blue-ray currently has greater storage capacity than HD DVD, although that may be changing (see wikipedia posts below). Looks like audio formats for movies on disk are being held back by studio decisions rather than technology at this point. Perhaps when standard DVDs are in decline, studios will be motivated to increase audio specs for all movies on disk. From a video perspective - looks like full 1080p performance is more dependent on the choice of video processor and implementation of circuitry by the manufacturer than the format used (HD DVD vs Blue-ray).

Wikipedia discussion of HD DVD and Blue-ray:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD#Origins_and_competition_from_Blu-ray_Disc

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

For what its worth, the $99 Toshiba described in this thread is not a full 1080p player. Newer HD DVD and Blue-ray players are 1080p native, including PS3.

From Amazon.com:

Toshiba HD-D3 HD DVD Player
Technical Details

* HD Output: 720p/1080i - SD Upconversion with HDMI: 480p/720p/1080i
* Playback Media: HD DVD Video, DVD Video, DVD VR, DVD-R (Video), DVD-R DL (Video), DVD-RW (Video/VR CPRM), CD, CD-R/-RW (CD-DA)
* OSD Language: English/French/Spanish/Others - Advanced Navigation