This $78 Magnavox Blu-ray player has no front-panel display, but it does have an SDHC card slot.

Proof positive that camping out all night to score Black Friday deals is a waste of time, Wal-Mart is offering the same $78 Magnavox MB500MG1F Blu-ray player on its Web site that was previously an in-store-only, fight-the-crowds-to-get-it deal.

Its shipping will run you a measly 97 cents, though you'll probably have to add sales tax as well.

As you might expect, the MB500MG1F is about as no-frills as Blu-ray players come. There's no front-panel LED display, and it definitely won't do BD-Live, Netflix, or anything like that.

Actually, there is one frill: an SDHC slot, meaning you can pop in the memory card from your camera for an onscreen photo slideshows.

Other than that, the player offers the usual 1080p output, video upscaling, remote control, power cord, box, and so on.

I haven't seen any reviews of this model, but there are plenty of favorable user comments over at the Blu-ray Forum.

Well, what say you, fellow cheapskates? Is this price low enough for you to pull the Blu-ray trigger? Might you actually be considering a second player for your home? Personally, I say pair one of these with Planet Earth on Blu-ray and enjoy one seriously eyeball-pleasing holiday.

Backup deal: You know online backups should be part of your overall backup regimen, right? Well, here's a rare chance to get in cheap: Carbonite is offering 50 percent off annual subscription plans (with coupon code CUST50). You can get one year for $27.47, two years for $49.97, or three years for $64.97. This awesome offer's good until the end of December.

J. Sperling Reich from Showbiz Sandbox joins us to explain why the TV and movies online are restricted the way they are.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

I hope this goes without saying by now, but under no circumstances should you spend more than $100 on a Blu-ray player.

I mean, for months we've seen no-frills and lame-brand models selling for $99 or less. And now you can pick up a Sony BDP-S360 with BD-Live for $99.99 shipped (plus sales tax in most states).

(Note: The $99.99 price will appear once you get to the checkout. First commenter to tell me the product page shows $119.99 gets a virtual noogie.)

It's a refurb, meaning the warranty expires after 90 days. If that doesn't sit well with you, here's another option (and a fall-back in case the Sony sells out): Dell Home has the Vizio VBR100 Blu-ray player with BD-Live for $104.99 shipped (plus sales tax in some states). That's a new model, meaning you get a full one-year warranty.

Indeed, I'd argue that the Vizio is the better buy, if only for the extra coverage 5 bucks buys you. Both models rock the whole BD-Live thing (and, hey, if you're pulling the Blu-ray trigger, you might as well enjoy a frill or two). Alas, neither one supports Netflix streaming or the like.

CNET's editors had mostly positive things to say about the BDP-S360, particularly about its audio and video quality. As for the Vizio, you'll have to rely on Dell's customer ratings: all 10 of them, each one awarding five stars.

So I guess I should amend my original statement: under no circumstances should you spend more than around $100 on a Blu-ray player. And mark my words: it won't be long before you can get BD-Live and Netflix for that price.

Backup deal: Need cables to connect your new player(s) to your HDTV? Meritline has a three-pack of 6-foot HDMI cables for $6.99 shipped (with coupon code MLC1933503120733N--it's $10.99 without). Hard to beat!

Why did it take take Blu-ray two years to catch up to HD DVD?

(Credit: Amazon)

Universal is set to roll out the first Blu-ray/DVD "flipper discs"--a single, dual-sided disc that contains Blu-ray on one side and DVD on the other. The "Bourne" trilogy ("Identity," "Supremacy," "Ultimatum") will be the first movies to get the dual-sided treatment, with all three discs coming out on January 19.

The flipper discs are a good idea, as one of the biggest drawbacks to Blu-ray is that new movies you buy can't be played in DVD players. That loss of flexibility can be a real pain in locations other than your home theater (car, plane, bedroom), where you probably haven't upgraded to Blu-ray yet.

On the other hand, the flipper discs aren't quite as attractive an option as the increasingly popular Blu-ray-DVD combo packages that include separate discs for both formats. Overall, Blu-ray-DVD combo packages offer more value--you do get two discs to take anywhere you like. The only advantage flipper discs might have is if they can drive down the price of the movies.

HD DVD fanboys (somehow they still exist) will also be quick to point out that this is hardly new technology. HD DVD/DVD combo discs were around back in 2007; in that sense, it's unbelievable that it took Blu-ray this long to get onboard with a good idea.

It's National Toilet Day today, and Justin isn't here to celebrate. Fortunately, we more than make it up with dozens upon dozens of fecal jokes. Mark Licea of The Green Show joins the show today to talk tech and...lingerie?

(Credit: CBS Interactive/Wilson G. Tang)

Admittedly, we here at The 404 celebrate National Toilet Day at least three times a day, but we're glad to see that people across the planet are starting to recognize the importance of the porcelain throne. It may sound a bit unusual for us to be so beholden to the toilet, but most New Yorkers can sympathize. After all, most of us here have to deal with a mixed bag of ethnic food and $20 dollar fees to use a public restroom.

In nonpoop news, we talk about a Warner Bros. program to let DVD owners upgrade their discs to Blu-ray versions. The program is called DVD2Blu. This only applies to Warner Bros. films, and viewers must pay a fee of $8 to $10 per disc. We think this is a great idea. Wilson is especially keen on not having to pay $30 for each disc in his "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" collections.

Also, Jeff has a follow up to our video game censorship series. He interviewed Major Nelson of Microsoft to talk about racism, misogyny, and homophobia in online gaming. Check it out. A keen chat room listener though points out the irony of talking about derogatory words when players are shooting people in the head.

If you're worried about your cheating wife or girlfriend, a Brazilian line of lingerie from LindeLucy that comes with a built-in GPS tracking device. Now, the device is not exactly subtle, but for the paranoid ones out there, this might be the trick to keep your lady in line--or get her mad at you, again. Trust, after all, is the bond that holds all relationships together.

Finally, we get to some voice mails and viewer feedback about cool moms that play video games before their children do and an early review of "2012." Wilson is disappointed with the fact that the film won't be available in IMAX. He just wants to watch the world burn. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew remember the movie magic of the first "Jurassic Park" movie. The t. rex at the end: Priceless.

Send in your feedback and callbacks to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or call us! We are after all an audio podcast too! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Thanks again!

Two Pixar classics on Blu-ray for just $11. How can you go wrong?

Here's an interesting deal for anyone who has:

1. Children
2. A Blu-ray player
3. A nearby Target store
4. A love of Pixar films

With a little coupon magic, you can score the "Monsters, Inc." and "Up" Blu-ray combo packs for $10.98 (plus sales tax).

Each bundle has four discs: two Blu-ray Discs (one with the movie, one with extras), one DVD of the movie (bonus!), and one disc containing a DisneyFile Digital Copy (for viewing on, say, a laptop or iPhone).

Start by printing this $8 off "Monsters, Inc." coupon. You'll need to install a small app called Coupon Printer, but it appears to be harmless.

Next, print this $10 off "Up" coupon. It also requires Coupon Printer.

Finally, head to this Hot Coupon World post, scroll down to the Expiring November 25, 2009, section, and enter a '1' in the field next to "Blu-ray movies: "Up AND Monsters, Inc. together." Then scroll all the way down, click "Get Coupons," and print the coupon.

Now hop in the car and drive to your local Target. I'm not 100 percent sure they'll take all three coupons, but a blogger over at Frugal Find (source of this nifty deal) reported they had success using it.

As someone who has children, a Blu-ray player, a nearby Target store, and a love of Pixar films (particularly these two), you had better believe I'm looking for my car keys. How about you?

You probably haven't heard of Envizen, but it's one of several off-brand companies putting out new digital portable TVs to replace all the obsolete analog units that were toted to sporting events or kept around for emergencies when the power went off. As implied by its name--the Envizen Digital Duo Box Pro ED8850A--this model is actually two products in one: a portable DVD player and a portable DTV.

The ED8850, which costs around $150 online, looks and feels like your typical inexpensive portable DVD player. To put it politely, there's nothing sexy or slick about it. That doesn't mean it's ugly, just that it's very basic and generic-looking (at least it's black and not silver). But we did like what the ED8850 offers in terms of features.

Read the full review of the Envizen Digital Duo Box Pro ED8850A.

(Credit: DoubleTwist)

Wednesday saw the launch of a new version of DoubleTwist, the iTunes-like desktop music client that also syncs with Amazon's music store and was founded by Monique Farantzos and Jon Lech Johansen (aka notorious hacker DVD Jon). While we don't cover every piece of software that hits the Web, this one is unique: it not only syncs with iTunes, it syncs with Android phones, like the forthcoming Droid from Verizon.

This is big news for non-iPhone users. All the major smartphones these days boast of being music players, but for the most part users don't use them this way. One reason is it's a pain in the neck to copy your songs onto a media card and then slip it into the device. On most smartphones the media playback features seem like an afterthought.

The DoubleTwist app aims to bring a more iTunes/iPhone like experience to other devices. If Verizon really wanted to position the Droid phones as an alternative to the iPhone then it would start packaging the software with every phone it sells.

Most sub-$100 Blu-ray players have zero frills. This one has a big one: Netflix streaming!

(Credit: Best Buy)

The holidays must be drawing near, because suddenly the Blu-ray deals are heating up.

For example, what's better: a refurbished low-end Blu-ray player for $79.99 (sold out, I'm afraid) or a new Blu-ray player with BD-Live and Netflix support for $99.99?

The latter deal is happening now at Best Buy, which charges a reasonable $7 for shipping--a charge you can avoid by opting for in-store pickup. (Either way, you'll have to pay sales tax.)

The Insignia (Best Buy's house brand) NS-BRDVD3 offers the usual 1080p output goodness, including upconversion of regular DVDs, along with Dolby TrueHD decoding, Blu-ray Profile 2.0 (which allows for BD-Live features, among other things), and support for Netflix streaming (for subscribers only, natch).

You'll need a wired Ethernet connection to take advantage of the Internet features (and get a required firmware update), so plan your "deployment" of the player accordingly.

I haven't found any reviews of this particular model, other than the handful of user reviews on Best Buy's site--most of which are very positive.

I will say that between this and the $80 refurb from the other day, I'd definitely drop an extra $20 on this. Netflix streaming is just plain awesome, and a one-year warranty is always preferable to 90 days.

This does get me wondering what kind of Blu-ray deals we'll see as we get closer to the holidays, and particularly on Black Friday. Could a player get as low as $50? Food for thought. In the meantime, this is about as good as it gets, price and performance-wise.