bluray

3D details: Samsung prices TVs, Blu-ray gear

The 3D TV hype machine begun at CES in January rolls on Tuesday as Samsung, the world's biggest TV maker, officially announced pricing and availability of its 2010 3D-capable HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater gear.

The initial wave of televisions that can handle the new 3D TV Blu-ray and TV formats won't be cheap. The company's first 3D TV, the UNC7000 series, has been available for the last few days and is currently going for around $2,350 at Amazon for the 46-inch model ($2,600 MSRP). That's a $350 premium compared to Amazon's price for Samsung's closest 2009 non-3D equivalent, the UNB7000 series, while the company's closest 2010 non-3D equivalent, the UNC6500 series, sells for about $250 less.

Samsung's larger 55-inch 3D TV costs about $3,000 at Amazon ($3,300 MSRP) while the 40-incher is being listed by online retailers at about $1,800 ($2,000 MSRP). From the limited 3D TV demos we've seen, we expect screen size to be even more important to enjoying the 3D effect than it is with normal, 2D HDTV. In other words, bigger is better than ever.

Battle of the $3K 3D bundles For a mere $3,000, about what it costs to take a family of 200 to see "Avatar" in IMAX 3D, you too can experience "Full HD" 3D TV at home this month.

To watch 3D on your new 3D TV you'll also need a compatible Blu-ray player, 3D glasses and, yes, a Full HD 3D Blu-ray. Samsung's promotional offer, in conjunction with Best Buy, has you covered. Buy the UN46C7000 (at what we assume will be the $2,600 MSRP) and the BD-C6900 Blu-ray player (conveniently another $400) and the company will throw in a pair of the glasses, model SD-2100AB ($150 MSRP each) and "Monsters vs. Aliens" in the new 1080p 3D Blu-ray format--not to be confused with the old 3D Blu-ray version, complete with cardboard colored glasses, that's been available since September. (If you must buy now, we recommend trying to use your existing HDMI cables, which should work fine, rather than springing an extra few bills for the "high-speed" or "3D-compatible" versions).

(Update March 10, 2010) By way of comparison and more hype, Panasonic will also launch its 3D TV bundle today at Best Buy, charging $2,500 for the 50-inch TC-P50VT20 TV and $2900 for a bundle that includes the DMP-BDT300 Blu-ray player and a pair of glasses. The bundle will be available at select stores beginning at the end of the month. For a bit less than the Samsung bundle you get a larger screen, one pair of glasses and no movie. … Read more

New Samsung midprice Blu-ray laptops arrive

Samsung says its new line of consumer laptops, including a couple of reasonably priced Blu-ray models, is launching on March 7, exclusively at Best Buy. The line is highlighted by the $829 Samsung R580, a 15-inch with both discrete graphics and a Blu-ray drive.

Even though these are new systems, we've had one, the R580, on our list of our spring 2010 retail review roundup for a while, and a quick check of Best Buy's Web site earlier in the week indicated that it was already in stock and available in New York-area stores. As if to confirm … Read more

Apple to include HDMI on new Macs?

According to a report on AppleInsider, Apple may be planning to include HDMI connectivity on new Macs, most notably the Mac Mini. The report suggests the addition of HDMI to the Mac Mini, and eventually other Mac models, relates to Apple's continued interest in the "living room media server" area.… Read more

Cameron pegs 'Avatar' to 3D Blu-ray in November, Fox denies

The 3D TV hubub at CES roughly coincided with "Avatar," the highest-grossing theatrical release of all time, hitting theaters in 3D. It seems natural to assume that the inevitable home video release of the 3D HD version of the "Avatar" Blu-ray would coincide with the introduction of new 3D HDTVs, which are slated to appear as early as May. But according to director James Cameron, that Blu-ray won't appear until November.

"It's all right on schedule," said Cameron during a Wall Street Journal interview. "We'll do the Blu-ray and the … Read more

MSI throws Blu-ray, Core i3 in a laptop for $699

Introducing Intel Core i3 and i5 processors in a laptop is hardly surprising news anymore, but affordable notebook computing--well, that's another story. MSI tends to be on the bleeding edge of the cheap notebook spectrum, and the company's recent announcement of updated Classic laptops offers a few eye-openers. The entire line of C-Series 15.6-inch Core i3 and i5 laptops starts at $649, and there's even a config that includes Blu-ray and a Core i3 for $699; MSI claims the CR620-033US is $729, but Newegg does that price $30 better.

All MSI CR-620 models include Windows 7 … Read more

Get a Blu-ray/VHS combo player for $139.99

Quick housekeeping note: the Cheapskate is traveling this week (hello, San Antonio!), so posts may be scarce for the next few days.

The VCR has been dead to me for a few years now, but I know plenty of people who still play tapes using that venerable device.

If you're in the market for a Blu-ray player but still want to keep VHS in the picture (pun!), Amazon has the Panasonic DMP-BD70V Blu-ray/VHS player for $139.99 shipped.

I believe this is a deal-of-the-day item, and the discount is pretty huge (it's $299.99 just about everywhere … Read more

Sony releases new 3D-ready Blu-ray player, upgrades other models

At CES 2010, Sony announced its first 3D Blu-ray player, the BDP-S770, but that won't be the only 3D-capable standalone Blu-ray player from Sony this year. Wednesday, Sony announced the BDP-S470, a midrange Blu-ray player that's slated to get a firmware update in the summer to make it 3D capable. In addition, the company announced that three previously announced products--the BDV-E770W, BDV-E570, and BDP-S570--will be getting the same 3D upgrade.

Aside from the 3D upgrade, the BDP-S470 looks to be very close to its predecessor, the BDP-N460, offering a full suite of streaming media services (Netflix, Amazon … Read more

Summer 2010: When the PS3 goes 3D

Over the course of several CES shows and major press announcements, we have been eagerly following the PlayStation 3's future evolution into a console capable not only of 3D games, but 3D Blu-ray content. We know that the PS3 is in the official 3D Blu-ray spec, but what has been unclear to this point is when, and how, we'll get that 3D content at home.

In a recent interview, SCEA's Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller gave a few more concrete details. To nobody's surprise, 3D capability is being timed to the release of new 3D … Read more

S1Digital's mega Blu-ray jukebox keeps discs flowing

Wouldn't it be nice if you could browse and play back your entire Blu-ray movie collection with the click of a button? For $1,499, the S1Digital 100-disc Blu-ray changer delivers this level of convenience and the flexibility to download metadata and cover art automatically over the Web. All you need is to hook up the jukebox to a Windows Media Center-compatible PC and install its bundled My Movies software to access up to 1,000 Blu-ray, DVD, and CD titles through the intuitive WMC graphics user interface.

By connecting this S1Digital box to a Windows Home server, users … Read more

Initial hands-on with the LG BD590 and the BD570

LG announced its new Blu-ray lineup just over a month ago at CES 2010, so we were shocked to hear we'd be getting review units in early February. The BD590 took home the Best of CES 2010 award in the home theater category for its built-in 250GB hard drive and CD-ripping functionality, and the BD570 is the more direct successor to the popular (and well-reviewed) BD390. LG says the BD570 and the BD590 will be coming in mid-March with list prices of $280 and $380, respectively. We'll be doing in-depth reviews with both of these products over the next few weeks, but we wrote up our initial impressions of the BD590's exterior design and revamped user interface.

Design The BD590 takes its design cues from its predecessor, but it's a slightly slimmer, less bulky unit, despite the fact that it includes a hard drive. The front is dominated by a long glossy panel that automatically flips down when the disc tray is ejected. We're not big fans of flip-down panels--they seem like one more thing that can break down the road--but it does keep the unit looking sleek.

Under the front panel reveals a few playback buttons (including handy chapter forward/backward buttons) and a USB port. Of course, if you plan on keeping a USB drive in the port, you'll have to leave the front panel down, which is considerably less slick-looking. The power and eject buttons are toward the top and are always accessible.

The included remote is a complete redesign of last year's clicker. The main surface is glossy black, which looks sleek coming out of the box but, being a remote, naturally accumulates fingerprints quickly. Button layout is mostly straightforward. Playback controls have a "hill" that runs underneath, making it easy to find by feel; there are also nubs on the rewind/fast-forward button. The main directional pad is surrounded by six buttons, which is a little more cluttered than most Blu-ray remotes we use, but we didn't find it that troublesome in use. Along the bottom are a few buttons for controlling a TV.

User interface

We loved the dead-simple user interface on last year's BD390, so we were a little dismayed to see that LG has done a complete overhaul.… Read more