Price Watch: Sylvania Blu-ray player, $159.99 shipped
It's not the sexiest Blu-ray player on the planet, but it is one of the cheapest.
(Credit: Buy.com)Okay, dangit, I've posted two products today that sold out almost immediately. This means war! (And an unprecedented third post.)
Fortunately, Buy.com stepped up with a Sylvania NB501SL9 Blu-ray player for $159.99 shipped. The catch: You must pay with PayPal, otherwise it's $179.99 (still nothing to sneeze at).
Never heard of the Sylvania NB501SL9? That's okay, me neither. CNET hasn't reviewed it. Buy.com has no user reviews. Amazon has exactly one (five stars). Soooo...I'll give you the scoop, you decide if it's on par with the Sonys and Samsungs of the Blu-ray world.
The NB501SL9 supports Blu-ray Profile 1.1, HDMI 1.3, 1080p output at 24p/60p, and lots of other specs that mean nothing to 99% of buyers. Interestingly, it does include an SD slot for viewing digital photos on your lovely HDTV. You will need to BYO HDMI cable (and if you pay more than $8 for one, I'll beat you with a stick).
Anyone have any hands-on experience with this model? Looks like a fine deal to me--if you're in the market for a Blu-ray player, that is. With any luck, this won't sell out within five minutes of me posting it.
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. 
Here's another deal that is a little cheaper and might be more readily available:
http://www.amazon.com/TomTom-ONE-3-5-Inch-Portable-Navigator/dp/B001H9NR2Q?tag=slickdeals
Funny thing is I don't even have an HD TV with HDMI. I just bought it to test out and make sure that Amazon would deliver before I spent more on more expensive stuff. So I basically got a cable AND was able to test the shipping for like 5 bucks.
If I had money and didn't have a PS3 (tekzilla.org just had a specialist on that said it's still one of the best blu-ray players on the market and also reports say it'll be compatible with the 16 layer blu rays) then I'd be all over that thing.
I wish DVD would just hurry up and die already. The ability to be able to put entire seasons in HD on a single disc is just awesome. Seriously over 300GB of data... Imagine an HD episode at like 2GB. You could put on a total of 5 entire seasons on 1 Blu-Ray. Just look at Stranglehold for PS3 with an HD copy of Hardboiled or even Resident Evil 5 with its special Hollywood production being included on the PS3 discs as well as Street Fighter 6 with it's bonus stuff.
Sorry drifted into gamer territory there. Whether you get a PS3 or a BluRay player... Get Dark Knight on BluRay. I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. That and Iron Man are supposed to truly show what Blu Ray was for. Some of the scenes were even shot in Imax on the Dark Knight.
- by skywarp69 December 18, 2008 7:09 AM PST
- man, buy.com really sucks. I really got sick of them and have 0 expectation for them now. I nailed 2 deals from your recommendations that are on sale by them(remember that brother wireless printer combo recently and a $149 monitor a while back) Well, I got them both on time before the deal died on their site, but you know what, I was on back order for 3 weeks for both of them. They didn't even know when they will have them. They cancelled both orders eventually. I am just getting tired of their games, if they don't have enough inventory, just don't put them on sale :(
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