Blu-ray players rumored to hit $249 by autumn

Will the pricetag of the Sony BDP-S350 get a $100 haircut?

(Credit: Sony)

Sony will be dropping the prices on its standalone (non-PlayStation 3) Blu-ray players by $100 in September, according to an anonymous source cited by CE insider Gary Merson on his HD Guru Web site.

Around the same time, the source claims that budget players manufactured by Funai and sold under the labels Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania, and Insignia could drop as low as $249. Specifically, the Sony BDP-S350 would drop from $400 to $300, and the as-yet-unreleased step-up model, the BDP-S550, would be introduced at $400, instead of the $500 price that was previously announced.

Now, anonymous sources are a dime a dozen on the Internet, but our normal degree of "beware stuff you see on a blog" cynicism is tempered by two points. First: Merson's had a good track record on getting the inside scoop on forthcoming price drops in the past (example). Second, the fact that prices are coming down as we approach the all-important holiday buying season just makes sense--we'd be more surprised if the prices didn't fall.

So, you might ask: "I can already buy an Insignia Blu-ray player (Best Buy's house brand) for just $280--what's the big deal?" Good question. Let's remember that CNET's stock Blu-ray player recommendation is the PlayStation 3: it remains the best Blu-ray player you can buy for $400, and it adds a full host of gaming and network media features in the mix.

But once a wider variety of standalone players break the $300--and $250--price point, the PS3 is no longer a slam-dunk choice. Indeed, the aforementioned Insignia is "good enough" for basic Blu-ray duties, but the Sony BDP-S350 would be a no-brainer for just $20 to $50 more--it's got faster disc-loading times and better video quality, and should be getting a firmware upgrade to add BD-Live compatibility by year's end. Another upside: the presence of a top-tier name like Sony at the $300 level will undoubtedly pressure rivals such as Panasonic and Samsung to lower the prices of their Blu-ray players as well.

With this being the first post-HD DVD Christmas season, manufacturers are looking to consolidate Blu-ray's position as DVD's successor. Now that all major studios are releasing Blu-ray titles (no more "VHS vs. Beta" market confusion for high-def discs), more affordable hardware is the real catalyst that Blu-ray needs to begin its move from enthusiast hobby to mainstream media format. Price tags in the $249 to $299 range are a great start. And rest assured, it's only the start: don't be surprised to see $199 Black Friday deals on Blu-ray players this year.

What do you think: would you be willing to pay $300 or $250 for a Blu-ray player? Or is that still too expensive given Blu-ray's less-than-clearcut advantages over standard DVD?

(Source: HDGuru)

[turoa76]

"Blu-ray's less-than-clearcut advantages over standard DVD?"<br /><br />To general joe public you might be able to get away with that, but people who read this feed would/should know there is more to it.<br /><br />As always it's system dependent. Blu-ray will look like DVD if you've a system that 'maxxes out' on DVD. But put it on a FullHD display that correctly handles 24p, and then you've got clearcut advantages.

[illithar]

You know we have loads of friends and acquiantances who when we are in their houses want to show us their big screen HDTV that they spent thousands of dollars on. Then they turn it on and it's an analogue or digital feed, and we all know what it'l look like. Some even tell us they have an HD player and what they actually have is a DVD player with an HDMI connection. <br /><br />The fuss they make and the expense they have incurred over the TV. Truth is its like for them the big flat TV is like the BMW in the drive, they like it sitting it there but know about as much about how it works.<br /><br />One friend who has a big screen HDTV was holding off buying a new DVD player when his exisiting one broke. I asked why not get a BR? He said he'lll wait for the price to go down. I gave him a spare Phillips regular DVD player I had. It's like TIVO in the early days unless you see it and have it explained to you. We've had friends over and they saw TIVO and the next time we wheere in their house they had it as well. But that was easier fro people to get once they saw it than BR and the Sex and the City episode sold it to many of our friends wives. <br /><br />I don't get it, but basically people are penny wise and dollar foolish.

[Tec Consumer]

This is great news. HD / Blu-Ray are the biggest innovations in television since color TV. If you have an HD set and a home theater -- you need a Blu Ray player. No question. I agree with the previous comment--yes, there are lots of people out there that just want the big screen HD set as a decoration and so they can say that they got it. But if you are even a weekend technophile you cannot enjoy a movie the way home theater is supposed to be without a blu ray box.<br /><br />Meanwhile, once this catches on maybe Sony will recover enough to become the equivalent of what Sharp was 15 years ago. Maybe. If they're going to get past that anytime in the near future, they'll need a new Trinitron that beats Panasonic/Pioneer Plasma on the market in the next 18 months and a walkman that emits a signal that kills all ipods and iphones within a 1000 foot radius on the market by Christmas.

[shaynemack]

How about lowering the prices of Blu-ray movies? Come on $30.00 or more for a movie. I have a PS3 and 1080P HDTV, but I still buy new release movies on DVD. I only buy used Blu-ray movies for around $20.00.

[phil jump]

AS long as the new blu-ray machines read and play all my old DVDs amd cds ,,,I'll <br />be happy!<br />pmj

[lacykemp]

I, for one, would love to experience Blu Ray. I have the flat screen HD tv, (and yes, I do have HD set up), but haven't made the leap to Blu-Ray. I can't fathom starting over again with my movie collection...did I mention starting over again? I got the TV for football, and it's been fantastic. I think until the players hit the $200 mark AND the movies hit the sub $20 mark I'm going to be satisfied with what I've got. Money isn't growing on trees.... just little tiny bushes that need lots of water.

[menssie]

A lot of people have older A/V Receivers that do not accommodate HDMI but still have 5.1 and 7.1 analog connectivity that still perform perfectly. I for one have an Onkyo DTS-989 that is a 7.1 Receiver with 135 watts per channel that set me back $3000 back in-the-day. <br /><br />As such, the Blu Ray players coming out with on-board DTS Master and Dolby Digital True HD decoding that can plug into these older generation receivers via analog connections, will be more appealing to the masses when considering the switch to a Blu Ray player. <br /><br />With several reports of models coming out this Holiday season, it would be a wise marketing decision by the manufacturers to sell these at a $200 to $300 price point if they want Blu Ray to get any recognition and a successful product launch. <br /><br />With that said, I feel the biggest problem is the cost of Blu Ray Movies/Media. Movie titles in the $30 to $40 price range will kill the HD Format all together... It has for me, I for one will not pay that kind of money for the movies, no matter how good the movie is, or even if they are brand new releases. The greed is outrageous(Thanks to Sony, Again!)! $20 tops, but more on par is the $12 to $16 price range that is most affordable to the masses and it would also make this format take off like gang busters. <br /><br />At Best Buy and several other retailers along with discount wholesale clubs, BJ's, Sam's, Costco etc., I see the prices averaging $30 week after week on a majority of their popular titles. They never run out of these titles either. You know why? Because people aren't buying them, and most likely won't either until they re-price to an affordable price point! <br /><br />Reality Check; Today, two Blu Ray titles with taxes come out to roughly $65, that's just about a full days wages for the average consumer. Damn rip-off and a damn shame too because this will kill the HD format imho. <br /><br />If I had a decent internal decoder Blu Ray player I would Only rent my titles until the prices dropped, but then again I might just never buy one at all if the prices remain at the above $20 range. Maybe I'll rent the player too, that way I won't feel bad owning another piece of obsolete technology when it fails due to the greed.

[AnthonyNYC]

I agree totally about Sony price greed on BluRay titles but I guess they need to recoup the millions paid to forcibly win the format war, rather then let the people decide. HD-DVD's were more money than DVD's yes, but still about $5 cheaper than BluRay.<br /><br />I pay for cable, and have their DVR (sorry for those who paid for tivo with only one tuner) and go thru weeks guide setting HD movies to record from HBO, Showtime and Cinemax. All the while I can watch any other show while it records my movies in the background, then in a few days, i have more HD quality movies to enjoy than I can have time to watch.<br />Give Sony $400, or even $250 so i can buy 1 movie at $30 a pop?<br />Are they nuts? For that money you can do dinner and a movie!<br />And I only watch movies once, maybe twice even if I own them.<br /><br />If they want BluRay not to fail, price of discs should be same as DVD immediately.<br />And not only are bluray discs not selling in costco, same stack of 9 blurray players in there, last 3 weeks of my visits, wonder who bought that one? LOL<br />And is he buying any of the discs with dust on them in costco?<br /><br />Retailers want quick turn around on their money, when they see expensive discs sitting on shelves and cheap dvd's flying off them, they will stock less BluRay and more DVD, it's business.