Budget shopping tips: Blu-ray players

Budget Blu-ray players are generally older, Profile 1.1 players.

Blu-ray started out as a pricey, enthusiasts-only, niche format, but prices have fallen enough that even mainstream home theater fans can enjoy high-def movies at home. If you're on a tight budget, but still want to go Blu, here are some tips to keep the costs down.

Profile 1.1 players for dirt cheap
If you're only looking to spend less than $200 on a Blu-ray player, you'll probably have to settle for an Profile 1.1 unit. You'll be giving up the ability to watch Internet-enabled BD-Live content available on some Blu-ray movies, but that's not a huge loss, considering we haven't seen much impressive BD-Live content. The bigger drawback is that these players tend to be slow and aren't great with disc compatibility, but it's the only reliable way of scoring a relatively cheap standalone Blu-ray player.

Netflix your Blu-ray movies
Rebuying your DVD collection is decidedly antibudget, but a Netflix subscription can help you avoid most of the pain. Yes, Netflix charges a little extra for a Blu-ray subscription, but we still think it's worth it, especially with many Blu-ray players offering built-in Netflix streaming. If you're still set on buying movies, keep an eye out for buy-two-get-one-free deals that pop up on Amazon periodically.

Ditch the 7.1 analog outputs
If you've got an HDMI-capable receiver, stick with the cheaper players that lack 7.1 analog outputs. Manufacturers often try to make it seem like the analog outputs offer a superior audio performance, but in our experience that's just not the case. Of course, if you have an older AV receiver that doesn't support HDMI, you may actually save money by purchasing a player with 7.1 analog outputs. Spending an extra $100 bucks on a Blu-ray player is less expensive than buying a new $400 AV receiver.

Don't buy an HDMI cable in the store
Despite the marketing hype, all HDMI cables are essentially identical--you're not going to get better performance from an $80 cable than you would from a $5 cable. That's why it always makes more sense to buy cheaper HDMI cables widely available on online retailers. We've got the full scoop on our HDMI cable quick guide, along with some recommended stores.

Go for a Blu-ray HTIB
A $300 standalone Blu-ray player feels expensive, but a full 7.1 home theater system with Blu-ray for $500 feels like a steal. If you don't already have speakers and a receiver, a Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) system is an affordable way to get into high-def movies.

The PS3 is still a great value
The PS3 is the most expensive gaming console, but it's really a home theater bargain if you use it to its full potential. For $400, you get an excellent Blu-ray player, a fully capable media streamer, and a high-def gaming system. There's no other way to get that combination of features and performance from separate components.

[BarryT1970]

A really nice guide, that. I've also found it helps to wait for a little while - obviously you could wait until the cows come home and prices would continually drop, but I saw a post which talked about how much the price can fluctuate within a week alone. So holding off for a month or so (and keeping checking prices) can save you a fair bit if you're lucky.

(Found the post! http://beatthat.com/blog/beatthat-bible-4---patience )

[make_or_break]

Or people could just live with renting poor ol' standard def DVDs and save themselves a couple hundred bucks or so until things do turn around and money is more plentiful. HD video certainly is not some sort of necessity that absolutely must be satisfied. Yeah it's not as fun or neat, but it's not as purposeful and some of the other tech items/categories you're giving advice about.

[t2tin]

http://astore.amazon.com/azer-20

[EpicAV]

Some great pointers but I wholeheartedly disagree with your stance on HDMI cables. First of all, you make no mention (here or in your HDMI cable guide) of the difference between 'standard' HDMI cables and 'high-speed' cables, only that price is the sole differentiator. I agree that HDMI cables are overpriced at retail, but you need to tell people what Blu-ray features they'll miss if they don't buy a high-speed cable. I have seen first hand what a difference in cable quality can do to a picture regardless of what your experts may say, and it especially makes a difference if you want to make a run longer than 15 or 20 feet. Don't forget about cable construction and how well it will hold up and prevent damage to the internal assembly as well as how well the connector is designed to hold tight in the device connector. You can get a picture and sound with a cheap cable, but don't tell me it's exactly the same as a high-quality cable (a true high-quality cable, not one that just says it is and costs a lot more).

[xmirage2kx]

I can tell you First hand that it doesn't make a difference. 1's and 0's are the EXACT same through ANY cable. The high speed cables are only needed if you are running over 12 feet (and you are usually safe up to about 30 feet). With analog there is a difference between a 70% copper and a 95% copper cable, but a digital signal will be the same with a $5 HDMI cable or a $2500 HDMI cable. The build quality, durability, and shielding may be less but the images you see will be the EXACT same on 99.99% of all systems.
Now if you are running multiple systems at the same time with all the wires running through the same location and are running them more than 12ft (like the wall of TV?s at a store) Then it MAY make a small difference.
But with your standard home system where the TV and Blue Ray Player and 3ft-6ft apart and you only have a cable box, BR player, DVD player, AV system and Xbox. And you only watch one at a time (like most people) you will not see a difference between a $5 cable or a $250 cable.

[xmirage2kx]

Most people won't know the difference between an upconverted DVD and a BRD (blue ray disk). That right there can mean the difference between $35 and $350. But if you are one of those people who can, or just want to upgrade the prices are about as low as they are gonna get for a while. You can pick up a Top end BR player with all the bells for $300-$350, and If you don't mind running wires (for speakers and/or internet.... really who needs wireless for a stationary device) you can drop that price right down to $200-$250 (and still get brand names). You can find true values ($100-$150) if you look hard, but you will be giving up all options except playing a BRD. I would avoid these (as jumping $50 gets most these options back) but for a 2nd room, or just a true budget system its a good way to go.

[sebobill]

Awesome discussion people. Just doing my research at present, hunting for a blu ray based media center to connect to my Vivtek projector. I was in the middle of buying a sony bdp-s760 when the sales person informed me that apart from the power cable and remote, you get nothing in the box. He also tried to sell me a very high quality HDMI cable, gold plated apparently and he suggested that I could even damage the machine if I used a cheap cable???. Well, I canceled the order to continue with my research and it is a real mess out there. way too much choice. I think Sony have the best basic machines but they are very tight on features and I believe Panasoic and perhpas Samsung and up there so I am seriously considering the Panasonic DMRBS850EBK system as that will save me a lot of clutter but it is a bit of on the steep side and I was wondering if anyone agreed and also if there was any competition for this product that I may consider. The lower end Panasonic blu ray players are apparently slow to start and not very smooth etc... Any comments will be much appreciated, especially w.r.t. the competetion for DMRBS850EBK. I have not been able to locate any comparative reviews comparing it

[sebobill]

Awesome discussion people. Just doing my research at present, hunting for a blu ray based media center to connect to my Vivtek projector. I was in the middle of buying a sony bdp-s760 when the sales person informed me that apart from the power cable and remote, you get nothing in the box. He also tried to sell me a very high quality HDMI cable, gold plated apparently and he suggested that I could even damage the machine if I used a cheap cable???. Well, I canceled the order to continue with my research and it is a real mess out there. way too much choice. I think Sony have the best basic machines but they are very tight on features and I believe Panasonic and perhaps Samsung and up there so I am seriously considering the Panasonic DMRBS850EBK system as that will save me a lot of clutter but it is a bit of on the steep side and I was wondering if anyone agreed and also if there was any competition for this product that I may consider. The lower end Panasonic blu ray players are apparently slow to start and not very smooth etc... Any comments will be much appreciated, especially w.r.t. the competition for DMRBS850EBK. I have not been able to locate any comparative reviews comparing it