Sony announces $599 Blu-ray player

Greg Kettell · 02-26-2007, 01:41 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070226/...u_ray_player_2

NEW YORK - Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). said Monday it is bringing out a cheaper player for Blu-ray discs early this summer, a crucial step in its battle to make the high-definition format the replacement for DVDs.

The BDP-S300 will cost $599, yet will have the same capabilities as the $999 BDP-S1 Sony is currently selling, said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of the home products division of Sony Electronics.

Jason Harbaugh · 02-26-2007, 01:51 PM

So will the BDP-S1 be put out to pasture? Eitherway, this is good news for the BD group. And unlike the S1, the S300 will play CD's for those that have been yelling for that.

RonR · 02-26-2007, 02:31 PM

This is good news. Still waiting on their 2nd gen player myself...

Grant H · 02-26-2007, 03:54 PM

Hopefully this will put pressure on Panasonic to announce a REAL 2nd gen player (not just a firmware-upgraded 1st gen), complete with a lower price tag.

Of course, if Sony would provide 7.1 analog outs instead of just 5.1, I'd consider their unit.

Shawn Perron · 02-26-2007, 03:59 PM

I wonder if they are doing this to stop the pain from people buying PS3s with no intention of buying games. If they are losing as much per unit as claimed on the PS3, this would seem like the perfect price to get those not interested in games to veer away from the PS3. Any way you look at it, it seems like a win for those that have been holding off.

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Neil Joseph · 02-26-2007, 04:36 PM

I also made a copy of this thread in the BR Hardware area.

Dave Mack · 02-26-2007, 09:58 PM

I still paid $100 less for my PS3 and the HD-a2 is $499 on it's way down to $399.
They should make this $499 list if they really wanna compete standalone-wise IMHO.

PeterTHX · 02-26-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Mack

I still paid $100 less for my PS3 and the HD-a2 is $499 on it's way down to $399.
They should make this $499 list if they really wanna compete standalone-wise IMHO.

The A2 isn't 1080p.

They are following tradition. I picked up the Sony 3000 for $599, which was the 1.5 generation DVD player in 1997 after the intro model, the 7000 at $999.

ReggieW · 02-27-2007, 07:29 AM

I have seen the Toshiba A2 ($499) and Sony BDP-S1 ($999) each playing Mi3 at a local Best Buy/Magnolia and could not tell a difference between them - they both looked similarly great. In fact, no one else in the room could see a real world difference plugged into a 60-inch SXRD XBR2. I did not notice judder or any of the other anomalies others here have associated with interlaced video. I don't want to call 1080p "hot air," but I would like to know what people are seeing (in terms of picture quality) that's so different. To me, I saw no need to shell out extra dough for a player with 1080P capability, especially when most 1920x1080 displays will properly combine the fields.

Just my experience.

Jerome Grate · 02-27-2007, 08:44 AM

I happen to catch an article about it on someone else's paper and I picked up the paper so I can post the good news. However, don't mean to the Sony Basher here in light of the good news, but if this decision was made at the time of their initial release, Blu-Ray would have been in a totally different position right now. This could have put a major dent in Toshiba's profits and would have increased the playing field for consumers to decide which one they want. Any hoot, great news for a far less expensive player, steep a little but certainly a player less 400.00 off it's MSRP is nothing to sneeze at.

Greg Kettell · 02-27-2007, 09:49 AM

Jerome, it could simply be that they didn't have the manufacturing capability to build a player that will sell at the volumes a $599 player would, with the need to manufacture PS3s by the hundreds of thousands to meet the US and European launches.

IMO this is great news. I'd expect the other Blu-ray CEs to announce lower priced players before too much longer.