Most are still around $500. Will we have to wait until next years models come out to see lower prices?

never looked back.

I'm sure not going to buy another console just so I can play BD, lol.

at cookie prices.

BluRay is such a revealing of technology (sound and picture) that the flimsy machines made by Bi-Polarsonic, Wankyo and Samsclubbingseals won't hold their own as well as some of the same type of thing released as regular DVD players unless played in flimsy (HTiaB) systems.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/lack-of-competition-sends-blu-ray-player-prices-upward/">http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/lack-of-competition-sends-blu-ray-player-prices-upward/</a</li></ul>

The only ones that aren't are the Denon, Pioneer, Panasonic, and the HD-DVD combos.

The Sony Profile 2.0 players are supposedly releasing soon at $400 and $500 MSRP.

The prices are the same because no one is discounting right now.

With the addition of DTS-MA and the IR2BT peripheral, about the only things the PS3 doesn't have are analog outs and a front panel display.

The Samsung BD-P1400 hasn't received the best reviews. I've never heard anything about the Sharp and the Sony BDP-S300 is not worth buying because of the lack of the latest BD features. It looks like Samsung is about to release a new entry level player but no word on that one yet. I'd really like a Denon or a Panasonic based on the recent reviews.

Eventually that will be upgraded but probably not for a while since my system is only 5.1 anyway.

Just because that happens to be the one you want doesn't mean that BD prices are going up.

The new Sonys will have all of the 2.0 featurs at $399 and $499, respectively. The $399 will bitstream but not decode, and doesn't include onboard storage, so a 1 GB SD card is required to make it 2.0.

The new Panny is supposed to be very good, but will be more expensive, I believe.

I don't understand why you expect the best, most feature laden players to be cheap. Toshiba wasn't selling the XA2 for $99.

Or cheaper.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9932311-7.html?tag=nefd.pop">http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9932311-7.html?tag=nefd.pop</a</li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9886656-7.html">$299 this year?</a></li></ul>

The current Sony S500 is $500 and everything else available is north of that. Just because Best Buy deosn't carry doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There's Sony ES, Pioneer Elite, and a few other models I'm sure I'm missing. If prices will start falling for full featured units next year, that would be a good thing. The only full featured unit out for less than $500 now is the PS3.

I'm just waiting for prices to fall so the best players become slightly cheaper. It will eventually follow the same path as DVD. I bought the first gen Sony DVD changer for $700 when it first came out. A few years later, those changers were available for less than $200. In the case of DVD, it took about 2 years for pricing to become really competitive. I suspect we may be nearing that point with BD.

It's not like this is news. The release dates were announced months ago.

I think your post below is pretty spot on. It took DVD 2-3 years for prices to really drop. Toshiba's HD-DVD strategy spoiled consumers. BDs price curve is pretty typical of any new CE equipment. Perhaps even a little bit accelerated.

I don't understand why people are complaining about it.

for most people.

. . .that will be released in the near future.

They have to engineer and manufacture the machines. They can't just create them out of thin air. It's not like anyone is releasing 1.0 players tomorrow.

I can't believe that people are still complaining about this.

Makes perfect sense.

God forbid you can't do online shopping and chat rooms directly from your player.

You had to shell out $500+ for an XA2 or A35 to get that feature.

This is what drives me nuts about all of these complaints. Everyone was willing to live with these limitations on HD-DVD, but they bitch non-stop about them on BD.

Because it supports optical and HDMI<ul><li><a href="http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/PS3/GettingStarted/default.html">Linnk</a></li></ul>

:)

I don't have HDMI either

If you don't a new receiver with HDMI inputs and TrueHD/DTS-HD/MA decoders on board, you do not get HiRez sound, just the bog standard Dolby Digital or DTS stuff.
It's a pretty major deal-breaker for many who want great sound. It's better to spend a little more on a more advanced player than to have to spend a grand on a decent new receiver. Particularly if your existing receiver is a useful machine with at least a 6 channel input.

Did the XA2 ever get down that low?

Sounds like the Sony S550 will be right up your alley, or maybe the new Panny, depending on price.

And it looks as though this generation of BD players will be in line with that $500 price point.

I'm sure you'll see $299 if not $199 older players by the holiday buying season. The announced MSRP of the S350 is only $399.

Literally nothing has changed since HD-DVD dropped. The BD manufacturers announced 2.0 players then for release around now, and they're starting to come out.

Prices are marginally higher because retailers are no longer discounting the players like they were around the holidays.

There are two processes which will lower player prices: 1)New hardware will be released at lower prices, and older hardware will be discounted.

2)At times, retailers will discount players to spur sales. This is most prevalent around the holidays.

The most amusing thing to me is the lack of decorum on both sides. I notice it more from HD-DVD supporters, but I'm fairly sure that it's pretty even.

First of all, I have never "sucked BR caulk." I made an informed decision based on which format I thought had a better chance to win out, which happened to coincide with the format I preferred for its slight technological advantages in storage and bandwidth.

The format war unfolded almost exactly as I thought it would. HD-DVD released first and built an early "lead" that was relatively tiny in terms of the market. The release of the PS3 obliterated the lead, and slowly but surely built an insurmountable lead for BD.

The 2 twists that I didn't foresee were Toshiba's scorched earth pricing policy and Paramount/Dreamworks decision to drop the format which was selling more discs. Both extended the war for 3-6 months longer, but, as I predicted at the time, neither was enough to turn the tide of the PS3.

I have never said anything on the forum that was not true. I simply responded to criticisms of Bluray with my opinions on A) why I didn't care about them and B) why the market at large wouldn't care either. I have rarely criticized HD-DVD, other than to say that it has more limits of storage and bandwidth, that the business model was unsustainable, and that the format war was just as much their fault (if not moreso) than Sony's.

2)I have certainly never insulted HD-DVD supporters with the kind of vitriol you spout every time the subject comes up. I have no idea why you find it necessary to be such a prick. It doesn't lend any more credence to your argument and does nothing except make me laugh. I honestly feel for the HD-DVD guys who lost out.