dave, what is your take on upconversion? since most of the players do it, is there something to look for, to avoid, etc. I have put off buy blu-ray, and didnt buy hd-dvd (though now I could get a cheapo on ebay I guess) but I see typical dvd players with upconversion from $50-$180.
thanks for any input.
FYI!! (You may want to wait until the Black Friday sales, the day after Thanksgiving.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PINGING THE LIST (part 1)
Toshiba to Offer ‘Blu-ray Killer’ DVD Player
The company has hinted its picture will be as good as high-def.
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (June 1, 2008) — Toshiba will soon launch an upconverting DVD player that purports to offer a picture that will rival Blu-ray’s high-def disc.
That’s according to a report from the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.
Toshiba was the chief backer of HD DVD, the high-def disc rival to Blu-ray. But the company pulled the plug on HD DVD at the end of March due to disappointing sales and overwhelming studio support for Blu-ray.
At the time of the exit announcement. Toshiba executives hinted that it would soon release a standard-def DVD player that could compete with Blu-ray rather than endorse its rival.
Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the new Toshiba upconverter player will be launched within the next six months and will carry a smaller price tag than current Blu-ray models.
If the player’s picture does come close to high-def, it would likely pressure Blu-ray makers to lower prices sooner than planned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinging the list.... (part 2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Swanni Predicts: Blu-ray Prices to Fall Under $200
The low price will be available in the next 6-8 weeks.
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (August 26, 2008) — Blu-ray player prices are starting to fall and some players will be available for less than $200 in the next six to eight weeks.
During the holiday season, I predict, some players will be even available at retail and online for between $149-179.
So, why the lower prices?
As predicted here months ago, Blu-ray makers are now introducing new models with interactive features to kick off the fall season. The new players are enabling retailers to lower prices on older models to unprecedented lows.
For instance, at Amazon.com, Sony’s BDP-S300 is now available for $229 — roughly $170 less than the suggested retail price. (Sony recently introduced an upgraded model, the BDR-S350, for $399 suggested retail, although Amazon is selling that newer model for $355.)
Panasonic’s DMP-BD30K, which normally retails for $399, is now $299 at Amazon.com.
Additionally, big box retailers such as Best Buy are now selling the Insignia Blu-ray player (model: NS-BRDVD) for $279.
Until now, Blu-ray players were in short supply, forcing retailers to keep prices higher than consumers expected.
Why were the players in short supply?
Blu-ray manufacturers were caught by surprise last spring by HD DVD’s sudden departure from the format war and were not ready to ramp up production. Consequently, with the exception of the Play Station 3, which has a Blu-ray player inside, Blu-ray sales have been disappointing following the format’s victory over HD DVD.
But I predict that the lower player prices combined with falling Bu-ray disc prices will dramatically boost Blu-ray sales this holiday season.