Sony reveals details on new Blu-ray players

So with the exception of 1080p/60p support these players aren't offering anything that HD-DVD players don't currently offer (referring to the A30 and A35 and I am talking strictly about hardware capabilities) yet they still command the ridiculous price-tag. I for one am far from impressed. Where is the cheap Blu-Ray hardware that we were supposed to see this year? I thought all of the Blu-Ray fans said that things were going to get cheaper after the format war ended?

Well, I guess that is some consolation. I'm glad someone is finally offering a (fairly) affordable player with built in DTS-MA decoding, and output via analog. I could have used this before my tx-sr605 upgrade, but it barely cost me more than $500 for BD-P1400 and receiver so I guess I'm even. I'll say what everyone is thinking though, which is what the #Q$%@# took so long, and why are they STILL so expensive?

Still, the cheapest Blu-Ray player is more expensive and has fewer features than the HD-A35 (before their demise and currently). If these models come into the Christmas season at $200-300 respectively, along with a couple of other company offerings, I will be happy. Otherwise, BR Profile 1.0 is fine with me.

Maybe they should go towards the console model and lose money on the players to gain entry into households. They HAVE to be making some profit on the !Q#$% media since almost every good movie is $25-$35 retail. Amazon ftw.

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I thought all of the Blu-Ray fans said that things were going to get cheaper after the format war ended?

It's been a little over a week. Give it time. They will come down in price.

Actually, they have been expensive since their release, so technically "its been over 2 years." HD-DVD players came from $500 to $300 for the top model ($225 on amazon now, but I'll leave that one out since it is a moot point now), and $300 to $130-170 (depending on time) for lower end models. Blu-Ray players started out at $1000, some still are (Sony ES, Denon is $1000+), PlayStation 3, which I don't even know if it should count, is still $400 with no price cuts ahead, and there ARE no low end models with features to speak of. The Sony 300 has no HD audio decoding or pass through, and nothing out today even has the "final" BD profile 2.0. Whew.

Point is, the Blu-Ray players out today are admittedly works-in-progress, and to still be charging as much as they are is not right. I know Blu-Ray "won" the format war, but it definitely wasn't because of function, features, price, or value. Forgive me if I am a bit sour, but we've been told to "wait a while" for quite a while. And now I have a buggy Samsung with spotty performance and limited upgrade future. Not exactly what I would call stellar performance.

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Point is, the Blu-Ray players out today are admittedly works-in-progress, and to still be charging as much as they are is not right. I know Blu-Ray "won" the format war, but it definitely wasn't because of function, features, price, or value.

My A-35 is not a work in progress and does everything that this BD player will do months ago. The price on these players is ridicolous and further reinforces my contention a major part of Sony's game plan is to raise the cost of home entertainment to the consumer on a permanant basis. I don't know if it is going to work in this recessionary economy, but it will be interesting.

If the upcoming Oppo players (and others) are priced lower then the Sonys and are within reasonable reach of the general public, then this whole situation could change overnight. At 4 or 5 hundred bucks a unit though, these Sonys are out of reach of a lot of people.

If you'll notice in my post, I whole heartedly agree with you. The HD-A35 is a solid performer with advanced features at a great price. I stated "Blu-Ray" players are works-in-progress, not HD-DVD players.

Also, if you have a post of an Oppo BD player coming out soon, I am sure to soil myself.

There was a link to the upcoming Oppo players on this forum a week or so ago, but I'm not sure of which thread. Perhaps the person who posted it (Jimi?) can bring it up again.

Well done sony its HD-DVD at twice the price. I'm keeping out of Blu Ray untill you make your HD-DVD technology at HD-DVD prices.

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Both models also feature an external port for local storage, so users can add optional flash-based memory.

What type of port is this exactly? Is it a standard port or a Sony proprietary port that you have to buy Sony memory to fit in it?

Okay, tell me if I am missing something here. Prior to the warner announcement you could pick up the Samsung BDP-1400 for around $270 at Amazon.com and some brick and mortar stores (ie Best Buy), the same was true for the Sony S300. Also since last June the BDA ran the promotion with the 5 free movies with the purchase of each player. Since the warner announcement the cheapest entry line Blu-Ray players (All V1.0 spec BTW) have shot back up to around $350 and curiously at the end of January the BDA decided to discontinue the 5 free movie promotion with the player even though they had been running the promotion since last June and had extended it at least a couple of times since then. Furthermore Sony boasted late last year that the cost of the Blu-Ray diodes had dropped significantly. So, is it just me or does something not add up here. Be patient, some say, the fact of the matter is that Blu-Ray has a relatively narrow window of opportunity to really make a push into the home entertainment industry and if they don't make a solid effort at making their format more affordable for the general public then Blu-Ray will suffer the same fate as HD-DVD within the next couple of years, at a significantly higher loss to the customer I might add.