Funai Blu-ray will be released in the US after all. Just not as Funai...

I was looking around for upcoming Blu-ray players on Best Buy's intranet site today, and I found a Funai manufactured one that will be released in July of this year. Apparently, it will be sold under Best Buy's own Insignia brand name. The employee price on it will be around $250, and I believe it will initially retail for $299.99. It should be a profile 2.0 player (not confirmed though).

I'd stay away from anything Insignia...

Quote:
I'd stay away from anything Insignia...

Actually, Insignia products are manufactured by many different companies, one of which is Funai. So, they're not all bad. Funai has actually come a long way from their humble beginnings, and in terms of quality they've gotten much better over the years. I'm not saying I'm buying one, but as far as price conscious consumers go, this may be an appealing option to many of them. This may also be the first player to reach that $200 magic mark, which could happen by Christmas.

According to a recent Cnet Review, the Insignia-brand plasmas are very bad quality (mediocre), however...

> FUNAI '$300' Blu-ray player by Q2

"The optical head for the unit will be provided by Sony and the core system will be the Matsushita / Panasonic UniPhier chipset."

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

Quote:
"The optical head for the unit will be provided by Sony and the core system will be the Matsushita / Panasonic UniPhier chipset."

Problem with this unit is that it costs as much as a Sony or Panasonic player to build no manufacturing cost difference between them plus $60 Blu-Ray player royalty. The only cost saving comes from lower overhead, low profit, and no marketing cost.

OK... well, if a consumer can't afford a $300 Blu-ray player (or buying the discs), then just stick with upconverted DVD, as Blu-ray Hi-Def won't be as 'cheap' as SD-DVD for some time yet. Just wait until it's affordable (depends on the person's income, if they have an HDTV, etc).

As for the Blu-ray player royalty, are you sure it's $60 for every player. I thought that it can vary between $30 to $60 depend on the manufacturing line commitment (what is contracted).

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

Quote:
As for the Blu-ray player royalty, are you sure it's $60 for every player. I thought that it can vary between $30 to $60 depend on the manufacturing line commitment (what is contracted).

$30 minimum just for the Blu-Ray drive($5 DVD royalty extra).

Then throw in the royalty cost of three video codecs, audio codecs, BD-J, BD+, and a whole bunch of others, and the royalty total does amount to $60.

If it is 200.00 by Christmas 2008, what do you have to lose? You have 30 days to return it. I mean if the player is that bad, then it will go BOOM before the 30 days is up.

Quote:
If it is 200.00 by Christmas 2008, what do you have to lose?

That would be my break point, a reliable $199 standalone, profile 2.0, Blu-Ray player, although I might still hold out for the $149 price range.

Already sunk for $500 for an 80 Gb PS3 that has been a service nightmare, I won't put more money towards another Blu-Ray player until they are below $200.

No "FUNAI" business either. lol

I want something with a reputable name with a decent warranty as well, not some "Ghost Manufacturer" like Funai putting other names on their retail products.

On the same note, I don't see the advantage of 'double dipping'.

If I already own a movie on DVD or HD DVD, I see no reason to re-purchase it on Blu unless it is something really special.


Something of Spielberg's, or Lucas's catalogs perhaps, and it better be a decent HD-Digital re-master.

None of the practice of dumping the existing MPEG2 SD DVD version on a Blu disc, and selling it as a special edition or directors cut....

Quote:
That would be my break point, a reliable $199 standalone, profile 2.0, Blu-Ray player, although I might still hold out for the $149 price range.

That pricing is not possible for years with Blu-Ray. You should have read Sony Japan's VP complaining about $400 being too cheap and need to bring prices back up.

Quote:
Already sunk for $500 for an 80 Gb PS3 that has been a service nightmare, I won't put more money towards another Blu-Ray player until they are below $200.

Then you won't put your money down for years.

This is the pricing structure you are looking at(Profile 1.1, not 2.0)

2008 : Budget $300, Brand : $350
2009 : Budget $250, Brand : $300
2010 : Budget $200, Brand : $250

Quote:
I want something with a reputable name with a decent warranty as well,

The brand name companies have no intention of pricing below $300 for years. For them $300 is the fair price, they saw Walmart-driven $40 DVD player prices as unfair to them.

Quote:
not some "Ghost Manufacturer" like Funai putting other names on their retail products.

Well, Funai is as budget as you can get. Funai's permitted to make Blu-Ray players because it is a Japanese firm. Most Chinese are excluded.