Walmart offers a Blu Ray player under $200

Well, it is finally here. A Blu Ray Player for under $200!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Site-News-Walmart-Bluray-Player-Offer/9770

... But... your still paying 298 dollars for it... you just happen to get 100 dollar gift card... which you can't put back into your bank account.

Not to mention... Magnavox... really?

[Post edited by Mike37 on Jun 4, 2008]

Since obviously nobody buys anything from Wal-Mart

Everyone buys stuff from wal-mart... my point being is that it's still 300 dollars. No matter how you cut it... that's 300 dollars out of your bank account. Sure you could use that 100 dollars at Wal-Mart but I'm pretty sure you can't use that 100 dollars WITH that purchase. If you could... then awesome.

I myself won't be complaining when Wal-Mart gives me 100 dollars for buying the MGS4 PS3 Bundle... That 100 dollars will go straight to buying 3 or 4 BR movies.

I'm just saying... no matter how you cut it, you're still paying Three hundred dollars for it.

Just saw the specs on this player. Disappointing. It is only 1.1 complaint. I think it is somewhat deceptive to continue marketing blu-ray players as great deals when they will be unable to access features with new release movies later this year. And I know what some of you guys are saying, "not everyone wants those extra features." I have a feeling if you did an informal poll at your local walmart, bestbuy, or circuitcity and asked random customers who walk by the blu-ray display if they would buy a bd player for $300 to $500 that wouldn't be able to access all the features on upcoming movies I have a strong feeling that 99% will say no deal. Furthermore, how sure are you guys that once the new profile 2.0 movies start to hit the market there won't be any hardware problems with regular playback? There have been a few bd live movies that have come out already and it seems o.k. so far but since there are no dedicated specs on older players there is no telling what will happen once every bd movie/disc starts to switch over to the new profile. We already know what happened when fox released their BD+ copy-protected discs and how they caused numerous headaches for third-party bd player owners. I think its best to still wait on buying a stand alone until bda gets their hardware act together and until they find a way to stop charging 3 times the price of the former competition (hddvd) for the same technology. And judging by current sales trends of blu-ray it looks like most consumers agree.

anyone got any reviews on this player?

It's the Funai player, and lots of reviews and user experiences reported - just google and check out AVSForum. Seems to be a solid player, with some problems however with 1080/24p DVD playback that supposedly will be resolved in a future firmware update.

What's sweet compared to some other players, is that it just takes 20 seconds from turning on to be ready, and loads disks in under 30 seconds (still not as good as PS3). PQ with Blu-ray has been reported as good, upconversion with standard DVDs reported as not as good as PS3:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026390

True $100 isn't in your bank account, but you can buy a few Blu-ray movies to go along with it on Walmart's $15 Blu-ray sale, and maybe have money left over to buy a better toaster.

Quote:
MagnaVox started selling a 1.1 profile Blu-ray player for 298 bucks, which has been spotted at Wal-Mart. This is definitely the cheapest option out there…Is this what many people have been waiting for to take the plunge and invest on a Blu-ray player? Maybe… MagnaVox is a second tier brand from Phillips but this player has been manufactured by the Japanese Funai, which also makes a few products for Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Denon and others. Also hitting the market is the Sylvania NB500SL9, which can be pre-ordered at amazon.com at an affordable price of $349.99. This Sylvania player is also manufactured by Funai and basically the same as the MagnaVox NB500MG9, only different brand.

http://myblurayplanet.com/blu-ray-players/blu-ray-hits-the-300-mark-with-magnavox-nb500mg9

Quote:
Since obviously nobody buys anything from Wal-Mart

Dude! Gun racks and beef jerky, two things nobody can live without!

looks like it bitstreams the HD codes and the loading isnt bad, per some guys testing it in the AVS forums.

not bad , and cheap, specially for a second player