Orange County Register

Wow, I just noticed that Blu-ray DVD players have really been dropping in price.

What sparked my search was news that Sherwood America, based in Cerritos, just introduced its first Blu-ray DVD player for $299.95. The  BDP-500 is pictured below (photo courtesy of Sherwood):

Sherwood’s model has 1080p video playback and lossless audio from both Dolby and DTS. It also plays regular DVDs by upscaling their quality so video appears high-def. The $299 price is MSRP, by the way, so when the player is actually available next month, chances are the ’street price’ will be less. 

Blu-ray is the remaining high-def DVD technology, having won the VHS-vs.-Beta-like war against HD DVD format earlier this year. Maybe that’s why prices have finally come down from the intial $1,000.

Over at Amazon, there are quite a few Blu-ray players for under $300, including the Sony BDP-S350 for $278, the Samsung BD-P1500 for $225, Sony BDP-S300 for $249 and, well, pretty much every player is under $300.

The cheapest at Buy.com is $217, the Samsung BD-P1500, with free shipping.

But the best deal I could find on the Web was at a site I’ve never shopped at, the Consumer Depot, selling the Sony BDP-S300 for $169 (what, no remote?) 

Of course, these players should get even cheaper because it’s technology and, well, you know, technology prices always fall. Plus, I’m sure there will be a ton of deals for the holidays.  Besides, the movies aren’t that cheap at around $20 each so the boxes should be getting cheaper.

Hopefully this all means that Sony will soon be dropping the price of its $399 PlayStation 3, which has a built-in Blu-ray drive. 

Do I hear $100?

More deal-related posts:

• New free tool to quickly find best credit card deal
• AT&T offers free Wi-Fi to all broadband customers
• My own list of free tech stuff online
• How to save money: Tips from around the web
• Avoid overdraft fees with free mobile-phone service

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