Popular Options for Blu-ray Players

Now that you can find Blu-ray players at Wal*Mart for less than $150 we thought it would be a good idea to present five slightly more expensive options that you may want to consider. Spending a little more can get you a more capable player that won't feel obsolete by Christmas.

PlayStation 3 120 GB ($300 Street Price)

The PS3 120GB system is a Blu-ray player and more. You get free PlayStation Network membership, built-in Wi-Fi and 120GB of hard disk drive storage for games, music, videos and photos. And now the PS3 has support for bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio tracks.

Features

• HDMI + Bravia Sync functionality that provides both 1080p output resolution, and instant in-sync connectivity between your PS3 and other Sony HDMI enabled products without the use of multiple remote controls.
• A new 33% slimmer, 36% lighter PlayStation 3 entertainment system that is also more energy efficient.
• Includes a Dualshock 3 wireless controller and a built-in 120GB HDD for storing games, music, videos, and photos.
• Built-in Wi-Fi for connectivity anywhere and multiple media format compatibility, including Blu-ray for crystal clear video on High-Definition TVs, CD-ROM, DVD, and others.
• Free membership and access to all the events, as well as game, movie, TV and other media content available on the PlayStation Network (PSN).

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player ($195 Street Price)

A capable sub $200 player that supports profile 2.0, Next Generation Audio, and Panasonic's VieraCast. It has great performance but load times are a little slow. You'll also need to add a 1GB or larger SD card for BD Live support.

Features

• Viera Cast connecting you with YouTube, Picasa, Weather.
• BD-Live
• SD Card Slot and USB slot
• 1080P Upconvert
• Film makers version with PHL Chip for accurate color

Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player ($210 Street Price)

The Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Disc player supports BD-Live technology, Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs. Unfortunately the player has slow load times, no Internet streaming and no Wifi Support.

Features

• Blu-ray Disc player with Full HD 1080p output for Blu-ray Discs and upconversion of standard DVD video to 1080p
• BD Live capable for accessing bonus content from BD-Live Blu-ray Discs via Ethernet port connected to your home network
• 24p True Cinema capable lets you watch films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second); Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD

LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player ($320 Street Price)

Posted by The HT Guys, August 27, 2009 11:14 PM