Through December 20th buy a Sharp BD-HP21 Blu-ray player from Amazon and receive the limited edition gift set of Batman Begins free. The player is a $299.99 MSRP, selling for $206.49 and the gift set is $49.99 MSRP, $32.99 Amazon price. Caveat – this is a Profile 1.1 / Bonus View Blu-ray player. No Ethernet, so no Profile 2.0 / BD-Live. It is a solid player, but personally I’d go with something like the BD-Live Samsung BD-P1500 for $199.24 and buy the movie for the extra ~$25.

This week’s “sale events” at BestBuy.com have a few deals worth mentioning. (When did a ’sale’ become a ’sale event’? Isn’t a sale by definitely an event? Anyway…) If you buy one of three Insignia 1080p HDTVs (42″ LCD $899.99, 47″ LCD $1,199.99, or 50″ plasma $1,399.99) you’ll get the Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player for just $149.99. That’s $130 off their standard $279.99 price. The NS-BRDVD is one of the many rebadged variants of the Funai NB500 unit, and it is a BonusView / Profile 1.1 player, not BD-Live / Profile 2.0.

You can also save 5% to 15% on four other Blu-ray decks. The LG BH200, which handles Blu-ray and HD DVD discs (for those of you who made the mistake of investing in HD DVD media), normally $599.99 is now $509.99. The Panasonic DMP-DB30K Blu-ray deck, normally $399.99, is $359.99. The Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray deck, also normally $399.99, is $339.99. And finally the Sharp AQUOS BD-HP20U, yet again normally $399.99, is $379.99.

Personally I can’t recommend the LH BH200 to anyone who doesn’t have a number of HD DVD discs they still need to play. It just isn’t a good value as a Blu-ray player, and it is BonusView / Profile 1.1 only, despite having an Ethernet port and supporting Internet connectivity for HD DVD. While the Ethernet port means it is possible it could be upgraded to BD-Live someday, it doesn’t seem likely as LG has really stopped work on this family with the death of HD DVD.

The Sharp unit is not only the most expensive of the remaining three, but also the least capable, being just Basic Profile / Profile 1.0, and not even BonusView. Give it a pass. The Panasonic DMP-BD30K is a nice player, but it is also only BonusView and as it lacks an Ethernet port it will never be updated to support it. The one recommendation for the Panasonic is that it has 5.1 analog audio output.

The real pick here is the Samsung. Not only is it the least expensive, but it is the most advanced of the lot. It is ‘BD-Live Ready’, which means that while it is BonusView-only today, Samsung plans to add BD-Live support via a firmware update.

An array of Blu-ray news today.

Opus Arte, a distributor specializing in ‘high-art’ titles (Swan Lake, Strauss: Die Fledermaus, and the like), has previously been exclusively HD DVD. However, they’re going neutral, adding Blu-ray Disc to their high-def releases. Their first Blu-ray title, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummers Night’s Dream, previously released on HD DVD last November, will hit in March. Via High-Def Digest.

Sharp announced a new generation of Blu-ray laser diodes which will support 4x-6x BD recording. A 3.3mm version will be used in laptop drives, and a 5.6mm version in desktop drives. Mass production begins in April, with a monthly production capacity of 700,000 diodes. Products using these new diodes should hit in the second half of the year. The Sharp press release, via I4U, by way of Blu-ray.com.

It looks like Spain is really turning Blu. Previously distributors Manga Films, Filmax and Tripictures went Blu, and now another Spanish distributor, Cameo, can be added to the list. They’re currently preparing a version of the BBC’s Planet Earth for the Spanish market. Additionally, the largest Spanish online movie retailer, DVDgo, has added a Blu-ray tab to their site. (No HD DVD tab.) From PlanetaHD, via Blu-ray.com.

Signamtek has announced a less expensive standalone Blu-ray player for the European market. The SBR-1000 is expected to retail for under €250 when it hits the street in April. That should make it the new low bar in BD player pricing for Europe. From Presence PC via Blu-ray.com.

Hollywood in High-Def has an interview with big name producer/writer Dean Devlin about why he prefers Blu-ray. Via Blu-ray.com.

Finally, The Register reports on a survey done by PriceGrabber.com about high-def player adoption. Their survey of 2185 people concluded that the main issue limiting adoption has been the high prices of BD players, with 56% of those interested in going Blu holding out for lower prices. While only 19% said the format war was holding them back. 24% said they were interested in buying Blu-ray in the next 12 months, while 21% were interested in HD DVD. 14% were interested in an “integrated video game console” – which, today, means only the PS3.

I take these results with a huge grain of salt. The methodology of the survey isn’t shared, but keep in mind PriceGrabber is a comparative shopping site used mainly by those looking for the best price on an item (I use it myself). So if this survey was of PG users, it is unsurprising that they’d cite price as their main concern. But for the market at large, this has clearly not been the case. Blu-ray continues to outsell HD DVD, despite the price advantage HD DVD enjoys. And BD sales spiked after Warner’s announcement removed most of the uncertainty from the market. Of course lower prices will attract more buyers to high-def players overall. But price does not appear to currently be the deciding factor, or HD DVD would be besting Blu-ray – and quite the opposite is happening. Also, I think this survey must have been done before Warner’s announcement. I have a hard time believing nearly equal percentages of respondents said they’re looking at BD and HD DVD post-announcement. Thanks to reader Morac for the pointer to the article.

This week’s list of sales at Best Buy has a strong focus on HDTV, especially bundle deals.
1. Save $1000 when you purchase a Samsung 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV, Samsung BD-UP5000 BD/HD DVD player, Samsung 5.1 channel home theater system (expandable to 7.1), and Geek Squad installation.
2. Buy one of three Sony BRAVIA 1080p LCD HDTVs and get a free Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player ($399.99 value).
3. Buy one of six Sharp AQUOS 1080p, or one Sharp AQUOS 720p, LCD HDTVs and get a free Sharp AQUOS BD-HP20U Blu-ray player ($499.99 value).

There are a number of other HDTV related specials as well.

Unlike the HD DVD camp, which seems to have slunk off with their tail between their legs thus far, there is a ton of Blu-ray news already coming out of CES. Lots of new players being announced. Samsung announced the BP-P1500 BD player and the BD-UP5500 BD/HD DVD combo player, which update the BD-P1400 and BD-UP5000 respectively. The P1500 will be a Profile 1.1 player with extensive audio codec support and an MSRP of $399 and the UP5500 will basically share the functionality of the P1500 but adds HD DVD playback (any point to that now?) for an MSRP of $599. That’s the lowest MSRP for a combo player to date. And you now that they’ll be available for less online. The P1500 is due in June, and the UP5500 in 2H08. While they both have Ethernet ports, neither is certified as a BD-Live player. Though there is a chance they could be upgraded in the future, as they have the hardware.

Philips announced the BDP7200 a Profile 1.1 player due in April with an MSRP of only $349. I’d expect to see it for less than $300 online. I think that’s the lowest MSRP for a Blu-ray player to date.

Sharp announced the BD-HP50U Profile 1.1 player with a $699.99 MSRP. The press release makes it sound like it may support BD-Live, which would help justify that high price, but I tend to doubt it:

In addition, the BD-HP50U supports BD-ROM Profile 1.1, or BD Live, the latest version of the Blu-ray format. BD-ROM Profile 1.1 provides secondary audio and video decoders for Picture in Picture (PIP) capability, as well as an external storage.

Profile 1.1 is ‘Bonus View’ or ‘Final Standard Profile’ and not BD-Live. BD-Live is also known as Profile 2.0. I tend to think this is a press release writer crossing their wires.

Sony is releasing a $200 BD-ROM drive for PCs, the BDU-X10S, making it easier for PC owners to add Blu-ray support to their machines. They also reportedly have two BD-Live players on display in their booth, and we’ve heard yet again that the PS3 will be receiving a BD-Live update this year.

And Panasonic had a lot to share. They announced a ‘home theater in a box’ with integrated Blu-ray support, the SC-BT100. It is Profile 1.1, of course, and will be available in May – but pricing isn’t available. They also announced what they claim is the first BD-Live player, the DMP-BD50. However, they haven’t revealed pricing or availability yet. Perhaps we’ll hear more once the show officially opens tomorrow.

Picked up from numerous press releases, vendor web sites, Engadget, EngadgetHD, Gizmodo, High-Def Digest, and Blu-ray.com.

Two of this week’s sales at BestBuy.com are HDTV & Blu-ray bundles. Buy a Panasonic DMP-BD30K Blu-ray player and one of eight Panasonic HDTV models and save $500 off of the combined purchase – effectively getting the BD player free. Or buy one of seven Sharp AQUOS HDTV models and receive a Sharp AQUOS BD-HP20U Blu-ray player free – a $500 value.

With HD DVD on life support, no need to hesitate getting a Blu-ray player.

First it was Panasonic, then it was Sony, and now VUDU is using an HDTV bundle promotion to promote their products. Purchase a 42″ or larger 1080p Sharp AQUOS LCD HDTV through VUDU’s website by January 5, 2008 and receive a free VUDU box ($399 MSRP) and a $50 movie credit. They’re offering 42″, 46″, 52″ and 65″ models, with prices ranging from $1,799.00 (42″) to $7,999.00 (65″).

They dropped a press release about the promotion:
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