There are new specials each day, so be sure to check back in.

In addition to the current sale, they’ve also published a preview of what they’ll be offering on Black Friday – in stores and online.

In stores only you’ll be able to grab a Sharp LC-42SV49U 42″ Class LCD 1080p HDTV for $199.99, a Toshiba BDX2150 Smart Blu-ray Player for $39.99, a 15.6″ Samsung Laptop with an Intel Pentium CPU, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB HDD for $299.99, and the one I think is the most tempting, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Android tablet for only $249.99.

Also available in stores, the HTC ThunderBolt 4G LTE on Verizon for free with a 2-year activation and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Blu-ray just $9.99. These will also be made available online – the Thunderbolt on Thursday and the Blu-ray on Friday.

They’ve listed specials that will be available online starting Thursday, 11/24, without revealing the prices. There will be deals on the Dynex 32″ Class LED 720p HDTV, a 15.6″ Gateway Laptop with Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB HDD, the Dell Streak 7″ Android Tablet, a Dell desktop PC with Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and an 18.5″ widescreen LCD monitor, the FujiFilm FinePix AX350 16MP Camera, a Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, the Tritton AX120 Headset, and the Nintendo Wii Console with New Super Mario Bros. Wii Game and Music CD. Check back Thursday for the pricing.

There are yet more deals, way too many to list here, so check out their webpage for the full listing. More HDTVs, laptops, PCs, phones, tablets, cameras, hard drives, flash drives, washers & dryers, PlayStation 3, games, etc.

This is good for everyone – industry and consumer – but my earlier diatribe stands. I think Full HD Passive systems will be better in the long run than active shutter systems, standard glasses or not.

Via TWICE.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

They dropped a press release about the promotion:

Dec 19, 2007 08:00 ET

VUDU Offers Free Boxes to Customers Who Purchase Select AQUOS 1080p High Definition LCD TVs Through Vudu.com

Access the World’s Biggest Assortment of High Quality Digital Content on Select Sharp AQUOS LCD TVs During Limited Holiday Promotion

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ — VUDU Inc., the company that brings instant access to video entertainment to the living room, announced today that they will offer a free VUDU box to customers who purchase select models of the AQUOS high definition televisions through Vudu.com over the holidays.

The free VUDU box will be offered through January 5, 2008 on purchases of Sharp AQUOS televisions with 42″ or larger screens. (visit http://www.vudu.com/sharp.html for details)

“This holiday offer guarantees that new owners of the finest high definition product in the world will have direct access to lots of great content with superior picture quality,” said Bob Scaglione, senior vice president and group manager, Product and Marketing Group, Sharp Electronics Corporation. “Through this offer, new AQUOS owners will be able to instantly enjoy thousands of movie titles, television content and more on a pay as you go basis.”

Just last week, VUDU became the first service to offer an HD movie for digital purchase on the same day and date as the title was released on both Blu-ray and HD DVD high definition formats at retail stores.

“We’re adding loads of HD quality content to the VUDU service so AQUOS owners will have thousands of new and classic movies, TV shows and more from which to choose. HD movies will be lighting up high definition screens everywhere across America this holiday season,” said Tony Miranz, VUDU’s Co-founder and EVP of Sales and Business Development.

The company is also currently offering a limited number of television programs that are available on demand at a per-episode price. VUDU plans to expand its offering of television content in 2008 as well.

For VUDU titles that are not natively in HD format, VUDU up-scales content to a quality comparable to 1080i/1080p24 for a picture quality that is superior to an over-the-air broadcast and better than most DVDs. Because the box is always connected to the Internet, VUDU can continually update the quantity and quality of the content available to customers. Each week, new content is added to the VUDU service giving consumers instant access to the new content they most want to watch.

About VUDU

VUDU is dedicated to bringing instant access to the best in video entertainment to every living room, including both television and theatrical releases. Through relationships with TV networks, every major US movie studio, and more than 22 independent studios and distributors, VUDU offers the optimal home entertainment experience for consumers. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley. http://www.vudu.com/

Source: VUDU Inc.

CONTACT: Tara Wagner of SutherlandGold Group, Tara@sutherlandgold.com,
+1-917-509-5399, for VUDU Inc.

Web site: http://www.vudu.com/