Gizmo Lovers Blog » Sylvania

Buy Four Warner Blu-ray Discs And A Player, Save $100

MegaZone — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:03:03 +0000

Amazon is running another Blu-ray sale, this time you buy any four of 22 Warner Blu-ray discs along with an eligible player, and you save $100 by entering code AMAZONBD when you check out. The Blu-ray titles range in price from $16.95 to $25.95. There are three eligible players: the 80GB Sony PlayStation 3 for $399.99, the Sylvania NB500SL9 for $199.98, and the Samsung BD-P1500 for $211.73.

Personally I don’t think the Sylvania is worth consideration. It is a Profile 1.1 deck, one of the many rebadged versions of the Funai NB500. With the Profile 2.0 Samsung less than $12 more, there is no point in considering the Sylvania. So it really comes down to the PS3 vs. the BD-P1500. They’re both Profile 2.0 / BD-Live with the latest firmware. The PS3 is generally reviewed as one of the best, if not the best, BD deck available, but the Samsung is no slouch either. So if you’ll use the PS3s other features – gaming, broadband content downloads, etc, enough to justify the extra ~$200, go with that. Otherwise the Samsung is a solid choice and a good value.

According to the offer details, it is running through December 31, 2008. Though I expect they may shuffle the products available in the bundle over the next few months.

From Blu-ray.com

Blu-ray Player Prices Falling

MegaZone — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:07:32 +0000

I’ve said before that Blu-ray player pricing would drop this fall as we head into the holiday shopping season, and it sounds like Sony will be kicking off the trend in September. HD Guru, citing an unconfirmed report by Consumer Electronics Daily, says that Sony will cut the MSRP on their BDP-S350 by $100, from $399 to $299, on September 28, 2008. The BDP-S350 is a full-featured, Profile 2.0 / BD-Live player.

Sony will also reportedly introduce the previously announced BDP-S550 with an MSRP of $399, instead of the expected $499 price point, in mid-October.

The price reductions will certainly result in competitive pressure on other vendors.

In fact, HD Guru reports that Funai will cut the MSRP of their NB500 from $299 to $249 to remain competitive. The NB500 is a Profile 1.1 / BonusView player sold in the US under the brands Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania, Insignia, and others.

Since these are the MSRP prices the players will almost certainly be available for less online, and even at retail. While the NB500′s MSRP has been $299, it has been selling normally at stores such as Wal*Mart and Best Buy (under the other brands) for $280 or less. So the cut to MSRP will likely result in a further reduction in retail pricing.

I expect that this is just the beginning of price cuts for the holidays. With the inevitable sales, there should be some good deals on Blu-ray players. And the price cuts on BD-Live units will finally make them competitive with the PS3, unless Sony also cuts the pricing on those. While an entry-level PS3 remains $400, with the BDP-S350 at $300 (and less online) it becomes an option to consider.

From HD Guru via Gizmodo.

Funai Electric Also Signs Cable MOU

MegaZone — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:00:30 +0000

I posted this morning about LG Electronics signing the cable MOU on tru2way. Well, it looks like Funai Electric has also signed it. You may not be familiar with the Funai name, but Funai markets their products under the Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania, and Emerson brand names and also provides ‘store brand’ units such as Insignia for Best Buy and Pye for Circuit City.

Picked up from TWICE.