Let's not forget, the PS3 can't be completely controlled by a universal remote.

The S350 was announced at $349 and the S550 in the fall) at $449. That would mean Sony officially lowering the BDP-300 to $299 (or $349 for unsuspecting buyers).

Wait...Panasonic's play is due out any day? Seriously? I thought it was due out in May?

Edit: According to Robert from VE, they are due out in June now. Not surprising, with HD DVD dead, they might as well take as long as they need to clean out all of their 1.0/1.1 stock of players.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=959

Gotta decide between this, or the S350 + new Bravia HTIB.

I hadn't heard about the delay, disappointing. I'll update the player thread.

Delays sure seem to be the norm since Profile 1.1 supposedly took effect last October. For all those next gen players announced at the CES, only the Denons have actually hit the market, so far as I have seen.

I wonder if the supply problems for the BD30 might mean that there is a "BD31" in the works (at a higher price, of course), or some such thing. Just speculating...

I agree with this in almost every respect (I'd change "most people" to a less categorical "many people").

I understand that some PS3 owners would like to have their expensive purchase validated by having others buy it also. But the simple fact is that the PS3 is not suitable for many home theater applications, due to its limitations. And not everyone wants a video game machine anyway. For those that do, the PS3 is a good compromise because it is also a good BD player.

The PS3 should be supplanted by other players once they become more available and less expensive. How and when this happens remains to be seen.

I bought a PS3 solely for the BR player. I know several others that did the same.

No way, I am buying a SA player for over $200. I will wait it out.

This is where M$ really hurt themselves. A lot of people will buy PS3 for the BD player. I only own 360 games but now I might pick up one or two titles for my PS3, why not?

I own a PS3 as well...just for Blu-ray. It makes the most sense right now.

While you can argue if you own a PS3 you are likely to game on it, you probably won't be buying titles that are on both systems, but just PS3 exclusives. Thats not really going to hurt Microsoft at all.

I have a PS3 also, bought it for my first Blu-ray player. I ended up getting a few games, not even considering if they are exclusive to a format.

You will argue both ways and get nowhere.

I bought a PS3 last year strictly for Blu-Ray. But last month my girlfriend bought me the Oblivion game. She knew I was once an RPG fan but haven't been into video games for several years (the PS1 was my last system). I'm sad to say I haven't watched a movie for three weeks since I'm now obsessed with this game. Games have come a long way since I stopped playing. The 6 Blu-Ray titles I ordered in the recent Columbia House BOGO are still unopened on my shelf. In fact, with the looks she's been giving me lately, I think she's starting to regret the gift.

Damn you Playstation! Why can't you just play movies only?

I've got 2 HD DVD players and would be happy to add a BD player, but not 'til the price for a full featured player hits ~ $199; rising prices will keep me out of the market. Maybe next year......I can wait.

Rising price of Blu Ray players may be because of the weak dollars as well, from an article in the NYtimes:

Well, if Blu-ray wants to hopefully replace DVD, they need to keep prices as low as possible so people will buy it, then buy movies, and then buy additional players, and then additional movies. Raising prices is not helping their cause, only hurting it. They need to get ANY player at $299 in May when those refund checks get sent out. I know my $600 is going towards one + a new HTIB.

I thought you already had a Blu-ray player, Giz. Hold out for the S350 then.

I completely agree,my A35 does a great job upconverting .

I have to disagree with aintnosin: I think his opinion might be wishful thinking but I hope he is right(but I doubt it). It's a business and it's all about the money. If I'm BD I leave prices where they are and with the new players I raise the prices and say it's cause of the 2.0 profile. I would do this soon because of tax refunds coming. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If we (consumers) buy the players at that price(which by the look of things we(consumers) we will) then big profit(for them). If we don't they lower the prices and give some reason for it and they look like the good guy.

I hope I'm wrong but for now I'm with pmreed, I will go BD when I can get full featured player for what I bought the A35 for($149 ).
How we as consumers react in the next few months will dictate how soon that happens. If store(and internet) shelves are any indication(out of stock) , I have a feeling it will be later than sooner .
Just my two cents.

I just picked up two of them at Costco yesterday for $449.00 each w/ free HDMI cable.

I have a PS3. I want a stand alone player, not a video game system in my HT. The S550 does not impress me for the $100 extra and 2-4 month wait time (if it came out the same day as the S350 I would probably get it). The S350 is what I most likely will buy.

The Costco near my house has only carried Sony models when I've checked, but I'll go take a look to see if they've recently switched. Thanks for the tip.

My Costco has only ever carried the Sony BDP300 and the Toshiba A2/A3 models. Nothing else. Its a pretty damn big Costco too.

That reminds me. My $600 rebate check will go towards one of Sony's new LCD models, which I believe some of them drop in the Spring.

Regarding player prices, it appears what they are doing is releasing the new version at the price point of the previous version, but are adding features. For example, and this isn't completely confirmed, but it appears the Panasonic BD-50 will arrive with a list of $599, and adds DTS HD MA/TrueHD decoding + of course, being 2.0. I believe the BD30 debuted with a list of $599 as well, but lacked decoding. Supposedly, once the BD50 is released, the BD30 will drop anywhere from $50-$100 and then the BD50 will sell for around the $499 price point.

So they get to keep pricing on the same level now, but they are adding features.

It looks like Sony and Panasonic are following the same strategy of having a low-end/high-end combo of players.

I have the BD30, but may still add the Sony 350. I enjoy Sony products, so I wouldn't mind matching everything. And yes, that means I would use a Sony amp. I liked their 910 receiver. I'm looking forward to their $400 820 model which will decode everything and have 4 HDMI!

What Sony HTIB were you looking at?

But if HD DVD was still around, would they still be replacing old models with the new models at the same price point? I imagine they would continue to get lower and lower in price. But, whatever.

I have been looking at the Sony SS2000 HTIB. It would match the BDP300/500, but I may wait for the newer version of that (SS2250 I think its called) to match the S350 when it comes out in a few months. It will have a $399 price point, and that coupled with the S350 would only be $800 sans various coupons at Best Buy.

According to someone on AVS....

While the poster needs to learn how to format sentences correctly, this is what I have heard from a buddy who works at Best Buy. He, like some of the other posters on AVS said, assumes it will just be the Funani player rebadged.

Wait for a standalone that at least handles java the same way the PS3 does. My standalone Sharp never gets used for this reason and the super slow boot time.

I personally think the PS3 looks great in the HT rack, but that is just me and I have no universal remote to hassle with like many.

You have a remote for every piece of equipment? I haven't seen that in years.

I love all of my remotes and hope to never have to give them up!!

The Harmony 880 is the single greatest home theater purchase I've ever made. I couldn't live without it anymore.

My XA2 remote is amazing...best remote ever.