Sub-$300 Blu-ray Player Coming (or Possibly Already Here)

For those of you who frequent our web forums, you may have noticed users reporting seeing a Magnavox branded Blu-ray Disc player at local Wal-Mart stores for under $300. Sources have now confirmed that Wal-Mart will showcase the Magnavox NB500MG9 for $298 for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, making it the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market. The player, which is manufactured by Funai, is a BonusView (Profile v1.1) player, meaning it supports playback of picture-in-picture features found on many Blu-ray discs. The player also supports 1080p24 video output and decoding of Dolby TrueHD audio. Best Buy will also release their own version of the player under their Insignia brand later this year for $350. No word on how these two players will differ.
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caliblue15  » May 15, 2008
Why, oh Why, no BD-live capability? for $20 you can stick an ethernet and some memory, come on.

BluPayne4400  » May 15, 2008
Hmmm dunno about this. If just jumping into the BD game i still rather just pay $100 more and get a PS3. If looking to just throw into another room may be a money saver

nycomet  » May 15, 2008
WOW! Great Price for this BD player.

LOTR07  » May 15, 2008
Just what BD needed is a sub $300 player that will appeal to the yuk yuk's at Walmart. This is great news as the economy needs a little boost. Not going out this summer buy this and stay home and watch good quality movies..........

Ben  » May 15, 2008
Why oh why no BD-Live capability? Because less than half of all BD owners will ever even bother to connect their player to the net. Additionally, do you think many folks who are looking for a budget BD player will be too interested in having CAT 5 dropped in behind their TV? No, probably not.

bkbluray  » May 15, 2008
This is very good, regardless if its only 1.1.

Dyana B  » May 15, 2008

I, along with a few other members on this site, have purchased the Philips BDP-7200, which also happens to be Profile v1.1. The player also happens to support 1080p/24, as well as it being able to bitstream (via HDMI) all of the hi-def audio codecs. It's available at Sam's Club for the amazing price of $334.00. I'm actually quite surprised that many other members have not looked into this incredible player... This may or may not be the place to post this bit of information, however, I just wanted to make others aware of this, in hopes of providing other members with another alternative player that seems to be dismissed...

keene6132  » May 15, 2008
Quote from Ben: Why oh why no BD-Live capability? Because less than half of all BD owners will ever even bother to connect their player to the net. Additionally, do you think many folks who are looking for a budget BD player will be too interested in having CAT 5 dropped in behind their TV? No, probably not. END Quote. Amen!

Blu-ray Fanatic  » May 15, 2008
This type of BD player is made for people who just want a standard BD player with no special features.

kknight  » May 15, 2008
Awesome!! This is what Blu-ray needs, an inexpensive player for users who aren't willing to fork up $400+ for a BD Player... I bet this is going to be a big hit on memorial weekend!! I can see the news now, BD stand-alone players increase by 300%!! :-)

Blu-ray Fanatic  » May 15, 2008
I wonder how long the loading time will be for this player.

Blu-ray Fanatic  » May 15, 2008
I would get this player but I'd rather get the PS3 because it's an all in one player.

Blu-ray Fanatic  » May 15, 2008
Maybe I'll buy it for the downstairs tv even though it's only HD compatible.

LOTR07  » May 15, 2008
Analog outs? if so must buy

Lucy Diamond  » May 15, 2008
BD-Live is evil. They are watching you.

Rainman208  » May 15, 2008
I'll keep an eye on this player. If the load times are decent and there aren't too many bugs or playback issues I might recommend this to a lot of people who have been asking me when to jump in on Blu-ray but don't want ot shell out $400 for a PS3 even though it's the one I recommend the strongest.

Salinger  » May 15, 2008
When is Memorial Day?

Sith  » May 15, 2008

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If your going to WALMART to buy a stand alone blu ray player, you'll get the same quality you always get from walmart....NONE... Won't even decode pcm or dts-hd..... And seriously do we really think the Walmart customer that looks for a $300 stand alone player is gonna be willing to pay the price to buy new blu's..... We want customers that will buy software, so that the price of new releases goes down...

shaka  » May 16, 2008	Show comment Hide comment
Cheaper could only mean crappier just look at the quality of hd duds remenber.

DrXym  » May 16, 2008
It's $298 now. In a few months from now it will be $250. By Christmas it will be $200. Walmart are just selling it high because the pressure from brand names isn't really there yet. It will be soon enough as a pile more models appear pushing the older ones into the $300-350 territory.

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