Hands-on with LG's BH200 HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player

Ah, LG's newest peace-maker. This beauty, which was unveiled just days ago, was set up nice and proper over at the firm's CEDIA booth in Denver, and we couldn't resist snapping a few pictures to give you all a look at what $999 will buy. In the player itself was the HD DVD of Superman, and it looked as good as expected. You know the drill, dive on in below.

Hands-on with LG's BH200 HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2007 4:29PM]

this needs to come out (and hit $500) asap

[Bozzylicious Posted Sep 6th 2007 4:41PM]

I would buy this to replace 2 players in my living room, but I just simply can't justify buying anything that is an incomplete product. If Blu-Ray part was Profile 1.1 compatible (possibly like PS3), meaning it would get all the features that HD DVD has, even if it's down the road, I would considering getting it for like $500-$700 but come on a $1000 for a player that won't allow me to play many features, what's the point?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2007 5:23PM]

Looks kind of jank. For $1000 i'd want something more stylish.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2007 6:18PM]

Do think the LG or the Samsung Hybrid player will be better? Any opinions? I wonder if Samsung is shwoing it's Hybrid player at Cedia?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 8th 2007 2:31AM]

If both have same price tag, of course LG is better because we could clearly see it in CEDIA, BH200 seems to have better picture quality both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

[KC Posted Sep 6th 2007 7:11PM]

So, let me see here... For the price of this I can have an X-Box 360 plus HD-DVD add-on and a PS3 and games for each system

or

I can buy a two stand alone BD players AND and HD-DVD player just in case

or

For the HD-DVD fans, 3 refurb Toshiba HD-DVD players and a BD player just in case

$1000 is WAY out of touch with where the market is right now for stand alone players and these will not fly at that price.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2007 8:50PM]

$1000 reflects the true price. $500 for the BD section and $500 for the HD-DVD section without subsidizing.

Either way you are way better off getting a standalone HD player and a stand alone BD player. I felt no remorse getting a PS3 for less than cost and I won't feel bad getting a HD-DVD player for less than cost.

[KC Posted Sep 6th 2007 11:30PM]

Um, that might be true if it had two complete chip sets and to Blue laser diodes, but it doesn't. The only difference here is that LG (and Samsung) has to pay royalties to both camps and include software for both formats.

The extra cost on this is whatever the royalties for HD-DVD are above a stand alone BD player as the hardware is pretty darn close for both formats.

SO maybe an extra hundred at retail, but $1000 bucks isn't going to cut it when stand alone players are rapidly coming down in price for both camps - though they are dropping faster for HD-DVD.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 9th 2007 1:20AM]

Thanks for the feedback SJ.If you don't have the space a Hybrid player is a nice solution. It's not for everyone but it's nice to have the option.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 7th 2007 11:17AM]

I keep reading that the dual player (Samsung or LG) is higher than 2 separate players & that is true is you are buying an A-2 & PS3 or S-300. It isn't true if you want quality upconversion & all the features that the Samsung BD-up5000 will give you. It has the same chip as the Toshiba XA2. So to match all the features in the Samsung, you would need to buy the XA2 at approx $530 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000M6XKEK/km-20/ref=nosim) & a Sony BDP S-1 At $639 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000DZS0G8/interactiveda633-20).

If all I want is the cheapest HD-DVD (an A-2 for approx $230 & Sony BDP 300 for about $450) - then everyone is absolutely correct. Unfortunately these players don't have the features I want * to get them, I would spend more buying 2 ($1169) instead of one at $1000.