LG's "Super Blu" BH200 HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player now available

After a slight delay and a false alarm, LG has finally announced that its "Super Blu" BH200 HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player is now available at retailers nationwide, for the not so low price of $999. In addition to playing both HD formats, the player also has the somewhat notable distinction of being the first player to support Blu-ray profile 1.1, although you'll still have to wait a while to take advantage of that particular feature. Otherwise, you'll get full 1080p support (including upscaling of DVDs), HDMI 1.3, component and composite video outputs, digital optical and analog audio outputs, and a LAN port, not to mention a USB port on the front for impromptu slide shows or music playback. Now, if only they'd work on getting the cost down to something less than the combined cost of an HD DVD and Blu-ray player, we'd be all set.

[Loban @ Dec 10th 2007 2:27PM]

If one format or the other doesn't die before combo players hit the $500 mark, i'll get one.

[Joseph @ Dec 10th 2007 5:32PM]

do it now, and get 2 players for

[Joseph @ Dec 10th 2007 5:33PM]

apparently less than is HTML and engadget blocked the rest of my post.

Less than $500

[Neil @ Dec 10th 2007 2:28PM]

Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray has seen prices for their players come down so much that it's hard to really see the point in this player when its price is so high.

[Electromodo @ Dec 10th 2007 2:48PM]

Exactly. A $100 Toshiba HD-DVD player has almost the same features as this player (except for 1080p - it has 1080i) and costs just $100-$200. I've got one and I am very happy.

Now I am planning to get PS3 for $400 that has a Blu-Ray, and I am all set on both format + game console... for $600 instead of $1000.

So I can not find a way to justify $999 for this combined player.

[MrGuru @ Dec 10th 2007 2:29PM]

actually the panasonic bdp30 is the 1st 1.1 player.

[theefman @ Dec 10th 2007 2:33PM]

The LG is not the first profile 1.1 player, the panasonic bd30 is. Also the LG is currently unable to send decoded Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD MA multichannel audio over HDMI or send a bitstream of these audio formats. More information here:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/discplayers/1207lg200/

Waiting for a firmware update for profile 1.1, possible update for profile 2.0, hoping for an update for TrueHD and DTS HD MA - in its present state at a price of $999 you are well advised not to waste your money.

[Ty @ Dec 10th 2007 2:42PM]

Lower the price to $799.99 and I can see people actually buying this. Better do it soon before people pick sides!

[Naveed @ Dec 10th 2007 2:45PM]

ridiculous price. there is an LG optical drive that does the same thing, which goes for $300.00. $600.00 more for the player is ridiculous. I just put together parts for my friends HTPC and when all said and done it came out to a little north of 800.00 (core2duo e6750, EVGA mobo w/ built in graphics and HDMI included).

[WCanyon @ Dec 10th 2007 3:10PM]

I had no idea it was that cheap. He's right: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

[Erwos @ Dec 10th 2007 3:12PM]

That price probably doesn't include the player software (the OEM version that comes with the LG drive is crippled in terms of audio) or a video card that can actually handle full-bitrate H.264 with no frame drops.

[andyo @ Dec 10th 2007 4:15PM]

Most Current Core 2 duo processors are able to handle any HD video just fine without the HD cards. If anything, the E6750 is way overkill. I have my HTPC with a Pentium Dual Core (Allendale, I think) running at 2.25 GHz and it can handle HD H.264 all right. If you do need an HD decoding card, those are dirt cheap too.

[MooseMuffin @ Dec 10th 2007 5:25PM]

Why is this so cheap? More importantly, why don't more people know about it? $300 is cheap enough to be a no-brainer purchase for anyone who has or is building a htpc.

[aaron @ Dec 11th 2007 12:19AM]

The 300 lg player is no panacea. You get crap OEM PowerDVD software and the paid software recently took away the option to easily play HD content from the HD (now you need to mount ISOs). I also have had difficulty playing several Blu-Rays. This does not even mention the crap, downsampled audio to 48khz from PowerDVD and absolutely no 7.1 Digital transmission to a receiver.

Same the headaches and get the $200 HDA3 or $300 Blu-Ray device.

[Heffer @ Dec 10th 2007 2:50PM]

Before ppl pick sides?!

The point of this player makes it moot.

Let the Stalemate begin!

[Scooter @ Dec 10th 2007 3:35PM]

point being, once a side is picked nobody will be bothered with a dual player; would you have bought a VHS-BETA combo in 1990?

[Heffer @ Dec 10th 2007 7:28PM]

The physical medium of a VHS and Beta were grossly different.

The physical medium of Blu-ray and HD DVD can use the same tray--along with DVDs, VCDs, and CDs. More practical to build a hybrid than the sample you gave.

This war is closer to DVD-RW +/- and DVD-R +/-, which ended in a stalemate.

War won't be decided by this holiday. By next X-mas this player will have drastically dropped.

[Rob @ Dec 10th 2007 3:09PM]

For $999? No thank you. For the first time I see a combo that is more expensive than the cost of the separate units. I'm a Blu-Ray supporter. End even if I wanted to venture into the HD-DVD side, this player would have to be under $500 for me to consider. And, that's including the 5 freebies from both sides.

[Brian @ Dec 10th 2007 3:20PM]

No big deal here. Samsung has their combo player at $799, due by the end of the month.

[shelterpaw @ Dec 10th 2007 3:38PM]

To combo or to PS3 & HD-DVD, that is the question.

[DonatoM3 @ Dec 10th 2007 3:48PM]

PS3 and HD-DVD duh. You can buy a PS3, Xbox 360 and the HD-DVD add on for the 360 for $100 less than that single player. That way you get two game systems, both of which can also act as Media extenders.

[Harry Brener @ Dec 16th 2007 3:49AM]

Consider that the Samsung BD-UP5000 has the HQV chip, decodes all high-end audio codecs, AND can send analog audio via 7.1 outputs in addition to HDMI, for $799 and no, you can't do better with two separate units. No HD-DVD player has 7.1 outputs (for those of us who don't want to spend to replace a perfectly excellent receiver with one that has HDMI 1.3). Only the XA2 and the A35 have 5.1 outputs (looking at $500), and only the Panasonic x10a has 7.1 on the bluray side ($400 minimum price). BTW, how many receivers have more than one set of multichannel analog inputs? A new unit with HDMI will cost at least $440.

I'm waiting for the Samsung!

[shelterpaw @ Dec 16th 2007 1:58PM]

Harry,

Thanks for the info. That makes more sense as I have a 7.1 channel pre processor, the Outlaw 990. It doesn't have HDMI, but it does have DVI, so have the 7.1 analog channels will make a big difference.

[excaliburunited007 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:10PM]

I really want an HD DVD player now but I'm gonna have to wait until I pay off my LG Voyager...

And yeah this is pretty much useless to me.

[Tosh @ Dec 10th 2007 4:41PM]

Ive read on best buy that the LG player could not play newly formated blu ray discs, and they told their customers who bought it they would send an update disc which they didn't for awhile. I don't know if they did or didn't but Samsung comes out with a Blu Ray / HD DVD hybrid mid January for $799.

[Allan @ Dec 10th 2007 5:24PM]

So do I end up getting the 5 free BluRay discs and 5 free HD-DVDs if a buy this??

[droopy1592 @ Dec 10th 2007 6:00PM]

I don't think it's expensive enough.

[Wolfticket @ Dec 11th 2007 7:56AM]

10 English pence says this format war goes the way of +R/-R.