Meijer's brand new $99 (shipped) Blu-ray player brings joy to skinflints everywhere

Whether you want one for a cheap Father's Day gift, player for a second room, or just a low barrier to entry for Blu-ray ownership we certainly won't judge, and we suspect more than a few will be tempted by Meijer's offer of a $99 Curtis Mathes branded CMMBX130 Blu-ray player. Add on coupon code DOTMJR09 for free shipping, and its easy to over look its lack of surround sound analog outputs or Profile 2.0 support for the cheapest new Blu-ray player we've ever seen. Inside is the same Broadcom 7440 chipset that powered much higher priced players from Samsung and others in the past, so while the absolute latest in energy efficient, fast loading, BD-Live connected goodies may escape you, we figure that extra Benjamin or two in your pocket will be more than enough to compensate.

Update: Looks like it's sold out now, sorry folks!

[Via Dealnews]

[Alex @ Jun 19th 2009 11:10AM]

Woah.

[Quantumphysics @ Jun 19th 2009 8:01PM]

Guess I can't argue that PS3 is the best Blu Ray deal anymore.

[richb93 @ Jun 19th 2009 11:10AM]

Wow! Not for me as I have a PS3 but definitely amazing! They WILL sell tons of these. Hopefully with this being so cheap we'll see BD-ROM computer drives coming down in price too.

[Az1Z @ Jun 19th 2009 11:11AM]

the ones for the pc dont cost that much, although i want to see the price come down for blu-ray burners.

[The Avatar @ Jun 19th 2009 11:23AM]

That was fast... 1st post with a mention of PS3.

[Game_playa @ Jun 19th 2009 3:44PM]

PC ones cost $70...

[richb93 @ Jun 19th 2009 3:46PM]

In the UK they are around $87 USD. My apologies though I did not check the prices in quite a long time before writing that.

[Az1Z @ Jun 19th 2009 11:11AM]

cheap much? gotta love the title though

[Jay Voorhees @ Jun 19th 2009 11:18AM]

Cheep BD porn will no doubt bring much joy to skinflutes everywhere as well.

[Byrdman @ Jun 19th 2009 11:52AM]

Actually from what I have seen BD porn is not cheap at all. When I was at the Hustler store in New Orleans a couple months ago, the cheapest BD was $50!!!

[Jay Voorhees @ Jun 19th 2009 12:21PM]

byrdman, Your first problem is that you were in a hustler store.

[Byrdman @ Jun 19th 2009 12:36PM]

HAHA, that is true, but compared to the price of their DVD's, they were astronomical. The DVDs were still a bit more than they should have been, but we are only talking a few bucks, not $20-30 more.

[whatishalo? @ Jun 19th 2009 1:19PM]

Hustler has stores? What do the sales clerks look like?!

[zfurie @ Jun 19th 2009 6:29PM]

They look like Rocco and Buttman.

[Brad Clarke @ Jun 19th 2009 11:11AM]

Wow this is great news, its nice to see blu-ray players finally hit that $99.99 mark

[sacapuntas @ Jun 19th 2009 11:16AM]

We will see packs of blu-ray disks at walmart for $6 in no time....

[MarioSpitza @ Jun 19th 2009 11:25AM]

@Sacapuntas

Er, how long is 'no time'? Because basic 25-DVD packs still cost $15-$20 at stores.

Still, it's amazing how quickly BD players went down in price. Back in 2006, the cheapest was, what, $500-$600? That means that prices went down an average of $167 per year.

[Krist @ Jun 19th 2009 11:55AM]

Mario, at that rate next year they will be paying $68 to everyone and giving the players away for free! Let's hope the trend continues. I'll take a truckload please.

[David @ Jun 19th 2009 12:17PM]

Mario, I got a 100pk of DVD-R's at Costco on sale for $10.....

[BigD145 @ Jun 19th 2009 1:29PM]

It would be better if it had USB.

[Sporkinum @ Jun 19th 2009 11:18AM]

As long as the software (movies) cost more, the adoption rate will be low. That and the fact that you have to replace your display as well to get any good out of it. So it will cost at minimum, $400 for a small hd screen, $100 for the player, and then $25 or so per movie.

DVD still works for me.

[atx1980 @ Jun 19th 2009 11:45AM]

dvd up convert works great on my hd set! I am not going to spend 25-35 for a movie that i might watch 3 times

[Byrdman @ Jun 19th 2009 11:56AM]

We just got a 40 inch Samsung 1080p TV a few days ago. Now I have a Blu-ray player at my apartment, but my girlfriend doesn't and really doesn't care about it, so we got a Toshiba XDE upconverting player to go with that TV. after watching the movie Taken, which I on on Blu-ray, on both Blu-ray and upconverted DVD, you have to be blind not to see the difference in PQ. I can barely watch DVDs on an HDTV now. They look like bootlegs after watching Blu-ray

[tcc3 @ Jun 19th 2009 12:18PM]

ATX - If thats your argument, why buy the movie at all?

[BigD145 @ Jun 19th 2009 1:29PM]

My DVD player was $40 and has USB support. That's all I need.

[Irfan @ Jun 19th 2009 3:27PM]

people have to buy new displays? have you not noticed the sales in HDTVs the last few years? they are all pretty capable of showing the difference between BR and DVD.

You really think the people buying this for $99 are gonna care about getting the absolute best PQ? no, its for people that have cheap HDTVs and wanted a cheap BR player. now they can have it.

[jerry.hernandez @ Jun 19th 2009 3:18PM]

That is a good point. Often times the change seems so easy but there are other factors that might be needed but are not accounted for. In regards to the blue ray player you might need the upgraded t.v. to enjoy the blue ray experience and of course the blue ray disks (which are not cheap). Regardless people will always want the latest technology and every option that comes with it.
For all of you who DVD players or even Dvds you no longer wan t to own you can place them for sale on our site for free www.verblist.net. We specialize in online classified ads.
Hope we can be of help,
Thnx everyone,
-verblist

[Jon Acheson @ Jun 19th 2009 3:41PM]

There are plenty of Blu-Ray movies available at $15 or less these days.

Just don't buy retail on the day it comes out, and you'll do OK. In particular, Amazon has periodic sales where you can often find good deals.

[ET @ Jun 19th 2009 6:21PM]

40 inch is so tiny

[poppadot @ Jun 20th 2009 1:51PM]

"cost at minimum, $400 for a small hd screen, $100 for the player, and then $25 or so per movie."

my math says that is about $600 bucks for a base setup and 4 bd?
If I calculate correctly thats down from $4000/$900/$50 in about 16 months for the same items?
or: from 5200 to 600? in 16 mos?
I firmly predict blu ray free in cereal boxes by 2011 according to this curve

[Nick Ritch @ Jun 19th 2009 11:19AM]

I think I used to have a Curtis Mathes TV. It was one of those huge oak consoles where the lid would flip open to give you access to its 8 track, record player and radio on the top. I didn't know the brand was still around.

[Jeremy @ Jun 19th 2009 11:36AM]

It's not. The name is licensed. Just liked Atari, Commodore, Westinghouse, Packard Bell and so many others. Westinghouse for example actually still has part of initial 100 yr old company in place but most all the products you see are 3rd party companies that have nothing to do with them except they license the name.

Whats the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to build a brand? License a well-know but defunct brand's name.

=)

[RijilV @ Jun 19th 2009 11:22AM]

man I totally miss Meijers, that place rocked!

[Christian @ Jun 19th 2009 12:00PM]

Yeah, I just came by here to say that Meijer is the greatest store in the world. Ever. Love the Meijer!

[Dan Davis @ Jun 19th 2009 12:22PM]

My first ever job was pushing carts at the Pierson Road (Flint, MI) Meijer. Scary neighborhood!

And I guess I'll be the first to say that it's not "Meijer's", unless you're referring to the possesive tense. The correct pronunciation/spelling is "Meijer." However, saying "Meijer's brand new..." is perfectly correct.

But good luck explaining this to an old-timer who needs to go to "Meijer's." Do you also go to (that one) Best Buy's and Costco's?

[Andrew Timson @ Jun 19th 2009 2:04PM]

Technically, Meijer _is_ Meijer's, or at least was back when it started... ;)

[bergstsm @ Jun 19th 2009 2:29PM]

@ Dan Davis

Are you really a long-time Michigander?

Because the rules of Michiganese clearly states that you add an 's' on everything.

Fords not Ford
Kmarts not Kmart
and obviously, its Meijers. They just spell it wrong on the store front.

:)

[Patrick @ Jun 19th 2009 11:25AM]

I though Curtis Mathes went out of business years ago. All of their stuff was made by someone else (RCA, NEC, GE); they just stuck their name on the unit and charged you for an extended warranty as part of the unit price (e.g. a $250 RCA TV with their name on it for $450)..... which is probably why all their franchises eventually went of business........or so I thought.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 19th 2009 11:37AM]

You apparently missed the real Curtis Mathes time period. All their stuff was made in the US, and they made a point of it. They were the only company to make a significant number of VCRs in the US.

[Sam @ Jun 19th 2009 11:32AM]

They even have a blu-ray updates page unlike many of the real buget players ive come across.

http://www.curtismathes.com/brupdates/cmbrupdate.html

[gunner @ Jun 19th 2009 11:34AM]

While $99 is cheap, it still has no use for me - burners are still 300 bucks and the blank discks are 10$ each. Toooooooo expensive. I'll stick to buying a 400$ nettop and watching 1080p on my 52'' bravia.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 19th 2009 11:38AM]

Burners are $170.

[g @ Jun 19th 2009 11:54AM]

no real interest in the format, but please dont turn this site into giz with those stupid dealmodo posts.

[Dave @ Jun 19th 2009 11:54AM]

Awesome!!!

[Richard Glitter @ Jun 19th 2009 12:43PM]

Personally, I'm waiting until the coming holiday season this fall to buy my first BD player. Since we're seeing players come down near the $100 mark routinely now, and deals like this, I have a feeling that this holiday season there are going to be some really great deals on BD players.

[Matthew @ Jun 19th 2009 12:54PM]

Cool! Great to see Meijer scoop a cool deal like this. The inventor of the super-store concept (groceries and general merchandise) is a great store...still family-owned. Worked for them for 5 years too! Operated MUCH differently than the 1000-lb gorilla, WM.

Now they just need some bargain Blu-ray titles to sell with this.

Way to go, Fred! (or Hank) (or some buyer in bldg 985)

[blooy @ Jun 19th 2009 1:21PM]

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Meijer is the best.

Sincerely,
in GR

[alex @ Jun 19th 2009 1:08PM]

Curtis Mathes still exists !!! I thought they went under 20 years ago.

[Jon Acheson @ Jun 19th 2009 1:25PM]

This marks the beginning of the end for DVD. With Blu-Ray players this cheap, and able to play DVDs as well, why would you buy a DVD player?

Of course, the prices of Blu-Ray discs still have to come down, but that is happening too.

[JustFrozen @ Jun 19th 2009 1:55PM]

usually find these kind of bargains at slickdeals, but thanks engadget in for 1, good fathers day gift for one who doesnt need the latest features