BDP S300 -- Engadget

BDP-S300 posts

Sigmatek's European SBR-1000 player does Blu-ray cheaper

by Richard Lawler, posted Feb 15th 2008 at 8:01AM

Sigmatek is joining the legion of Blu-ray manufacturers with its newest player, the SBR-1000. Coming in at a price of under €250 ($364), it'll be the cheapest Blu-ray player available in Europe -- compared to the €369 ($537) BDP-S300 -- when it launches in April. We're assuming this player supports at least Profile 1.1 / Bonus View features, to go along with the confirmed 1080p/24, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and HDMI 1.3 support. The low price is credited to Sony and Nichia's new cheaper blue laser, which should lead to similar new price floors here in the U.S. sooner rather than later.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

First multi-region Blu-ray players appearing

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 31st 2007 at 12:23AM

We're not quite ready to believe these things function as advertised just yet, but it seems that multi-region Blu-ray players are beginning to pop up on a few overseas websites. We're seeing a region hacked Samsung BD-P1400 and Sony BDP-S300 / BDP-S500, each of which are reportedly modified to play nice with BD regions A / B as well as DVD regions 1 / 2. Aside from that, each player looks to be unchanged, but you better believe the convenience won't run you cheap. Over at Stegen Electronics, a multi-region BDP-S300 will demand €599 ($878), while the modded BDP-S500 rings up at €899 ($1,318), and until someone bites the bullet and confirms that these things actually do what they claim to, we'd recommend holding off.

[Via TheImportForums, thanks Frode A.]
Read - Stegen Electronics
Read - DVD Direct

Target to only sell Blu-ray players in stores

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 26th 2007 at 1:15AM

Everyone's favorite wasteful format war took another strange twist today, with the AP reporting that Target will only stock Blu-ray players in its retail stores -- specifically, Sony's $499 BDP-S300. The decision, which Target and Sony are due to announce tomorrow, doesn't include Target's website, Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, or HD DVD movies, so it's not a particularly huge win for Blu-ray, with even Target saying things like "We are not proclaiming one format vs. the other as the preferred consumer technology." Still, coupled with Blockbuster's decision to only stock Blu-ray discs, it looks like the format war might be fought and won at the retailer level, not by consumers.

[Thanks, Keith]

European HD DVD lobbyists claim '74-percent' market share

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 12th 2007 at 5:51PM

Nearly 11 months ago to the day, Europe witnessed its very first HD DVD release, and while the battle over format supremacy has been heated and rarely slanted to one corner here in the US, apparently things are vastly different across the pond. According to the (biased?) information spat out by the European HD DVD Promotional Group, "HD DVD players have outsold Blu-ray players by a three-to-one margin in Europe's main markets so far this year," and moreover, it claimed to hold a staggering "74-percent" of the market share in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland for standalone players. So, for those residing in the aforementioned lands, are things really this skewed, or does a certain lobbyist group have their numbers all fuzzed up?

Sony's BDP-S300 Blu-ray player now less than a PS3

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 4th 2007 at 4:58AM

Prices on next-gen optical HD players continue to plummet today with Sony's announced price drop on their new BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. At $499 list, it's now priced for $100 less than the Playstation 3 which currently reigns supreme as the cheapest (and noisiest) BD player on the market. In fact, the move might even cannibalize PS3 sales now that BD buffs have a cheaper source for HDMI 1.3 playback from a unit offering a traditional remote control and A/V stylings. It's still ~~$100~~ $200 or so more than Toshiba's cheapest HD DVD player which recently shed a Benjamin in time for Father's Day. But hey Sony, Toshiba... it's not the price that's holding back interest. It's the uncertainty you've created by launching two essentially equal but incompatible formats onto the world of consumer electronics. If you don't get your houses in order soon, your problems won't be with each other. Rather, it'll be be those traditional and not-so-traditional CE players offering set top boxes with big disks and HD video on demand that form the roots of your demise.

Sony officially announces $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray player

by Evan Blass, posted Feb 27th 2007 at 4:19PM

That sound you just heard? It was silence -- the silence of thousands of BDP-S1 Blu-ray players sitting unsold on warehouse shelves, gathering dust and wondering why they did to deserve the wrath of the dreaded Osborne Effect. Because unless retailers do some serious price shaving off of the first-gen machines, Sony's official promise today of a cheaper, smaller, and more functional box landing this summer will likely convince all but the most impatient consumers to drop the S1 right off their radar. On the plus side, those of us who haven't yet picked sides in the "format war" will be treated to a much more attractive product in the BDP-S300, from its CD friendliness and Bravia Theater Sync to bonuses like AVC-HD support for playback of conent that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology). Keep reading to check out the remote that comes paired with the S300, then forward this post to your buddies who blew $1000 on its lonely predecessor.

Gallery: Sony officially announces $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray player

Continue reading Sony officially announces $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray player

Sony's BDP-S300 does Blu-ray on the cheap this summer

by Ryan Block, posted Feb 26th 2007 at 2:23PM

Just in time for summer blockbuster season, Sony's pre-announced its new BDP-S300 budget Blu-ray player. It'll MSRP for a cool $600 -- still significantly less than the better-late-than-never S1 -- and will apparently have all the fixins of its predecessor (as well as CD playback), and a size closer to a traditional DVD player. Which makes you wonder why they'd announce such an attractive "low end" model model so early when it's got all the same features as the current generation. Perhaps because consumers still aren't as confident about picking up a Blu-ray as Sony might have hoped? We don't know, but we have a feeling they just killed S1 sales through summer.