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Finally, An Affordable Blu-Ray Player

Sylvania

Many of the complaints from consumers about blu-ray were the high cost of the players. The Playstation 3 was cheapest way to get on the blu-ray bandwagon. Sony created the perfect Trojan horse for blu-ray. However, some people who weren’t gamers scoffed at the notion of using a gaming machine as their primary movie playback source. No matter how cheap it was compared to the alternatives, they felt that buying a gaming machine just to playback movies was a waste of money since they weren’t going to use the machine to its full capability, namely playing games. They wanted a no frills, inexpensive blu-ray player.

Well, the people looking for an affordable blu-ray player not named The Playstation 3 have finally got one. It’s the Sylvania NB501SL9 Blu-Ray Player.

Like my previous blog entry about the affordable Samsung Plasma, the Sylvania goes in line with the idea of getting high quality gear at a modest price. In these tough economic times, getting bang for the buck gear is essential to many.

The Sylvania player is a no frills, all business blu-ray player that delivers a pristine and clear 1080p image. If you have a receiver capable of decoding the lossless audio formats and is HDMI 1.3, the player has the ability to bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA (High Definition Master Audio) directly to the receiver to decode.

So this is a great player for people who want blu-ray playback sans gaming. The fact that it is cheaper than the PS3 makes it more attractive for those on a budget who are not interested in gaming.

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Published by Atane on July 24th, 2008 and listed in Home Entertainment.

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  • Bryan Peretto
    Yeah, a good deal if you have HD Audio Decoding on your receiver. But c'mon, if you don't have a bluray player, more than likely you're not going to have a receiver capable of decoding.

    When it comes down to it, you'll still be paying as much as or more than a PS3.

    People who "don't want a gaming console" are out of touch. I'm not a gamer, but the PS3 so much more than for game: A media center (I stream music and pictures from my NAS or Windows Media Player), a Web Browser, with the eye toy, it can be used for video conferencing. Obviously it's a DVD and BR player. Eventually it'll be a DVR. And ya, it even plays games, too. It's also solidly built unlike anything I've seen Sylvania manufacture.

    This is an instance where you'll get what you pay for.
  • Thanks for the response Bryan. However, I respectfully disagree with your comment regarding people who have a receiver capable of HD Audio Decoding, yet don't have a blu-ray player. There are tons of them, chiefly HD DVD supporters. Many people just had HD DVD players. The Toshiba HD A2 could be had for as little as $99 if you looked hard enough. Even though it is now dead, the good thing about Toshiba HD DVD players was that all their players, including their entry level ones had on board Dolby True HD decoding.

    Also, entry level receivers from Onkyo like the 605 and 606 had on board decoding and were cheaper than the PS3. So quite a few people have receivers capable of decoding the HD codecs who don't have blu-ray.

    Regarding people who are out of touch. I think the people who are out of touch are those who don't realize that many people don't want a player that doubles as a streaming device, a media center, DVR, web browser or video conference device. They just want to watch movies. It's like touting the benefits of a smart phone to someone who only wants a phone for the simple ability of, you know....making phonecalls. We need to accept that there are different segments, and they all don't want the same thing.

    Don't get me wrong. I think the PS3 is a great machine, but I don't think it is for everyone. I realize that, maybe we all should.
  • Timbre4
    Well.... I bought a Samsung BD-P1400 for $279 last year (no tax and free shipping) and it does Dolby TrueHD. Granted it has drifted back above the $300 mark, but there are specials.

    I'd think at this stage of the game, a truly entry level player with this feature set should be about $200-$225. Maybe this will get serious again in the 4th quarter when the big AV firms want to place units this holday season.

    I don't do any gaming so the PS3 doesn't phase me.
  • Timbre, I absolutely agree. The price of the players must come down if mass adoption is the ultimate goal. In time they will, but when companies like Marantz and Denon release $2,000 players that are not even profile 2.0 yet, it really makes you wonder.
  • R. Bruce Erwin
    Blue Ray does not enhance content within the DVD. It's not the price of the players that prevents me from switching over to BRay, it's the ridiculous prices they ask for the disks . Besides, nowadays I'm downloading most movies onto our Apple TV. The picture quality may not be 1080, but sufficient. That way I don't pay a small fortune for movies which may turn out to have so-so content despite the hype they get from the media. This seems to be the future on in-home movies the resolution of which is sure to be upgraded.
  • I agree Bruce. Blu-ray media is very expensive right now. DVD when it first came out was quite pricey as well. I remember when the Matrix first came out on DVD, it was $40. I think in due time the prices will come down for blu-ray media.

    I can't fault you for sticking with the Apple TV. I just got one recently, and it's been fantastic so far.
  • Woody
    stupid of you to put in an add and have no price -- do not have time to search and guess.
  • Captain Obvious
    Why don't you actually click the link to view the price? It's even highlighted in blue.
  • Timbre4
    If you're just walking into a Target store and looking at what they charge everyday that's pretty useless. Stop whining and shop harder.

    There are AMAZING Blu-Ray disc specials in my email all the time! I'm built a collection pretty fast. Here's a few recent BD purchases:

    Across the Universe $15.99, Kung Fu Hustle $10.99, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within $10.99, 20 Million Miles to Earth $10.99, Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band - Live in Dublin $10.99, David Gilmour - Remember That Night - Live at the Royal Albert Hall $14.99, Reservoir Dogs $10.99, Total Recall $7.99, Stargate, $7.99, Reds, $14.95, BBC Planet Earth box $49.95
  • jmk
    This device works as well as more expensive models. It plays commercial Hollywood Blu-rays and discs burned from output of HDV and AVCHD consumer videocams. It plays BD and AVCHD discs burned with Pinnacle Studio 12.1 and Nerovision 9 software. The menus work. It also includes an SD slot. Unlike the "upscale to 1080p" standard DVD players, it delivers real high definition. The price beats the other BD player models.
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