I've owned some funai stuff b4, kinda low on the quality totum pole

Funai makes most of Walmart's house brands like Magnavox and Sylvania.

This was also reported at engadget and highdefdigest:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/fun...l-mart-for-298/
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=54384

thought you couldnt take pictures in store

camera phone whos going too stop you.

I wonder how this will impact PS3 sales...
So far, it was the cheapest Blu-ray player out there. I'm guessing a lot of people bought one because of this. Now that there is a cheaper one out there, PS3 sales might see a slight dip. Just thinking out loud here...

So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

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Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

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All new technology is pretty much a rip off. Look at how much Laserdisc players and movies cost back in the day. 400-1000k for players and 40$-$100 for movies. Its enough of the optical format, flash drives are the future.

I agree with mspurloc. If you can buy a DVD player for $30 to $80. You should be able to buy a BD player for $60 to $160. That's twice the price and I seriously doubt it costs more than twice as much to manufacture.

I'm still not convinced, price-wise, to dive into BD. However if I did cave I'd really much rather pony up the extra $100 and get the PS3.

Is anybody familiar with WalMart editing the movies they sell? I have heard the rumor that a questionable song was removed from Dirty Dancing, as well as other rumors. Thats definitely one movie I would care not to investigate, thank you.

Walmart gets them like everyone else and if there is edited version of movie and they would want that then they could like.

The jerk there is s certain scene that was left out of the 26th anniversary edition yet they play the scene on tv and the new site hulu .

If you don't the scene it where gets on this ride and he spends 8 hours on it.

Well, $298 is a start. Hopefully other manufactures will follow suit and we will see more price cuts. $250 BD players at Christmas?

Originally posted by c1c:

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All new technology is pretty much a rip off. Look at how much Laserdisc players and movies cost back in the day. 400-1000k for players and 40$-$100 for movies. Its enough of the optical format, flash drives are the future.

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Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality.

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Quote:

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There's nothing that special about a high-def player,

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Some specs on the Funai/Magnavox/Sylvania:

>Final Standard Profile 1.1 BD Player
>Video Output Resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p (1080p/24 and 1080p/60)
>DVD Upconversion to 720p, 1080i, 1080p
>Support for HD Audio Formats: bitstream output, no internal decoding
>HDMI Ver. 1.3
>Weight 9.5 lbs.
>Dimensions: 17.2" x 13.9" x 2.8" (exact dimensions may vary by brand)

http://funai.us/BDPrelease010208.pdf

See posts #51 and up for some pictures and initial user impressions of the player:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026390&page=2

Added: Another Walmart sighting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v155/Dragngt/bluray-walmart.jpg

Go Funai! I've had a Sylvania DVD player for a few years that has taken a beating from my kids. My cats also stick their paws in there looking for stuff, and I do believe hiding stuff. Darn thing still plays allmy retail and back up DVD's with no prob!

If you noticed the player is only BluRay profile 1.1. To my knowledge all new players are profile 2.
These are probably not bad players but there has to be something that they don't include or something that is of lower quality than the competitors. Only time taking it apart will be able to tell.

Originally posted by core2kid:

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If you noticed the player is only BluRay profile 1.1. To my knowledge all new players are profile 2.

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lame considering all blu-ray players on the market go to profile 2.0 fully at the end of the year so even with a 1.1 profile these players are worthless.

Originally posted by susieqbbb:

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lame considering all blu-ray players on the market go to profile 2.0 fully at the end of the year so even with a 1.1 profile these players are worthless.

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videobusiness.com is reporting that the Magnavox NB500MG9 will be found in more Walmart stores come Memorial Day weekend.

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?l...4&desc=topstory

Quote:

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Come Memorial Day weekend, Wal-Mart will start selling Blu-ray Disc set-top players for $298, the cheapest starting price point yet for players in the format.

AVS Forum bloggers report seeing the player on shelves at various Wal-Mart outlets now, but the model should be more widely spread throughout the chain by May 24-26, according to sources.

This same player also will be sold at Best Buy under the chain’s in-house Insignia brand beginning mid- to late-July, priced at $347.99. Typically, Insignia products are among the more inexpensively priced at Best Buy.

Although research analysts have circled the $200 mark as the sweet spot for mainstream Blu-ray hardware adoption, these budget-conscious Funai players should give format sales a boost.

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Well, I just read at thedigitalbits.com that Walmart will also sell the Samsung BD-P1500, which is profile 2.0 compatible, for $349 USD, but this only in select stores.

At least this is something, hopefully will see this kind of players for under $300 USD at the end of the year....

Regards

anything 40 inch or less bluray is a waste, and 300 bucks for a bluray is still a rip, make it $100 or less or stick it.

Looks very good on my 52 inches LCD 1080P.

Originally posted by DVDBack23:

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Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

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To be honest even with cheaper Asian production this probably still costs $180 or so to produce...

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mspurloc, neither am I.

Originally posted by error5:

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Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

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So based on your version of reality, the $99 Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player was still $60 overpriced and was also a rip-off.

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Calling Sony corrupt is being nice.

Originally posted by mspurloc:

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1. Don't tell me my version of reality.
2. That would not be a rip-off. It's called reasonable markup, and is proof that not all companies are as corrupt as Sony has become.

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Originally posted by DVDBack23:

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Originally posted by mspurloc:

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So you're paying $300 for a player worth about $15 to the manufacturer and about $40 in a market based in reality. There's nothing that special about a high-def player, so this is a rip-off. I'm waiting until the prices get real.

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To be honest even with cheaper Asian production this probably still costs $180 or so to produce...

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Quote:

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with the servo chipset, optical pick-up, H.264 decoder and royalties making up the majority of the cost, the initial estimates for the bill of materials for blue-laser disc players is over $400, according to In-Stat. Most of the costs are forecasted to decline considerably by 2010, except for royalties.

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Quote:

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the first HD-A1 HD DVD player cost Toshiba $674 in parts alone (Says iSuppli, 2006). So are they losing ~$500 bucks on these newer player selling for less than a C-note?

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