The player is priced at $299.
More support for MKV is a mixed bag...more format support on devices makes them more useful, but it also gives validation to MKV snobs who keep using the usually unnecessary format because it makes them geekily cool or something.
Yes, I'm a geek and I know the arguments for using it...I just still can't help but despise it.
This is pretty cool. Maybe .mkv files will be embraced by the masses soon(as far as stand alone players go).
I love my $30 divx dvd player and would happily plunk down some cash for a budget priced mkv compatible model!
Dumb qustion how hard would it be to make a upgradeable frimware thats easy for people who can build codecs for it?
It should not be TOO hard....
I do think MKV is better. The only reason I don't use it is because I can only play it on my PC not my DVD player or Blu-Ray player.
Out of curiosity I did some experimentation. Essentially the container format hardly makes much of a difference so far as the final size is concerned. Using Avidemux 2.4 I converted a number of mkv files without changing the underlying video or audio codec, in other words selected the copy option for both. In original 4-8 gb mkv files it increased the size by a few mb (<150).
The plus side of it was it made it more compatible with wider range of player. It however did not make any difference to the cpu power reqired to play on the pc.