Samsung BD Player: Less than $1400
It’s the first time I’ve seen a price for a Blu-ray player that will hit the American market.
At IFA Berlin, going on now, Samsung is showing off two Blu-ray devices. The BD-P1000 Blu-ray player will be available next year for less than $1400, and the BD-HR1000 Blu-ray recorder will be available for about $2000.
The recorder will support WLAN and ethernet connections with PCs and a 400GB HDD, as well as playing back DVDs and CDs. As anticipated by many since the similar HD-DVD announcement, the HD output will be through an HDMI connection. The recorder will also support DivX and MP3.
The player will support playback of 1920 x 1080p HD video.
According to company representatives, Samsung has followed the strategy of entering the “Blue” laser market by directly introducing a recording device, in order to fulfill the upcoming market demand for storing data/movies, at high volumes and capacities.
Entering the market with a -ROM (player) Blu-Ray device would not be a wise decision, according to Samsung. The case is very different than it was in the past, where releasing a reader first, was the normal way to proceed.
Commenting on the HD-DVD format, Samsung says that it has the sufficient resources to additionally support it in the near future. Current target of the company is to be ready for a super-combo recorder, capable of recording on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media.
$1400 for a BD player seems just a little bit steep, especially when you consider that the PS3 will also be a BD player and will retail for substantially less than that. (While nobody knows the price of the PS3, and we also know that Ken Kutaragi warned it would be expensive, it’s a given that it won’t be $1400 expensive!) You might suggest that for a first gen player it’s not bad, but I disagree. I bought a first-gen DVD player (a Toshiba) for $800Cdn. So I think I’ll be happy to pay $500 or whatever for my PS3, thank-you very much.
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