Panasonic has just announced the price on their new profile 2.0 Blu-ray player. The DMP-BD50 will have a MSRP of $699.95. This is still a lot of money and certainly much more than most consumers are willing to spend to make the move from a DVD to a Blu-ray player. However, keep in mind that this is the first stand-alone player to have BD-Live (profile 2.0) to be available. For that reason there is a lot of hype and expectations around this player. The only other one at the moment is the Playstation3, selling for much less. This new Panasonic will have internal decoders for the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio lossless audio codecs and will play images at 1080p/24. This third generation Blu-ray player will be available this spring. As soon as we have more info available we will update you

For more details and specs read our previous post here!

You can also find the press release here

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Although Sharp’s main focus is its LCD flat panel televisions, it also has some interest in the Blu-ray Disc market. Sharp’s new BD-HP50 Bonus View Blu-ray Player will be available in May for $699, which is well above the sub-$500 pricing of some Panasonic players. If the price will hold against the fierce competition remains to be seen. The player includes the Bonus View function (video picture-in-picture commentary), internal decoding of both the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD high resolution audio formats, and outputs a 1080p video signal via HDMI.

Sharp’s second-generation player will fall under the Aquos umbrella however this will be the company’s first Blu-ray player to feature Profile 1.1, which is already supported in certain Panasonic players and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Aquos Link will be available on the BD-HP50, allowing the player to work seamlessly with other Aquos products. It will also feature Aquos Link and Quick Start to load movies faster.

Sharp will continue to sell the BD-HP20 until April when they will decide whether to make another entry level player or enter the high end market. A BD-Live player is in the works, possibly by the end of the year.

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Dell just released probably the cheapest computer you will find with a blu-ray player. Granted, it’s definitely not the best you can find but for only $800 what did you expect?? The new Inspiron 1525 comes with a Blu-ray player (not Blu-ray burner! You can burn only DVDs and CDs) and will enable you to watch HD up to 720p. For those people who like to be different or unique they come in a variety of colors and just like any other Dell computer, you can customize your machine with better capabilities. Obviously that comes with some more “$$Franklins$$”. The $800 version also comes with a HDMI output so you can hook up to your big-screen TV and experience the real Blu-ray high definition.

According to Dell, the new Inspiron will start shipping on April 7^th. If your hands are itching for the new toy, hold your horses cowboy. I am sure prices will plummet very soon now that the format war is over more and more computers will be available with Blu-ray players and burners. The consequence? The prices will drop!

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Designed for those passionate about their home entertainment experience, the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc™ player unleashes the full potential of your high definition television.

After few days testing the BDP-S1, we notice that the picture and sound are great on Sony Bravia 52″ XBR3 LCD 1080p TV. It scored very well for image detail, color quality, and brightness and contrast across both our high-definition and our standard-definition tests. The BDP-S1 produced a great audio in our tests. The output was crisp and clear.

The BDP-S1 player brings a high HD resolution straight to your TV. Plus, with Dolby® True HD and Dolby® Digital Plus decoding, the BDP-S1 unleashes the incredible audio capabilities of Blu-ray Disc. BD-Java® support enables interactive features that provide a new dimension in video entertainment. The BDP-S1 is fully compatible with your existing DVD library, and with built-in 1080p upscaling it creates a better image than a standard DVD player ever could.

If you already own a Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray player, and is now looking for the latest firmware update, just click here to download it directly from the Sony.com support website.

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