The Blu-ray player Insignia NS-BRDVD is already being sold by Best Buy. Insignia is another one of those players manufactured by Funai, just like the Magnavox NB500MG9 and the Sylvania NB500SL9, that we covered on a previous post. Insignia also targets the lower end, cheaper market; according to them: (they are) “All about affordable and well designed technology”. The NS-BRDVD hasn’t even made to the Insignia website but is already available at a few Best Buy stores! They are sold exclusively at their stores for $349.99.

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The specs on the player are not very clear but this is what we could find out:

• Playback formats: Blu-ray, DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, JPEG
• Profile 1.1
  
• Video Output Resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
• DVD Upconversion to 720p, 1080i, 1080p
• Built-in decoders for Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD high-resolution surround, plus lossless Dolby TrueHD (2-channel)
• No Media Card Slot
• No USB Port
• 1 Optical Digital Audio Output
• 1 Coaxial Digital Audio Output
• 1 Composite Video Output
• 3 Audio Outputs
• 1 Component Video Output
• 1 HDMI Output
• 1 Stereo Audio Output

I personally have not hear good things about Insignia. If I were to buy a BD-player today, I would spend the extra $50 and buy a PS3, which has higher quality and almost all desired features in a Blu-ray player. That’s just my humble opinion…

Popularity: 33% [?]

MagnaVox started selling a 1.1 profile Blu-ray player for 298 bucks, which has been spotted at Wal-Mart. This is definitely the cheapest option out there…Is this what many people have been waiting for to take the plunge and invest on a Blu-ray player? Maybe… MagnaVox is a second tier brand from Phillips but this player has been manufactured by the Japanese Funai, which also makes a few products for Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Denon and others. Also hitting the market is the Sylvania NB500SL9, which can be pre-ordered at amazon.com at an affordable price of $349.99. This Sylvania player is also manufactured by Funai and basically the same as the MagnaVox NB500MG9, only different brand. If you are looking for a “entry level” stand-alone player, these two are a great affordable option but think twice if you are looking for more performance, you are still better off with a Playstation3!

Specs

- Profile 1.1 BonusView Picture-in-Picture
- 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 pounds

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Here is a diagram of the MagnaVox Blu-ray Player:

Popularity: 100% [?]