http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/ Engadget HD Comments for Funai's NB500 Blu-ray player sliding into Wal-Mart for $298 http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
I'm not man enough to drop $300.00 bones on a sketchy one, though. I would rather fork out the extra $100.00 and hit up the PS3.]]>May 12th 2008 1:45PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 1:49PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:27PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 3:59PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
But regardless of that, I'm absolutely certain that there will be players at $200 and under this holiday season. They may not be the latest & greatest Profile 2.0 players, but if someone isn't worried about interactive extras, there will definitely be many bargains to be found.]]>May 12th 2008 4:05PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Understand where you're coming from but there is a difference between when DVD started out and Blu-ray has. DVD didnt have a recession to deal with, so it was just bad luck timing for Blu-ray. When gas is 4 dollars and food is high cost, I don't see the normal families switching over quickly.]]>May 12th 2008 4:09PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Price is absolutely a hurdle but it was with DVD too. Prices drop over time and I expect we'll see the prices drop substantially in the second half of this year. The promotions and bargains will kick in and then we'll see what way things go. I expect starting with June we're going to see a lot more mainstream prominence of the format. ]]>May 12th 2008 6:08PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 7:56PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 13th 2008 4:43AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
This isn't 10 years ago. This isn't DVD. DVD had NO COMPETITION. Blu-ray has the biggest competition of all-time: DVD.

DVD had nothing but time for prices to come down since there was nothing it was going to lose out to.

Cheap upconversion is good enough for the vast majority of people...the same people who can't even tell a difference between SD and HD content. The same people who think watched stretched 4:3 480i content on an HDTV makes it HD.

Blu-ray is not DVD. Blu-ray's situation is nothing like DVD's. Blu-ray needs to get its prices down ASAP or we'll be stuck with DVD until the end of time.]]>May 13th 2008 11:00AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 14th 2008 4:34AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
DVD was a brilliant new product that everyone wanted as it offered huge advances over VHS, but bigger than that, it enhanced audio and video qualities for everyones TVs and sound systems on the planet, no matter what they had!
C'mon, stop it with the brainwashed rhetoric, BR in your eyes might be a good product and i am sure it is for many enthusiasts and early adopters, but the majority of the public don't agree as it is very expensive, and for the average consumer with his basic TV and audio set up BR offers nothing new!
Please, shout to the roof tops your enthusiasm for your product of choice, but your insistence that BR and DVD are on the same footing is laughable.
As superklye said, "This isn't 10 years ago. This isn't DVD. DVD had NO COMPETITION. Blu-ray has the biggest competition of all-time: DVD........... add to that downloadable content, cheap storage facilities, extreme BR pricing and the future is grim.
BR has a small window of opportunity to break the shackles of being a niche product and that revolves around cheap pricing, the clock is ticking.
]]>May 15th 2008 2:45AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:01PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 4:47PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:18PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 4:08PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:25PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 15th 2008 10:47PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
All of the HD DVD players where subsidized. In the aftermath of HD DVD's demise, Toshiba's own financial reports show this to be the case. The Nikkei reported that Toshiba's losses on HD DVD totaled $982 million USD in just fiscal year 2007. That is a loss of over $100 per HD DVD player sold.]]>May 12th 2008 2:29PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 4:50PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/]]>May 13th 2008 4:49AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Nothing out dated about having a player with less features.]]>May 12th 2008 2:36PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 2:41PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
But how long can they hold out before DVD sales trample them because there crap is too damn expensive?]]>May 12th 2008 4:00PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/]]>May 12th 2008 4:12PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/I know Toshiba's still riding high on DVD royalties.]]>May 12th 2008 4:17PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 4:52PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
To implement a true loss leader model for Blu-ray would require a company to own both a movie studio and hardware manufacturing capability (i.e. give away the razor to sell the cartridges). Sony comes the closest of anyone to be able to do that, but since Blu-ray is an open specification with multiple hardware and software players, Sony can't just unilaterally drop hardware prices and raise their movie prices through the roof. Most people (me included) would certainly skip all Sony Pictures Blu-ray releases if they were a $50 MSRP (for instance).

Fortunately, Blu-ray is subject to the same market forces as any other product out there. Prices will drop with time. Maybe not as fast as we all wish though! :)]]>May 12th 2008 5:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Subsidization can be a double edged sword as Toshiba found out. Yes you make your players look cheaper (even if they're not), but you make every other CE run a mile away from your format. Toshiba was getting so desperate they were even undercutting the A3 derived player made from their own OEM partner.]]>May 12th 2008 6:13PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/$200 by 12/09
$150 by 12/10

This is for the cheaper name brand players]]>May 12th 2008 2:49PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
They are in no rush to lower the prices. If they were, maybe they'd try to drop prices to what hd-dvd was at this time LAST YEAR and get the prices to $200.00 or less. Perhaps even the occasional $100.00 sale for events like black friday?

Alas, players with less features are now being sold in Wal-Mart than hd-dvd players had over a year ago for $100.00 more. Congratulations to the companies who supported Blu-Ray. Someday, it might become mass-adopted if digital downloads don't win first.

The final nail in the coffin would be an annoucement of some kind of high def digital download content on the Nintendo Wii or on some device thats already in tons of homes if the Nintendo Wii's crappy graphics card supported anything over 480p that is.]]>May 13th 2008 9:48AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_20/b4084050513499.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

]]>May 12th 2008 3:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 3:53PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
And if you want to distinguish between them anyway, there are the names "BD-Extra" and "BD-Live" instead of 1.1 and 2.0.]]>May 12th 2008 7:08PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 4:15PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
What is the advantage of this machine over a standard DVD player,...... oh thats right, it can play $40 BR discs!]]>May 12th 2008 8:52PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
First off, check Amazon. BR disks aren't $40. Sure, the MSRP is often around $35-$40 on big titles...but NOBODY PAYS THAT. Check the MSRP on DVD's once in a while -- they're generally much higher than the retail price too. Juno on DVD, for example, has an MSRP of $29.98 for the single-disk edition. Of course, it's only selling for $16 at Amazon. It would take major effort to actually find somewhere charging full MSRP for either DVD or Blu-ray. If you're going to complain about high prices, at least find some real ones.

Next: Half the HD package? It delivers HD video and HD audio. Some view bitstream audio output as an actual feature. Some don't. If you've got an amp/receiver with the decoders built in, why would you want to pay extra for a Blu-ray player with redundant decoders? If your receiver can't decode new audio formats, then this player isn't for you. Different products for different people.

With regard to the " 'next generation' profile 2.0 capabilities" -- all that entails is the internet connectivity/interactivity. At best, those features will be fleeting, one-time-use things. Maybe they'll have some brief novelty value (like the 300 HD-DVD and the option to re-cut the movie and share "your version of the movie" with others....but who is really going to care about that nonsense more than once?). But no movie studio is going to want to keep spending money to host online content for a typical 5 year old movie. At worst, those features will just be portals to online stores where you can buy movie-related ringtones and other junk.

This player is profile 1.1. Its got the "real" next gen features like picture in picture via dual audio/video decoders, etc. Again, though, many people only really care about the movie. For most people who just want to watch the movie, 1.1 is more than enough. For some, a 1.0 player will be fine. For you, apparently, you demand every possible extra imaginable...so you can wait until a 2.0 player is at a price you like. Or not buy at all, ever. Whatever.

Regarding your question of the advantage of this machine over a standard DVD player....

well, yes, you are right. It does play Blu-ray disks. It is a relatively new technology, which often costs more money. Some new technologies do come out much cheaper than others...and some of those are heavily subsidized by their manufacturers. This $300 device is also a 1080p upscaling DVD player, which is also an advantage over a standard DVD player. 1080p upscalers can be found for as low as about $60 on Amazon. But, for example, there's also the $290 OPPO DV-970HD, which will only do 1080i. So there's about 40 ways to come at the issue, and some might be able to think: "for only $10 more than the OPPO, I get full 1080p and can also play true HD disks."

See, Gus, some people value things differently than you do. Some people buy the $290 OPPO for slightly better upscaling...some will settle for the cheaper upscalers. Some watch DVD's on a standard def TV and don't care. Some people have an HDTV already, and some people are willing to pay extra for Blu-ray now, while others will wait for prices to drop. This is nothing to get angry about. It's just the road of technological progress.]]>May 12th 2008 10:27PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 10:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 13th 2008 4:53AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/A 3 or 4 sentence reply is fine, if I had wanted to read "War & Peace" I would have gone to the library!]]>May 13th 2008 11:06PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
The Insignia is identical to these, if you want the review, email me back. ]]>May 12th 2008 4:18PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Still no relief in sight. The economy is not going to help. Sony has said it will have a $300 player for Xmas. Which one is another question.]]>May 12th 2008 5:51PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Samsung & Sony had $300 (in fact slightly under $300) Blu-ray players last X-mas.

Exactly what I've been saying for some time now, Blu-ray the groundhog day format.
No wonder it's stalled in the market.]]>May 12th 2008 8:35PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/Greedy BR cartel deserve all the pain they are getting!]]>May 12th 2008 5:54PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 8:00PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/May 12th 2008 8:00PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
And fancy CEs wanting to make a return on their investment! Scandalous I say.]]>May 13th 2008 5:25AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
LMAO

So, the no-name branded POS comes in at a price at or above the prices
known brands were charging last X-mas!?

Way to win over the mass-market, not.

In fact way to avoid troubling anyone with even a moments thought
about this garbage.

Blu-ray, still just about as far away as it's possible to get from
making any impact whatsoever on the a/v mass-market.

Beyond parody.

(oh, and for all those who keep repeating this ludicrous BS as if
they know for a fact what sort of loss Toshiba were making on their
HD DVD players?

Toshiba wrote off the entire HD DVD enterprise with a $460 million
1-off total loss payment this year, so it's unlikely in the extreme
that these foundation-less claims of huge losses per unit are
anything close to the reality.

(but do feel free to produce some proof to back up your rhetoric;
the $460 million payment I have mentioned is now a matter of public
record)

....which btw stands in stark contrast to the several years of heavy
losses Sony alone has posted over Blu-ray. )
]]>May 12th 2008 6:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/12/funais-nb500-blu-ray-player-sliding-into-wal-mart-for-298/
Anyway, something like 1.5M HD-DVD players (including 360 add-ons) were sold, meaning they lost net $300 per unit sold. NET.

That means if you bought a 360 add-on at $250, the amount net lost was more even than the amount of revenue they took in.

There's usually a rousing business selling $100 bills for $10, Toshiba isn't the first to discover this business model.]]>May 12th 2008 6:45PM