Sony's BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray player sinks below $200

by Darren Murph posted Sep 21st 2008 at 7:25PM

Sony's BDP-S300 has seemingly always been at the forefront of Blu-ray price drops, and while we were pretty stoked to see it hit $299 last December, the very solid 1080p player has now reached an unquestionably delectable $199.98. On sale at Amazon "while supplies last," the deck combines a name you've heard of with a price point you can probably stomach, and moreover, we're hoping this is just the beginning of an industry-wide effort to lower the barrier to entry for BD. Scoop it on up if this is the moment you've been waiting (and waiting) for.

[Thanks, Tyba]

Filed under: Blu-ray, Players, Sony

Tags: 1080p, amazon, BDP-S300, deal, deals, price, price drop, PriceDrop, prices, pricing, s300, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

WallyB @ Sep 21st 2008 7:39PM

At that price, I had to pull the trigger. Now I'll have my Sammy P1400 in the bonus room and this in the den. Woohoo!

Neutral

Gus @ Sep 21st 2008 8:11PM

Great for the consumer, but how would you be if you are another CE manufacturer trying to compete with sony, first the pS3 with 95% market share and now this, they have always tried to strangle the life out of other CE producers, and now they are in control of blu ray it's like the fox is control of the hen house, scary times indeed if you are partnered with them!

Neutral

dj496 @ Sep 21st 2008 8:32PM

Even if that is true (the market share, not the strangling other CEMs remark), Sony are STILL not making money from the PS3. So lay off them and just enjoy being the consumer and receiving the highest quality HD movie experience available, ok?

[disclaimer: that might sound like Sony fanboyism, but I assure you, I eat Sony fanboys for breakfast.] ;)

Neutral

Gus @ Sep 21st 2008 8:43PM

Sooooo, because sony subsidize their players and loose money, making it nearly impossible for other manufacturers to compete with them, and in the process giving themselves total market domination we should somehow give sony a break? My guesstimate would be, of the remaining 4-5 % being divided up amongst every other producer, sony probably has a 50% slice, meaning everyone else is fighting for about 2.5% of the market.

Give them a break, strange logic that one.

Highest Ranked

minimalist @ Sep 21st 2008 9:40PM

I'm pretty sure this is just a clearance item. The BDPS350 has taken the S300's place.

Highly Ranked

JoN @ Sep 21st 2008 10:36PM

exactly - this is a subsidizing thing... this is a clearance model... it has been replaced by the S350.... which has built in Ethernet, profile 2.0 capability via firmware update, and extremely shorter load times

Neutral

Nick Catalano @ Sep 22nd 2008 2:32AM

The only major thing I see in the update is that you can upgrade the firmware via the ethernet port and use interactive features that require internet connectivity.

You can still update the firmware on these... I have no idea how (burn it to a CD maybe?) but I know it is possible

All of the bad reviews on Amazon are there because of people not updating their firmware

Neutral

Byrdman @ Sep 21st 2008 8:15PM

this is great. If players are going to start hitting this price now they may be even lower during the holidays. great news for Blu-ray. there is no denying the fact that it is here to stay now

Neutral

shawnmos @ Sep 21st 2008 8:18PM

Sharp BDHP20U Blu-Ray Disc Player - Refurbished $169.99

http://www.secondact.com/c=HADcT7XUIijCCXdSj7vKuXNzu/product/BDHP20URB?sp_mid=1210725

Low Ranked

shawnmos @ Sep 21st 2008 8:27PM

Sharp BDHP20U at secondact for $169

Neutral

worldbfree4me @ Sep 21st 2008 9:00PM

Supply and Demand (High Supply and Low Demand) = under $200...To really get this moving, we the consumer need to see even lower price points due the cost of media generating more than enough margins...ie BD Live Under $300, BD 2.0 Under $200 and BD 1.0 $100

Neutral

Sinful Lust @ Sep 21st 2008 10:21PM

hell, il buy blu rays when they get to the 15 dollars price point. till then, no no for me hehe

Neutral

Spiza @ Sep 21st 2008 11:15PM

You can get a PS3 for $300 by putting it on a Sony card at the Sony style online store:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplayView?cmsId=sony_card&XID=A:361116:10383604:FW6zzisw:CJ&ref=http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/853677/

Highest Ranked

Xyzzy @ Sep 21st 2008 11:58PM

There are frequently MUCH better deals than $100 store credit for signing up for a credit card. In addition, don't sign up for a card just for the $100, as it will negatively affect your FICO score.

Neutral

shawnmos @ Sep 22nd 2008 12:38AM

I agree. It's stupid to sign up for another credit card just to get $100 cash back.

Neutral

mntwister @ Sep 22nd 2008 12:53AM

That's a darn good price, it's a very good player. Still, I don't think it is worth the money because many studios are using DTS Master Audio, which I don't think this player decodes or bitstreams (maybe I am wrong). As far as not being 1.1 or 2.0, alot of people could care less about picture in picture or internet extras or lossless audio, so it is a good value for them (and I would suppose alot of consumers don't have high def audio receivers anyway). For those seeking the high def picture, it's a great buy.

Highly Ranked

shawnmos @ Sep 22nd 2008 1:13AM

Found this on AVS:
samsung bdp1500, $199 @ http://radioshack.com
click on home entertainment, dvd players, then cart for discount.

This is a profile 1.1 player and can bitstream all of the codecs so it's a better deal than what's posted here.

Neutral

Michael @ Sep 22nd 2008 8:04AM

OK, so maybe I don't get it. When Toshiba did this with their HD-DVD players they were reviled and scorned for dumping cheap players onto the market. When Sony does it, they are brilliant trend setters who understand what the market needs to get real market penetration. What's the deal???

You guys are as bad as the media covering the Presidential race.

Michael

Highly Ranked

daaper @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:25AM

I think the major difference is that Toshiba's price was the permanent price. In this case, it's a discontinued model and they're clearing out stock. I don't think anyone is revering Sony as a trend-setter for this, it's just a good price.

Neutral

squiggleslash @ Sep 22nd 2008 12:25PM

daaper - when the A2 dropped to below $200, this was because it was a clearance item, like the BDP-S300 above. The later, post WHV screw up, drop of the A3 was certainly a more permanent change, but the A2's original drop was, like this example, because they were trying to get rid of the older model.

Neutral

georgi55 @ Sep 22nd 2008 6:42PM

Engadget, you report the "news" as if this an official price drop and new low standard price point for entry Blu-Ray player, when it's just a clearance sale to make room for thew new models....

Neutral

Randall Lind @ Sep 22nd 2008 10:40AM

Load time seems to be pretty bad reading some reviews on that page. It says firmware update helps a little speeding it up.

Neutral

Multi-format-mayhem @ Sep 22nd 2008 10:01AM

$200 for an old & dead Blu-ray model that is noted to be very poor at regular DVD playback?!

You have got to be kidding.

Personally I preferred to go $300 for the far more capable LG200
(it's just a firmware away from profile 2.0 and is able to playback all the $5 - $10 HD DVDs I've been getting).

This Sony, just like the old dead discounted Sharps, & Samsungs, is (still) poor value considering what an additional $100 more will get you.

Neutral

This unit did not get very good reviews from users -- many of whom complained of really long load times. A much better deal was the Samsung BD-P1500 we saw on sale at RadioShack last week. If you're looking for a good deal on a Blu-Ray player, I'd suggest creating an email alert on the term at SlickDeals or http://www.TechDealDigger.com. Here are the details on the expired Samsung Blu-Ray deal http://www.techdealdigger.com/deals/samsung-bd-p1500-180-at-radioshack/4327

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