Okay, so maybe Memorex's Profile 1.1 MVBD-2510 was only $269 from the get-go, but busting through the unofficial $150 price barrier is a pretty big deal for Blu-ray. Granted, we're totally expecting a few more to join the fold come Black Friday, but who's not all about buying from the comfort of one's home versus braving frigid temperatures only to catch eight airborne diseases and shave 2.85 years from your life due to statistically significant levels of stress on a day off? Bottom line: $139.99 for a BD deck is pretty darn cheap (even for Woot's standards), and even if there's no BD-Live support baked in, it'll still handle the 1080p basics. Order now, debate later.

[Thanks, Jamil]

Right, so we're pretty stoked about having one more option in the sub-$300 Blu-ray deck club, but the lack of Profile 2.0 (which is only the latest, most up-to-date Profile, you know) is a real bummer. That aside, the BonusView-enabled MVBD-2510 doesn't seem like a half bad attempt from Memorex. It features audio decoding for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD High Resolution along with Master Audio bitstream output. You'll also find 5.1 analog audio outputs, a white LED display and a few brushed metal accents to jazz it up externally. Look for it this November beside a whole host of new Memorex cleaning supplies.

Considering how well RPTVs (well, HDTVs in general, actually) have been selling lately, it's no surprise to see two more low-end manufacturers looking to grab their own piece of the pie. MicroDisplay Corporation announced at CES that bottom-end stalwarts AKAI and Memorex will both start shipping 1080p-capable rear-projection sets this summer. The TVs will be based on MicroDisplay's "proprietary single-chip 1080p LCoS digital projection imaging technology," dubbed Liquid Fidelity, which supposedly maintains a crisp, "home theater-like" picture while eliminating two of the three chips "required by other LCoS technologies." No hard details were shared about any of the units, but it was noted that we'll see sizes ranging from 52- to 62-inches, and each set will be "customized with a variety of options." So if you'll still be hunting for a 1080p set this summer, and don't mind the low-end quality for the rock bottom price, these AKAI / Memorex units should fit the bill quite nicely.

Surprisingly enough, blue laser media isn't the result of a licensing deal with Gargamel and the subsequent disappearance of the Smurf population. Imation and Memorex have produced a short (14 minute, 68MB) video podcast about their facility in Minnesota producing Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. Sure there's quite a bit of marketing fluff, but by fast forwarding to the last few minutes, there's some interesting information about manufacturing blue laser discs. From the original master recording, to the plants ability to produce either format depending on the coating applied to the disc. Maybe once supporters of both sides see both formats come from the same place, they'll see we all aren't really that different. Can't Blu-ray and HD DVD just get along?

There isn't many devices that can utilize this media, but for those chaps that happen to have a Toshiba RD-A1 or NEC HR-1100A PC drive, this is great news. These Memorex discs are only the 15GB, single-layer flavor but that fits nicely with the recorders. We understand that some folks want to make their own HD DVD's but we don't understand cost-benefit of using these $20 discs for data back up when they cost just a few dollars less then a whole hard drive. These discs can mean pushing the high-def envelope even farther for indie filmmakers though, as they can hold up to 75 minutes of HD.