Sony's BDP-S300 Blu-ray Player Now Less Than A PS3

Prices on next-gen optical HD players continue to plummet today with Sony's announced price drop on their new BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. At $499 list, it's now priced for $100 less than the Playstation 3 which currently reigns supreme as the cheapest (and noisiest) BD player on the market.

[caffman]

Could this be bad news for the PS3. After all, one of the selling points is that it is a cheap Blu-ray player. I'm not saying that it will cause the downfall of it, I'm just saying that it's strange that it's strange for Sony to undercut their own product.

[Expy]

Not really, since the Playstation 3 obviously presents MORE features than just a simple Blu-Ray player. I think that's obvious.

[fjtorres]

PS3 is not really home theater friendly because of the bluetooth remote. The pure BD player has a proper infrared remote so its compatible with universal remotes and home theater setups.
There is room for both.

[ERommel]

Possibly, just possibly if Sony is able to cut the price of the standalone BR player in half in just over a year. Could that mean they are able to cut the price of the PS3 in half in about a year as well. That "could" mean a 300 or so dollar PS3 this holiday season.

[tehcellownu]

No price drop not until one year at least..They goin to do one after they Release their big games..

[AIZEN SOZUKE]

cheaper than a ps3, but does it include a supercomputer, and an extremely powerfull GPU? I would think not, what a lousy post

[omansteveo]

SUPERCOMPUTER!

[snoop_dizzle]

huntersville you always seem really angry for some reason.

[socomnick]

lol im with stevo lol supercomputer lol

[SuperSaiyan4]

Firstly the CPU in the PS3 was outperformed recently by a MAC 1.6ghz cpu. Also the PS3 GPU is seriously out of date compared to the 360 GPU.

Oh and I have a PS3 ;-)

But in regards to the statement the PS3 being the noisiest blu-ray player hang on that is utter BS!

All in all the PS3 still offers FAR better value for money than the stand alone blu-ray player.

[consolecrusader]

ps3 is noisey? mine is fine

[solidt12]

This is good news but the Toshiba HD-DVD player is still a $300 paper weight. Blu-ray should be $300 by christmas.

[PS360WII]

When did the PS3 become noisy? As far as I know it's pretty quiet.

Why oh why would a BlueRay player cheaper than the PS3 be a problem. Sure the PS3 plays BlueRay as well but really I think the people who buy a PS3 are ones who want to play games first and watch movies second. Oh well I'm sure we'll get to hear many various spins on this article.

[power of Green]

You do know HD-DVD players out sell Blu-ray players?, if it wasn't for PS3 BR would already be done just how much longer can PS3 pull BR's weight?.

[Expy]

A long time, and it means the death of HD-DVD.

[ERommel]

But all my point was is the first BR player was $1000. Now they are coming out with one for $500-$600. They must have found a way to greatly reduce the cost of the optics that play BR movies. I agree that the PS3 contains features that a stand-alone BR player does not have but it's obvious that the BR optics were a major part of the PS3 cost to begin with.

[Bill Gates]

Anyone who says the PS3 is noisey, does not own one.

[SEAN1617]

WHO WORK AT BEST BUY ALL THE DAMN HDDVD PLAYERS DO IS SIT THERE AND COLLECT DUST, ALSO THE CELL WAS BEAT BY A MAC POWER PC AT GENERAL PROCESSING, THE CELL WAS NOT BUILT FOR GENERAL PROCESSES APPLICATIONS, SO LEAVE THE FANBOYISM OUT OF THIS. HDDVD IS ON IT'S DEATH RATTLE.

[socomnick]

Something tells me hd dvd isn't going anywhere for a long time so long as theres people like my cousin that buys 2 or 3 movies a week.

[ERommel]

Anytime soon. It's much too early for any company to throw in the towel. Wether it be HD-DVD backers or BR backers. What I find interesting is that "if" sony does not lower the price of the PS3 wouldn't this move kinda be like shooting themselves in the face? Without alot of games on the market the ability to play BR movies remains a major selling point.

[Arutha]

The problem with this new player is that it doesn't offer much for the Audio side of things(Looks like from the manual there is no mention of Dolby TrueHD, DD+, or DTS Master HD. The price point is attractive, but it doesn't seem to be on par as the more expensive players or even with Toshiba's HD A1(it has Dobly Digital Plus, and Dolby True HD either through HDMI, or Analog) for the same price when it first came out. Damn good player I might add.

So with that in mind the PS3 is still the better option to get into BR which gives you a lot more options.

As far as HD DVD collecting dust at Best Buy it is not to surprising since they stock them up high so no one can see where they are at. Not to mention they never have any hooked up for a Demo.

[CrazzyMan]

i mean, those people, who don`t care about gaming, probably will buy just a blu-ray player, which is 100$ cheaper. That means, ps3 will buy mostly gamers, and gamers buy games.
Anyway, they made blu-ray cheaper so fast, they could make ps3 cheaper this year too. =)
Like 549$... or 479$, but this would be lol. =))

[CrazzyMan]

If in the end of this year you would buy a PS3 60GB for 479$ - Agree with me.
If in the end of this year you would buy a x360 Elite for 479$ - Disagree with me.

[socomnick]

If sony drops their price 200 dollars then guess what microsoft would be stupid not to do the same . imagine a xbox 360 premium for 200 dollars it would sell like crazy but a 100 dollar price drop is more likely.

[sak500]

ITs clear what sony wanted to push all along, that is its bluray format. I know its a joint consortium thingy but sony's behind it and wants it to succeed at any cost. They have big bucks riding on this format.

This was the main reason blu was put in ps3. Not a single game requires that much capacity if programmed correctly. Unless you want to put in massive amount of useless cgi, main programming with good compression can easily fit dvd9. Case in point, 360, most games take hardly 6gb.

NOw sony is seeing its ps3 is not selling that great even with the bluray, so they are reducing the price of the standalones so that technophiles can get into it.

[Thugbot187]

You would think the people in Sony would coordinate things and talk to one another. I know they are a big company and all, but there is no excuse (unless we all have it wrong and Sony’s one and only goal is to make BLURAY succeed, even if it sinks the PS3).

To me it seems BLURAY has hurt the PS3 more than it has helped, higher system cost, specification debates leading to the delay of the PS3, and part shortages that further delayed the PS3 and DEVKITS (While more spaces is always welcomed I’m not sure if BLURAY was the right move).

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

No matter if it isn't the cheapest now, you can't deny that it was Sony's plan from the beginning to use the Sony brand recognition to get a BR player into every home that there was a PS2. Thats why they bet big, and are doing everything they can to see that BR comes out on top. If BR fails, then Sony will eat mega $.

[Arutha]

#19 I still disagree with that. The new Blu Ray player maybe cheaper, but it is also just a bare bones player. If you look at the sales of stand alone Blu Ray players then Blu Ray is hurting and HD DVD is outselling Blu Ray just based off of units sold. Blu Ray got a huge push when Sony put out the PS3, so yes it was a Trojan horse. Hell I bought a PS3 more for movie watching and the occasional game now and then. It was simply the best Blu Ray player on the market for a lot cheaper and hopefully the interactivity that HD DVD currently has will start coming soon for Blu Ray. From what I have read though most generation 1 Blu Ray players can not do any of the BD-J. I am hoping that the PS3 will be able to do this.

[Xi]

this might slow down the sales of the ps3 a little, now that there's a cheaper blu-ray player on the market.

[Zaskark2]

Got my PS3 from pricegrabber.com for $450 and no tax!

[Shake]

I wish xbox had browsing like the ps3:(

[Bloodmask]

Hey Sony fanboys. Maybe you can open your eyes a little bit wider now. Sony has used you to saturate the market with Bluray players disguised as the PS3. Does it feel good to be lied to? Bluray is necessary for games(MY A5S). The 360 has been out for almost 2 YRS now and how many games on 2 disks? Zero. Sony inflated the market prices of standalone Bluray players to make the PS3 look like a real steal. (Wow only $600 dollars and plays BLU RAY.....Drrrrrr...).Now that PS3 isn't selling well they can coveniently lower the price to $500.(How Convenient.) You drones have been used in what is probably the biggest scam in electronics history. Its one thing to be used and deceived and be pissed. But one can't fathom the thought of being used for this propoganda and still praising the driving force behind it(Sony).

quote: "Bluray is necessary to harness the true power of cell+RSX"

translation: "Lies are necessary to force Bluray into millions of homes and cheat HDDVD."

[Kyur4ThePain]

If, as you say, Sony's intent was to saturate the market with BD players, why would they inflate the price of stand alone players?
How does that make sense?

[ERommel]

It's common knowledge that production costs on electronic devices always go down. Look at TV's or anything else. A dvd player used to be 400 bucks now they are 40. I do believe however that Sony would be wise to pass savings onto PS3 owners...or potential owners. I don't think the fact that the PS3 will be the biggest platform for BR can be denied. I doubt there is a model dvd player with a 110 million installed base like the PS2. I find it interesting why anyone would want a stand alone BR player to begin with. Maybe people don't like the idea of having a video game console in their HTS. Either way cheaper is always better as long as the quality remains.