In my observations, many HD DVD supports seem to have a delusional sense of what a fully featured player should cost.

Lest not forget that the A-35 and XA2 were both selling for $500-$800 when HD DVD was still *alive*.

Now I'm reading posts and sigs from people who expect a 2.0 BD player with built in advanced audio decoders and high-end video processors to cost $200.

My qualifications for a fully featured player would be:
1080p/24hz
5.1/7.1 Analog outs
Ethernet port
All audio decoders.

We have several 2.0 BD players on the horizon that meet these requirements and have MSRPs of $500. The Sony BDP-S550 is a prime example. That will be my first BD SAL.

So, what is a fair price to you for a fully featured BD player, and why?

$199.99

$199.99

Do you own an HD DVD player? If so, what model? How much did you pay?

I think $500 is fair for me which is what I payed for the PS3. When a complete BD standalone player comes out I maty get that as well.

In 10 years will BD players be $30 bucks like DVD players are now or wil it be like D-VHS always expenive even when used.

I think $500 is fair for me which is what I payed for the PS3. When a complete BD standalone player comes out I maty get that as well.

In 10 years will BD players be $30 bucks like DVD players are now or wil it be like D-VHS always expenive even when used.

D-VHS is expensive by nature.

BD will drop like DVD did. Only physical difference in the player is the laser diode and the processor power.

$199.99


This is an unrealistic price at this point in the process. It is simply too low.

The reason people say things like this, I suspect, is that the late format war featured Toshiba's strategy of losing money on its players. With HD DVD's overall lack of support from CE companies, studios, and customers, the only option they had was to undersell their competition. This worked, to some degree, but not enough.

Of course, when you see the HD-A3 being firesold for $79, it is hard to pay $400 for a Blu-ray player. Logic may tell you that it is worth it, but psychologically, the Blu-ray machine seems overpriced.

The OP's requirements should cost about $500-600 within the next few months. We will see machines this spring/summer that are in this price range MSRP with 2.0, full decoding, analog outputs, etc.

What's a fair price? Whatever the market will bear.

$400.00 I'd say (That's what I paid for my HD-DVD player btw).

And the OP is right about the price. It's funny to watch how hypocritical some people are with the price of players. $400.00-700 was all fine and dandy when HD-DVD came on the scene (not too mention many were proud of their top of the line $700 HD-DVD players). But now everyone expects Blu-Ray to be $200 all of a sudden. Pretty pathetic.

The prices are very fair right now. In due time they will be down to those price points that people are begging for. All it takes is a little patience. It's no different than when DVD came on to the scene.

Good posts. Happy I'm not the only one to notice this.

Toshiba's price cut was a product of desperation, and the A3/2 is really far from full featured. Analog outs should be MANDATORY for those of us not ready to plunge into the HDMI AVR market until the prices get realistic. That is where the gouging is right now. No thanks on the 605. Too many bad reviews for me to go there. Waiting for a good Yammy under $500.

In my observations, many HD DVD supports seem to have a delusional sense of what a fully featured player should cost.

Lest not forget that the A-35 and XA2 were both selling for $500-$800 when HD DVD was still *alive*.

Now I'm reading posts and sigs from people who expect a 2.0 BD player with built in advanced audio decoders and high-end video processors to cost $200.

My qualifications for a fully featured player would be:
1080p/24hz
5.1/7.1 Analog outs
Ethernet port
All audio decoders.

We have several 2.0 BD players on the horizon that meet these requirements and have MSRPs of $500. The Sony BDP-S550 is a prime example. That will be my first BD SAL.

So, what is a fair price to you for a fully featured BD player, and why?

Do not forget what many people consider as to be a fair price.

For me a fair price is something everyone can pay. So a fully featured player shouldn't cost more than 200-250$US.

a "fair price" is what allows the firm to make a profit. make no mistake - nobody has a right to HD-contents, it's a privilege. blu-ray and HD DVD were launched to make money for the firms. it's as simple as that

I also think that at the moment 400-500 USD is a fair price for a fully loaded player

a "fair price" is what allows the firm to make a profit. make no mistake - nobody has a right to HD-contents, it's a privilege. blu-ray and HD DVD were launched to make money for the firms. it's as simple as that

I also think that at the moment 400-500 USD is a fair price for a fully loaded player

A privilege? Come on, you can't be serious. Owning a big house is a privilege. Going to one of the finest universities is a privilege.

But having the chance to buy a disc that is pressed million times? A privilege?

If your qualifications for a fair price is something that everyone can pay, then Companies should give their products away for free. By doing this everyone will be able to express their "right" to watch millions of pressed discs. :rolleyes:

$300-350 MRSP is a fair price for a full featured Blu-ray player.

$299 and under, at least for spec 1.1 players. I can't even consider purchasing a Blu-ray player until then. Summer looks to be promising for completed players.

If someone can find the actual cost of the parts to make the players then we can determine the fair price to both consumers and manufacturers. Also if they want us to pay a fair price then how about being fair themselves and drop the damn region coding!

Do you own an HD DVD player? If so, what model? How much did you pay?

Impossible to compare until we can have user feedback and tests of the new Sony unit.

I have 3 XA2s Average price $300. I have serious doubts the Sony will score 130 out of 130 on upconversion and have the picture adjustability of the XA2.

If it uses the Sigma chipsets, then it will be a run of the mill performer. For run of the mill maybe $199.99

Impossible to compare until we can have user feedback and tests of the new Sony unit.

I have 3 XA2s Average price $300. I have serious doubts the Sony will score 130 out of 130 on upconversion and have the picture adjustability of the XA2.

If it uses the Sigma chipsets, then it will be a run of the mill performer. For run of the mill maybe $199.99

Are you saying that it's common to purchase a machine with an original MSRP of $1000 at $300?

Anyway, considering I paid more than $500 for my first non progressive DVD player, anything less than that for a HD player is good at this stage in the game.

$250 for a 2.0 player.

And that's NOT because I got my HD DVD players for less than that ($200 for the add-on and $99 for the A3). It's because I look at how much better HD is than SD, and that's the amount I'm willing to pay for the improvement.

In my observations, many HD DVD supports seem to have a delusional sense of what a fully featured player should cost.I think that is basically due to the subsidized HD DVD players that were released by Toshiba which gave a good number of posters an unrealistic economic view of how much HD players should cost.


...
So, what is a fair price to you for a fully featured BD player, and why?Well based on that definition of a full featured player for this year I would say $400 to $600 MSRP from your average CE company depending on minor features. Of course for very high end build quality and major features (Realta upscaling) the price would be higher.


But having the chance to buy a disc that is pressed million times? A privilege?Would you consider owning a Blu-ray player to be a right?


I have 3 XA2s Average price $300.I think kamspy was asking for MSRP and not for how much it might one day sell for refurbished/used.


I have serious doubts the Sony will score 130 out of 130 on upconversion and have the picture adjustability of the XA2.CNET considered the Oppo DV-981-HD (http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/oppo-dv-981hd/4505-6463_7-32327927.html?tag=prod.txt.1) to be a better DVD upscaler than the HD-XA2 (http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/toshiba-hd-xa2/4505-6463_7-32074339.html?tag=prod.txt.1). CNET said that: "So, while the upconversion on the HD-XA2 is very good, we still felt that the DV-981HD was significantly better."

A fair price is "whatever the manufacturer can make the most profit from," so the question posed by this thread is loaded by its very nature.

Having said that, I'd consider $199.99 a fair price, unless it's Blu-ray, for which I'd pay $99, max.

Impossible to compare until we can have user feedback and tests of the new Sony unit.

I have 3 XA2s Average price $300. I have serious doubts the Sony will score 130 out of 130 on upconversion and have the picture adjustability of the XA2.

If it uses the Sigma chipsets, then it will be a run of the mill performer. For run of the mill maybe $199.99
Speaking of upconverting, what does it do for audio ?

one point of interest . Is to get sd consumers(mass market) to get into buying hd(blu-ray)We need some 200.00 or less players ...Personally I would like to see this take off and not be another nitch product ...
I think for a nice bang for the buck(good player) around $500.00 Today . A full featured top of the line $17,000.00 Which I will not be interested in....
Everyone knows the cost will go down over time, But also it need to get sold now ..
Ive been looking for a used 1.0,1.1 one player for 150.00. ebay they still are $300.00 =too high
But with the pan bd-50 coming out soon , plus the sony 2.0 might wait for them...looks like will have to wait with the fact that its hard to find a "deal) on the 1rst gen models

XA2 were selling for $800.00 with 7 free movies . Before the fire sale .My A1 was $500.00 a t the begining ...Soooo.Its unrealistic to expect 200.00 top of the line blu-ray 2.0
My opinion on the 1.0 and 1.1 profile is they are way overpriced..
Good luck and happy hunting !

Bob

If someone can find the actual cost of the parts to make the players then we can determine the fair price to both consumers and manufacturers. Also if they want us to pay a fair price then how about being fair themselves and drop the damn region coding!

Every BD player plays non-region coded BDs.

Right now I think no more than $500 for a player like the one listed. Next year that cost needs to be well under $400.

Every BD player plays non-region coded BDs.

Yeah, but they won't play region coded ones if they're from a different region than you will they? Duh!

I'd like to see them < $300 for a full featured player and stripped down models < $100. Until prices get to those levels, blu-ray will have a tough time increasing sales. And if they don't increase sales, there's less incentive for them to release my catalog titles.

Speaking of upconverting, what does it do for audio ?

DDPLUS/DOLBY TRUEHD
DST-HD/L-PCM
ANALOG SUPORTED 5.1 PCM PLUS DIGITAL OUT

Yeah, but they won't play region coded ones if they're from a different region than you will they? Duh!

This thread is about hardware. Duh!:rolleyes:

DDPLUS/DOLBY TRUEHD
DST-HD/L-PCM
ANALOG SUPORTED 5.1 PCM PLUS DIGITAL OUT

The XA2 upconverts DVD audio to DD+ or TrueHD? Wow!

Speaking of upconverting, what does it do for audio ?
Upconversion is supposed to be for video and NOT for audio.

If someone can find the actual cost of the parts to make the players then we can determine the fair price to both consumers and manufacturers. Also if they want us to pay a fair price then how about being fair themselves and drop the damn region coding!

What the market will bare . As costs of materials , labor ect .Has little to do with msrp.
Look at the chinese tools,set of crumby screwdrivers(msrp 80.00) You get them for $3.00
Also look at a gallon of water , a gallon of gas is cheap compared to what
we pay for milk , bottles water .ect...
They charge as much as possible .
dvd players can be bought for around $25.00 brand new ...when they were in demand , was a differant story ...


Bob

I was looking to see if I could find some actual costs and I found something interesting. In 2006 when the PS3 came out a company called iSuppli added up the cost of the components of not only the PS3 but the Xbox360 at that time. (Which was a year after launch.) They found that the Xbox360 Premium actually cost just over $323 to make at that time and was sold for $399. So lets take that now unsubsidized Xbox360 at $399 and add the also unsubsidized HD DVD add-on for $199. (Whether or not Toshiba subsidized their standalone players the HD DVD add-on was definitely NOT subsidized.) So that's a $598 unsubsized HD DVD player with all kinds of other stuff inside like a 20GB hard drive. According to reviews I've read along with plenty of posts here it seems the Xbox360 HD DVD add-on is, or at least was in Autumn 2006, the best performing HD DVD player as it's fast loading and all its features like HDi are fast too. I just looked up the launch price for HD DVD players and there were 2 of them, one was $499 and the other was $799. I find it very hard to believe that the $799 player was subsidized and even saying the $499 player was subsidized seems a stretch. I would say at worst the $499 player broke even. Now as we all (should) know technology advances very fast and gets cheaper very quickly. Sony claims that the PS3's costs have halved since it was launched. If costs have halved since then and the Xbox360 + HD DVD add-on was an unsubsidized $598 in Autumn 2006 (when the PS3 launched) then an HD player the equivalent of that (which would be profile 2.0 for Blu-Ray) should be AT MOST $299 RIGHT NOW! (However I'm sure there are a lot of costs that can be taken out of that since an HD player doesn't need all the Xbox360's hardware, like the hard drive for instance.)

Blu Fans and Normal People = $399-$499

HD DVD Fans = $99

Thank you