Sub-$300 HD Disc Player Coming to Wal-Mart

Engadget is reporting that Wal-Mart will soon begin selling a $299 high definition video disc player.

Problem is, Engadget's source, the Japanese tech site Akihabara News, isn't sure if the new player is HD DVD or Blu-ray. The Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats are vying to be the sole successor to standard-definition DVD format.

Or perhaps the new player is a hybrid device like the BD-UP5000 player Samsung says it will bring to market this year.

Anyway, Engadget and Akihabara News say Wal-Mart has purchased 2 million of the low-cost players from a Chinese manufacturer called Great Wall Corporation. The technology inside the player reportedly is made by the Taiwanese company Fuh Yuan, with some help from Japan's TDK.

At $299, the new player comes in at $100 less than the least expensive HD DVD player on the shelves today -- the Toshiba A2. The new player is half the price of Sony's $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player, Engadget points out.

Exactly when the new $299 player will hit Wal-Mart's shelves remains unclear, but the manufacturer says the whole 2 million-unit order will be delivered to the retailer by the end of 2008.

Comments

I actually was faced with such a situation recently. My mom wanted my help picking out her first laptop. I quickly realized that Vista was then on all the new machines so I headed straight for the (Dell) refurb store (where I probably would have ended up, anyway) and picked out a nice 17" Core Duo with XP on it -- with a 3 year/nxt day/onsite/ spill & drop warranty for just about a thousand. Worked for me.

dogmo1001

April 20, 2007

4:25 PM PT

To the above commenter. If you have a PC or laptop with XP, keep it - Vista is a nightmare.

ironskull

April 21, 2007

1:39 PM PT