Blu-ray players to be more affordable (Sub-$100) this Holiday season

Of late, retailers have been offering discounts on Blu-ray players by bundling them with High Definition TVs and Home Theater Systems. This holiday season, you are going to find entry level Blu-ray players for as low as $100. This break in entry level price barrier is partly due to higher Blu-ray adoption rate and partly due to the imminent competition the Chinese Blu-ray disc manufacturers are bringing in.

Unlike high-end models, entry level Blu-ray players lack support for BD-Live (profile 2.0) and high definition audio standards like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. But, most of them will do the job of playing Blu-ray discs and upconverting DVDs without any issues. If you are planning to get onto Blu-ray bandwagon without burning a hole in your wallet, look out for these players:

• Magnavox NB530MGX (Profile 1.1. No BD-Live support. Has SD slot instead of USB drive)
• Bestbuy Insignia NS-BRDVD3 (Ethernet enabled, supports Profile 2.0
• Curtis Mathes CMMBX130
• Sylvania NB530SLX

A leaked Walmart Black friday Ad lists Magnavox NB500MG1F for $78.