http://www.smarthouse.com.au/HD/Blu_ray/D9E3Q9T5
Australia could have a $99 Blu ray player by Xmas claims Samsung following the licensing of Blu ray and Dolby technology to Chinese manufacturers. The claim comes after it was revealed that sales of Blu ray have doubled in the US market during the first quarter of 2009.
Mark Leathan the Marketing Director at Samsung said "The market for Blu ray is starting to pick up and you can bet with the entry of the Chinese manufacturers into the Blu ray market that we will have a $99 Blu ray player to compete against".
In an effort to spur Blu-ray growth and drop prices of the format, Sony, Panasonic and Philips have created a licensing entity for Blu-ray products which saw several Chinese manufacturers take up licensing deals in the last quarter of 2008. The venture will lower licensing fees and have fewer unlicensed products, passing the savings along to consumers.
I got into DVD when the players dropped below 250 about 98 with a nice but very basic Pioneer 525. It had a great picture and would play most any disk I fed it but that was about it for it. I never saw any artifacts with it or anything as well so when I jumped into the Apex AD600a player that had the secret menu I was pretty disappointed at the video quality but it was 100 cheaper and did everything...