Samsung announced this week that it is adding a new, more affordable model to its line of Blu-ray equipped "home theater in a box" (HTiB) systems. According to Twice, the $799 HT-BD2E features an integrated BD 1.0 Blu-ray player as well as five small satellite speakers, a passive subwoofer and 800 watts of RMS power.
Only Samsung and Panasonic offer HTiBs with included Blu-ray players, but the new HT-BD2E is the most aggressively priced Blu-ray-equipped HTiB system announced to date, said Reid Sullivan, marketing VP for digital audio, video and imaging. A Panasonic model retails for an everyday $999. “As the Blu-ray market broadens,” Sullivan said, “more people will be interested in home theater systems with built-in Blu-ray.”The HT-BD2E will probably be a big hit with the everyday consumer. However, its lack of support for BD-Live and DTS-HD Master Audio probably won't sit well with enthusiasts. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.
Samsung’s three models feature integrated single-disc BD 1.0 Blu-ray player, HDMI-CEC, 1080p up-scaling of DVD content, outboard subwoofer, selectable 24/60 fps BD playback, Ethernet port for firmware upgrades, FM tuner, no AM tuner, and decoders for all surround formats approved for use on BD discs except for the DTS HD Master lossless-compression format. The systems also play CDs encoded with MP3, JPEG and WMA files.
