Sony Blu-ray Player Breaks the $300 Barrier

A little more than a month ago, Sony execs were telling us that their Blu-ray players probably wouldn't sell for less than $399 this year. Well, that was then—and now here's the Sony BDP-S300, on sale for $299. Meanwhile, Best Buy has a new offer: two Blu-ray or HD DVD discs for the price of one.

Engadget HD reports that eagle-eyed holiday shoppers have spotted the Sony Blu-ray player, which had an original list price of $600, at such online retailers as Best Buy and Circuit City for just $299. The move comes just days after news of a Samsung Blu-ray player on sale for $270 at Amazon; meanwhile, HD DVD prices seem to have leveled off in the $250 range, now that the $99 HD DVD player fire sale has burned itself out. It's interesting news, given that Sony has a massive stake in the Blu-ray format and had seemed determined to keep Blu-ray prices at a premium.

Also, the bloggers at CNET have a story about a new two-for-one deal for Blu-ray and HD DVD movies, complete with free shipping and a solid selection of titles, including "300," "The Departed," the latest Harry Potter epic, and "Spider-Man 3." Even better, this isn't some mail-in rebate where you have to wait weeks and weeks for your movies to arrive; instead, you just add the free titles to your shopping cart as you would normally, and many ship within a day or so.

Of course, all this isn't to say that now's the time to jump into the HD player game. The format war is still in high gear; indeed, a good friend of mine just asked me whether he should go Blu-ray or HD DVD, and I told him that unless he's planning on getting a Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 with the add-on HD DVD drive, he should probably wait it out. That said, if you're dead-set on getting a Blu-ray or HD DVD player, I'd advise you hold off until at least January, when the big post-holiday sales start to hit.

Related:
Sony's BDP-S300 now sitting at $299 [Engadget HD]
Blu-ray and HD DVD movies: Buy one, get one free [CNET]