I am the eternal wrote: > On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 9:48 PM, Bhairitu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Rumor has it Wal-Mart (if you can stand to go there) will have the >> Magnavox Blu-Ray player on sale for $128 on Black Friday. This is a >> rebranded Funai player and also the same as the Sylvania. More info on >> these players here: >> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026390 >> >> If you can't stand Wal-Mart I would expect other retailers to have a >> similar deal. >> > > Wal-Mart has special models (slight variations of the model numbers) > made for it, often of cheaper quality, hence Wal-Mart can charge less > and other stores can't price match because they don't carry the exact > same model. That may not be true in the case of these players. They are low-end, but a most likely the same components sold all year and under different brand names. This model is also sold as Sylvania and Best Buy's Insignia brand. The price would be a "loss leader" to get people into stores and each store will probably only have maybe 20-30 units available. It's first come, first serve and spend money on other things while you're here. Last year WM and a few other stores had "secret sales" before Black Friday and WM was selling the Toshiba HD-DVD player for a low price. I went there to see how it was going and there was a long line. Only people who camped out overnight in the parking lot got one of the 20 units the store had. The Toshiba was the older model. I picked up a deal on the new model on Amazon and got an additional $50 credit a few months later when the HD media war was over.
Also China has been banned from making Blu-Ray players. People considering Blu-Ray players need to know the difference between the 1.1 and 2.0 profile models. If you're only going to play movies and don't do a lot special features that may require connecting to the Internet a 1.1 profile model may work for you. Those are the lower priced models. The 2.0 can connect to the Internet for downloadable stuff and generally have more memory to speed up those Java program loads. I believe the LG that Rick was looking at is a 2.0 profile as it can connect to the Internet and also download movies via Netflix. Another consideration is the Sony PS3 which is a game machine and Blu-Ray player. Having more memory for game playing it can load disks much faster plus has added features such as DivX playback. I'm a big of a cynic when it comes to Christmas as it is too commercialized anymore and a "bailout time" for badly run businesses. This year I predict many won't get bailed out and it will probably be the worst Christmas season for sales in years. Companies will probably start going under as a result in February. And then my relatives have their yearly "Christmas ritual" which has always been obscenely ridiculous and we exchange a lot of junk bought at dollar stores and liquidation shops or give each other gift card because we don't know what the hell each other wants. I feel a lot of the time like dropping my goodies bag off at a homeless shelter after the bacchanal since they tend to clutter up my house. I also don't like shopping for that stuff and even worse wrapping it. I think we should just have a Christmas Eve dinner and let that be it.
