Although Blu-ray dominated the high-definition content war against HD DVD earlier in the year, becoming prosperous has been far from easy for Blu-ray supporters. High prices have scared off many potential customers, while an ailing global economy will only hinder sales in a critical time for the fledgling format.
Nevertheless, companies continue to release Blu-ray products across the world, with a strong emphasis on the United States, Europe and Asia -- this time around, however, Australian consumers have two more models they can choose from.
Panasonic and LG both have recently released players competing against one another, with each model competitively priced to compete against each other leading up to the holiday shopping season.
The LG BD-300, supporting 1080p HD and Dolby True HD and DTS-HD, along with Internet connectivity for streaming Netflix movies. The player became just the second standalone Blu-ray player to support Netflix, although a number of players have the capability now.
The BD-300 is available for $350, after a $49 price cut by LG before the BD-300's release.
.jpg)
The Panasonic DMP-BD35 also offers 1080p support, with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and an SD card slot that can be used for additional storage.
Panasonic's Blu-ray player costs just $4 less than the competing LG Blu-ray player.
Both players have BD-Live technology, a Blu-ray feature aimed at letting owners use the Internet to download more content for each movie.
Even though both players cost less than the Sony PlayStation 3, which remains the most popular Blu-ray player, they both obviously lack gaming features. Manufacturers have had to lower the cost of standalone Blu-ray players to try and convince consumers to leave behind the PS3 and go with a Blu-ray player, as many consumers do not want or need a video game console.
Most major companies with Blu-ray players have products that are close to the $250 price point, with several companies as low as $199. With the leadup to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, quickly approaching, consumers are anticipating further price cuts
To make matters worse, the U.S. and rest of the world is facing a credit crunch that has forced many people to save money and cut down on excess spending. Indeed, even with standalone players and movies declining in price, it seems
