The Red Circle

By Tom Nix

Only two more days until the biggest shopping day of the year. There are a ton of deals to be had on Blu-ray players from the big box stores as well as online. This is a guide to help you decide how to spend your money the most effectively.

Section One: Blu Ray Players
Budget Buys:

Walmart // Magnavox NB500MG1F // $78.00

This player is the cheapest of the cheap – and only for those who simply don’t want to spend a lot of money, or are purchasing a second Blu-ray player for a bedroom. It’s Profile 1.1, so it will allow for picture in picture, but not Bd-Live. There is no internet connection, so all of the firmware upgrades must be handled by burning and installing discs. It’s a limited machine, for sure, but the picture will be good, and you won’t feel a sting in your wallet.

Amazon // Lg BD270 // $99.99 — TODAY ONLY

Think a Magnavox is too low end for you? Don’t want to pay tax? Then this (admittedly great looking) Profile 1.1 Player is for you! Amazon is selling it today (11.25.09) as their gold box deal. Firmware updates will still have to be handled by the arduous disc process, but you’ve got a better machine with better innards for only about ten dollars more after tax is figured into the Walmart purchase – Plus: No waiting in line!

Best Buy // Insignia NS-L4Q120-1GA // $99.99

Sure, you’re going to have to wait in a huge line for this. Sure, you’ll end up paying about 10 dollars more than Amazon. But the payoff is this: This player is Profile 2.0. This player has Netflix compatibility built in. The player uses an ethernet cable to perform firmware upgrades, and streams your netflix instant play queue right through your HDTV through the same port. It is router compatible. For the money being exchanged, there is simply no better player. THE RED CIRCLE APPROVED.

MID-LEVEL PLAYERS

These players will normally have some sort of steaming capability, but will also be manufactured by one of the members of the Blu-ray Disc Alliance. They have superior hardware, will load faster, and are generally better constructed. If $50 doesn’t make a difference between off-brand and Grade-A Blu Heaven to you, then these are the ones you should be looking at.

Target // Sony BDP-S360 // $149.99

Sony will forever be the giant of Blu-ray. Not only is this Blu-ray player Profile 2.0 compatible, with an excellent 7.1 output system, it’s reliable and it’s super quick. It takes six seconds from boot up to disc-ready. It will provide the name brand security, and the performance that a lot of the lower end ones simply can’t lay claim to. The ethernet port will allow easy access to the internet for firmware updates.

Best Buy // Samsung BD-P1600 // $149.99

Compared to the Sony, this player just doesn’t look like a whole lot. Until you see that it’s Profile 2.0, AND Netflix streaming capable. Oh yeah, it also lets you stream Blockbuster On Demand, YouTube, and Pandora Radio, right from your device. It’s got the same ethernet port that we’re used to for all of that interactive goodness. Plug it into your router, and you’ve got both your Blu-ray collection and the bottomless pit of the internet to entertain you and yours all holiday long. THE RED CIRCLE APPROVED.

FULL FEATURED POWERHOUSES

These behemoths will set you back a bit, but they will offer unparalleled video, audio, and design quality. They also add something new to the mix: Wireless Internet. Stream your cloud-housed content from anywhere in the house.

Best Buy // Samsung BD-P4600 // $279.99

Utilizing their Touch of Color aesthetic, Samsung enters the high end market with a beautiful player that can even be mounted on the wall. It is wi-fi enabled, and has streaming Netflix, Pandora, Blockuster, and YouTube. It may be hard to turn down this unit if you end up purchasing a ToC Television from Samsung as well. But, for the money, there are other, better options…

THE UNDISPUTED KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

SONY PLAYSTATION 3 SLIM // $299 // Everywhere (Best Deals to Follow)

Let’s check off the list. Profile 2.0. Wireless Internet. 120 GB Hard Drive. Bluetooth Compatible. Netflix capable. Son Store for HD content purchases and rentals. Futureproof firmware upgrades. Media Center capable. Full HTML Web Browser. Facebook!  All for $20 more than a Samsung player with half of those features. Criterion uses the Ps3 to quality control all of their Blu-ray releases. If the best use it, why shouldn’t you? Just as the marketing says, It Only Does Everything. THE RED CIRCLE FOUNDERS CLUB AWARD.

It’s the best thing to happen to Blu-ray, and I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in it.

Here’s the places you can get it with bonus stuff:

GameStop // $299 // Free Little Big Planet and God of War Anthology with Purchase.

Meijer // $299 // Step Brothers/Black Hawk Down BDs + Gran Turismo 5/Ratchet And Clank Free

Best Buy // $299 // Little Big Plant Game of the Year Edition + Ratchet and Clank Free (Thanks to Nick for spotting this one!)

Section Two: The Accessories

So you’ve decided what Blu-ray player works best for you and your budget. Now you have to make it work. First, you’re going to need an HDTV (Editor’s Note: There will be a special addendum to this post tonight discussing monitors). Specifically one with HDMI connections.

HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface – and it’s the best quality connection that is currently available to consumers. I mntioned in part one that a Blu-ray Disc contains 50 GB of information. That information has to get from the disc to your TV, and you’re gonna need some heavy lifting to get there. That’s where HDMI comes in. HDMI transfers both the video and audio through its lightning fast connection so that you don’t see any lag or downgraded video quality. Connecting a Blu-ray through component cables is like drinking wine through a coffee filter.

You will NOT get an HDMI cable in the box. Most retailers will have one on clearance for Black Friday if you neeed it RIGHT NOW, but the best course of action is to pick one up from Amazon. I recommend this one. It’s only $13 shipped, and it gives just the same quality as the ones you’ll purchase for $50 (plus tax!) at point of sale.

Okay, we’ve got your connections. Now we just need to add it to your already blooming home theater. Most of you will have some sort of receiver and speaker system. If this is the case, then you’re going to want to secure yourself a home theater sure protector for all that valuable equipment.

We’ve come a long way from the days where a surge protector simply gave you more outlets. The ones avaiable today not only help keep out dirty electricity, they also manage the power of your whole system so that, in the case of an errant spike, the unit takes the hit – not your $3,000 of equipment. I cannot recommend Monster Power enough. As a user of an older model, I enjoy real time updates on the voltage going through my system, as well as improved picture quality from everything plugged into it.

WARNING: These are expensive. If you’re going to do it, though, you might as well do it right. Some recommendations: This one offers the complete solution. Power management, cleaner signals, voltage info, and isolated filters across all connections. If the price is too much, I’d suggest going with this one. It’s a bit less fully featured, but still gives you clean power with picture and sound improvement across the board.

And lastly, for the wise ones of you who purchased the PS3, you will need to purchase the Sony remote. It may seem redundant since you get a wireless controller at purchase, but trust us. This little device somes in more handy than you’ll ever realize. It can be had here. for under $20. Adding it to your Monster Power purchase will net free shipping on the lot.

Section 3: The End

I hope this basic buyer’s guide was helpful in your search for the great blu yonder. Stay tuned tonight for a special edition on the best and cheapest televisions to accompany your new High Def abilities. And check back tomorrow for all the best deals on Blu-ray media to fill out your collection.

Thanks from the staff of The Red Circle

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