Wal-Mart's Bargain Blu-ray

Just last week, we reported about the somewhat dismal adoption of Blu-ray among consumers. We said it seemed that $300 was the magic number that would entice more folks to whip out the credit card and go Blu. Seems like Wal-Mart was taking notes. Wal-Mart is going to begin selling the Magnavox NB500MG9 in a few weeks for just under $300. Whoa, big boy, you might want to think about this before you park your RV outside your nearest Wal-Mart.

The "Magnavox" name isn't the one you've known and loved for years. The NB500MG9 is a Funai player, rebadged as "Magnavox."  Funai? Who??? It's probably not as scary as is sounds — Funai is the parent company of Sylvania and Emerson too, but still.

Best Buy is going to sell the exact same player with their in-house badge "Insignia" for fifty bucks more. The NB500MG9 is going to be Profile 1.1 with picture-in-picture, but still pretty basic. You can't help but wonder if Wal-Mart could sell this knock-off for significantly less than $300 once consumers realize the "Magnavox" name is just a front, especially since it's Profile 1.1. The real question is would you rather pay a little bit more and get a name that you know and respect? With a new technology, wouldn't folks want a name they trust? —Leslie Shapiro

Video Business

Comments

[Ravid]

It's pretty much consensus among on the AVS BR forum that just about everyone who has picked up one of the new Magnavox/Funai BlueRay players has been signing it's praises.Sure it doesn't have "optical out" or an ethernet port, and inly profile 1.1, but does EVERYONE really need or want those features(no!).For what it does, and that's play BlueRay movies, it seems to do just as well if not better than some more expensive players currently out, and forn $288 that's a darn bargain in my book.

[Ravid]

It's pretty much consensus among on the AVS BR forum that just about everyone who has picked up one of the new Magnavox/Funai BlueRay players has been signing it's praises.Sure it doesn't have "optical out" or an ethernet port, and inly profile 1.1, but does EVERYONE really need or want those features(no!).For what it does, and that's play BlueRay movies, it seems to do just as well if not better than some more expensive players currently out, and forn $288 that's a darn bargain in my book.

[Nintendo Ds cases]

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