Sony BDP-S300 - sub $500 Blu-ray player

Those of you expecting a Blu-ray player for under $500 have just got your wish granted. Sony has announced that its BDP-S300 will be released for $499, making it the first Blu-ray player cheaper than the 60 GB Playstation 3 which is priced at $599.

Fully capable of supporting 1080p signals, HDMI 1.3 as well as Dolby Digital Plus and 5.1 surround audio, the BDP-S300 seems quite a reasonable alternative for those who don’t want to spend an extra $100 for the gaming and multimedia capability of the PS3. This will probably mean fewer kids will be able to persuade their parents to get a PS3 as their Blu-ray player, because it’s not the cheapest one anymore. I wonder how many complaints and protests Sony received from teenagers begging them to rethink this matter after this latest announcement.

In related news, Sony has also cut the price of its larger BDP-S1 player by $200, effective immediately. I’m still confused about the S1’s purpose, since the S300 seems to have all the same features plus audio CD playing capability, in a smaller size. Maybe some readers can enlighten me on this?