Pioneer annnounces £400 BDP-51FD Blu-ray player
As we hinted it might back in July, Pioneer has indeed chosen to deliver a more affordable Blu-ray player to complement its high-end products. The company has confirmed the release of the BDP-51FD, set to retail at £400 when it's released in November.
The BDP-51FD will offer an alternative to the imminent BDP-LX71, at £600, and the BDP-LX91 at around £1500.
There will also be a fourth, 'luxury' player, the BDP-LX08, which will look to offer something different cosmetically while boasting a similar spec to the 'LX71 and selling for £680.
The £400 'entry-level' '51FD will be a profile 1.1 player but naturally still with 1080p/24fps video playback and HD audio decoding on board for all the available codecs.
While the style and build will not be of the same standard as the more expensive models - more plastic, less aluminium, and a different remote - we naturally still expect the product to have some of the usual Pioneer design appeal.
We're doing our best to get our hands on some of these new players for review, so watch this space.
Comments
Why have us brits got to wait to november for this player.I can order this from the usa now for just a few extra pounds and watch region A discs and not have to worry about uk discs.To me its shows us brits are 2nd rate as usual.
Why only 1.1 and why does that news sound like Pioneer are making a sub-standard deck to cater for the non-enthusiast market? Since the introduction of the Kuros Pioneer seem to have got stuck up their own backsides and think they are high end audiophiles.
I tend to agree with Will. I am in the market for a BD-player for a new home cinema set up going in later this month (can't wait). My local dealer rubbishes the Panasonics which in his experience are universally unreliable (and in the absence of any long-term tests is difficult to argue with) so it's a waiting game for the Pioneer at the moment ...
What on earth difference between them can their be? They'll have to actively de-engineer the lesser products just to force a little differential into the mix. Why can't they make the best player possible, for £400. Just how big a difference do you get for an extra £1100??
Perplexed.