Asda slashes price of its entry-level Blu-ray player to £40
Asda has slashed the price of its entry-level ONN DS-BD52 Blu-ray player (right) to £40 in a bid to boost sales this Christmas.
The supermarket chain believes Blu-ray is at a turning point, and on the verge of overtaking DVD as the dominant digital film format.
"The Blu-ray player has not experienced the meteoric rise that DVD players had over thier VHS predecessors, largely due to the more subtle, though significant, difference in image quality between DVD and Blu-ray," says Asda.
However, the chain believes that with HD TVs now being a common feature in oany homes, Blu-ray is about to fulfil its potential.
It also points out that "Blu-ray players also offer substantially better sound quality than DVDs and can upscale standard DVD discs to deliver better image quality."
Wayne Steenson, vision expert at Asda, says: "More and more UK homes are now equipped to enjoy the full benefit of high-definition Blu-ray discs and we're pleased to be offering Blu-ray players at the lowest price in the market."
As part of its campaign to boost mass take-up of Blu-ray, Asda is also cutting the cost of many Blu-ray titles, with some recent releases on sale for less than £10.
The Asda ONN Blu-ray player is available in larger Asda stores and on the company's website.
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Comments
It's not really the cost of the player they need to be looking at, after all, it's only a £50 player to begin with, another tenner off isn't going to convince that many more people to buy it! It's the cost of the software - £10-12 for a new release Bluray movie (without DVD and digital download) is really where we should be at. Offering dirt cheap DVD's is also hampering Bluray sales - the price gap needs reducing.the film companies could offer purchasers of the Bluray a half price DVD copy or digital download for the few that really want it, but I don't think it's something the majority are really that interested in. They need to stop giving 'perceived value' by adding another two or even three (non HD) discs, and just give us what Bluray is all about - a movie with HD picture and HD sound.
Blu Ray might be here to stay but its the last digital format you will be able to hold in your hands, the future will be downloads and within a good 10 years we should all have a internet connection which can cope with HD streaming.
It also amazes me that everyone always comments on the picture quality, i have a 40inch TV and yes blu ray made an improvement but it was the sound that always blew me away, as long as you were using a home cinema system of some sort.
Though the sound on HD downloads are never as good
I think you will find it has taken off. Bluray is here to stay.
Sorry I meant the Sony had gone up again .
once they start doing dvd / blu ray combos for all films then br will hit the masses .. until then ......i just cant see it takign off :( and i got 3 br players
Screengrabbed just now...
Gone up again now
I got one for the parents for Xmas last month when it was £50, its not a bad bit of kit. It not the best, but it by no means the worst either, somewhere in the middle.
Only real downside is that the remote is a bit cheap. but otherwise I would highly recommend it.
I'm sure our First Tests editor will be keen to get his hands on one
....or spend £9.97 more for Sony S185 at Tesco.
please could you guys do a review of this just to see how good it actually is!