Three Blu-ray players for less than $300

Matthew Moskovciak, April 1, 2009

During the 2008 holiday season, we found plenty of affordable Blu-ray players to recommend under $300. Fast-forward a couple months, and we're surprised to find that many of those players are either discontinued (Panasonic DMP-BD35) or are no longer discounted.

The bargains might not be as plentiful as before, but it's still possible to get a decent Blu-ray player for less than $300. The best player of the bunch is the Sony BDP-S350, which offers excellent video quality on both Blu-ray movies and DVDs, and is Profile 2.0 compliant. It also features a slick design with a small footprint, so it will fit in even the most cramped home theaters. On the downside, it's the most expensive player in our roundup and anyone interested in high-def gaming or media streaming should consider spending an extra $100 for a PlayStation 3.

The Samsung BD-P1500 is next on the list, and thanks to several firmware updates and aggressive retailer discounts, it's one of the best values right now. The latest firmware updates make the player Profile 2.0 compatible and have also ironed out the disc compatibility problems that plagued the player in the past. Sure, it's missing onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio, but unless you've got a high-end audio system, you probably won't hear the difference.

Rounding out the list is the Insignia NS-2BRDVD. While the Insignia is perfectly competent at basic Blu-ray playback, there are enough gripes (not currently Profile 2.0 compatible, lacks full support for Dolby TrueHD, can't upgrade firmware over Ethernet) that we couldn't give it our full recommendation. If the NS-2BRDVD was offered at a significant discount, we could see it being an option for budget-minded buyers. However, with the Samsung BD-P1500 being offered for the same price online, it's hard to make a case for the Insignia NS-2BRDVD.

More Resources

CNET's Quick Guide to Blu-ray,

Analog assault: Blu-ray players with 7.1 audio outputs,

Best Blu-ray players,

Is Blu-ray becoming a commodity?