After getting snagged at the $400 price point for years and budging no lower, even after the collapse of HD-DVD, manufacturers have finally broken through the old price barrier and pushed Blu-ray prices to an all new low. Memorex set the new bar on Thursday with the MVBD-2510, a budget player that will retail for $269.
The no-frills machine offers support for Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (though the latest is 2.0,) which offers Bonus View, a picture-in-picture capability for playing director’s commentary and other extras alongside a regular movie. It outputs 1080p video through HDMI, and includes analog 5.1 audio jacks to supplement its 7.1 HDMI digital audio output.
To coincide with its entry into Blu-ray, Memorex also announced a lined of Blu-ray cleaning and storage accessories to be released alongside the player, including the Opticloth reusable microfiber cloth for cleaning discs, disposable cleaning cloths, laser lens cleaner, and Tyvek sleeves.
All Memorex’s Blu-ray accessories are available online for prices between $5 and $9, while the Blu0-ray player will debut in November at $269.
