Costco: Sony S350 ($379) and Panasonic BD30 ($359)

[bluskiessmingatme]

I was just over at one of the Costco stores and they had the new Sony S350 there. However, there it is called the Sony BDP-BX1. It is the same model, just a special name for Costco, and comes with a free HDMI cable in the box. The price is $379.99 It was sitting right next to the Sony S301, which is the same as the S300, just that it also comes with an HDMI cable. Oddly enough, it was also priced at $379.99.

They also had the Panasonic BD30 (with the free HDMI cable, of course) marked down to $359.99.

While those are great prices, they are not the absolute lowest prices around..BUT Costco's return policy can't be beat and that's why I wanted to post the new thread, though we have an abundance of S350 threads already.

Looking at the two different Sony models, I could definitely see the differences. The new one is slimmer, lighter and has the 1.1 profile and will be BD Live with the update. The old one (which I love) may be only 1.0 profile but it also has the 5.1 output jacks and slow motion capability that the new one doesn't.

I was tempted to pick up the new one but I still want to see what the S550 will be like.

[bluskiessmingatme]

Oh, one extra thing advantage from getting the Sony S350 (aka BX1) from Costco...the remote control is backlit, while the ones from elsewhere are reportedly not.