Sharp "remains committed to Blu-ray", unveils new Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player

[zombieflanders]

From their press conference:

Sharp remains committed to Blu-ray. BD-HP50U with 1.1 profile support announced today. AQUOS Link enabled over HDMI for integration with the AQUOS TV.

Apparently it also supports HDMI 1.3, which I assume means bitstreaming.

[zombieflanders]

And here's the pic:

[Blu-News.com]

uggh its ugly! It looks like a grill. I wish they would release
ones with built in wifi, that would be great.

[mr.W]

my first cd player was a sharp it was the best cd player i ever had so if i were to go blu i would go with sharp.

unless panasonic had a better player
or pioneer.

as for looks its blu backed by sony , sony has never made a good looking anything.

[zombieflanders]

Ugh, Sharp is supposedly asking $700 for it. Somehow, I think we'll see it actually launch at <$400, like the Philips.

[g.k.]

$700? Does Sharp think they're Onkyo now or something?

[irrob]

Originally Posted by g.k.

$700? Does Sharp think they're Onkyo now or something?

LOL
I'm glad Sharp is down with Blu.
But $700 is so two years ago.
Gotta drop that price Sharp!

[hellgrammite00]

LOL what are they thinking? Do they think this will turn people away from their toshiba XA2, then they are crazy.

Who is this for? Those rich guys who want to support blu-ray and buy 35 of these?

IF blu-ray to-date has sold under 300,000 stand alone units....wouldnt you price you player in a relatively small competetion....competively?

* to the post below, you got it right.

[sk8flawzz]

is this thing so much better than the hybrid player just announced for 599? why's this so much? why do I have a feeling any profile 2.0 players will be MSRP 1000+?

[Texan1976]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who did a double take at the price....

How can they justify that with the 2.0 Panasonic being $100 less?? The new Sammy 1.1 is MSRP'ing at $399, too!

I'm glad this page is being updated, too. I haven't seen any new announcements for HD DVD players, though. (crickets)

Sorry...I had to say it.

[sk8flawzz]

Originally Posted by Texan1976

I'm glad I'm not the only one who did a double take at the price....

How can they justify that with the 2.0 Panasonic being $100 less?? The new Sammy 1.1 is MSRP'ing at $399, too!

I'm glad this page is being updated, too. I haven't seen any new announcements for HD DVD players, though. (crickets)

Sorry...I had to say it.

Sadly I don't think there will be any more HD DVD player announcements in the near future, maybe just price cuts on current players.
Did I miss the 2.0 Panasonic? which one is that?

[Texan1976]

Originally Posted by sk8flawzz

Sadly I don't think there will be any more HD DVD player announcements in the near future, maybe just price cuts on current players.
Did I miss the 2.0 Panasonic? which one is that?

The BD50 that was announced today. I've been looking for where I saw the MSRP on it, but I can't find it now.

Needless to say...It's loaded.

[sk8flawzz]

Originally Posted by Texan1976

The BD50 that was announced today. I've been looking for where I saw the MSRP on it, but I can't find it now.

Needless to say...It's loaded.

OH yes I saw that one, looks great but I couldn't find the MSRP on it either. If its $100 less than this sharp one then that will hopefully drive prices down. I'm still HOPING for a BD-Live/HD DVD combo player announcement =P

[DefTechPioElite]

$700 dollars is brutal. No thanks. Blu-ray has all this awesome momentum right now, and if CES ends with nothing but high prices, that will sour it for me.

[supra2jzgte]

Originally Posted by irrob

LOL
I'm glad Sharp is down with Blu.
But $700 is so two years ago.
Gotta drop that price Sharp!

I agree, $700 is no longer justifiable for any profile, its time for Blu Ray to drop the prices and begin going mainstream since they got virtually all studio support in Hollywood.