14 DAY TRIAL // Until recently, the only Blu-ray player from Sony (other than the PS3 gaming system) was the BDP-S1. This device, that every soul on the planet would like to have in his home, is priced at $999 on every online store that has it. Now, Sony "has made an effort" and released a second Blu-ray player, the BDP-S300, that practically performs the same tasks as the previous one, plus it has an added feature and is priced at $599. Wow, much cheaper than the BDP-S1, huh?
The added feature of the BDP-S300 is that it can also read normal CDs. It is no bigger than a normal DVD player and speaking of DVD players, it looks like the HD-DVD players have some stiff competition, now that a Blu-ray reading device from Sony has launched at such a low price. But why on Earth would anyone buy the BDP-S300, that only reads Blu-ray discs, and not the PS3 system, which does that very same thing, plus it is one of the best, if not the best gaming system out there?
Copying, that's why. A Blu-ray player could be implemented the feature of writing Blu-ray discs. All right, but nobody is saying anything about the BDP-S300 being able to perform this operation. Why? Because it doesn't write Blu-ray discs, thus leaving the upper question unanswered. So why did Sony come up with this device, launch it and price it close to the PS3's price, if not exactly the same? Because they might still be trying to cover manufacturing costs for the PS3.
I can't come up with a logical answer for why would anyone in his right mind buy a Blu-ray player that only reads discs, instead of buying the PS3 gaming system. Let me ask you this. If you were going to get your very own Blu-ray player but recently you've found out that it was priced the same as the PS3, what exactly would you choose? Sony is betting on that choice.