If you’re waiting for a Blu-ray player to drop below $200, the Insignia NS-BRDVD is currently the closest to the mark at $230 at Best Buy. This is the base price without coupons or rebates.
The Insignia BS-BRDVD outputs a 1080p signal and is a profile 1.1 player (no BD Live). It also upconverts DVDs.
According to CNET, if your television accepts 1080p/24fps signals, the Insignia will deliver a decent 1080p picture. However, if your HDTV is relegated to 1080p/60fps, you may experience strange lines called moire that appear due to down conversion to 1080i and a reconversion back to 1080p/60fps. If your set has a decent deinterlacing chip, you can set the Insignia to output a 1080i signal and let your HDTV handle the deinterlacing, which may solve the problem.
Load times are also slow. CNET noted it took 49 seconds to load Mission Impossible: III starting with the player at off. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest took 2 minutes and 16 seconds. CNET also noted that other “better” Blu-ray players also have slow load times, just a little quicker than the Insignia (with the PS3 having the fastest load times).
Still, you can’t argue much with the price if you are currently looking for a cheap Blu-ray player that outputs 1080p. Check out CNET’s video review below:
Links:
Insignia NS-BRDVD $229 at Best Buy.
CNET’s review of the Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray Player.
