UltimateAVmag.com: Buyer's Guide: Disc Players / Recorders: Budget Choice

	Ultimate Bang for the Buck. These components establish the Ultimate in price/performance ratio, challenging the performance of the Ultimate and Premier Choice components at a fraction of the price.

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	Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player (Provisional) $499 Digital Video Output: HDMI Video Upconversion: 720p and 1080i/p Audio Decoding: DD, DTS, MP3 Ins and Outs: HDMI (1.2), component, one each composite and S-Video, coaxial and optical digital audio, 5.1-channel analog audio Feature Highlights: 1080p/24 Blu-ray output, upconverting HDMI DVD outputs The Skinny: Sony's second generation BD player shocked a lot of people by hitting the market with a previously unannounced $100 price drop. The $499 BDP-S300 not only has all the features of its $1K predecessor, it will also play CDs! It doesn't yet decode Dolby TrueHD, but as its preedecessor received a firmware update for this feature we hope it will be offered soon. We saw superlative performance from this player, both with Blu-ray and upconverted DVDs, making it a solid choice for your legacy library too. Occasional freeze-ups were an issue, but this is probably the most desirable standalone BD player we've seen considering the price.
	Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray Disc Player $499 Digital Video Output: HDMI Video Upconversion: 720p, 1080i/p Audio Decoding: DD, Dolby TrueHD lossless, DTS, SACD, MP3 Ins and Outs: HDMI 1.3, component with analog stereo via proprietary breakout, Toslink digital audio Feature Highlights: 1080p/24 Blu-ray output, DVD upconversion, state-of-the-art gaming platform, The Skinny: Sony's mighty PlayStation3 is one of the rare components we've reviewed that's actually gotten better and cheaper since we first reviewed and recommended it. It's still the cheapest Blu-ray Disc player currently on the market, and Sony has updated it to include 1080p/24 output and DVD upconversion. It decodes Dolby TrueHD lossless and has Wi-Fi, making firmware updates a snap and perhaps enhanced BD interactivity down the road. It's still the slickest and fastest BD player out there, but also the most sure-footed. It doesn't freeze or glitch and has had far fewer problems with Java-encoded titles than any of the standalone players we've tested. Overall, this is SB's top choice in a BD player even if the video isn't quite as crisp as the very best standalone players.
	Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player $299 Digital Video Output: HDMI Video Upconversion: 720p, 1080i Audio Decoding: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, MP3, WMA Ins and Outs: HDMI, component, composite and S-Video, Toslink digital audio, two-channel analog audio, Ethernet, USB "extension" ports Feature Highlights: HD DVD player, upconverting HDMI and component outputs for standard-def DVDs, full bass management with delays The Skinny: So far, Toshiba's second-gen HD DVD players have looked every bit like the players we wanted the first time around. And the HD-A2 is the one that got things going. To keep prices down it eschews the multichannel analog outs, so if you want to hear those Dolby TrueHD tracks you better have HDMI switching with audio processing in your pre-pro or AVR. The HD-A2 features a new, slim-line cabinet, and isn't the HTPC that the first-gen players were. As a result, it delivers the picture and sound quality we lvoed in the first-generation, but improved the ergonomic and disc access issues that plagued the earlier players. And the HD-A2 just got a little sweeter with a price drop to $299.