Sony recently said that it plans to put Blu-ray into a variety of CE products. Now, Funai says “me too!”
Starting next summer, the company will saturate shelves with combo Blu-ray/LCD TVs at low-low prices. Crunch Gear says that 20 percent of Funai’s current U.S. TV sales are based on TV/DVD combos, so the company must be doing something right.
For those not familiar with Funai, this parent company pulls the strings to discount brands such as Symphonic, Emerson and Sylvania. Many of their products can be found in a variety of electronic retailers. Wal-Mart currently has their Sylvania Blu-ray player for $299.
Considering the prices and brand names involved, don’t expect something too eye-popping. However, the idea of a low-priced combo unit could pull in a few more Blu-ray fans.
Of course, no specs have been announced yet. A release date and pricing aren’t available either, but a 42-inch LCD/Blu-ray combo is expected to cost between $1,100 and $1,300.
LOL.
Sure, I’ll buy a blu-ray(gasp of death) player in my television if I want an outdated dinosaur hanging around..:)
WIth everyone having cable speed internet access, and streaming HD movies obviously the wave of the future, the path of least resistance is streaming movies to your computer and then to your HDTV via wireless transmission. (See Samsung for wireless already out).
Why exactly do I need to run out and buy a piece of media(disc) that has to be stored and played from a dedicated player, unless I wanted to mindlessly support a useless format.
Welcome to the future, discs of any sort are a useless expense unless they are blank.
Combos can be scary. If one component dies, the whole unit must go in for repairs.
However, the idea is fantastic for people that are not too tech savey and hate too many black boxes and wires and remotes.
Id be VERY nervous buying a combo from a “D” grade maker though. Maybe a Sony or Panasonic.
Also, they need to make their blu ray player WAY cheaper than $299. This is not much cheaper that the well known makes!! It should be at most $199!
Still, nice too see many more Blu products on the horizon…....
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Rocky, Maybe I can suggest some glasses for you. Blu Ray will always look and… 
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future file, i think it may be a bit premature to say that all our hd needs will be brought to us via an isp anytime soon. i agree that the streaming option is getting closer, but unfortunately the vast majority of users out there don’t have high speed access, and probably won’t for some time (not the bandwidth to allow for hd content at least). so while you may not like the idea of buying/renting a “useless format” the issue is more about what’s available. technology evolves and i think you need to go along for the ride. for me, i’ll do the blu-ray thing until something better comes along. btw, i have fios now and i doubt even it could handle a large scale rollout of hd movies (on the level of blu-ray.)