Insignia isn’t exactly high-end, but when cheap Blu-ray is at stake, what’s in a name? We shall soon find out.

Best Buy is selling its Insignia Blu-ray player for just $199. The new price includes an in-store/online $30 rebate, but Home Media Magazine says that’s a nice 40 percent discount off the original retail price.

Also known as the NS-BRDVD, the unit includes profile 1.1, a built-in SD card slot, and support for Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. Of course, it also promises to upconvert your old standard-def DVDs to a cool 1080p.

If that’s not enough, Best Buy says they are throwing a coupon book into the box, which will score you up to $100 off select Blu-ray movies.

“I don’t expect the $199 to be common, but every retailer will want at least one model at that level, if only to seduce people into that section of the store,” James McQuivey, principal analyst with Forrester Research, told Home Media Magazine. “In other words, this could get [uglier] before it gets pretty again.”

If by ugly, he means cheap goods, count us in. The Insignia player is available now in stores and on the Best Buy website.

About the Author:
Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.