Why You Can Trust CNET Return of the $99.99 Sony Blu-ray player
Sony's BD-Live-rocking BDP-S360 is back in the SonyStyle store for $99.99 out the door (plus sales tax). It's a refurb, though, so the warranty's only 90 days.
A sub-$100 Blu-ray player is no big deal these days, but it's still fairly rare to find one that offers BD-Live at that price point--especially a Sony model.
Last month, SonyStyle offered the refurbished BDP-S360 Blu-ray player for $99.99 shipped (plus sales tax where applicable). I'm happy to report that the deal is back.
Happy, but not ecstatic. See, I now think if you're going to buy a Blu-ray player, you should get a model that can stream Netflix movies. This one can't.
Also, because it's a refurb, the warranty expires after 90 days. That doesn't bother me much, but if you prefer a full year (and don't care about BD-Live), Wal-Mart has a no-frills Magnavox Blu-ray player for $98.
For the record, CNET's editors had mostly positive things to say about the BDP-S360, particularly its audio and video quality.
I like the presence of an Ethernet port, which lets you tap BD-Live content and greatly simplifies the retrieval and installation of firmware updates.
So. Best Blu-ray deal ever? No. Very solid deal on a BD-Live model? Definitely.
Backup deal: As always, whenever you do pull the trigger on a Blu-ray player, make sure not to overpay for the HDMI cable. Amazon has them for as low as a penny (plus shipping, natch). Beat that!