Vizio's VBR200W Blu-ray player has Wi-Fi, Netflix; costs less than $200
CNET reviews the Vizio VBR200W, finding it rough around the edges and a little slow, but it delivers a lot of bang for your buck.
Vizio is a company best known for offering bargain-price HDTVs that perform better than you'd expect, so we weren't surprised to find that the company's VBR200W Blu-ray player fits the same mold. It's one of the cheapest players ($190 street price) we've seen that has built-in Wi-Fi, which makes it much easier to access its suite of streaming media apps, which includes Netflix, Vudu, and Pandora.
However, it appears that Vizio made some sacrifices to hit the lower price point. The VBR200W has the slowest disc-loading speeds of any standalone player we've tested this year, and its Wi-Fi performance is significantly worse. It lacks the polish of some competing players, and has occasional operational hiccups and a loud disc drive.
Even though the VBR200W has its flaws, we feel that its perks will make up for them, especially for bargain-minded buyers.
