September 23rd, 2009
Best Buy previews its 32-inch LCD HDTV/Blu-ray player combo on its Web site
TVs with built-in DVD players have mostly been the domain of bargain brands, but given the far-improved quality of the Blu-ray format, these combo units could attract more mainstream attention. Sharp has already announced a pair of LCD TV/Blu-ray combos, and now Best Buy is undercutting Sharp’s pricing strategy with a similar unit under its Insignia house brand. While the Insignia NS-LBD32X-10A is on the company’s Web site, you can’t even pre-order it yet. It’s just going to be “coming soon” for $599.99.
The 32-inch HDTV is naturally 1080p for full Blu-ray playback, but it’s still a fairly small set to get the most out of the extra resolution. It does come with an Ethernet port, though there’s no mention of whether the integrated Blu-ray player supports BD-Live and its online features. The unit also sports a pair of HDMI ports. Given the price point, it’s not surprisingly that the refresh rate is just 60Hz. And the Blu-ray player may not wind up providing the best in playback performance, but for a casual viewer, it probably won’t be an issue.
Would you be interested in buying a HDTV/Blu-ray player combo? Let us know in our TalkBack section.
[Via Engadget]
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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