Blu-ray Player on the Cheap! $149 from Samsung

Even after the dust has settled between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, the prices for Blu-ray players and movies in particular, haven’t gone down. Most decent Blu-ray players cost upwards of $500 and higher. Thankfully, Samsung may be coming to the rescue with its BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.

The BP-P1500, which usually sells for $400, is reported to go on sale on Black Friday at a nice price point of $149.

According to Gizmodo, news of the sale hit consumer electronics retailer Ultimate Electronics.

Up until now, most consumers who opted to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon went and bought Sony’s PlayStation 3 console. With the PS3, not only could you play games and surf the Internet, you were able to rest at ease knowing that the PS3 was actually one of the best — if not the best — Blu-ray player on the market.

Now that console prices are dropping and more movies hitting the Blu-ray format, like Iron Man, expect to see better embrace of the sole high-def format.

In related news, rumors about Microsoft introducing a Blu-ray addon to its Xbox 360 console hit the wires last week. Earlier this year, Microsoft stated that it wouldn’t be introducing Blu-ray for the Xbox 360. Due to popular demand however, Microsoft may be changing its game plan to meet customer expectations. Microsoft may also be considering offering high-def streaming of full length movies through its online services as well.

High-def streaming isn’t a new concept either. Apple has done well with its iTunes service, which allows customers to rent high-def content and stream it to their computers or their Apple TV boxes. Apple’s push into using streaming is no surprise, as none of its Macs have Blu-ray drives in them.