NEWS: Blu-ray sales get a boost from the demise of HD DVD – and player prices are falling

Play.com has seen the sale of Blu-ray players increase seven-fold since the demise of HD DVD last month, and Pricerunner says it has experienced a 132 per cent increase in the number of users looking for Blu-ray players. And it looks as if prices are starting to fall to more affordable levels.

Mattias Berg, managing director of Pricerunner UK, says: "The switch to Blu-ray is great news for the consumer as having just one format eliminates compatibility issues. My advice is simply do your research first, and make sure you know what you're buying before you part with your cash."

Pricerunner worked with Play.com to find the five most popular and cheapest Blu-ray players in the UK, which are as follows:

Samsung BDP-P1400 £199.99
Sharp BD-HP20 £220.79
Sony BDP-S300 £241.99
Panasonic DMP-BD10 £349
Panasonic DMP-BD30 £349

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.

Latest in Blu-ray Players