Panasonic releases pricing for three new Blu-ray players

Panasonic’s 2009 line-up of Blu-ray players and HDTVs, according to the company, have been designed to be faster, more affordable and more energy efficient.

"At the end of the day, Panasonic is still optimistic and bullish about Blu-ray," the company’s national marketing manager Alex Fried recently said.  "We really feel we’re uniquely suited to deliver the best home theater experience."

The Panasonic DMP-BD60 will be available for $299, DMP-BD80 for $399, and DMP-BD70V for $399.  The BD70V is an interesting unit as it is a Blu-ray, VHS combination player that upscales VHS content up to 1080p.  All three Blu-ray players are expected to be released sometime in April.

Even though we’ve seen several DVD/VHS, Blu-ray/VHS combos in the past, I find it interesting that Panasonic also feels there are enough consumers left with VHS to try and push a similar hybrid product.

Since going green and becoming more energy efficient are the "in" things to do, Panasonic also is helping consumers be more environmentally friendly with these products.

"We’ve made these devices smaller, used less materials, and included power-saving functions that can tell if the player has been left on, but isn’t in use."

Although creating and releasing Blu-ray content has been extremely tricky, Panasonic has been an ardent supporter of the format, and continues to develop new products for consumers.