BD Prime
HDi has announced the BD Prime is now ready and samples will be sent around the world during next week for introduction. Also MPC will have it's share in the launch next week and plans on starting covering the HDi as soon as it arrives. An interesting look at the BD Prime vs NMT and TViX is what we can offer you already. The BD Prime is HDi's little brother of the HD Center which is launched later this year and incorporates all the abilities of a DMA player with Blu-ray. With the upcoming holidays it will be a competitor against the NMT's/TViX as we expect most people would be happy to pay 2X the amount charged for an NMT or the same as TViX considering this player is a Hybrid supporting DVD, Blu-ray and the usual digital formats up to H.264. In addition, one can play backed up blu-ray disks from a hard drive and likely network storage (not 100% sure but we do expect it will). Click on "read more" for the full article.
Other advantage of the HDi is the looks. Not only does it exceed the quality of many NMT's which are tailored to be as affordable as possible, it also uses the standard size of other audio and video equipment which is still preferred in most households and also TVIX does not offer. With a price tag just below €450 expected in stores, the price is reasonable and below the 2X reference of most NMT's which are tagged at an average price of €279. As in the past, being the first often means better sales as early adopters have been following the scene to see who comes first. Firmware development is not 3rd party which is another benefit and history shows there's a good communication with the scene and progress has been made steadily over time.
While being a competition for NMT and TViX, also stand alone Blu-ray players face competition as the BD Prime offers more than just that and the price difference is not that big. With Hybrid players, Blu-ray purchases might become a bit more interesting for consumers already occupied with digital formats. The few differences in design and options against the HD Center are minimal and mainly concentrate around design and internal hard drive which the BD Prime does not have. Hard drives can however be used over USB and streaming from network sources is available too as stated by HDi: "HD Center has internal HDD though it's usable TOTALLY in the same way as any USB HDD in BD Prime. That and the casing are the only differences."
HDi Websiteread here:
http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=683HDi will sure lose market in the arab world because of the letter "i"
