At a minimum of two retailers, Samsung's BD-P1400 Blu-ray player has dropped below the $300 barrier...by pennies. But it's done so without rebates or crazy, Black Friday sales.

And while we're still partial to the PS3 as a Blu-ray player of choice (there are actually some good games on the platform now), this Samsung has the lowest retail price at the moment to get into full, 1080p Blu-ray fun. (Plus it supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD along with the most current HDMI 1.3 spec.) Plus you get the five free movies.

So without special discounts, I guess that Blu-ray did hit $300 by Christmas after all...it just wasn't Sony leading the charge. [amazon and vanns via engadget]

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