Blu-Ray players allow you to watch high-definition video discs. Consumer Reports tested more than two dozen costing from $130.00 to $700.00.
Consumer Reports Jim Willcox said, "Most of the players that we're seeing now have a new feature called BD-Live, which allows the player to connect to the Internet."
This enables BD-Live players to access movie outtakes from movie-studio web sites.
"Some players with BD-Live are able to access movies, streaming movies from services like Amazon Video On Demand, Netflix, and Vudu," said Willcox.
In most cases, you need to plug the player into an Ethernet connection. But some let you connect wirelessly.
Consumer Reports testers evaluate Blu-Ray players for picture quality, assessing detail and color accuracy. And they assess how easy it is to use a Blu-Ray player.
If you want the BD-Live feature, testers rated a Sony Blu-Ray player excellent. It costs $230.00.
"The Sony is what's known as a BD-Live-ready player. That means it can connect to the Internet, but you have to add memory for that feature to become active. It'll probably cost you about $10.00 to $15.00 to add the memory you need," said Willcox.
But if you just want to play Blu-Ray discs, for much less, consider the $130.00 Magnavox player. Testers also rated it excellent.
Willcox said, "The good news is that all the players we tested had excellent picture quality, the feature that's probably most important."
Keep an eye on store advertisements for Blu-Ray players because prices will be coming down even further, especially for Black Friday. Some players could drop to $99.00.
