Sony, LG, Panasonic & Samsung New Blu-Ray Players Hit Best Buy

Looking to buy a new Blu-ray player, but wanting to wait until the CES 2010 haul arrived on shelves?  Well, the shelves may not be particularly well organized at this point, but according to Dave Zatz the newest models from Sony, LG, Panasonic and Samsung have all arrived at his local Best Buy.  That's eight new Blu-ray players, prices kicking off at $180 and all packing network connectivity for streaming.

Dave has given each player a mini-review, and while the Samsung and LG models may look the most visually appealing, it's the Sony and Panasonic decks that seem to appeal.  Sony's two – the BDP-S470 ($200) and BDP-S370 ($180) – look reasonably cheap, but they're very slim, pack various added extras (including an iPhone remote-control app) and the S470 will support 3D after a firmware upgrade later in the year.

As for the Panasonic models – the DMP-BD85 ($300) and DMP-BD65 ($180) – they're the ugliest of the whole lot, but boot up in half a second.  That's admirable when you consider how long first- and second-gen Blu-ray players took.  Samsung's BD-C6500 gets kudos for its understated looks, meanwhile, and LG's BD590 ($380), BD570 ($280) and BD550 ($180) certainly look great, even if Dave can't quite see the point of the 250GB HDD in the BD590.