Susanne Ault

$20,000 Burning A Hole in Your Pocket? Why Not Shell Out For a BD Player?
February 26, 2008

Switzerland-based manufacturer Goldmund is launching a $16,900 Blu-ray player. Yes! I don't need to save any more money for that down payment on my first home. I can just pick up this device that costs over 42 times more than most BD set-tops. It's just what I need.
Seriously, though, there probably are plenty of Donald Trump or Richard Branson types that have $16,900 sitting around their house. Maybe it's even gathering some dust. But I'm not sure even these guys would want to spend it on a Blu-ray player, unless it has some serious bells and whistles attached.
Goldmund is calling its model the first Blu-ray player to street from a high-end audio/visual company.  Its Eidos 20 BD comes loaded with something called an "AC-Curator" power supply circuit which Goldmund claims dramatically improves picture and sound stability and grounding. There is also a "Magnetic Damper," which lowers reading errors.
Hmmm, for that kind of money I would be hoping for something a little more. Maybe they can throw in a date with Brad Pitt? Kidding, kidding. 
Maybe Goldmund's model, in which you can get more information here, will become some sort of high-def status symbol. The company is from Switzerland, which does do a good job churning out elite wrist watches.
Goldmund says it was spurred on to start offering the model earlier than planned because of the death of format war. But I doubt this player would have felt any competition from Toshiba's players. The Eidos 20 BD has probably more to fear from people in the market for cars, or at least used cars. 
Well, hopefully Goldmund gets some publicity out of their high-priced player. Any mention of Blu-ray has to be a good thing as it is in prime positioning now for mass adoption.

Posted by Susanne Ault on February 26, 2008 | Comments (0)