Holiday shoppers should be extra merry this year. Black Friday isn't even a blip on the calendar yet, and we're already seeing some interesting prices on new electronics.

JVC is the latest to make a nice price announcement. Today, they came out with news that the XV-BP11 Blu-ray player will start selling for $199.95. With prices like these, will the masses finally make the leap to Blu-ray?

If you're thinking about it, this player offers the high-def playback, DVD upconversion as well as support for the AVCHD format. That's the format used by many HD camcorders, including JVC's own HD Everio line.

Aside from HDMI 1.3 support, the XV-BP11 has composite, analog L/R and coaxial connections. There's also a USB port in the front. The unit can play BD-ROM, BD-R/RE, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CDs and CD-R/RW discs. It also supports WMV, JPEG, MP3, WMA, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, and DTS HD Master Audio/Essential formats.

The only thing that missing right now is information on whether or not the player has an Ethernet hookup and BD-Live capabilities. JVC says that it's an entry-level player, but we have to wonder what's up with that.  We'll keep checking and will update this with more information when we hear back. 

UPDATE: We just heard back from Terry Shea at JVC that this is a Profile 1.1 player, so it will support BonusView but no BD-Live or networking capability.

The JVC XV-BP11 Blu-ray player is available to order now for $199.95.

Where to Buy:

• JVC XV-BP11 Blu-ray Player (B&H Photo Video)

More Information:

• JVC XV-BP11 Product Page