Is this the cheapest high definition DVD player in the UK?

One of the main factors holding people back from buying into the high definition DVD market is whether they should go for the HD DVD format or Sony’s Blu ray format. But an even bigger factor at the moment is price.

You can buy a decent DVD player these days for about £30, but a standalone high definition DVD player still costs about £250 at the very least. You could always get the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, which costs just over £100, but you need an Xbox 360 too.

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions is planning to release a Blu ray player that fits into a spare drive bay on your PC, and is reckoned to be around £125, which when it hits the internet shops will probably be more like £100.

The Lite-On DH-401S will allow you to watch Blu ray movies through your PC monitor, or through your big screen HD TV via an HDMI cable, it has DVD+\-R(W) and CD-R(W) capabilities, and comes with both black and beige faceplates - so you can customise it according to your PC’s case colour.

If Blu ray isn’t your thing, Toshiba are planning to release a sub-£100 HD DVD player for the PC in the next few months.