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Owning an HDTV without a Blu-ray player is somewhat useless. You will never know what it's capable of until you connect the HDMI cable, and with its price now less than $100, there's no excuse of not getting a one for an ultimate experience.

Things You Should Consider Before Buying

1. Internet Connectivity

2. Home Networking

3. 3D Capability

4. Up-scaling

5. Compatibility

6. Recording

Internet Connectivity

Most players now come with internet connectivity through the Ethernet ports, but those players with Wi-Fi are best for convenience. Big manufacturers like Samsung, Sony and Panasonic offer their own internet portals with their own features and content. Samsung's Internet-TV currently offers the best online experience, which gives access to a range of music, videos, news and social networking sites.

Home Networking

Most of these players now allow you to create a home network for sharing files from your computer. But first, check the file formats it supports before deciding to use this function. Some of the formats you'll be able to play are MP3, HD, DivX, DivX HD, MKV, JPEG, JPEG HD and AVCHD.

3D Capability

Most of the companies in the business have already introduced 3D capable Blu-ray players. Of course, you would need a 3D capable TV to acquire the extra dimensional experience. Sony's range of 3D capable players is worth considering; if you own a PS3, you can update it with their firmware for 3D capability.

Up-scaling

These players can upscale your old DVD collection that was designed to be viewed at a lower quality 576i resolution on a CRT screen, to either 720p, 1080i or 1080p resolution on your HDTV. Manufacturers of these players enhanced the quality of images by adding details to the upscale source.

Compatibility

Blu-ray players today will surely play DVDs and CDs, but what about photos burned on a DVD or DivX rips on a flash disk or Netfix movies from the Internet? These features make a big difference for people who would like to use their player as a digital media hub and not just a Blu-ray player. It is worth to check the specifications sheet before zeroing down your choice.

TIP: Not all Blu-ray players are created the same, so make sure to run down the key features that help separate the stones from diamonds. Blu-ray Recorders are also worth noting, especially those with big storage capacities of 250GB and 500GB respectively.