Hasta La Gadget!

All you Blu-ray holdouts, will this tempt you? JVC has just announced the JVC XV-BP11, a $199.95 Blue-ray player, in time for holiday gift-giving. Besides Blue-ray, it can handle the AVCHD format used in many high-def camcorders. Naturally, it also plays standard DVDs and MP3 discs, and displays JPEG photos.

You’re not going to get a variety of high-end features at this level, but it looks like a good choice for people who simply want 1080/24p HD playback and Dolby Digital audio with no frills. The few extras include cinema zoom and a parental lock.