Sony releases BDV-E300, BDV-E300W and BDV-Z7

All-in-one Blu-ray systems

11 August 2009 17:54 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Updated: The BDV-E300W is not being released in the UK. See below for more.

Sony has announced that it's launching three all-in-one Blu-ray systems for home cinema enthusaists. There's the BDV-E300, the BDV-E300W and the BDV-Z.

The first two both have 1000W amplifiers, along with BD-live compatible Blu-ray drives and Dolby TrueHD sound. The E300 has five satellites with a subwoofer, whereas the E300W comes with floor-standing speakers - the rear ones wireless.

The BDV-Z7, on the other hand, comes in a 2.1 format and uses Sony's S-Force Front Surround tech to give the impression of 5.1 without the need for rear speakers. It has a 350W power output, BD-Live, 1080p DVD upscaling and BRAVIA Sync.

There's no pricing on any of them yet, but given the timing of the announcement we'd expect them to be arriving in shops in the next month or so - to coincide with the start of the Christmas shopping season.

UPDATE: Sony's clarified to us that the E300W won't be released in the UK. Also, the company's got four "home theatre upgrade kits", that you can plug into a Blu-ray player to make it sound a little better than your TV speakers.

There's the HT-FS360 - a 400W 2.1-channel system that virtualizes surround sound, the HT IS100 - which has five tiny "golfball-sized" speakers in a surround config, the HT-SS100, which is a 1000W 5.1 surround system, and the HT-SS360, which is like the SS100 but comes with thinner, wireless, rear speakers.

We asked about pricing, but Sony says it can't tell us "for legal reasons". That rather baffling statement might mean there's going to be some sort of exclusive discount for one retailer. We'll keep you posted.