I don't know if it is just me, but there are some times when a new product comes out and they have me from the moment I see the ad; the price is right, the features are exactly what I am looking for, etc...

Well, that happened this weekend... I have been pondering on getting a progressive scan DVD player for some time, and I had been stuck on a few things;

• I have only two Component video inputs on my TV, plus a DVI... I'm thinking of upgrading my music player to use the component in, but that would mean removing my DVD player or my XBox... hmm... certainly not willing to do that if I get a progressive scan player... boy, sure would be nice to use that DVI input for something,
• I'm thinking DVD recorders (which normally include progressive output) are dropping in price all the time,
• and finally, I'm not convinced that the results will be that much better with a progressive scan dvd player... as I understand it, my TV is capable of some of the same conversion... but gee, if it was all digital to digital and if it could take advantage of my TVs ability to do 720p, instead of just 480p... now that would be something...

Anyway, to get to the point... I saw this new Samsung DVD player in a flyer from Best Buy... $299, includes DVI out, uses a Farjouda chip (not sure on that spelling), and upconverts to 720p or 1080i ... instead of 480p .. and it is all digital-to-digital instead of passing into an analog output phase... yep, I'm grabbing my wallet and heading to Best Buy right then... $299 is right at that point where I am willing to make a rather large impulse purchase once or twice a year...

Quick check online to see if it comes with a DVI cable... nope, hmm.... how much do they cost? $99.99?!?!? And then it was over, before it began... now we are talking about approx $400 and I've left my impulse buy zone ... will need to put this off until next year perhaps... very disappointing :)