The Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player starts shipping today from Amazon.com for the new lower price of $499.99 (free shipping).

Sony announced two weeks ago a lower price for the new BDP-S300. The company announced the lowest cost stand-alone Blu-ray player in February with a price-tag $599.99. Now the BDP-S300 sells for $499.99. The BDP-S300 features full HD output and 24p support. It also upscales DVDs to 1080p. Sony also provides support of AVC-HD discs encoded with x.v.Color (xvYCC) technology.

The BDP-S300 also ships from SonyStyle, but they charge $15 for shipping. Amazon.com is the best deal right now.

As the 20GB Sony PS3 is nowhere to be found anymore, a PS3 costs you $599.99. If you do not need gaming, then the BDP-S300 is currently the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market. The first generation Blu-ray players from Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and Philips are heavily discounted on Amazon.com, but still do not go for under $500.