Remember when everyone was hemming and hawing about having to make a major 3D purchase to get a Blu-ray 3D copy of Avatar? Well, that expression is certainly dated and so is that way of thinking.
You still have to make a purchase, but it's a lot more doable -- a steal, in fact - and it doesn't tie you to a specific manufacturer's 3D TV set. Amazon is currently offering a Blu-ray 3D of Avatar with the purchase of Panasonic's DMP-BDT100 Blu-ray 3D player. Even more enticing, they currently have that player listed for a significant discount off the list price. If you buy directly from Amazon (not one of its third-party merchants), that discounted price includes free shipping and a mail-in rebate for the Blu-ray 3D of Avatar. Find out more about this deal here:
Panasonic and Amazon are also offering this free Avatar 3D Disc with Panasonic's current Blu-ray 3D Home Theater in a Box (HTiB) systems, the SC-BTT350 and SC-BTT750 home theater systems. Find out more here.
That Blu-ray 3D copy of Avatar won't come in the box with the player or the home theater kits, though. Panasonic is offering it through a mail-in rebate. Just fill out the form, and send it along with your receipt and the UPC code cut from the player box.
Remember that you will need a 3D TV and 3D glasses to view Avatar 3D, and any other Blu-ray 3D discs. But it doesn't need to be a Panasonic 3D TV. This Blu-ray 3D player and Blu-ray HTiB systems work with any of the new 3D-ready TVs on the market, from any brand. It even offers a "checkerboard 3D" output option so it works with the earliest 3D DLP TV offerings from Samsung and Mitsubishi without any kind of adapter. If you are slowly building your 3D setup, the DMP-BDT100 makes for a nice starting point. Aside from the low price, it also offers a slew of other 2D features. Panasonic says that the player can host a variety of other formats, most notably 2D Blu-ray and DVD, promising video upconverting to 1080p, re-sampling and remastering of audio at 96 kHz.
If you want to go beyond what you've amassed in your collection, the DMP-BDT100 also provides access to Panasonic's VIERA Cast service. This gives viewers access to tons of other entertainment options, such as Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, VUDU, Pandora, Twitter, and YouTube, all from the player's included remote.
Our own Geoff Morrison recently got his hands on the DMP-BDT100, saying that the device offered "a lot of bang for your buck." For more detailed info on this player, read his entire review of the DMP-BDT100 or check out Amazon's product page:
Better act quickly; to redeem your free Blu-ray 3D of Avatar, those receipts need to be dated between January 2, 2011 and March 26, 2011. This offer is only good on stand-alone player purchases, not for bundles. Rebate forms must be postmarked by April 9, 2011.
