The model being sold is the 80-Gbyte version, which costs about $499 or a little more just by itself. Tacking on ten additional Blu-ray movies, which can cost $20 or so apiece, is a heck of a deal.

Of course, what this means is a riposte of sorts from the Blu-ray camp, which Sony leads. To me, there's a world of difference between a $99 (or $199 or $299) HD DVD player and a $499 game console, no matter how many freebies are thrown in. But heck, if you were considering buying a PlayStation 3 for the holidays, you may as well consider throwing in a few movies on top of it, I suppose.

The sale will begin on Saturday, Nov. 24, at 8 AM, according to the secret Wal-Mart Web site advertising the deal. (It's an official Wal-Mart site; click on the Saturday specials link to view the offer.) Other deals will be announced as that date nears, as well as "Black Friday" sales.

(Oddly enough, I see that there's a comment tacked on to the $199 Blu-ray player post that I made last week, claiming that the Consumer Electronics Association labeled the $99 Wal-Mart sale a scam. First I've heard of this. Sour grapes, perhaps? (I showed up at 9 AM and missed out on it too.)