Bentonville (AR) - The much-talked-about low-cost HD DVD player from Venturer Electronics is now available, though its $199 price tag is not as attractive as it was a couple months ago.

Earlier this fall, it was announced that Venturer would launch an inexpensive player, and at the time its rumored sub-$200 price put it below the MSRPs of all other standalone HD DVD devices.

The player, manufactured in China, is now available for $199.98 at select Wal-Mart stores throughout the country. However, it now has a partner in the below $200 category. Toshiba’s entry-level HD-A2 player was effectively slashed to the same price earlier this month. In fact, during special holiday sales events, the HD-A2 has gone for as low as $99 at certain retailers.

The Venturer SHD7000 has a maximum output resolution of 1080i, the same as Toshiba’s A2, as well as an Ethernet port, which is a requirement for HD DVD players. It has an HDMI output.

Wal-Mart’s cheapest Blu-ray Disc player is the Sony BDP-S300, which it it selling for around $350, well below the $500 list price.