Taking the Blue Ray plunge.

gismo

gismo

Touchdown! Greaser!
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iGismo
I'm getting ready to purchase a Blue Ray player for my home theater system and am looking for advice on what units offer the best combination of features, performance, and price. I'm not looking for the ultimate, more like somehthing with a street price in the $250-500 range. It should have analog audio out since my current receiver isn't HDMI capable (the TV is AFaIK). Right now from my own research the Samsung BP2500 looks like a top contender. I think I definitely want a unit with ethernet (don't need wireless, the cable modem and wireless router is near the TV), Profile 2.0 w/internal memory. I also want it to do a good job upconverting DVDs to 1080p (or i if that's all that is available). One thing that bothers me is that I'm reading that many of these players require at least a few minutes to launch a disk which seems like someting that I would find annoying and likely to be "cured" in future models. I will eventually upgrade the receiver but for now it's 5.1 audio and lack of HDMI switching or even pass through doesn't seem like a big deal. FIWI, the TV is a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD with 1080p native resolution and that's likely to remain part of the setup for quite a while.
 
I bought the Panasonic BD35 this Christmas. I can't remember all the research but by the time I was done I rated (on balance) second to the number one unit which is ... Playstation!!!

I did not want to spend $400 on a DVD player. In retrospect, I spent $300 but didn't get a great gaming machine. I actually love videogaming but, it's hard on my marriage.

Seriously, the Playstation PS3 is considered the best consumer Blue Ray player out there.

They, blue ray, are a wee bit slower to load but the delay isn't so awful as to pass on great video. You get used to it. There are so many disclaimers, trailers and legal warnings onDVD these days that the hardware delay is a fraction of the software crap.

I still have to get a HDMi cable, I'm running compnent video now (just lazy) but the color saturation and range on my few BD disks is amazing. I have a Sony wega HD TV so I have CRT speed, brightness, and contrast range. LOVE IT! Only Plasma beats it. The audio on the BD disks has been far superior to old DVD.

My main reason for switching to BD is my old Toshiba DVD was beging to show signs of aging. It didn't seem to be worth investing on technology that will soon be obsolete. While the disks are expensive, the rentals are not. And with the capability to download stuff to a chip, or stream video, the trip to Blockbuster could be obsolete soon also.
 
lancefisher said:
I'm getting ready to purchase a Blue Ray player for my home theater system and am looking for advice on what units offer the best combination of features, performance, and price. I'm not looking for the ultimate, more like somehthing with a street price in the $250-500 range. It should have analog audio out since my current receiver isn't HDMI capable (the TV is AFaIK). Right now from my own research the Samsung BP2500 looks like a top contender. I think I definitely want a unit with ethernet (don't need wireless, the cable modem and wireless router is near the TV), Profile 2.0 w/internal memory. I also want it to do a good job upconverting DVDs to 1080p (or i if that's all that is available). One thing that bothers me is that I'm reading that many of these players require at least a few minutes to launch a disk which seems like someting that I would find annoying and likely to be "cured" in future models. I will eventually upgrade the receiver but for now it's 5.1 audio and lack of HDMI switching or even pass through doesn't seem like a big deal. FIWI, the TV is a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD with 1080p native resolution and that's likely to remain part of the setup for quite a while.
Click to expand...

Agree with Dart that the PS3 is really good, plus you get the whole gaming thing. My boys play PS3 online, I'm pretty sure it's a normal ethernet connection that makes it work.

As far as upconverting regular DVDs, I think it depends on whatever player you get and the TV, but I've found that sending the best unmanipulated signal to the TV is probably the best bet, and then let the TV take it from there to get the most out of the source. But now that were in the world of having to download firmware updates to TVs, who knows for sure...

My big gripe with HDTV (besides the obvious content argument) is the compression algorithms that DirecTV uses - we have a pretty good Samsung plasma set (but not top of the line, by any means), and the HD satellite signal isn't very good a lot of the time, especially when you compare the local network affiliate HD signals over the air with an antenna versus the same local channel on DirecTV.


Trapper John
 
fwiw - I'm perfectly happy with the Sony BDP-S350. It loads the disks fast enough
for me.

My TV doesn't have HDMI, so it's connected to the TV via component video. My sound system has optical input, so that's what I'm using. The player has audio out as well.

It has ethernet, but I haven't connected it so I can't give a PIREP on that function.

I will say that the blu-ray video is quite nice. The first movie I got was 2001. Very impressive.
 
I consider myself a Panasonic whore. All of my telephones, plasmas, Digital camera,,,is all Panasonic. There stuff lasts, is well made and is usually available at a great price point. FWIW
 
Bob Noel said:
fwiw - I'm perfectly happy with the Sony BDP-S350. It loads the disks fast enough
for me.

.....
Click to expand...

I also purchased the Sony BDP-S350. I wanted Sony because it plays nice with my Sony Bravia, turn on the DVD and it automatically switches to the correct input source, turn it off and it goes back to the last used input. This only works over HDMI. Oh, and it only cost me $50. I was looking at the S550 but for $400 it wasn't worth the difference. The S350 has ethernet for downloading firmware updates. The delay is noticable but I think it is less than 1 minute. The upscaling for the regular DVDs looks good to me.

greg
 
river_rat said:
I also purchased the Sony BDP-S350. I wanted Sony because it plays nice with my Sony Bravia, turn on the DVD and it automatically switches to the correct input source, turn it off and it goes back to the last used input. ...
Click to expand...

You can get an automatic HDMI switch that works something like that.
 
I have a PS3 hooked up to my system. One nice feature is that you can upgrade the software whenever necessary through the internet. It has Wi-Fi built in, so I do the upgrades through my home network. Plus, I have software on the computer where all my digital pictures and videos are kept that allows other computers to view them, including the PS3. That allows viewing the pictures on a 57 inch screen without wires or putting them on a USB stick and carrying them to the TV. We've added an IR remote through one of the USB ports on the PS3 to allow the universal remote to control it along with the rest of the entertainment system. The stock remote for the PS3 is RF.
 
I'm about to update my A/V system and plan on buying a Sony trio - a 46" HD LCD TV, a new receiver with three HDMI inputs, and a Sony Blueray player with upconversion.

I expect to feed my FIOS STB, the BlueRay Player, and eventually a PC into the Receiver using HDMI. Then I'll connect the the HDMI output from the receiver to the TV. I'll also have an older DVD recorder connected as the "video" system, and am hopeful that the receiver will take the HDMI input and feed the analog audio/video to the DVD recorder so I can copy some stuff off the DVR later.
 
TMetzinger said:
...
I expect to feed my FIOS STB, the BlueRay Player, and eventually a PC into the Receiver using HDMI. Then I'll connect the the HDMI output from the receiver to the TV. I'll also have an older DVD recorder connected as the "video" system, and am hopeful that the receiver will take the HDMI input and feed the analog audio/video to the DVD recorder so I can copy some stuff off the DVR later.
Click to expand...

Betcha that won't work. You'll find that the composite analog ports are dead when you play HD programs. They "plugged the analog hole."

Do like I suggested to Elizabeth and get an HD Tivo with CableCARD from your Verizon FIOS. You can transfer any program without a copy flag to a PC or another TiVo over the home network. The only agravation is that the premium cable channels set the no-copy flag on everything. That's a good reason to not subscribe.

On a TiVo the composite ports do output simultaneously for SD programming and besides it has "Save to VCR" on the menu.
 
gismo said:
I'm getting ready to purchase a Blue Ray player for my home theater system and am looking for advice on what units offer the best combination of features, performance, and price. I'm not looking for the ultimate, more like somehthing with a street price in the $250-500 range. It should have analog audio out since my current receiver isn't HDMI capable (the TV is AFaIK). Right now from my own research the Samsung BP2500 looks like a top contender. I think I definitely want a unit with ethernet (don't need wireless, the cable modem and wireless router is near the TV), Profile 2.0 w/internal memory. I also want it to do a good job upconverting DVDs to 1080p (or i if that's all that is available). One thing that bothers me is that I'm reading that many of these players require at least a few minutes to launch a disk which seems like someting that I would find annoying and likely to be "cured" in future models. I will eventually upgrade the receiver but for now it's 5.1 audio and lack of HDMI switching or even pass through doesn't seem like a big deal. FIWI, the TV is a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD with 1080p native resolution and that's likely to remain part of the setup for quite a while.
Click to expand...

What did you end up getting?

I am starting to look at upgrading to Blu-ray as well now that I have HD in the house and an appropriate TV to watch it one. Boy was that a fun purchase, NOT!

But now that everything is running I can get the rest of the system up and running.
 
Scott, you want the new Panasonic DMP-BD85P Blu-ray Player with built-in wireless and 3-D capability.

http://revision3.com/hdnation/downey#rev3Player

I have the BD-70. Just had to re-notice that it can play VHS tapes, too. :redface:

The VieraCast stuff is pretty good. The YouTube capability is much better than it is on a TiVo. (Yes. I said that.)

Since I have the TiVos with like 10TB of storage behind it, I haven't used my Blu-Ray much since the novelty wore off. I went out and rented and bought a few DVDs and that was it. I returned 2 of the 3 I bought from Target on night 1. They're too expensive, but I did just buy a couple of $10 Blu-Ray movies from Amazon - 2001 and Clockwork Orange.

Go rent a couple Blu-Rays from Blockbuster while you still can. Blockbuster will be gone in a few months.

Oh! You need to buy a 4GB or larger SD flash card. Believe it or not, some Blu-Ray DVDs require the flash space to work. (8GB at Meritline $18.99)
 
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For the price, a PS3 isn't a bad choice.

You get BluRay, internal HDD, and you can d/l from Netflix with it.
 
CJones said:
For the price, a PS3 isn't a bad choice.

You get BluRay, internal HDD, and you can d/l from Netflix with it.
Click to expand...

You can download from NetFlix on the connected Blu-Ray players, too.

I haven't signed up. Every time I think I should sign up for Netflix I find a pop-up ad on my desktop which reminds why I vowed to never sign with them.
 
With the sale of the T28, I had a large pent-up demand for toys that could finally be addressed (not filled).

I went with LG for several reasons. I'm happy but I'm not recommending there are just too many options and price points.

One thing that seems common is that if you get the same brand as the TV you can get away with one less remote most of the time.

Another thing I found is the Netflix interface varies a lot. I just put in a Sony (BDP-S470 I think) at my sister's connected to a Hitachi TV. Everything works well and the picture is great. The Netflix i'face uses tiny icons so if I walk up to the TV I can see a whole bunch but can't read them from the easy chair. My LG has big icons.

Reminds me of airplanes, to each his own.
 
mikea said:
Scott, you want the new Panasonic DMP-BD85P Blu-ray Player with built-in wireless and 3-D capability.
Click to expand...

In stock at Best Buy! Amazon/com has the best price but the company actually selling it is Electronics Expo. After my experience with them and the TV there is NO WAY they will ever see another dime from me. Mike knows all the back ground on this. If anyone else really cares I can fill them in, but EE basically dumped and ran on the TV and then did nothing to help with a broken unit. They still have not been paid. But I am in the process of getting them their money now that I have a working TV.

Looks cool.

Does it hook up to the Internet so that I can watch Hulu and other online content through it?

FYI I could care less about Netflix and Blockbuster.
 
I'll cast my vote for the Panasonic too, that's what I selected too after much research. I've had it for about 8 months with no issues. I only wish I'd waited two months--the latest versions VieraCast supports streaming Netflix. Mine won't upgrade to that even with the (very cool) ability to upgrade firmware over the web directly from the device.

Not a HUGE deal, as we stream Netflix through the Wii and the quality there is outstanding.
 
ScottM said:
In stock at Best Buy! Amazon/com has the best price but the company actually selling it is Electronics Expo. After my experience with them and the TV there is NO WAY they will ever see another dime from me. Mike knows all the back ground on this. If anyone else really cares I can fill them in, but EE basically dumped and ran on the TV and then did nothing to help with a broken unit. They still have not been paid. But I am in the process of getting them their money now that I have a working TV.

Looks cool.

Does it hook up to the Internet so that I can watch Hulu and other online content through it?

FYI I could care less about Netflix and Blockbuster.
Click to expand...

No Hulu yet. Mine is a year old version and it does Netflix and Youtube. That one does Amazon Video on Demand which I do on the TiVo. I gotta guess with no hard drive it streams content that lives at Amazon. Amazon has a $1.99 SD movie "rental" sale every weekend on a handful of titles where you can search to find the HD version for $2.99.

DON'T BUY AT BEST BUY!

You could see if you have a Panasonic EPP at work like we do, but my experience is they don't always have stock on current products and you can do better buying retail at a discount.

Here ya go, $181.44 shipped: http://www.buy.com/prod/panasonic-dmp-bd85k-blu-ray-disc-player/q/loc/111/214417560.html
Always check. Can't count on Google products.

Edit: I just noticed that the Invisible Hand add-on for Firefox I just installed says that is the best price and Amazon has it for $176.43. Pretty cool.
 
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ScottM said:
What did you end up getting?

I am starting to look at upgrading to Blu-ray as well now that I have HD in the house and an appropriate TV to watch it one. Boy was that a fun purchase, NOT!

But now that everything is running I can get the rest of the system up and running.
Click to expand...
I went with a Sharp BD-HP22 to enhance the potential compatibility with my TV (Sharp Aquos) but I think a better choice would have been something by Denon since the amp/receiver is from them (I got the receiver a while after the Blue Ray player when my older unit died. The BD-HP22 was the latest and greatest from Sharp at the time but that was long enough ago that it's probably three generations obsolete by now. It does have BD-live (used once) and can stream some things from the internet like NetFlix. My biggest complaint is that it's very slow to boot up a disk or even respond to the remote sometimes.
 
Well I did stop at Best Buy last night and bought a Blu-ray player.

Sorry Mike, I wanted instant gratification, I did not want to give EE any more of my money so I used Best Buy. I know they are like the crack of electronics. That is I know it is not good for me, but I just can't stop using them.

I did get the Panasonic after looking at several Sony's. I have a little bias about Sony. I bench marked their quality and engineering a bunch of years ago and just cannot get over how crappy they tend to be when it comes to quality on some items.

Got it home and the install went really easy. I liked the WLAN adapter that was included and got the player on my network lickety split. Great picture, true 1080p. I did buy one Blu-ray disc and watched that last night.

I also loaded in a DVD, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. The up conversion was great.

I will be tossing out my old DVD which was starting to break and would not play CDs anymore. Time to start culling the old VHS tapes too.
 
I got a Samsung BD-P1590 from Radio Shack's site for $90. DVD has a great picture, Blu RAy is amazing on the 47" Visio. Not concerned with internet capability. No cable or fios high-speed out here.
A refurb, but WTH, it's warranteed like a new on and it'll probably be obsolete in two years anyway.
 
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