Lg Bd300

[rgriffin25]

Yesterday we received the new LG BD300 Blu-ray player. Like many of you I too was anxious to see how this player would do with both BD and Netflix.

First I must say the Build quality is very good compared to some of the smaller Sony and Samsung players. I for one am not a fan of the thin and tiny DVD / Blu-ray players. To bad my Sony BDPS-1 is such a slow dinosaur and lacks many of the new features, because it was built like a tank!

Set-up was a breeze! The LG powers up quickly and goes to a Home screen much like the BH200. After configuring the BD300 to my HT I began the Netflix setup. I was affraid this process would be a bit more complicated. To my surprise it was a snap. It gives you an activation code, and instructions on going to their website. I entered in the code and I was up and running within seconds.

Streaming movies off of Netflix is quick and works quite well. I will come back and post more when I have had a chance to use it more. (My wife and daughter really dig the Netflix part)

As Far as BD playback goes so far it has been very good. Movies load fast and picture quality seems to be up to snuff. Again I will post more info soon.

I will post some pictures of the setup process as soon as I get time to edit them.

 

[rgriffin25]

Pictures

Here are a few pictures. The pictures are of the Front, Back, top comparison to Panasonic BMP-BD30, and Netflix setup screens.

 

[rgriffin25]

More pics

Activated screen picture

 

[davidtwotrees]

Griff. Can you tell us what type of internet connection you have and how fast it is? My DSL here is of dubious speed and some have posted that it could affect playback on the streaming netflix.............
Sigh. The one Blu player that I am interested in doesn't have analog outs.....

 

[davidtwotrees]

So, I checked on the NetFlix site. They reccomend 1.5mbps minimum download speed, and 4.0 mbps for best movie viewing. I tested my connection and it came up as 2.6 mbps dwnld and .43 upload.
Any of you tech heads think I am up to snuff?
Also, Griff, where did you get your unit from? It is available for $349 preordered from ABT electronics here in Chicago............

 

[rgriffin25]

I work at a Mom and Pop TV and electronics store. We are an authorized LG dealer, the price is $349.95. My Internet is in the neighborhood of 15mbps down & 2mbps up. So far I am very impressed with how fast it works and the picture quality on my 61" tv. Keep in mind the quality is only as good as the source. Older movies look ok, new tv shows / movies look as good as DVDs.

 

[Adam]

I tested my connection and it came up as 2.6 mbps dwnld and .43 upload.
Any of you tech heads think I am up to snuff?

My suggestion would be to buy the LG from someplace that will let you take it back without a fee and to then sign up for Netflix's free trial (currently one month). IMO, that's the best way to find out if the performance of the system will meet your desires.

 

[jostenmeat]

Um... way off-topic (*sorry*)... but does anyone know if LG will make another dual-format player? dankz.

 

[allargon]

Um... way off-topic (*sorry*)... but does anyone know if LG will make another dual-format player? dankz.

Doubtful considering they lost so much with this one... I see dual format players coming back once Toshiba and the DVD forum lower royalties for HD DVD and only on higher end products just like what is the case with SACD and DVD-A.

 

[davidtwotrees]

Sammy BDP2500

I was still looking at this LG unit even though it doesn't have analog out, which I need.....googling took me over to AVS and they brought up the fact that a Samsung unit, the BDP2500, is either out with, or can be firmware updated to stream netflix, and comes streaming Pandora as well as internet radio.......the unit has analog outs, and was well reviewed there and elsewhere.......anyone up on this development?

 

[allargon]

I was still looking at this LG unit even though it doesn't have analog out, which I need.....googling took me over to AVS and they brought up the fact that a Samsung unit, the BDP2500, is either out with, or can be firmware updated to stream netflix, and comes streaming Pandora as well as internet radio.......the unit has analog outs, and was well reviewed there and elsewhere.......anyone up on this development?

Yep. The Samsungs also have Reon video processing. The LG BD300 does not have the kickass Marvell QDEO that the BH200 has. Quite a few reviewers have panned the BD300's upconversion and de-interlacing abilities. Of course, the issue with the BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 is Samsung's Blu-Ray record. Samsung hasn't just put out less than perfect players. They have been slow to update players to play current discs (class action lawsuit for the BD-P1200) and slow to add in functionality that was promised on release. (Ask the BD-UP5000 owners where their DTS-HD HR and DTS-HD MA internal decoding is.)

 

[davidtwotrees]

Pulled Trigger on Sammy BDP2550

Pulled the trigger on a Sammy 2550 from best buy. I found a 10% coupon on line, and they were $349 on sale..........so with tax it was about $340 out the door.
The set up was painless. I am running analog 5.1 outs through an old lexicon prepro, and a blue jeans hdmi straight to a panny plasma @ 720. A neighbor lent me the Transformers movie. The first thing I noticed was.........BOY ARE THE TWO LEAD CHICKS HOT! Smiles. After that, I noticed the stunning PQ. To me, it was a slam dunk. I kept foucusing on the pores in the actors skin............really, I don't get that in my average dvds. And no, no dbt or getting the same disc to compare. The audio sounded better too, but it may have been a louder mix...........
I also know it doesn't internally decode DTSHDMA or one of the codecs.......I'll survive. I do have the ethernet cable hooked up but haven't ran the firmware updates for Pandora and Netflix. It will be interesting. Thanks for your input Allargon, it was helpful.