Sony UBP X800 alternative?

[bikemig]

My blu ray player just died which is a bummer but at least it happened just before Black Friday,

The Sony UBP X800 gets great reviews. Is there any other player I should be considering? Budget is up to $500 but I'd rather pay the $270 or so that the UBP X800 costs.

Also I have a fair number of older black and white DVDs. I like old black and white movies. Are these going to look crummy on a high end blu ray player? They look so-so on my existing blu ray player but I'm not exactly sure why.

 

[KEW]

The 800 is a good machine, but know that it very much depends on OSD. There is no display on the front panel!
If you do SACD, Sony is likely to be your best value.

 

[Graph audio]

I just ordered the Sony x700 from Crutchfield. I opted for the next step down from the 800 because the 700 is Dolby vision capable and the 8 is not. And it was cheaper to boot

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Cheaper and better?

 

[Graph audio]

I hope it’s better . It’s my Understanding that the 700 does not do dvd audio. Not a huge deal personally. I opted for Dolby vision because I’m also tv shopping and will go with dv tv, ....just haven’t found one yet

 

[bikemig]

I don't have a 4k TV yet but I figure I might as well make my new blu ray player future proof. Still you can get a quality blu ray for around $100 if I didn't care about 4k.

I've read good things about the 700 so maybe that's a better option.

 

[bikemig]

The 800 is a good machine, but know that it very much depends on OSD. There is no display on the front panel!
If you do SACD, Sony is likely to be your best value.

Yeah I'm not excited about the lack of controls; not a big deal but it bugs me. I don't have a 4k TV and no immediate plans to replace my existing TV so maybe I should just save the money and get a quality blu ray player.

Decisions, decisions.

The Samsung UBD M8500 looks pretty good as well;

 

[ryanosaur]

I put my vote to the x700. Bet it’s cheaper still next weekend!

 

[KEW]

Yeah I'm not excited about the lack of controls; not a big deal but it bugs me. I don't have a 4k TV and no immediate plans to replace my existing TV so maybe I should just save the money and get a quality blu ray player.

Decisions, decisions.

The Samsung UBD M8500 looks pretty good as well;

I bought the 800 mainly because Target was clearance'ing it at $150!
I was disappointed that the only one they had left appeared to be an open box, but decided to go with it.
LOL! Apparently it was a return because it still had profiles set up for a family when I logged into netflix (it automatically logged me into their account!). I thought about getting the kids in trouble by loading their profiles with Adult content shows on their watch list! Or maybe load up the "dad's" account with babysitter/teenage fantasy movies so he and his wife would have something to talk about! (I would never actually do this, but do enjoy musing over the possibilities when an "opportunity" like this presents itself!)
However, I also found I now get free HBO through the Sony (I don't pay for HBO),so the open box works for me! I'll keep a low profile and maybe be able to watch the next season of Game of Thrones before they figure out there is a freeloader and change their password!

Does the Samsung do SACD? Is that a concern for you?

 

[bikemig]

I bought the 800 mainly because Target was clearance'ing it at $150!
I was disappointed that the only one they had left appeared to be an open box, but decided to go with it.
LOL! Apparently it was a return because it still had profiles set up for a family when I logged into netflix (it automatically logged me into their account!). I thought about getting the kids in trouble by loading their profiles with Adult content shows on their watch list! Or maybe load up the "dad's" account with babysitter/teenage fantasy movies so he and his wife would have something to talk about! (I would never actually do this, but do enjoy musing over the possibilities when an "opportunity" like this presents itself!)
However, I also found I now get free HBO through the Sony (I don't pay for HBO),so the open box works for me! I'll keep a low profile and maybe be able to watch the next season of Game of Thrones before they figure out there is a freeloader and change their password!

Does the Samsung do SACD? Is that a concern for you?

The audio quality of the UBP X800 is a plus but not a big deal since I have a separate stereo system and I don't do SACD in any case. Yeah I join HBO just to watch game of thrones and then I quit. That reminds me, I need to quit CBS all access! I joined just to watch Star Trek Discovery.

I don't really have any immediate plans to upgrade my TV. The Sony BDPS 3700 is tempting at $70 . If it drops on Black Friday, I might just buy it!

 

[KEW]

I don't think you can go wrong with Sony for a reliable and inexpensive BD players. The ones I have bought in that price range are still working fine and I expect them to continue for at least a decade. My Sony CD from the early 80's still works like the day I bought it. I suspect that the earlier units were "overbuilt" compared to today's (because the designers now have a better knowledge of component life-expectancy, so know where they can reduce costs), so the 35 years my CD payer has may not be reasonable expectation, but there really is not much to wear out. Going from magnetic heads to a non-contact optical system was genius on Philips' part!
Philips wisely offered the technology to Sony because they did not want to get in a Beta-max style pissing match, and IIRC, the president of Sony gave input to make the format slightly longer to accommodate his favorite piece (I'm thinking it was Bach, but maybe Beethoven) without interruption.
Partnering with Sony was a way to ensure it had a large enough platform to become the new standard, and Philips had enough say to keep the licensing fee low enough that other companies were not tempted to bring an alternate format to market.
Philips really did us a favor, not just by the technology, but by playing the market to give us an uncontested format for over 3 decades!

 

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Ive been looking at target online for weeks and i have yet to see the x800 for less than 249.

 

[sterling shoote]

All, if you are not "doing" SACD you might want to rethink it. Most of the Sony BD Players will play multi-channel SACD and output via HDMI. This means that for no more expense than the cost of the BD Player, you can now enjoy multi-channel SACD by the same means you will be enjoying Blu-Ray discs, from your AVR or Pre/pro with HDMI input. Now, the reason you might want to try out multi-channel SACD is it has more breadth and depth than stereo, an experience which makes stereo seem very dated. And, since folks are indeed realizing this inexpensive means to multi-channel music pleasure, record labels are back to producing multi-channel SACDs. Amazon lists quite a few new releases made in 2017 and 2018. At any rate, it seems SACD is getting a second chance.

 

[Graph audio]

I’d like to explore the sacd sound also. I will check out amazon

 

[KEW]

Ive been looking at target online for weeks and i have yet to see the x800 for less than 249.

Yep! They were sneaky about this one!
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/sony-ubp-x800-4k-uhd-blu-ray-disc-player-target-clearence-for-149-99.112844/
I checked 3 stores before I found one that had it in stock!

 

[Graph audio]

Awesome deal man, Good grab

 

[snakeeyes]

Amazon has the x700 on sale for $148 right now.

 

[ryanosaur]

Yes! Just ordered mine. X900F tv models are on sale now too!

 

[bikemig]

Amazon has the x700 on sale for $148 right now.

Yeah so does Best Buy. I may have to drive and buy one today,

 

[bikemig]

Yes! Just ordered mine. X900F tv models are on sale now too!

I wish you hadn't posted this, . I'm having a yahama rx A 1070 delivered this Tuesday. My blu ray player went on the fritz last week and I'll replace it with a sony x700 at $149 probably from the local Best Buy. But I don't have a 4k TV and I wasn't planning on buying one until I saw your post . . .

Heck it even has google chrome cast built in which is my preference.

lol