Web Connected BD players

[itschris]

I'm tired of my wife asking me why we can't watch the free Netflix movies on our TV and I'm sick of explaining that when I do connect her laptop the screen is centered because it doesn't output full 1080 resolution... blah, blah, blah.

I have my Sony BD player which works fine, but I want to get a new one which has all the Netlfix and other online sources available. I'm starting to view these as disposable devices now so I don't want to spend a ton since I'll likely replace it in a couple of years just like i'm doing now.

I'm thinking LG or Samsung. I love my OPPO DVD player, but I don't want to spend the money for an OPPO BD player. Thoughts suggestions?

 

[jostenmeat]

No one has more streaming features than LG, perhaps look at the 370.

However, if it's only Netflix you need, you might think about a Panny at 1/3 the cost or so. No one has better reliability than Pana, or offers a better value, IMO. They also own the majority of BD patents.

If you use cable, not sat, and that your cable box rental fees are pricey, and that cable card rentals are not, you might consider getting a Tivo. I will leave that at that, but it'll stream anything the LG will too I believe.

 

[Swerd]

Thanks jm , I had the same question.

 

[itschris]

No one has more streaming features than LG, perhaps look at the 370.

However, if it's only Netflix you need, you might think about a Panny at 1/3 the cost or so. No one has better reliability than Pana, or offers a better value, IMO. They also own the majority of BD patents.

If you use cable, not sat, and that your cable box rental fees are pricey, and that cable card rentals are not, you might consider getting a Tivo. I will leave that at that, but it'll stream anything the LG will too I believe.

Thanks JM. I'd like to have options. I'll give the LG a look. Like I said, I'm sure I'll be moving whichever new one I get to one of the spare rooms in a year or two so I'm not overly concerned about having the supermost quality high end player. I'm at the point I just want ease of use... I'm tired of having fiddle around with stuff to get it to do what I want, the way I want it... all the time.

I'm probably going to be switching to DirectTV soon. I'm so sick of my cable company (Knology). They keep taking channels away instead of adding them. They just recently unbundled Starz from Encore. The downside is that the basic service is already included in my HOA fees, so I get about $45 of programming automatically that I cannot opt out of. If I go with Sat, I'm paying for redundant service, but in the end it may be worth it just to make me feel better.

 

[itschris]

Hey JM... what does DLNA do for me? Don't make fun of me.

 

[MDS]

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance and is a group that defines standards for streaming audio and video to various devices.

If for example you have a DLNA capable TV, you can stream video to it from other devices that are also DLNA capable. Windows Media Player is DLNA certified and can be used to stream audio from your computer to another DLNA capable device.

Naturally you have to have a network connection - either wired or wireless depending on which type the two devices that will be communicating support.

 

[j_garcia]

They are pretty much all web connected these days too. I'd steer clear of samsung players.

 

[itschris]

I'm looking at these two LG players:

http://www.lg.com/us/common/compare/products-compare-result.jsp?CatID=8118&BURL=/us/tv-audio-video/video/index.jsp

If I understand correctly, I should probably get the DLNA model because anything that can play in Windows Media Player can be streamed to the player like my music. I have the Home Media Gallery via my Pioneer Elite, but he menus are pretty sad... I got it just before the slick interfaces became the norm a couple of years ago.

I'm assuming the menus to play my music would be much better with the LG player.

I'm looking at the new OPPO player too. I'm thinking I might just get the Universal Oppo for the higher end stuff and buy this cheaper LG for the day to day stuff that will like change every year or two. I don't mind getting rid of a $200 player every couple of years... or put it this way... I mind less. I just keep upgrading the other players in the other rooms.

 

[itschris]

The LG 570 is on it's way. I tried to order the Oppo, but the wife put the bolts to that one. I tried to lie and tell her that was a different piece of equipment but ended up blurting out that it was a blu-ray player to and she sorda put her foot down. I figured I'd retreat and live to fight another day.

 

[zildjian]

I tried to order the Oppo, but the wife put the bolts to that one. I tried to lie and tell her that was a different piece of equipment but ended up blurting out that it was a blu-ray player to...

I would have liked to have seen that exchange...
You: "and the Oppo thing, uh... home theater reference DVD, netfilx streaming... blu-ray player...(inner voice then said, crap I said blu-ray player!!!!)"
Her: "What? You're talking about ordering TWO blu-ray players?!?! WHY? Are you kidding me? NO! Absolutely not..."

You need to work on that more before next time. You could be enjoying the new Oppo in the next week if you had practiced your lines! Log on here first, and we'll help you next time!!!! It's a SACD/DVD-Audio player! LOL! If you had just ordered one player, the Oppo could have been you day to day player and reference player... I like your style though trying to play it off as a different piece of equipment.

 

[highfigh]

No one has more streaming features than LG, perhaps look at the 370.

However, if it's only Netflix you need, you might think about a Panny at 1/3 the cost or so. No one has better reliability than Pana, or offers a better value, IMO. They also own the majority of BD patents.

If you use cable, not sat, and that your cable box rental fees are pricey, and that cable card rentals are not, you might consider getting a Tivo. I will leave that at that, but it'll stream anything the LG will too I believe.

The LG BD370 is discontinued, BTW.

What does the LG do that the Panasonic doesn't? The Panasonic BD65K does NetFlix, Pandora, YouTube, VuDu, CinemaNow, Picassa, AMazon Video, Bloomberg News, Weather, Fox Sports is coming and it's not very expensive.

FWIW, I haven't used my ReQuest server in over two weeks because of Pandora. I turned it off and to be honest, I don't miss it. Pandora sound quality is better than I would have thought, too.

 

[highfigh]

I figured I'd retreat and live to fight another day.

I know someone who wrote a song about marriage in general and it's called 'Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be right?'. He wrote another about his wife and it's called 'Her name used to be "Trouble" and now her last name is "mine" '.

You probably made the better choice.

 

[itschris]

I would have liked to have seen that exchange...
You: "and the Oppo thing, uh... home theater reference DVD, netfilx streaming... blu-ray player...(inner voice then said, crap I said blu-ray player!!!!)"
Her: "What? You're talking about ordering TWO blu-ray players?!?! WHY? Are you kidding me? NO! Absolutely not..."

You need to work on that more before next time. You could be enjoying the new Oppo in the next week if you had practiced your lines! Log on here first, and we'll help you next time!!!! It's a SACD/DVD-Audio player! LOL! If you had just ordered one player, the Oppo could have been you day to day player and reference player... I like your style though trying to play it off as a different piece of equipment.

I'm really ashamed of myself. I totally choked. I was carrying on about all the things she'd "easily" be able to do like watch all the stupid free Netflix movies she does on her laptop and all that with the LG and that for critical audio/video we needed the OPPO. I tried to sell the LG as more of a "box to get the internet stuff" rather than a blu-ray. With a big and giving smile, I told her I'd give the current Sony BD player to Christina, our daughter... because... "she's been great and works hard and should have one."

She was pretty much buying it all when my satisfaction with myself caused a fatal lapse in judgement and leaked that they were both in fact bd players. She zeroed in on that with the fatal precision of a GPS guided bomb dropped from... ohhhh... about an 1/8 of an inch above the target... my OPPO... and my dreams were incinerated with only my ego as recognizable debris scattered about the living room.

 

[zildjian]

She was pretty much buying it all when my satisfaction with myself caused a fatal lapse in judgement and leaked that they were both in fact bd players. She zeroed in on that with the fatal precision of a GPS guided bomb dropped from... ohhhh... about an 1/8 of an inch above the target... my OPPO... and my dreams were incinerated with only my ego as recognizable debris scattered about the living room.

LOL!!!! Literally. I slowly assembling components for a two channel system that I hope to put in a dedicated room in the next house, so that's how I sold my wife on the new Oppo BDP-95. It will be a better player for us to use now, and then I'll use it as the CD/SACD/DVD-A/Blu-ray player using balanced outputs for the stereo system when that time comes... We use the AppleTV for the netflix and stuff because the netflix user interface is much better with the AppleTV than the Oppo. Honestly, by the time the next house rolls around, they'll be 2 or 3 newer Oppo's out, so... then I'll need to work on the rational for why I need one of those! We will all have to brainstorm when that day rolls around.
-Brad

 

[johndoe]

I have a similar situation at home and I'm about to buy a Roku box or two. I just need to figure out which ones.

 

[jostenmeat]

The LG BD370 is discontinued, BTW.

Oh ok, I still can find them for sale, and the resource I use didn't say that it's DC'd, but it's probably not updated everyday either. OK, it's almost two months since the last update, see below.

What does the LG do that the Panasonic doesn't? The Panasonic BD65K does NetFlix, Pandora, YouTube, VuDu, CinemaNow, Picassa, AMazon Video, Bloomberg News, Weather, Fox Sports is coming and it's not very expensive.

I think you should say which model, because I'm pretty sure the BD65 can't do all that. If it's the 85, then we should find out if he needs the mch analogs. Or perhaps it's one of the 3D players you're talking about? I think the price delta has dropped quite a bit between models that sport the mch and those that don't, over the years, but Iono.

 

[PENG]

It's a SACD/DVD-Audio player!

I have been practicing this in my head for a while. In a month or two when I pull the trigger on the 95 I will be using this kind of line/lie. Fortunately I have convinced myself I will be telling the truth, since I lost the Dlink with the AV7005 I can no longer use the 3910 to play MCH SACD unless I use the analog outs. The interconnects are not cheap, create clutter, and bass management will become messy so I really have no option.

 

[itschris]

Well I'm really happy with the LG 570. The streaming works great. Pandora actually sounds pretty damn good. I've already watched 3 seasons of South Park.

The wife watched some vampire movie. She's happy. She even said I wish we would have done this months ago. So now it's on to the next piece of equipment.