BDP-31FD or the older BDP-23FD?

[BKSinAZ]

I am thinking about buying my VERY FIRST B-R player.. Don't laugh at me LOL

I heard that the Pioneer Elite was a step up from the normal Pioneer, so I was curious if the 31FD is any better than the discontinued 23FD as far as picture or sound quality? Which of these two units should I try to buy?

If I tried to say some money and just purchased the BDP-330 (non Elite) instead, what would I be loosing out on? Picture or sound quality?

Also, if I do not have an internet connection in my television room, how can I do firmware updates?

Any advise would be appreciated on sub $400 dollar players.

 

[jostenmeat]

I don't know much about the 31, but some time ago, Pioneer had rather poor FW support, and hopefully it might be much better overall (and it might hopefully be better overall for all of the companies who weren't so good).

The 23 cannot bitstream DTSMA, but can send it decoded. Not a biggie, but if you want to see DTSMA light up on the receiver, look elsewhere. It cannot stream Netflix, while the 31 looks like it can.

If you just want a basic good player, I like the Pana 65 for under $120. If you like having the most streaming options available beyond Netflix, look towards LG.

If you want to spend more for better upconversion of DVDs, I'd get the Oppo 80 for $289. However, I think differences in upconversion are subtle at best, and even more so when comparing to native BD.

 

[PENG]

There are lots of info here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1142263&page=93

The 23 is probably the last real Pioneer Elite BD player, the new ones are apparently made by Sharp. If you are keen on SQ and upscaling, go with the 23 if you can find one. I also agree upscaling quality between players are subtle, not as dramatic as some people would have you believe, unless you enjoy watchiing synthetic test discs.