Best Blu-ray Player?

[egreen1976]

I am surprised I cant come across this info easier but I have 3 simple questions. I would appreciate the help.

1) What is the best blu ray player around $500 (400 - 600)?

2) What is the best blu ray player around $1100 ?

3) Is there anything that is universally highly anticipated being released on the immediate horizon, (next 60 days)

All opinions welcome!

 

[95prelude]

1. Panasonic BD30/BD50
2. Pioneer Elite 95FD or Denon 2500BTCI
3. No Idea

 

[rded]

r around $1100 ?

3) Is there anything that is universally highly anticipated being released on the immediate horizon, (next 60 days)

All opinions welcome!

The new Denon BD player's suppose to come out this spring. Its $2000

 

[Hi Ho]

3) Is there anything that is universally highly anticipated being released on the immediate horizon, (next 60 days)

I don't know if it's within the next 60 days but I'm waiting for the Panasonic BD50. It should be in the $400-600 price range.

 

[The Chukker]

Pioneer Elite 95FD or Denon 2500BTCI

I own the Pioneer and it is Profile 1.0 only -- no BD Live. It will bitstream DTS MA and Dolby True HD but it is not upgradeable. Good player, but honestly you can do better for the money.
I had the joy of test driving the Denon 2500 BCTI and it was built like a tank -- however it was bare bones no nonsense: HDMI output only (no analog outputs) and no matter what I did I could not get the unit to shake hands with my Samsung display for 24p output. The Pioneer does not have this issue.

I have heard the new Panny is very nice, profile 2.0, bitstreams DTS MA and True HD, but is not as easy on the eyes (but who cares ).

If you don't already own a PS3, you should very well consider it -- it's going to be a kick @ss player down the road...

 

[Cavediver]

I am surprised I cant come across this info easier but I have 3 simple questions. I would appreciate the help.

1) What is the best blu ray player around $500 (400 - 600)?

2) What is the best blu ray player around $1100 ?

3) Is there anything that is universally highly anticipated being released on the immediate horizon, (next 60 days)

All opinions welcome!

1. Panasonic BD30 (best Blu-ray player there is at this time at any price range).

2. Why spend $1100 when you can get the best (BD30 for a lot less)?

3. Nothing in the next 60 days, but the Panasonic BD50 is coming sometime mid to late summer.

 

[mouettus]

A vote for the PS3. Faster than any other. Upgradable to profile 2.0 The only downside is that it might never bitstream DTS-HD-MA but meh... no biggie.
And then you get a media server and a game console. But being the fastest is THE advantage. As fast as my dvd player.

Cheaper than all others too.

 

[95prelude]

A vote for the PS3. Faster than any other. Upgradable to profile 2.0 The only downside is that it might never bitstream DTS-HD-MA but meh... no biggie.
And then you get a media server and a game console. But being the fastest is THE advantage. As fast as my dvd player.

Cheaper than all others too.

I also have the PS3 60GB. The thing with the PS3 is that it only works with the Bluetooth remote and not any other ones.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Today, PS3. In 6 months, ???

I think as of now the best bang for the buck is the PS3. It's a great player with lots of extras. The only immediate downside is it unknown whether or not it will be upgradeable to play full DTS HD MA. Currently that sound format is played as DTS MA core audio @ 1.5mps. Even without that it is a great choice if you cant wait til the end of the year to see how everything else coming out will actually compare.

Jack

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...the Panasonic BD50 is coming sometime mid to late summer.

That long?

Geez. I'm seriously thinking about getting the DVD-3800BDCI now.

What the heck is taking Panasonic so long?

 

[leo1058]

Every time i hear about the new penny it seems to be pushed back.Will it ever come out!!

 

[kurtkrum]

So now I am considering getting the PS3 to use as both a gaming console and a bluray player (even though the bluetooth remote thing kinda makes me not want to go down this road).

Question for you PS3 owners out there - Does the hard drive capacity make any difference in performance? I am seeing 40GB, 60GB and 80GB capacities out there and am not sure which I want to buy. I will mostly use this to watch movies...my son will probably use it mostly to play games.

 

[BMXTRIX]

That long?

Geez. I'm seriously thinking about getting the DVD-3800BDCI now.

What the heck is taking Panasonic so long?

It should be in line with the other 2.0 profile players which are being releaseed. The Denon, for as nice as it (likely) is, still is a 1.1 profile player.

I personally put my vote in for the PS3 or the BD30 as players. I really think the PS3 is awesome for the fact that it acts very nicely as a mid-solution player. That is, it WILL handle everything you throw at it up to profile 2.0 and in a year or so, when 2.0 players are on their second and third revisions and cost $300 for a decent player, you can get that as a long term solution, but still have the PS3 around just to enjoy in another room or for (gasp!) a bit of HD gaming.

 

[mouettus]

So now I am considering getting the PS3 to use as both a gaming console and a bluray player (even though the bluetooth remote thing kinda makes me not want to go down this road).

Question for you PS3 owners out there - Does the hard drive capacity make any difference in performance? I am seeing 40GB, 60GB and 80GB capacities out there and am not sure which I want to buy. I will mostly use this to watch movies...my son will probably use it mostly to play games.

Best choice ever.

Hard drive is useless. I bought an external USB instead. The only thing you gain from 40gb to 80gb is 2 usb ports in the front, sacd playback and PS2 software compatibility. I've heard things about the 40gb being more quiet though.

I didn't have to much expectations vis-à-vis this box, but when I saw the speed at which it loads and changes track on a blu-ray, wow! That thing is staying home! Oh yeah and the bluetooth, I actually like it better than IR remotes cuz you don't have to point it at the device. Now I have my programmed Yamaha remote for all the IR devices and my PS3 controller (not the blu-ray remote, which is useless cuz you can do everything with the sixaxis anyways).

 

[rgriffin25]

A vote for the PS3. Faster than any other. Upgradable to profile 2.0 The only downside is that it might never bitstream DTS-HD-MA but meh... no biggie.
And then you get a media server and a game console. But being the fastest is THE advantage. As fast as my dvd player.

Cheaper than all others too.

My choices are as follows,

Stand alone player: Panasonic BMP-BD30
The panasonic is hands down the best player on the market for the money.
It bitstreams HD audio for external decoding.
However, you must have a new Receiver with HDMI 1.3 to decode the lossless audio formats.

Player with gaming option: PS3
Very Good BD playback, with future upgradability. (Important if Profile 2.0 is important to you)
Clunky Bluetooth remote and lack of DTS HD MA decoding are the PS3s weaknesses.

The Panasonic BMP-BD30 is just as fast as the PS3. (I have both)

 

[mouettus]

The Panasonic BMP-BD30 is just as fast as the PS3. (I have both)

Yeah but can you game or store music files/movies on your BD30? ... for the same price!

Didn't know there was a box as fast as the PS3 for BD playback.

I'm not a PS3 fanboy, just an owner who thinks he really got what he paid for. This console is a great piece of hardware.

 

[patnshan]

I will probably get the PS3 even though I'd prefer a stand alone just because it seems to be the best "future capable" option. I need an internal decoder, which puts me in the BD50 or Sony 550 range, way more than the PS3.

Pat

 

[The Chukker]

Crap

My Pioneer BDP 95FD died today. It was only 2 months old when it passed on. What started out as a momentary flash of video noise culminated in a total audio/video failure with a static noise spike so loud I thought it was going to blow my speakers.
Scary stuff this HDMI is.
I called Magnolia and there is a shortage of these units here in Seattle so I did the smart thing -- "offered" to trade for the Panasonic BMP-BD30 with the balance in store credit (approximately 400 dollars plus tax). The Panasonic does everything the Pioneer does at nearly half the price. I also downloaded the new firmware (1.6) and will install as soon as I get the unit home tomorrow night.

 

[Penny]

A vote for the PS3. Faster than any other. Upgradable to profile 2.0 The only downside is that it might never bitstream DTS-HD-MA but meh... no biggie.
And then you get a media server and a game console. But being the fastest is THE advantage. As fast as my dvd player.

Cheaper than all others too.

..

No biggie? Are you kidding me?!? That is the single biggest advantage to having the BD. Without DTS MA I'd go back to SD. It's the single greatest advent in Home Theater in the past 20 years.

 

[obscbyclouds]

..

No biggie? Are you kidding me?!? That is the single biggest advantage to having the BD. Without DTS MA I'd go back to SD. It's the single greatest advent in Home Theater in the past 20 years.

It's really that much better than a TrueHD or LPCM track??