Looking for a new disc player

[jliedeka]

I've been using a Sony X1100ES for years now and today it let me down. It wouldn't play my new 4k disc of The Third Man from Lionsgate. The issue is it gets to the menu screen but doesn't show any menu options. I updated the firmware but no joy. I did watch another Lionsgate disc the other night with no issues, Frailty.

If I need to replace my reliable, if annoying, player, so be it. I'm looking for a universal player that can autodetect Dolby Vision. That seems to rule out Sony and Panasonic. I wish Oppo were still around.

Opinions seem to vary about Reavon and Magnetar. I read the Reavon thread which was mostly full of pedantic bullshit but did seem to suggest that they aren't a good value. I'm willing to spend a little but I don't want to spend for a POS.

Could I get some recommendations?

Jim

 

[TLS Guy]

I've been using a Sony X1100ES for years now and today it let me down. It wouldn't play my new 4k disc of The Third Man from Lionsgate. The issue is it gets to the menu screen but doesn't show any menu options. I updated the firmware but no joy. I did watch another Lionsgate disc the other night with no issues, Frailty.

If I need to replace my reliable, if annoying, player, so be it. I'm looking for a universal player that can autodetect Dolby Vision. That seems to rule out Sony and Panasonic. I wish Oppo were still around.

Opinions seem to vary about Reavon and Magnetar. I read the Reavon thread which was mostly full of pedantic bullshit but did seem to suggest that they aren't a good value. I'm willing to spend a little but I don't want to spend for a POS.

Could I get some recommendations?

Jim

Will it play other discs? Faulty discs are not uncommon, and some discs will just not play on certain players.
Also have you run a cleaning disc? Dirt on the laser lens is not uncommon.

Your best bet is Sony and Panasonic. Disc players actually perform in inverse proportion to cost. So exotic players are likely to be worse than cheaper ones. I keep both a Sony and Panasonic in my rig, as if one won't play it the other generally will.

Disc players are now an endangered species because of streaming. Market for players is shrinking fast.

 

[Verdinut]

Did you unplug the player for one minute or so? How about resetting it to the manufacturer's default settings.

I had a problem with a Sony UBP-X800 less than 2 weeks ago. It wouldn't recognize any type of disc. So I reset it to factory default settings and unplugged it for about one minute. It didn't work the first time I tried. But I repeated both procedures two more times and suddenly, it worked again. Then I used a Memorex OptiDisc to clean the lens, and it now works like a new one.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd not give up on your current player and try the reset routines first at least....maybe cleaning. Yes, too bad Oppo exited....

 

[jliedeka]

Thanks guys. I'll try more stuff. I just find the need to manually switch DV on and off annoying. I was hoping to find something else. Other than this disc, which is brand new, it has been solid.

Jim

 

[Happy Joe]

Old sony players and my current Panasonic player some times respond poorly to fingerprints on the edge of discs;
I keep s clean lintless cloth nearby to clean stubborn discs... It usually solves the problem.

Enjoy!

 

[Verdinut]

Thanks guys. I'll try more stuff. I just find the need to manually switch DV on and off annoying. I was hoping to find something else. Other than this disc, which is brand new, it has been solid.

Jim

You mean that you've had a problem with that only one disc? Even if you bought it new, it is most likely defective. If you can return it for a refund, this is what I would do. Have you tried to bring it to a friend's home to see if it works?

A couple of years ago, I had bought an opera on Blu-ray format and it performed well. But a few months ago, I tried to play it again, it didn't work. I also tried to play it on my 2 other BD players and nothing happened. I wrote to DGG, the manufacturer in Germany, about it and they replied that the disc was part of a defective batch and that they had discontinued the production of new releases. They didn't even apologize for it or offered a discount coupon. Since I liked the performance, I went and bought the DVD version of the same recording as a replacement.

 

[jliedeka]

My player still works with other discs. I watched another Lionsgate disc, The Conversation, last night with no issues. One thing I need to try is load it into my Xbox. Xbox doesn't support DV for disc playback (last I checked) but I could find out if the disc is the issue.

I remember the early days of Blu Ray when discs had Java features that weren't well supported and firmware updates were common after new discs came out. I haven't seen anything like that for years. Most discs don't try to do anything too fancy these days.

Jim