Purchase Frustration!!

[AVRat]

OK folks I’m a bit perplexed. I usually do my own research, planning, & decision making but I thought I’d throw this out for your opinions.

My Kenwood DVD jukebox is on the fritz and I’m trying to decide which way to go for a single disk replacement option. As you might be able to tell from my equipment list, I haven’t moved into the Hi-Def A/V world yet. This is where my frustration comes in. I will be upgrading sometime, but I don’t know when. I have less than 100 DVDs currently and thinking of going Blu-Ray for future purchases even though my current CRT RP display won’t handle the higher-resolution. The player would have to down-scale to the display’s 480i native resolution. The upside though going with the right Blu-Ray player is that I could take advantage of its audio decoding and 7.1 analog outputs.

I can’t believe I’m contemplating Panasonic’s DMP-BD55 player since I’ve had an aversion to their products for over 28 years. HT Mag just gave it a good review. I’m not looking to spend a lot, but this unit can be purchased for under $350 and I’m not sure I want to spend the money on a standard-def player.

BTW, I can't seem to find the on-line manual for the Panny, help.
Your thoughts??

 

[jostenmeat]

I can understand your confusion, as that's a tough bind to be in. However, my immediate response would be to wait.

I'm not sure why you dislike Panasonic, as I think they make very fine products, anything from plasmas, projectors, dvd players, cordless telephones, fax machines, irons, etc.

With the above in mind, my friend found some Panny DVD players on fleabay for $20 apiece, new. He bought four, gave one to GF, parents, etc. Works perfectly fine. You can do that, and save up.

IMO, you will want to upgrade display before player. I'd go cheap on the player during the meanwhile, JMO. Think of the display as the choice in speaker, and the dvd player as the choice in cdp... sorta.

I want to add that my preliminary research and excitement over bluray was with the audio improvements. I'm here to tell you that the video improvements are vastly greater than the audio ones, IMO.

Save up for a new display for the day that your tv croaks is what I say. JMO, if money is a serious issue. If money is no object, of course you can just buy new everything immediately. However, this does not appear to be the case.

edit: you are right AVRat, the manual does not appear to be available! (strange).

 

[j_garcia]

I agree with jostenmeat on every comment. Stick with a SD DVD player until you've upgraded your display and by then you should have an excellent choice of players to choose from.

 

[zumbo]

The 7.1 analog option is just not worth the trouble. Trust me.

I purchased a Marantz BD8002 to utilize the 7.1 analog outs to keep from buying a new receiver/pre-pro. Glad to have the player, but there are too many reasons why the analog outs where a waste of time.

However, I have a superb Yamaha dvd-a player for sale. It's fantastic for dvd, and the dvd-a was neat for a minute. I would keep it, but the formentioned BD player is utilizing my m/c inputs.

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200091&CTID=5001800

 

[zumbo]

Reasons

1)Most receivers don't apply their x-over to the m/c inputs, so you would have to be certain the player has the option.

2)While the player may have a x-over option, it may be a fixed point. Or, it may not offer the point you need.

3)The sound level, and LFE, are greatly reduced when using analog outputs for the new audio formats.

4)So now you either need the receiver to have dB adjustments for the m/c inputs, or you need the player to have them.

5)Now you have just bypassed any auto calibration and PEQ your receiver may have, so you must recalibrate levels just for the player.

 

[AVRat]

Thanks guys! This is why its so difficult making a decision. WOW, 96 views with only 3 responders and nobody thinks a BD player is the way to go.

I think I'll go with a Yamaha DVD-S1800. Anybody know which HDMI version the DVD-S1700 uses? (Both use HDMI 1.1 )

 

[AVRat]

OK, looks like it'll be an Onkyo DV-SP506 instead.

 

[aberkowitz]

OK, looks like it'll be an Onkyo DV-SP506 instead.

If you're really looking to spend that kind of money on a DVD player, you should definitely look into the Oppo's as well. I've owned both Onkyo and Oppo for DVD (love Onkyo for their receivers) and I'd say Oppo is infinitely better, particularly for upscaling. The 981HD is a fantastic product and can be had brand new for $230, or check eBay for some great deals.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My previous BD player was the Panaonic DMP-BD10A, and I thought it was a great player. And this was compared to the Sony PS3 and a 2nd Gen Sony BD player.

I vote for the Panny 55 BD player.