blue ray player of choice ?

[donc]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

[Wolf]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

I have the Sony BD-S550. All the outs and decoding, etc, etc.
I love it,
Wolf

[JRT]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

Oppo's BDPs are well worth a look (BDP-83 & BDP-83SE).

http://www.oppodigital.com/players.asp

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1124287

http://www.hometheatermag.com/discpl...lu-ray_player/

There is a review of Oppo's BDP-83 in the current issue (no. 144) of Widescreen Review.
http://widescreenreview.com/wsr_attractions.php

[Wushuliu]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

When researching BD Players I settled on Panasonic BD60 because it had universally great reviews from the mags as well as user reviews on Amazon. In fact, last I checked (several months ago) it had the lowest negative reviews for a BD player on Amazon. It's only $130 now (!!!). The reason I mention it is because almost ALL other BD players available at the time had very high percentage of negative reviews indicative of defects, firmware issues, etc. Including Sony (except the PS3 actually). So be VERY careful; search for problems. Many will say 'Mine works just great', but look for commonalities in the negative reviews. Samsung last I knew was facing a class action suit alleging deliberate selling of defective BD players. That's how bad it is. Even the Panasonic has caused freezing issues for a small number (it happened to me once; it pauses for about 5 seconds then continues. Apparently it only happens once per disk when and if it happens. I experienced only one incidence, had it for 6 months.)

Obviously you'd want to get one from a place with a convenient return policy.

Blu Ray players were/are just not ready for primetime.

Except for Oppo I'm sure. Who doesn't love Oppo. But you pay for that performance.

My .02 cents.

[rogoll]

When researching BD Players I settled on Panasonic BD60 because it had universally great reviews from the mags as well as user reviews on Amazon. In fact, last I checked (several months ago) it had the lowest negative reviews for a BD player on Amazon. It's only $130 now (!!!). The reason I mention it is because almost ALL other BD players available at the time had very high percentage of negative reviews indicative of defects, firmware issues, etc. Including Sony (except the PS3 actually). So be VERY careful; search for problems. Many will say 'Mine works just great', but look for commonalities in the negative reviews. Samsung last I knew was facing a class action suit alleging deliberate selling of defective BD players. That's how bad it is. Even the Panasonic has caused freezing issues for a small number (it happened to me once; it pauses for about 5 seconds then continues. Apparently it only happens once per disk when and if it happens. I experienced only one incidence, had it for 6 months.)

Obviously you'd want to get one from a place with a convenient return policy.

Blu Ray players were/are just not ready for primetime.

Except for Oppo I'm sure. Who doesn't love Oppo. But you pay for that performance.

My .02 cents.

I quite satisfied with Panasonic BD30. It's good to go to their website from time-to-time to check for firmware updates. You have to download a file and burn it to a DVD, then boot up with that disk in the drive for it to update the firmware. I imagine that others are similar, unless they have an ethernet port and connection to the Internet.

[bill]

The obvious choice now is the PS3. The BD player is superb, which is to be expected given its graphics processing power. It may surprise you, but a number of the major studios use the PS3 to demo the quality of BD. Given the recent price reduction, I don't see how you could go wrong. And you can also play games on it!

HTH,
Bill

[Zero the Hero]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

nothing much has changed except the model #s. Can't go wrong with the current Sony or Panasonic (i have the BD35, love it).

This is assuming of course the Oppo is above your budget, unquestionably the best one out there (even Consumer Reports finally started rating them)

[djg]

I have a ps3. I like it.

[jkrutke]

I own A Panasonic BD60 also. It's my third blu-ray player, and I'm very happy with it especially since it only cost about $150. (probably cheaper now) It looks, sounds and works better than most other players costing 3 times as much. The only real downside is a slightly slow menu load and response time, but I can accept that. Panasonic keeps it's drivers updated to solve problems, and the first thing the player did when it got onto the internet is grabbed it's own update.

Note that the BD601 is the same thing sold at Wal-mart. Whatever player is chosen, I'd suggest getting one locally rather than saving a few bucks online. Being able to return the player without shipping or restocking fees is a good thing. The world is full of mediocre blu-ray players, seemingly regardless of price. I've certainly been through a couple that I was glad to be able to return.

[Phil_RC_1]

three models were top choice but now are discontinued or model number changed ,one from sony ,one samsung , the other -panasonic .what's the hot ticket now ? donc

I've had the PS3 for over a year. I just bought the new Sony BDP-S560. The biggest point for me was to have wireless capability for quick firmware updates, and of coarse audio quality. Either of these has both but I prefer the S560 for my AV system.

The S560 (and S360) is more of a "component" to integrate into an AV system. The PS3 is obviously more oriented to gaming but still has one of the best Bluray players. Other then that you're choice would likely be about features that you want. I could care less about gaming, I prefer a more "component"/system friendly unit, so when the S560 came out with HD audio and wireless connectivity, it was on my upgrade list

Supposedly, the S360 has HD audio and most of the features and bluray quality of the S560 except it's not wireless (it DOE'S has a wired Ethernet connection).

[sbrtoy]

Depends on your priorities, the Oppo is a great unit but I ended up going for the LG 390 as it has good video and includes wireless access to Netflix on demand and the like. It is kind of a do it all unit and can be had for around $275.

[brianpowers27]

I am looking around right now and I really wouldn't even consider a player without ethernet hookup.

What are people's experiences with the various online features offered in many players.?

[robertcottiers]

The obvious choice now is the PS3. The BD player is superb, which is to be expected given its graphics processing power. It may surprise you, but a number of the major studios use the PS3 to demo the quality of BD. Given the recent price reduction, I don't see how you could go wrong. And you can also play games on it!

HTH,
Bill

Hello Bill: I saw your name pop up and thought I'd say hello!!

Best Regards
Bob C.

[CokewithLime]

I've had the Panasonic BD35 for over a year now, excellent and the up scaling to 1080p with std DVDs is superb.

BTW - most of the standalone players require the addition(not included with the player) of at least a 2gb SDHC memory chip to take advantage of any on line features. Setting up any of these standalone BR players for online connection is a PITA - especially so if you use a router and have firewalls set up.

If I was doing it now, especially with the recent price drop, I would go with the PS3 as best bang for the buck