blu-ray player for discs ? (1 Viewer)

[Brian McHale]

When it comes to researching home theater hardware, I would recommend spending some time on the AVS Forum Blu-ray Players forum. I much prefer HTF for researching movies and the quality of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs, but I think AVS is better for hardware. You have to learn to take things with a grain of salt; there are lots of fanboys there that love this brand, hate that brand. However, there is a lot of really good information. Also, many of the more popular players will have dedicated owner threads. These can really give you a good feel for what actual owners are experiencing.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

when i went to amazon, just lots of bad reviews. mostly with updating firmware, extremely slow response from the player. and poor service from the manufacturer.

i only looked at sony and panasonic.

i am beginning to think that i better wait until the blu-ray system has some stronger roots.

if the producers keep making their discs more and more complicated, they may just kill the whole thing.

It's pretty safe to say that the BD format is as mature as it's going to get. Firmware updates are now a fact of life for virtually all HT devices, from TV sets to receivers to BD players.

In the last year I've bought a tv, two BD players, a receiver, an I-pad, and an Apple TV device, all of which have undergone firmware updates with no problems whatsoever.

Amazon will always have a few negative reveiws from technophobes unable to follow simple directions in an owner's manual. I wouldn't let that stop me from enjoying the benefits of owning the best HD source devices on the market.

if you want to restrict yourself to only purchasing stuff that doesn't require updates you're never going to upgrade anything in your system except the speakers.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Blu-ray has been around for 7 years, and it's doing fine.

If you want a good blu-ray player, look at Oppo.

 

[schan1269]

JJ's last post almost sounds trollish. Really...???

"if the producers keep making their discs more and more complicated, they may just kill the whole thing"

Kidding me?

Have you not bought a cell phone in the last 10 years?
Have you not bought a computer in the last 25 years?
Have you not bought a car in the last 100+ years? (your car has had a "brain" since 1986. Some manufacturers even earlier than that)

 

[Mark-P]

JJ's last post almost sounds trollish. Really...???

"if the producers keep making their discs more and more complicated, they may just kill the whole thing"

Kidding me?

Have you not bought a cell phone in the last 10 years?
Have you not bought a computer in the last 25 years?
Have you not bought a car in the last 100+ years? (your car has had a "brain" since 1986. Some manufacturers even earlier than that)

Confound those new-fangled Blu-ray discs! They're just too darn complicated!

 

[jimmyjet]

with the exception of the troll comment, thanks for your replies.

 

[Iconoclast]

BD players need firmware updates to make sure you do not have problems playing some (newer) discs mostly due to ever changing copy protection.

Most manufacturers will mail you a firmware update disc for free upon request if you cannot or will not D/L the update. I do have a router for my computers but my entertainment center is across the house & my 2009- BD player does not have wireless built in, so would need to hard wire to the router with a 75 foot cable temporarily to D/L the updates. So, I D/L on my computer & burned a disk & updated that way which was more tie consuming & a bit of a pain.
Have done this several times & once requested & received a free update disc from Panasonic.
Even with an update disc you received by mail, you must follow instructions exactly or you may brick your unit! They are not difficult. Most of the danger is if you interrupt the update process by prematurely ejecting the disc.

 

[schan1269]

BD players need firmware updates to make sure you do not have problems playing some (newer) discs mostly due to ever changing copy protection.

Most manufacturers will mail you a firmware update disc for free upon request if you cannot or will not D/L the update. I do have a router for my computers but my entertainment center is across the house & my 2009- BD player does not have wireless built in, so would need to hard wire to the router with a 75 foot cable temporarily to D/L the updates. So, I D/L on my computer & burned a disk & updated that way which was more tie consuming & a bit of a pain.
Have done this several times & once requested & received a free update disc from Panasonic.
Even with an update disc you received by mail, you must follow instructions exactly or you may brick your unit! They are not difficult. Most of the danger is if you interrupt the update process by prematurely ejecting the disc.

You could get one of these...

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-WNCE2001-Universal-Internet-Adapter/dp/B007CO5DZ4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367185661&sr=1-2&keywords=netgear+wnce2001

I have one collecting dust. I also have a 3001 which is dual band(bought the WNDR4500), which retired the 2001.

 

[jimmyjet]

BD players need firmware updates to make sure you do not have problems playing some (newer) discs mostly due to ever changing copy protection.

Most manufacturers will mail you a firmware update disc for free upon request if you cannot or will not D/L the update. I do have a router for my computers but my entertainment center is across the house & my 2009- BD player does not have wireless built in, so would need to hard wire to the router with a 75 foot cable temporarily to D/L the updates. So, I D/L on my computer & burned a disk & updated that way which was more tie consuming & a bit of a pain.
Have done this several times & once requested & received a free update disc from Panasonic.
Even with an update disc you received by mail, you must follow instructions exactly or you may brick your unit! They are not difficult. Most of the danger is if you interrupt the update process by prematurely ejecting the disc.

hi iconoclast,

someone already mentioned the ever-changing copyright protection, that was what mainly prompted me to make the remark about them killing their own goose.

at this point, i am placing the whole blu-ray thing on the back burner. i do think that one day i will get a player along with the shows that i like best.

but i have a lot to view, as it is. so i am in no rush.

i simply do not like all the bad reviews on the players at amazon.

as time goes on, i will learn more, and hopefully players will be more positively reviewed.

i am thrilled with the clarity that i get on dvd. i am mostly watching older stuff, that for the most part, i only saw on old tv. the actual "film" being transferred to dvd, is still many times more clear than i got to see it, originally.

thanks again for all the replies. i already learned a lot from them.

 

[jimmyjet]

i was reviewing a panasonic player, cuz it was suggested on another thread.

the most current model had horrible reviews.

but one guy was complaining that ads come on, when the player turns on.

and he stated that this occurs due to the firmware updates ?

is there any truth to that ?

 

[Brian McHale]

I've got a Panasonic plasma TV that does indeed show an ad when it powers up. It's my understanding that I can disable that, but it hardly seems worth it. The ad goes away pretty quickly.

The new Panasonc players just came out in March. I would recommend reading about them in this AVS thread; it will give a much better idea than reviews on Amazon about how these players perform:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1463719/official-panasonic-dmp-79-89-230-330-owners-thread-2013

 

[jimmyjet]

thank you, brian.

 

[Iconoclast]

hi iconoclast,

someone already mentioned the ever-changing copyright protection, that was what mainly prompted me to make the remark about them killing their own goose.

at this point, i am placing the whole blu-ray thing on the back burner. i do think that one day i will get a player along with the shows that i like best.

but i have a lot to view, as it is. so i am in no rush.

i simply do not like all the bad reviews on the players at amazon.

as time goes on, i will learn more, and hopefully players will be more positively reviewed.

i am thrilled with the clarity that i get on dvd. i am mostly watching older stuff, that for the most part, i only saw on old tv. the actual "film" being transferred to dvd, is still many times more clear than i got to see it, originally.

thanks again for all the replies. i already learned a lot from them.

This is a good demo of DVD vs. BD:


Use sprocket to watch in 720p or 1080p, your computer monitor is HD.

A BD player will play all your DVDs & they will look even better. (Up conversion)

You do NOT require an Internet connection as I've shown. You should update the FW as it becomes available just as you update your computer malware protection & Adobe Flash & Windows updates, etc.

Good luck!

 

[FoxyMulder]

@Brian

I'm not sure we should be promoting AVS forum at home theater forum, sure they have discussions but here's an idea, keep it here and make this forum better by bringing the technical know how here rather than sending people to AVS, just my opinion for what it's worth.

@Jimmy

As for blu ray player reviews on Amazon, take with a pinch of salt, when a new player is released it sometimes has a few issues, the firmware gets updated and suddenly it's great, i can heartily recommend last years Panasonic's which can still be bought, get yourself a Panasonic DMP-BDT220, it has wireless built into it so updating firmware is simply a case of getting a decent router and setting it all up, there will be instructions available and help from this forum for you to do that, you also have to remember to set the Panasonic to 24p since by default its at 60p, that is if your TV supports 24p and you want proper playback of film material.

Indeed if you get that Panasonic player it may come with the latest firmware, even if it doesn't i would say 99% of all discs will play, don't be afraid of a few bad reviews and remember to read the good reviews too, get the Panasonic from last year since its firmware is more stable than a newer model and at a later date you might find yourself updating other things and investing in great home cinema gear or a brand new large screen plasma or projection system, trust me when i say that 7.1 sound on a modern movie soundtrack is fantastic and it looks spectacular on a large screen your DVD's will look better when upscaled through that Panasonic too.

 

[Brian McHale]

"@Brian

I'm not sure we should be promoting AVS forum at home theater forum, sure they have discussions but here's an idea, keep it here and make this forum better by bringing the technical know how here rather than sending people to AVS, just my opinion for what it's worth."

Are you suggesting that I shouldn't offer the best advice I can to a forum member? Because that's what I would be doing if I didn't recommend that the OP check out AVS forum. That owners' thread at AVS has 171 posts regarding the latest line of Panasonic Blu-ray players (which only hit the market in March). HTF cannot compete with that.

Every forum has its strengths and weaknesses. HTF's strength, in my opinion, is the film background of many HTF members. People asking hardware related questions on HTF, however, never seem to get anywhere near the amount of useful advice as other forums, in particular AVS forum. I'm sorry, but it's true. To say we should try to build the expertise here doesn't help someone trying to solve an immediate problem. AVS forum is a much better place to research a Blu-ray player than HTF. It just is.

I would love it if HTF could become as useful a forum for hardware research as other forums. However, the fact is that it doesn't come close at this point and isn't likely to anytime soon. If I don't recommend that someone check out AVS forum for something like this, I'm not providing the best advice I can. No forum can be the end all/be all for any topic. Trying to pretend that other forums don't exist doesn't make sense to me. If they can provide better knowledge than HTF, I think it makes sense to send people there. That is, in my opinion, the only way to build knowledge here.

 

[FoxyMulder]

"@Brian

I'm not sure we should be promoting AVS forum at home theater forum, sure they have discussions but here's an idea, keep it here and make this forum better by bringing the technical know how here rather than sending people to AVS, just my opinion for what it's worth."

Are you suggesting that I shouldn't offer the best advice I can to a forum member? Because that's what I would be doing if I didn't recommend that the OP check out AVS forum. That owners' thread at AVS has 171 posts regarding the latest line of Panasonic Blu-ray players (which only hit the market in March). HTF cannot compete with that.

Every forum has its strengths and weaknesses. HTF's strength, in my opinion, is the film background of many HTF members. People asking hardware related questions on HTF, however, never seem to get anywhere near the amount of useful advice as other forums, in particular AVS forum. I'm sorry, but it's true. To say we should try to build the expertise here doesn't help someone trying to solve an immediate problem. AVS forum is a much better place to research a Blu-ray player than HTF. It just is.

I would love it if HTF could become as useful a forum for hardware research as other forums. However, the fact is that it doesn't come close at this point and isn't likely to anytime soon. If I don't recommend that someone check out AVS forum for something like this, I'm not providing the best advice I can. No forum can be the end all/be all for any topic. Trying to pretend that other forums don't exist doesn't make sense to me. If they can provide better knowledge than HTF, I think it makes sense to send people there. That is, in my opinion, the only way to build knowledge here.

I disagree and contend that this forum will improve if we keep it here and get people to post their own expertise on the subject matter, i would say good advice has already been offered and there is no need to visit another forum to get more info, the original poster and anyone else can Google the brands for reviews and add up the negatives and positives, indeed i would suggest just that as well as posting on this or ( if they really want to go elsewhere ) any forum.

 

[schan1269]

I used to post at AVS.

Unless you own a Denon product. Forget it.
If you bought a HTiB(one with the DVD/BD included). Forget it.

Over there, trying to tell people to use the time honored methods of...
1. Use a SPL meter.
2. Move your speakers to the correct spot.
3. Make your own subwoofer cable.

Gets you harassed by the "Audyssey is God" people. You'd think, at times, Audyssey and Denon pay their IT bill.

Believe it or not, I was censored for a week over telling a guy his Audyssey set-up was wrong*. Cause, Audyssey is "never wrong, it is God."...

*The guy had Mirage. Forget which ones, but tower fronts with small rears(not Nanosats). I told him to completely forgo the Audyssey. The next day, I couldn't log in to AVS. The email I received stated "for undermining a useful feature in today's CE environment.".

 

[Brian McHale]

I disagree and contend that this forum will improve if we keep it here and get people to post their own expertise on the subject matter, i would say good advice has already been offered and there is no need to visit another forum to get more info, the original poster and anyone else can Google the brands for reviews and add up the negatives and positives, indeed i would suggest just that as well as posting on this or ( if they really want to go elsewhere ) any forum.

I disagree.

I gave the OP the best advice I could. There is nothing wrong with suggesting someone go to another forum if that forum has valuable information. I realize that AVS Forum is far from perfect (understatement). However, I find the owner threads there to be of extreme value when researching a prospective hardware purchase.

My opinion is that I should give the best advice I can. Your opinion seems to be I should give the best advice I can without suggesting they might find better information elsewhere. You're welcome to your opinion, but I don't agree with it.

 

[FoxyMulder]

I disagree.

I gave the OP the best advice I could. There is nothing wrong with suggesting someone go to another forum if that forum has valuable information. I realize that AVS Forum is far from perfect (understatement). However, I find the owner threads there to be of extreme value when researching a prospective hardware purchase.

My opinion is that I should give the best advice I can. Your opinion seems to be I should give the best advice I can without suggesting they might find better information elsewhere. You're welcome to your opinion, but I don't agree with it.

I have seen the AVS threads, they tend to descend into fanboyism far too often and the moderators are over sensitive and far too often stop enjoyable chat just as it gets started, if they ask the right questions here they will get all the answers they need.

 

[schan1269]

I disagree.

I gave the OP the best advice I could. There is nothing wrong with suggesting someone go to another forum if that forum has valuable information. I realize that AVS Forum is far from perfect (understatement). However, I find the owner threads there to be of extreme value when researching a prospective hardware purchase.

My opinion is that I should give the best advice I can. Your opinion seems to be I should give the best advice I can without suggesting they might find better information elsewhere. You're welcome to your opinion, but I don't agree with it.

I think there is a fine line between "offering advice found elsewhere"...vs telling them to "go elsewhere".

Maybe you didn't intend to come off sounding "go over there when you have questions". I have, more than once, offered up a thread found over there and either linked it(which I don't do often) or left enough bread crumbs they can find it on their own.

This forum knows it needs more CE expertise. Will this forum ever become AVS?

I sure to God hope not.

Edit:
There is a thread here about the Panny 89 BD player and Star Wars. First thing I did was Google it(expecting an AVS blurb if widespread). No instances anywhere of any BD player having Star Wars issues. I even joked about how sad it would be to have to "return Star Wars"...knowing he meant the other way (read the thread).