Home Theater Forum  ›  Forums  ›  Hi-Definition  ›  HT Hardware - High Definition  ›  Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread

Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

#1
Rating: 0
5/29/08 at 2:03pm
  • Joined: July 1997
  • Post Count: 20,194
Have a friend interested in buying his first Blu-ray player.

His main interest at the moment is playing BD audio such as the
NINE INCH NAILS audio set. Of course, he is interested in movies as well.

Profile 2 is no big deal to him because he's not interested in
added online content.

I suggested a PS3 to him, but he's not into gaming and I was
afraid the supplied remote might be a "hokey" game remote (not sure).

Basically, he wants an inexpensive player that is well rated.

What would you recommend at this point? Thanks.
Ronald J Epstein
Home Theater Forum co-owner
Email me at: repstein@hometheaterforum.com 
To View My Massive DVD Collection Click Here
HTF Rules and Regulations
Export to Wiki
#2
Rating: 0
5/29/08 at 2:57pm
  • Joined: April 1999
  • Post Count: 1,573

Re: Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

It mainly depends on how much he cares about being able to try/use the newer lossless compression audio formats. If he doesn't, he can use pretty much anything, the Magnavox @ Walmart is the cheapest out there and is reportedly a decent player. If he does care about the new audio, then it depends on the capabilities of his receiver/pre-pro, does it decode the new codecs, does it support multi-ch PCM over HDMI, does it have analog multi-ch inputs, etc., and whether he is willing to upgrade that as well.

PS3 is probably fine, just possible drawbacks of a bit louder fan noise & have to budget in ~$60 or so to get one of those 3rd party IR->bluetooth converters, then you can use any PC programmable universal remote. Or can go cheaper and get the slightly less elegant (particularly with regards to power on/off) USB->IR dongles/remotes like the Nyko. But the PS3 only does the new format audio over HDMI, so if the receiver has no HDMI multich PCM capabilities, he may want something else.
Export to Wiki
#3
Rating: 0
5/29/08 at 5:15pm
  • Joined: May 2000
  • Location: Atlanta, GA
  • Post Count: 337

Re: Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

Check out my thread regarding the Wal-Mart player. I bought one but haven't had a chance to test drive it yet because I'm still waiting on my new AVR.

John

"The names Francis Sawyer, but everybody calls me "Psycho."
Any of YOU guys call ME Francis, and I'll kill ya!"

My Home Theater
My BlogMy Travels

Export to Wiki
#4
Rating: 0
5/29/08 at 5:34pm
  • Joined: April 1999
  • Post Count: 3,515

Re: Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein
Have a friend interested in buying his first Blu-ray player.

His main interest at the moment is playing BD audio such as the
NINE INCH NAILS audio set. Of course, he is interested in movies as well.

Profile 2 is no big deal to him because he's not interested in
added online content.

I suggested a PS3 to him, but he's not into gaming and I was
afraid the supplied remote might be a "hokey" game remote (not sure).

Basically, he wants an inexpensive player that is well rated.

What would you recommend at this point? Thanks.

The PS3 is the best choice if he has a receiver capable of accepting multichannel LPCM via HDMI. It does internal decoding of all the audio formats but cannot bitstream them nor does it have multichannel analog output.

There is no supplied BD remote, but it can be controlled with the included game controller. The bluetooth BD remote offered by Sony is very good but not backlit, sells for $25ish and is worth it. I have a Harmony 880 and frankly don't want it to control my PS3--there are times during lengthy downloads of game demos or videos that I want to switch to watching HD Tivo or something else and appreciate the fact that the 880 cannot accidentally turn off my PS3 in the middle of a download.

Steve S.
I prefer not to push the subwoofers until they\'re properly run in.

Export to Wiki
#5
Rating: 0
5/30/08 at 5:08am
  • Joined: May 2008
  • Post Count: 1

Re: Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

Hiii
sorry buddy i cany help you because I have no idea about this .If you want you can search it from yahoo or google..
thanks
Export to Wiki
#6
Rating: 0
5/30/08 at 8:10am
  • Joined: May 2007
  • Location: Helsinki
  • Post Count: 2,026

Re: Recommend the best "cheap" BD player...

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew_791
Hiii
sorry buddy i cany help you because I have no idea about this .If you want you can search it from yahoo or google..
thanks

lol. This is the best answer ever. Sorry.

Rewind - DVDcompare/Site Administrator
*US PS3 (1080p) - Xbox 360 Elite (HDMI) - Nintendo Wii (Euro) - Sony PSP-2000 - Nintendo DSi
*HD DVD Toshiba XE1 (1080p) - Sony Bravia KDL-40W2000 (1080p) - Yamaha RX-V1800 (HDMI 1.3)

Export to Wiki
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread