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How is the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player?

#1
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1/14/09 at 6:20pm
  • Joined: March 2001
  • Location: Rochester, NY
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In an ironic twist, my wife wants a new TV but I'm reluctant. But there's a good price on a great TV that includes the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray, and I'm wondering how this is as a BR player? I did a quick search and didn't see it listed. Amazon has it for $399, suggesting it's above average.

Is it a competent BR machine? I don't need "best" if it's bundled for free, but if it's so bad I'd throw it out and buy a new BR player immediately, then I should discount it from the relative bargain of the bundle.

Any comments or pointers to reviews are appreciated.
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#2
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1/14/09 at 7:07pm
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Re: How is the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player?

Pros: 7.1 outs and internal Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA decoding
Cons: profile 1.1. No ethernet port or USB, so cannot be upgraded to profile 2.0 (BD-Live).
IMHO, a "good enough" player, given my personal experience with Pioneer equipment.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

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#3
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1/15/09 at 12:04pm
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Re: How is the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player?

Thanks for the summary. Sounds like a good freebie, but not the one I'd buy with hard cash.
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#4
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1/15/09 at 1:42pm
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Re: How is the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player?

This player has experienced more trouble with various discs than any other player currently on the market.

There's been quite a few firmware updates, which have improved things, but it still has issues. At some point it's supposed to receive and firmware update to internally decode DTS-HD, but looks like it might not come until April or so.

I guess if it's free, I'd take it, but I wouldn't buy either of the current Pio players as they've proven to be very buggy.

Here's the final comment from Home Theater Magazine's review:

Wrapping Up
Although Pioneer definitely made some strides in its video performance, this player is a step back in basic operability and speed compared with other recent entries in the market. Combined with the BDP-51FD’s BD-Live incompatibility, this isn’t a player I can recommend given the state of the market today, in spite of its strengths in other areas of performance.

Full review here:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/discpl...yer/index.html

\"the dream never dies, just the dreamer\"

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#5
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1/16/09 at 12:41pm
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Re: How is the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player?

Good link. I wouldn't mind having a middling player that's free, but I don't want one, even free, that's fiddly and generally user-hostile compared to other choices. So if that were free with TV, I'd still want to buy a decent BR player.
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