NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I've been waiting for these, and I got my first look at them in the Crutchfield catalog I got today:

DMP-BD60K $299.99
Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-ray Disc™ high-definition player at Crutchfield.com

DMP-BD80K $399.99
Panasonic DMP-BD80K Blu-ray Disc™ high-definition player at Crutchfield.com

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Hope the reviews are good because I'm in the market for a BD player.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

After all of the positive reviews for the 35, I wanted one of those but they went out of print too quickly for me to get one at an attractive price. I'm hoping the 60 will have all of the features found on the 35 since they share the same price point.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I am very happy with my panasonic 30. they should be fine players.

Jacob

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I notice that the panasonic remotes still lack a dedicated subtitle button, which seemed to be a concern for many with the previous models. It's strange they wouldn't add that, as I'd think it'd be a pretty simple thing to do.

FYI, Crutchfield also has the new Samsung BD-P1600 and BD-P3600 up for preorder for $299 and $399. I see them also at onecall and amazon which list them as in stock.

I haven't found rear-panel pictures of either the new panasonics or new samsungs. I'm curious as to whether they've done away with the fan on the new models. Actually, I've found the BD-P1600 manual here: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/co...0,1600-XAA.pdf and that shows a fan still

-- Dave

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Are the fans loud? My Sony DVD player/recorder has a fan- and it's not bothersome.
Same here. I'm hoping the 60 retains the same zoom function that the 35 has. It's surprising how few BD players have one.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

BD60 is in my price range. I'll get my tax return soon'ish.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

hOW DOES THE 80 DIFFER FROM THE 55?

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Nice price but I would take the Panasonic hands down over the Samsung. Samsung just doesn't seem to do that great of a job. I am keeping an eye on a Panasonic as a possible upgrade to my Sony BDP-S300 bluray.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I'm sorry I don't have the answer to that- but I'm sure someone here knows.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I'm just hoping the DB80 has a faster bootup time, smoother ergonomics, and handles BD-Live and firmware updates well. It'd be nice if it had solid DVD upconverting capability, but I don't expect it to be as good as the new Oppo 83 BD player (which looks to retails at $200 more than the Panny BD80, anyway).

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

i think that is panasonic 30. ok. player...

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Costco is now selling the BD605 for $280.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I saw the BD-60 at Amazon for $267 and change the other night. Their prices fluctuate wildly so it could be more or less now.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I saw it there too.

Also, the Panasonic site FINALLY has the BD60 and BD80 listed.

I downloaded the user's manual for the BD60, and it looks like it has the same desirable features that the BD35 had.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Yeah, sometimes it's quite a step up (or down) in the price.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

It's down to $254 at Amazon - does anyone have one of these yet?

I'm not sure how useful Vierracast will be outside the US - does anyone know how they are handling rights? I know that Amazon VOD is not available in Canada.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

UPS delivered my Panasonic blu-ray BD60 Tuesday afternoon. (Stupid UPS did not even ring the doorbell, and yes I complained).

First my convoluted Blu-Ray setup:

• Reciever: Yamaha RX-V890 (Pro-Logic 2-channel audio input only)
• HDTV: Vizio S420XVT 120hz 42" (4 HDMI inputs, 2 Component inputs, +)
• DVD: Sony DVP-NC615 (Using component video out, 2-channel audio)
• BR: Panasonic DMP-BD60 (HDMI to HDTV, 2-channel audio, out of the box, no firmware updates yet)

All source devices send video directly to the HDTV (DVD using component, Blu-Ray uses HDMI). All audio is 2-channel sent to the reciever.

I used Mama-Mia as my real world test as I have the widescreen DVD and rented the Blu-Ray.

The very good news is that when the BR "down converts" audio - my ancient Yamaha RX-V890 (nothing digital about this old timer) does indeed present dolby pro-logic across the 2-channel (left-right) analog outputs. And to my disco/skill-saw damaged ears, its quite nice. Given my reciever is 13 years old and supports no digital inputs, I am very happy.

My test was to use the DVD in the Sony, the DVD in the Panny, and then the Blu-Ray in the panny. I am very happy with my results:

• The DVD in Blu-Ray player produces a significant and very nice upscaling image. This in fact, was much better than I thought upconverting would produce.
• The Blu-Ray in Blu-Ray player was WOW I feel the DVD in Blu-Ray was twice as crisp as the DVD in DVD and the Blu-Ray in Blu-Ray was twice as crisp as the DVD in Blu-Ray. Very impressive.

The bad news is the fan - its like a high-pitched hum that is really annoying during quite scenes. I plan to check for firmware updates today and see if that is any help.

If anyone has suggestions on how to dampen the fan howl, it would be much appreciated.

...gene

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Thanks so much for that review, gene!


Is there some sort of a trick to get ONLY the Amazon-sold player to pop up when I do a search? I actually have the player on my Amazon-wish list, and I'm only interested in purchasing it from Amazon, but whenever I go to check the price on it, there's some other seller listed and I have to select "Amazon" on the product page as an alternate seller and then put the item in my cart to check the price. Very annoying.

That seems to only happen there with electronic items, and not CDs or DVDs.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Stick it in your shopping cart, then check the cart when you visit - it will tell you if the price has changed.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I ordered a BD80 from Amazon yesterday for $319 and will be attaching it to a panasonic TH-50PZ85U. Will have to let you all know next week how she behaves...

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I’ve never even heard the fan on my BD35. I find it hard to believe that a later player would have an inherent design issue with fan noise. I would assume that the fan should run pretty quiet unless the unit thinks there is a heat issue. Do you have good ventilation for the player? If not, make sure that the unit has plenty of space around it. If your air flow is okay, then you might have a faulty heat sensor or even a bad fan.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Agreeing with Brian—I’m still waiting to hear the fan on my BD30.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

So would it be safe to say the BD60 is the 'new model' to the BD35??
What more does it have if it is??

Would be looking at a BD player soon too, and it seems like the BD35 is greatly appreciated, but if the BD60 has something more, then why not lolz

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Edmond, the Panasoic BD60 is not available yet in Australia, it's a replacement for BD-55 which we don't have at all... typical Australia missing out on the good stuff.

I suggest you wait to purchase your receiver & Blu-ray player until your home theatre is complete, this way you can get the latest and greatest within your budget.

You may need to decide on the projector because depending on the model chosen this will determine where you are going to have to mount it. Different models have different distances they should be mounted at to project the right size on your screen. Of course the distance is adjustable to a degree. A good shop can advise you on this once you give them your room dimensions.

One tip is try as much as possible to get it behind your seating position so you cannot hear the fan noise as much, you'll be surprised how this can bug you during quiet scenes in a movie if it's above your head.

If you want the best effect then see if you can design the projector to fit inside an enclosure like a soffit at the back of the room. Use optical clear glass (suggest NT43-974 from Edmunds Optical in the USA TECHSPEC High Efficiency Anti-Reflection Coated Windows - Edmund Optics ) as a window and allow for plenty of ventilation. If this is too much trouble look for a projector that is super quiet, there are a few available with excellent picture quality.

Cheers....

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I believe the BD60 is the replacement for the BD35 and the BD80 is the replacement for the BD55, if I'm not mistaken. The main difference between the lines is the 55 and 80 have 7.1 analog outputs (there are other differences, but that's the main one). If you have a recent HDMI-capable receiver, the BD60 should be fine.

I believe the main difference between the 35/55 and the 60/80 is VIERA CAST, which is apparently some kind of video on demand from Amazon.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Wow.

Panasonic Canada is show list prices of $450 and $550 respectively. I know the Canadian dollar has dropped a bit in the last year but that price difference is crazy.
Should have bought that new 55 last week for $379CDN while I had the chance......

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

I would expect that Canada will see street pricing around $350, $299 on sale for the BD60 once past the initial roll out (Futureshop is listing $449 right now, Sears has no Blu players at all). Any higher and these will be dead in the water in this economy.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Best Buy has the BD-60 in their ad this week ($299.99). And, according to their website, it is in stock.

Although I can't justify buying another player at this point, I may have to go by my local store and take a look at it.

Re: NEW Panasonic blu-ray BD60 & BD80 for pre-order at Crutchfield

Is there anywhere that is listing bootup time comparisons between the 35/60 and 55/80? I guess I just need to know if the 80 is any better than the 55 in terms of timeliness.