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Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

#1
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6/18/09 at 9:15pm
  • Joined: October 2003
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So the wife told me to decide.. cause I'm gettin' a new toy this weekend for Father's Day, my first Blu-Ray player as I said in a prior post. I can get a Samsung BD-P1500 for $190, a Sony BDP-S350 for $210, and a Panasonic DMP-BD60 for around $225. Which one should I choose?????

I think the Samsung might be my last choice, so it's really between the Sony and the Panny. I assume I can't go wrong with either. It seems like the Panny might be a little more respected, and the added online functionality, as well as it being a newer player might make it worth the extra money.

The onboard decoding is no deal breaker for me, as my TX-SR805 will decode all high-res audio, so I am going to set the player to bitstream anyway.
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#2
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6/18/09 at 10:11pm
  • Joined: April 1999
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

For online functionality, I think Netflix is 1000x more useful than Youtube. Thus I would look at LG 370 which has both. (~$230 online).

I have the Sony S350 and mostly like it (only dislikes: fast scan not so smooth, no frame-by-frame/slo-mo), but I only got it because of black friday special last year, plus I already have TivoHD/Xbox for Netflix streaming. (I also really like the instant replay/advance buttons on the Sony)

Otherwise I was going to get LG/Samsung.
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#3
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6/19/09 at 4:02am
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

If you don`t have streaming capability like that with a PS3, I would strongly recommend determining if any players do that.

More than even playing DVDs or BluRays, I use the PS3 to stream a lot of content from my PC onto my HT system. Love this feature.

Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.

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#4
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6/19/09 at 5:41am
  • Joined: July 2003
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

I've heard comments that the BD60 sometimes freezes up, but that may have been cleared up with the latest FW update. Personally speaking, I've had a BDP-S350 for about 3 months now, with no glitches. I don't have the ethernet connection set up yet (working on getting a wireless bridge to do that), but FW updates via CD-R have been a snap. PQ is great and sound is amazing, considering I decode internally and therefore can only extract the DTS core from HD-MA tracks.

\"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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#5
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6/19/09 at 6:56am
  • Joined: October 2003
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lou Sytsma
If you don`t have streaming capability like that with a PS3, I would strongly recommend determining if any players do that.

More than even playing DVDs or BluRays, I use the PS3 to stream a lot of content from my PC onto my HT system. Love this feature.
I have an Xbox 360 with Xbox Live, and so i can use it for Netflix, which I don't. I prefer the added quality and less compression from an actual disc.

That's interesting about the slow motion, frame by frame advance missing on the Sony. I would guess the Panasonic does that, and that would be a nice feature.
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#6
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6/19/09 at 7:03pm
  • Joined: August 1999
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

I have the panasonic 60 player.. its a fine player. I know that some had problems with it. its pretty minor. I would stay away from samsung.

Jacob

My Home Theater Equipment:

Philips 47pfl7403D/F7 Onkyo 605 7.1 Receiver Aiwa Speakers and Sub woofer Panasonic 80 Blu ray  Toshiba bdx2000 Sony PlayStation 3 Blu ray Direct TV in HD with DVR

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#7
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6/20/09 at 4:07am
  • Joined: June 2006
  • Location: Burlington, MA
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

I'm still holding out for the Sony BDV-E300.
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#8
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6/20/09 at 1:49pm
  • Joined: June 2006
  • Location: Houston, TX USA
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

Quote:
Posted by JeremyR: That's interesting about the slow motion, frame by frame advance missing on the Sony. I would guess the Panasonic does that, and that would be a nice feature.

Yes, the Panasonic does do all that. I am keeping my BD60. Today is my 30th day since I bought it, and I have yet to see a hiccup and have enjoyed the player. Even if the "freezing" issue does rear its ugly head, it's only a momentary pause, not a lockup. I do not have it connected to the internet for BD Live!, nor do I stream You Tube videos. I wanted a player that plays Blu-rays and SD DVDs well, and this one does. I do my firmware updates by burning it to a CD.

It was $299 at Best Buy when I bought it a month ago (a replacement for my second returned Pioneer P51). Today I got a price-match refund from Best Buy as the player is now $249 in the store.

Onkyo TX-SR606
Toshiba HD-A2. HD-A3
Panasonic DMP-BD60
Mitsubishi WD-62725 62" DLP

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#9
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6/20/09 at 9:52pm
  • Joined: October 2003
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

Quote:
Originally Posted by David_B_K
Yes, the Panasonic does do all that. I am keeping my BD60. Today is my 30th day since I bought it, and I have yet to see a hiccup and have enjoyed the player. Even if the "freezing" issue does rear its ugly head, it's only a momentary pause, not a lockup. I do not have it connected to the internet for BD Live!, nor do I stream You Tube videos. I wanted a player that plays Blu-rays and SD DVDs well, and this one does. I do my firmware updates by burning it to a CD.

It was $299 at Best Buy when I bought it a month ago (a replacement for my second returned Pioneer P51). Today I got a price-match refund from Best Buy as the player is now $249 in the store.
Cool man. I picked up my DMP-BD605 from Sams' Club for $227 today (same exactly player, just renumbered for membership clubs like Sam's and Costco). Updating the firmware right now.. ready to put in the two Bluray's I bought tonight, Pineapple Express and The Incredible Hulk.
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#10
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6/22/09 at 6:59am
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  • Location: Houston, TX USA
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

Re: the "random freezing" of the Panasonic BD60 and BD80 models: Jeff Kleist @ The Digital Bits has posted that Panasonic has apparently found the problem and will presumably fix it via firmware:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist
60/80 owners, I got word passed down to me that they think they've found the cause of the random freezing and hope to have a fix up "real soon now". Please note that "real soon now" means "We're pretty sure we got it, but we could be entirely wrong and this thing can break in the 11th hour and set the whole thing back a month"

The Amazon VOD widget should be added to the players "by the end of summer" as well.

Again, grain of salt, but this is the latest word.

Onkyo TX-SR606
Toshiba HD-A2. HD-A3
Panasonic DMP-BD60
Mitsubishi WD-62725 62" DLP

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#11
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6/22/09 at 12:01pm
  • Joined: October 2003
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

Quote:
Originally Posted by David_B_K
Re: the "random freezing" of the Panasonic BD60 and BD80 models: Jeff Kleist @ The Digital Bits has posted that Panasonic has apparently found the problem and will presumably fix it via firmware:


Cool. On a side note... The Incredible Hulk was an amazing experience on Blu-ray. I was particularly stunned with the incredible audio. I am somewhat concerned about my Onkyo TX-SR805 as it has not had the firmware update for teh DTS-HD MA "bitstream bomb", but no problem with Hulk which was DTS-HD MA. I get the impression it's a problem with some of the early authored Blu-ray's, but that DTS has fixed the authoring. None on the lists that I've seen that produce the bitstream bomb are movies that I desire to own, so perhaps I'll be fine without the update. I can't update myself, because my "loader version" is only 1.00, and my understanding is that you have to take to teh service center if it is not 1.01 or higher. I do have a friend living in Omaha, NE, and they have authorized service up there (none in KC), so I might be able to go up there on a weekday and drop it off and leave it for teh day for the update. Otherwise.. I'm totally digging this.
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#12
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6/22/09 at 12:17pm
  • Joined: June 2006
  • Location: Houston, TX USA
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Re: Ugh.. I am so indecisive on a BluRay player.

It's been awhile since I read of the DTS bomb bug, as I do not believe my Onkyo receiver (TX-SR606) had that problem. Does it only happen when you bitstream? Could you avoid it by letting the player decode the audio and send the audio to the receiver as PCM? So far, I only bitstream to the receiver. Apparently, if you let the player decode, it will send out a "fake" 7.1 signal to your receiver when it plays 5.1 audio (the sounds sent to your 2 side speakers are repeated in your 2 rear speakers, or in my case, 1 rear speaker as I am set up with 6.1 sound). This does not happen when bitstreaming.

Yes, the new audio formats are quite an upgrade. Even my wife notices.

Onkyo TX-SR606
Toshiba HD-A2. HD-A3
Panasonic DMP-BD60
Mitsubishi WD-62725 62" DLP

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