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A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified) - Page 4

post #91 of 245
9/24/08 at 3:56pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Sure does look that way.

Sony just made up my mind; I'll be getting the Panasonic BD-55, which really does do everything. So I give up a USB port; I gain lossless decoding and likely a better audio section.

Try looking at the new Pioneer BDP-51FD and Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD Bluray with Wolfson Audio DAC's. The BDP-51FD MSRP's for about $599 and the 05FD Elite MSRP's for about $799.

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post #92 of 245
9/24/08 at 4:12pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Do they have 7.1 analog outputs?

My old budget Pioneer receiver probably isn't worthy of the Wolfson. The Panny's audio section is supposed to be pretty good. It's available for pre-order at $400 at Amazon right now (though not easily advertised; shows another vendor first -- have to go to other vendors to get Amazon as the seller for $100 less. Weird).

I do like Pioneer, but I know you usually pay a bit of a premium for them. Don't really want to do that for my bedroom setup.
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post #93 of 245
9/24/08 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant H
It's available for pre-order at $400 at Amazon right now (though not easily advertised; shows another vendor first -- have to go to other vendors to get Amazon as the seller for $100 less. Weird).
Grant,

Can you be more specific please. i.e. What vendor?

Everytime I search for the Panasonic DMP-BD55 on Amazon it only brings up the Panasonic DMP-BD50K and Panasonic DMP-BD30K.

Thanks for your help.

Paul
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post #94 of 245
9/24/08 at 5:00pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Amazon.com: Used and New: Panasonic DMP-BD55K 1080p Blu-Ray Player

Wow--wonder how long that $399 will last. Very tempting.
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post #95 of 245
9/24/08 at 5:13pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

The reason the $399 isn't advertised on the main page is because it's out of stock from Amazon and the $499 vendor has it in stock, so they get the mention.
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post #96 of 245
9/24/08 at 5:47pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Thanks for the link Paul.

Ordered one using the "2 used & new" link.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amazon.com
Shipping: "Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship the item.

Paul
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post #97 of 245
9/25/08 at 8:03am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

For those interested this link shows the back panel of the DMPBD55K. I couldn't get the info from the panny site since the 55 doesn't show up in any seaches there.
Panasonic DMP-BD55 (DMPBD55K) Blu-ray Player On Sale for $399 (Pre-Order): BigPictureBigSound

The article on that link indicates the 55 does 5.1 audio, which is good since that''s all I'll have for the near future.

How is the connection to the internet made. Is it just a plain old ethernet port to which I'll have to attach an adapter of some sort so it can get on my wireless network or does it come with built-in wifi?

BTW, I used the "used and new" link to buy it from Amazon.
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post #98 of 245
9/25/08 at 11:05am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Funny how that updated info at Sony Style turned this into a Panny thread hijack!
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post #99 of 245
9/25/08 at 12:10pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant H
Funny how that updated info at Sony Style turned this into a Panny thread hijack!
That's what showing yourself to be inferior to the competition will do to you.
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post #100 of 245
9/25/08 at 12:44pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell
The article on that link indicates the 55 does 5.1 audio, which is good since that''s all I'll have for the near future.

How is the connection to the internet made. Is it just a plain old ethernet port to which I'll have to attach an adapter of some sort so it can get on my wireless network or does it come with built-in wifi?
Just to be clear, the Big Picture Big Sound bit (thankfully) says the 55 "features 5.1 or 7.1 channel analog audio outputs" (bold mine).

I doubt the player features wifi, otherwise Pan would be promoting/bullet pointing that.
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post #101 of 245
9/25/08 at 6:39pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Do they have 7.1 analog outputs?

My old budget Pioneer receiver probably isn't worthy of the Wolfson. The Panny's audio section is supposed to be pretty good. It's available for pre-order at $400 at Amazon right now (though not easily advertised; shows another vendor first -- have to go to other vendors to get Amazon as the seller for $100 less. Weird).

I do like Pioneer, but I know you usually pay a bit of a premium for them. Don't really want to do that for my bedroom setup.

Yes the Pioneer has 7.1 analog outputs.
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post #102 of 245
9/26/08 at 6:32am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul.S
Just to be clear, the Big Picture Big Sound bit (thankfully) says the 55 "features 5.1 or 7.1 channel analog audio outputs" (bold mine).

I doubt the player features wifi, otherwise Pan would be promoting/bullet pointing that.
If no wifi, how do you connect to the internet wirelessly? What kind of adapter?
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post #103 of 245
9/26/08 at 8:54am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell
If no wifi, how do you connect to the internet wirelessly? What kind of adapter?
The guys at AVS suggested a wireless bridge. I'd like to know if there are better ones out there than the old standby Linksys models before I plunk down $70 to $100 for one.
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post #104 of 245
9/26/08 at 1:01pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

I bought a wireless Linksys bridge a few years back for my ReplayTV. While it works well, it seems to hang every month and I need to unplug it and plug it back in (then it's fine again).

I can't confirm if there's some setting or something else (like interference being that it's in my kitchen) causing this, but when it works, it seems reliable...it's just that if I forget to 'kick' it every month or so, my ReplayTV can't connect to it's service.

NOTE: My bridge is a B-Bridge, I don't know if the G's are better, but since my ReplayTV does it's updates overnight, I wasn't concerned about spending the $$ for the faster model.
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post #105 of 245
9/26/08 at 1:43pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHastings
I bought a wireless Linksys bridge a few years back for my ReplayTV. While it works well, it seems to hang every month and I need to unplug it and plug it back in (then it's fine again).

I can't confirm if there's some setting or something else (like interference being that it's in my kitchen) causing this, but when it works, it seems reliable...it's just that if I forget to 'kick' it every month or so, my ReplayTV can't connect to it's service.

NOTE: My bridge is a B-Bridge, I don't know if the G's are better, but since my ReplayTV does it's updates overnight, I wasn't concerned about spending the $$ for the faster model.

My father has the G bridge, and it is always going down. I keep telling him that with all the time and money he has already spent trying to keep that bridge running, he could have purchased a Playstation 3 to store and play his music collection.
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post #106 of 245
9/26/08 at 2:42pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant H
The guys at AVS suggested a wireless bridge. I'd like to know if there are better ones out there than the old standby Linksys models before I plunk down $70 to $100 for one.
Yeah, it'd be good to know which are the best. In my case the thing would have to go through at least one wall. I guess I could put the bridge on the top of the entertainment unit, so it wouldn't have to penetrate that.
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post #107 of 245
9/28/08 at 7:13pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Any guess-timates of when the new Panasonics will be available?

If a person's receiver (Onkyo SR605) will decode all of the audio formats, what benefit might be obtained by getting the 55 versus the 35?
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post #108 of 245
9/29/08 at 8:07am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Thanks for the link on the Panny 55. I've been pretty unhappy with my Sony DVD players post-first generation (which were great machines), so I'm pleased to spend my BD money some place else.
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post #109 of 245
9/30/08 at 7:38am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by LilRed2
If a person's receiver (Onkyo SR605) will decode all of the audio formats, what benefit might be obtained by getting the 55 versus the 35?
Divx and maybe build quality.

Are the terms bridge and access point used interchangeably/refer to the same thing? For those whose router is upstairs and BD/HD DVD players are downstairs, this isn't an elegant solution, since the access point has to be wired to the router, right??
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post #110 of 245
10/1/08 at 9:40am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul.S
Are the terms bridge and access point used interchangeably/refer to the same thing? For those whose router is upstairs and BD/HD DVD players are downstairs, this isn't an elegant solution, since the access point has to be wired to the router, right??
There are wireless bridge devices. I'm not sure about bridge and access point being the same thing. Someone else will have to answer that.
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post #111 of 245
10/1/08 at 9:49am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul.S
Are the terms bridge and access point used interchangeably/refer to the same thing? For those whose router is upstairs and BD/HD DVD players are downstairs, this isn't an elegant solution, since the access point has to be wired to the router, right??
There are dedicated wireless bridges and there are wireless access points that can be used in "bridge mode."

The problem is that dedicated bridges seem hard to find and tend to be expensive (I've never even seen an N bridge). On the other hand, the Linksys routers/access points with bridge seem to say they only work with other Linksys products. Is this really an issue?
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post #112 of 245
10/1/08 at 10:08am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul McElligott
(I've never even seen an N bridge).
I was wrong. Netgear makes one. It's not cheap but not outrageous.
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post #113 of 245
10/2/08 at 7:36am
Thread Starter 

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Sony Drops Prices for Blu-ray Players Sony BDP-S350 & Sony BDP-S550 to match Panasonic reductions.

Link
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post #114 of 245
10/3/08 at 4:54pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

I ordered my S550 last night and it has been shipped today!!!! Now I just need to get my new receiver and I will be all set.
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post #115 of 245
10/3/08 at 9:24pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Quote:
Originally Posted by don monteith
I ordered my S550 last night and it has been shipped today!!!! Now I just need to get my new receiver and I will be all set.
I'd be curious to know if it decodes DTS-MA to analog.
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post #116 of 245
10/4/08 at 7:06pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

I would like to know that as well. From looking at he Sony site I would have to guess, NO. The way it reads is that it is sent via HDMI. I hope I am wrong!! I have a Denon 5800. It is a bit on the old side but still works great so I hate to have to buy a new receiver.
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post #117 of 245
10/4/08 at 7:08pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Here is the text from the Sony site.

Dolby® TrueHD internal decoding
Dolby® TrueHD internal decoding and bitstream output via HDMI™ for the Dolby TrueHD and dts®-HD (Master Audio and High Resolution Audio) codes delivers studio quality audio designed specifically for high definition entertainment like Blu-ray Disc™ movies, with up to 7.1 channels of surround sound that is virtually indistinguishable from the original studio version.
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post #118 of 245
10/5/08 at 8:53am

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

New to the site...good to see so many knowledgeable people!!!
I have a question about the Sony s550 and the Pioneer BDP-51FD. These both have 7.1 analog outputs. Does the player decode DTS-HD and Dolby Tru HD and send these decoded signals to the 7.1 analog outputs or only to the HDMI? I have a Denon receiver that has HDMI in/out, but does not decode the aforementioned formats. It does have 7.1 analog inputs though.
If this hookup will work I won't need a new receiver.
Thanks in advance...
JOHN
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post #119 of 245
10/5/08 at 6:12pm

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Well, it looks like the player may decode DTS-MA internally after all. From the owner's manual:



People are started to get the player. If the reports are good, I may get it after all.
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post #120 of 245
10/5/08 at 6:28pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A Blu-ray player [Sony BDP-S550] that will do EVERYTHING! (Verified)

Sony BDP-S550 Manual (in pdf form)
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