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Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

post #1 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:13am
Thread Starter 
was just reading that this player has been discontinued. I was going to buy one as i need a player that has the analog outputs (i have a denon 3800 avr).

I am wondering if i should still get it or wait.

I just got a samsung 67 led dlp and am anxious to watch matrix on blue ray.
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post #2 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:16am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

Hi Shane!

I own the BD55 and think it’s the best BD player I have owned to date
(I have previously owned two other Panasonic models).

If you can get it at a closeout price you can't go wrong. It is as
advanced a model as the format offers at this time.
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post #3 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:30am
Thread Starter 

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

thanks!

I was a little worried about the analog outputs as I read that there are problems with sub levels and such, I do not know much about them. Have you used those outputs? if so what was your take compared to using straight hdmi?

I will be using hdmi for the video (straight to tv) and the analog for audio (to the denon)

Thanks for any help!
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post #4 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:45am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sadbttru
was just reading that this player has been discontinued. I was going to buy one as i need a player that has the analog outputs (i have a denon 3800 avr).

I am wondering if i should still get it or wait.

I just got a samsung 67 led dlp and am anxious to watch matrix on blue ray.

Not to rain on your parade, but yes the 55 as well as the 35 do appear to be discontinued. A shame, really, as they are two of the most fully featured players out there are very reasonable prices.

But they are nowhere to be found. There are some that appear on Amazon from 3rd party sellers, but they are at very inflated prices.

Brian
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post #5 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:51am
Thread Starter 

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

the store i usually visit, electronic supermarket in St Catharines ontario has both the 35 and 55 in stock, at least they did a week ago when i was there.
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post #6 of 20
2/18/09 at 6:59am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

FYI:

Best Buy is showing the BD35K for $299.99 (in-store only). Amazon shows it for $599.99.

Best Buy does not show the 55 at all.
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post #7 of 20
2/18/09 at 7:06am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

The Sony BDP-S550 is still available........
My friend has one, and it's a very nice player. It has the 7.1 analog outputs, and sends all the HD audio formats over them.
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post #8 of 20
2/18/09 at 7:08am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_Pannell
FYI:

Best Buy is showing the BD35K for $299.99 (in-store only). Amazon shows it for $599.99.

Best Buy does not show the 55 at all.

Good luck finding either one, although it surely will vary by city. My local BB's have not had either player for well over a month. Neither has Crutchfields or Onecall.

Amazon was the only source that seemed to actually have inventory via 3rd party sellers, but again, at highly inflated prices.

But be all means, good luck with the search.

I threw in the towel last weekend, and went with a Sony S550. Not my 1st choice be for a player with full audio decoding and Profile 2 specs, but it was the only model I could find locally.

Brian
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post #9 of 20
2/18/09 at 8:10am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

Shane,

To answer your question I use straight to HDMI connection.
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post #10 of 20
2/18/09 at 8:29am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

As far as I know, the B55's replacement, the BD80, won't cost any more than the BD55. Perhaps you can find it at a discount when it becomes widely available.
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post #11 of 20
2/18/09 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

Yeah looks like it will be the bd80 for me i have to wait. just got back and my friend was out of them, says maybe march for the bd80.
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post #12 of 20
2/25/09 at 11:23am

Re: Panasonic DMP-BD55 discontinued?

I wonder how the new players will regulate streaming content, since many of Amazon's offerings aren't available outside the US, so why would anyone want to pay for that feature if they didn't live there?
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post #13 of 20
3/20/12 at 8:25am
I have had the BD55 since 2008. I recently started having issues with it however. For some reason it is unable to play blu rays that it previously did play. In addition, it will not play certain blu rays now. I've also had playback issues with both blu rays and dvd's.

I read on another forum that some of the blu lasers in the units are dying or giving out?

I don't think I have a software issue with mine, but I'm thinking it may be hardware.

Kind of a bummer if the units are dying at this point.

Is anyone else having similar issues?

I am most likely going to replace it. Probably not with Panasonic though.
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post #14 of 20
3/20/12 at 8:45am

IMO, it's worth it to try a firmware update - it's not that difficult and could resolve your problems.  The latest update for that player is version 2.3 which was released just this past August.

 

The information can be found here: http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMP-BD55K?t=downloads&support#tabs

 

I have had a Panasonic player and it required a firmware update in order to play some newer discs.  Once I updated it, I have had exactly zero problems with it.  I love it and they are generally regarded as among the best players out there.

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post #15 of 20
3/21/12 at 10:19am
I had zero problems with my BD60 and BD65. I have no problem recommending you stick with Panasonic. Yes it is maybe not the right way to look at it, but if you got 2yrs out of a $100 player, I really can't see a reason to complain, and you got 4. If you want inexpensive, expect it not to last as long, because they just don't build them like they used to. I paid $600 for my PS3 when it came out and it died after 3 years and cost $130 to repair, THAT was annoying.
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post #16 of 20
3/21/12 at 5:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Garcia View Post

I had zero problems with my BD60 and BD65. I have no problem recommending you stick with Panasonic. Yes it is maybe not the right way to look at it, but if you got 2yrs out of a $100 player, I really can't see a reason to complain, and you got 4. If you want inexpensive, expect it not to last as long, because they just don't build them like they used to. I paid $600 for my PS3 when it came out and it died after 3 years and cost $130 to repair, THAT was annoying.

Thanks. I am attempting to update the software.

The BD 55 was around $300 I believe when I bought it in 2008.
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post #17 of 20
3/29/12 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Osato View Post

Thanks. I am attempting to update the software.
The BD 55 was around $300 I believe when I bought it in 2008.

I did the software update and I'm not seeing any problems. I was also able to play Spellbound blu ray as well as Star Trek The Original Series. Previously these titles were not loading on the player..
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post #18 of 20
4/9/12 at 11:18pm
I am interested too as I am thinking of getting one of these. On the Panasonic site it's still shown and shown as a "new product" ?
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post #19 of 20
4/10/12 at 12:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by megancheung View Post

I am interested too as I am thinking of getting one of these. On the Panasonic site it's still shown and shown as a "new product" ?

Why would you want to buy that old outdated player? It cannot stream in 1080p like the new models. It cannot stream 5.1 sound like the new models. It cannot show subtitles like the new models. You cannot search with the user interface like the new models. I have the new Pan. 220 and it is a great player. Netflix in 1080p looks GREAT.
Edited by Jim Mcc - 4/11/12 at 11:52am
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post #20 of 20
4/11/12 at 3:05am
FWIW I agree with Jim. The 55 was a great deck. But it's been supplanted by more recent offerings. If you're wedded to Panasonic and are looking for multichannel analog outputs (which are the only two things that I can readily figure would make one interested in the 55 at this point), look into chasing down the DMP-BDT300 or 350 (and good luck!).

(I'm also curious as to what Panny site you're looking at that says this player is new.)
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