[zybar]

I am not as current in this area and I am looking for a little help.

Would like to keep it under $400 and I am not concerned with how it plays regular dvd's.


Thanks,

George

[Bigfish]

George:

Check out this site:  http://www.buyblurayplayers.com/

I have one of the first generation Samsungs and it has great picture and sound quality.  The only issue I have with it is that it takes two to three minutes to load a Blu Ray Movie. 

If you take the plunge I would suggest not spending a ton for a top model yet.  The format wars ended just a short time ago and the manufacturers will now be concentrating on improving the BluRay Players.  The next generation players will certainly be better - I guess as is the case with all electronics.

Ken

[zybar]

George:

Check out this site:  http://www.buyblurayplayers.com/

I have one of the first generation Samsungs and it has great picture and sound quality.  The only issue I have with it is that it takes two to three minutes to load a Blu Ray Movie. 

If you take the plunge I would suggest not spending a ton for a top model yet.  The format wars ended just a short time ago and the manufacturers will now be concentrating on improving the BluRay Players.  The next generation players will certainly be better - I guess as is the case with all electronics.

Ken

Thanks Ken.

I have a Samsung BD-1400, but lately I have been having some problems with the newer Blu-ray movies playing.  Last night I couldn't get "The Hulk" or "Hellboy II" to play.  I will try a firmware update today, but I am getting very frustrated with this player.

George

[TomS]

I don't have one yet, but the Panny BD-35 and BD-55 have had pretty good response.  Still kind of sitting it out for the Oppo to become real though it will be pricey.

[zybar]

I am leaning towards the Panny BD-35 at this point.

I can get it at Best Buy for $229.00

That might be the best bet as I am also very interested in the Oppo player.

George

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well, I don't know what I would buy today, but last week I bought a PS3.
To answer the question, "why", well, it's fairly simply in my case; I wanted a BD player, and my son and I are into gaming.
For us, it was a no-brainer.

Regarding those Samsungs....Jeez man, two or three MINUTES, to "load" a movie?
I thought 'load times' went out with 5 1/4" floppy and tape drives. In this day and age more than two or three SECONDS is enough to get some folks pissed.
I've only watched one movie on the PS3 and didn't notice any load time. I wasn't looking for it, but the fact that it didn't piss me off by making me wait makes me think there wasn't much of a load time if any.
Sounds like it's time for a phone call to Samsung. In the very least, a firmware update.....

Bob

[bpape]

Buy a PS-3 and wait for them to get the bugs out.  

There are also rumors flying around that Blu-Ray will be obsolete in about 2 years.  Don't know how true those are but between that and the bugs with a lot of players, I'd not be willing to do much of anything more than the PS-3 at this point.

Bryan

[zybar]

I don't want a PS3, as it will lead to time spent playing with it! 

Also, I want a player that can be programmed into a learning remote - I don't believe you can do that with the PS3.

George

[Big Red Machine]

Panasonic DMP-BD30K is what I have in the HT and love it.  Made some firmware updates last year and none since.  No issues.  

I have the Insignia player in the living room for the kids to use and it seems to run straight up with no glitches at all.

Of course AVS forum was good to find the good from the bad in the early days.  Not so sure it is as easy to wade through the talk to find the right unit.

I think all the blah blah about having the player decode is a waste IMO as my processor does it and I don't need the player to also do it.

I paid $500 for my Panny so now they are a bargain.  Check the specs of the 35 versus the 30 unit to make sure the 35 does at least what the 30 does.

[Big Red Machine]

Xbox - PS3, please!

Real men use Xbox360's

[nicksgem10s]

Hi George,

I have been enjoying the PS3 since its debut and it has been an incredible machine and Sony has provided many improvements along the way.

Most of the dedicated blu-ray players haven't really tempted me much.  

I think the Panasonic BD-35 is the best value in affordable players right now.  It is said to be excellent at bluray playback and also a very accomplished standard dvd playback machine.  For the money it looks really great.  I do not own one but I would if I didn't already have the PS3.

I think the Oppo will probably be the one to have since it will likely be the best of both worlds and Oppo is really taking their time getting this one right before bringing it to market.

If the Oppo was available I don't think you would really have a choice to make unless you didn't want to spend the $700 they are supposed to be asking for it.

You could always move the Panasonic to a second video system when the Oppo comes out.  

That is what I plan to do with my PS3.

Good luck.

-Nick

[jqp]

I thought the conventional wisdom was that the PS3 was both the least expensive (in the past) and the most future proof of all Blu-Ray players. Also it is the reference Blu-Ray player of the Criterion Collection of transfers.

I guess if the temptation to use it as a gaming console is too great...but I haven't used my XBox for a few months now...

[Bob in St. Louis]

Xbox - PS3, please!

Real men use Xbox360's

Huhmpf...... What if a guy had a 360, a PS3, a GameCube, AND a Wii.   

Bob

[mca]

I have a PS3 and love it. I don't play games with it, just watch Blu-ray. Unfortunately, it has developed a high pitch whine that is really getting on my nerves. I may try one of the Panasonic models and see how it compares. I'm also curious to try it's bitstream output to see how well my Onkyo decodes the new formats.

[Bob in St. Louis]

it has developed a high pitch whine

The unit itself, or through the audio outputs?

Bob

[mca]

The unit itself

[hayden]

I've got a PS3 and I wouldn't trade it for another Blu-ray player right now.  I don't understand the "audiophile" angst against this machine.  Sure, it was made for gaming but it really looks like any other component on my rack when laying horizontal.

JP

[zybar]

I've got a PS3 and I wouldn't trade it for another Blu-ray player right now.  I don't understand the "audiophile" angst against this machine.  Sure, it was made for gaming but it really looks like any other component on my rack when laying horizontal.

JP

I don't have audiophile angst, a PS3 simply doesn't have the remote requirement.

Plus it is outside of the $400 range I mentioned.

George

[ted_b]

I have the Sammy 1400 and it is fine but loads and chapter skips like a dinosaur.  But it was one of the first, after firmware, to handle all codecs (TrueHD, DTS HD MA), which was key to me when I jumped in a year ago.  Now, though, I'm relegating it to the family room.  I just bought the Panny DMP-BD35K.  Amazon gave it to me free and added another $100 of my Panny Plasma 46PZ800U (a combo deal that saved $300 off that combo).  I haven't received it/them yet but chose it over the 55k due to the combo deal, and the fact that I decode bitstream through HDMI so the lack of 7.1 analog outputs is moot for me.  One of the better and more finnicky AVS reviewers, Robert George, LOVEs his 35K.

[cruz123]

I owned an earlier Samsung (1200) and it sucked.   I currently have the Panny BD30 and it is excellent.   If you can get the BD35 for $229, that's a no-brainer.   In fact, if Best Buy has them for that price I may go out and get one myself.     The Panny's are the class of the stand alone players, IMHO.