Advice needed on Bluray player...

[Fallengod]

Ok so.... Recently upgraded my 32" sony bravia hdtv to 40" samsung.

I am now going to need a bluray player. I have put off doing this since I dont have any bluray movies(duh), and I have around 500 DVDS. I have some knowledge about bluray players, but still want some feedback and opinions..

What blu-ray player is best or best bang per buck?? Which did you get?


Heres what I have looked at:

Panasonic: (BD60K, BD35K,etc) Somewhat cheaper now. They lack some other features of the rest like wifi but, known for having basically the best image quality. This was my top choice for a blu-ray last year on black friday, when I had picked up a BD35k. I resold since I didnt feel the need at the time to keep it. About $150-$200


Playstation3: (of course) Known for being a good option for blu-ray player as it has most all features anyone would need. The new SLIM apparently is a bit slower and noisier than before but... Wifi, Harddrive, game console... Negatives: Apparently need a A/V remote for another $20. Some players review saying it has only "so-so" dvd playback, which concerns me...... Since my parents opted for PS3 for their blu-ray, I find it overheats in the cabinet and is insanely LOUD when fan kicks in. I have a very quiet area for my home theater so I definitely do not want something that kicks in sounding like a jet engine during a movie. $300.


LG: (BD390) I just recently been reading about this. This apparently is somewhat of the alternative to the PS3 in terms of features. It has 120gb HD, wifi, netflix stream, divx playback, etc, etc. One review site says some people report "lip syncing" issues with it. I am not sure what to think aboutthat. Supposed to be a damn good blu-ray player, exception of the "reports of lip syncing" and being expensive. It costs basically $300.

Samsung: (BD1600, BD3600) Seem like they get pretty good reviews. Apparently samsung have fastest load times, not that I care much about that. I dont know much about the samsung blu-ray players. I read, they seem to lack some of the playback file formats that panasonic has(DVD-ram and DVD+DL DVD-DL). Do these have wifi?



Help?

 

[Leyawiin]

Pioneer BDP-320. About $210-220 now and does an excellent job of upscaling SD DVDs since you have such a large collection (seems to be reviewed better than most competitors in that area). It is quite a bit slower loading than some competing players, but great BR image quality and audio.

 

[JackBurton]

Pioneer BDP-320. About $210-220 now and does an excellent job of upscaling SD DVDs since you have such a large collection (seems to be reviewed better than most competitors in that area). It is quite a bit slower loading than some competing players, but great BR image quality and audio.

Yep, if PQ and AQ are your main concerns, the BDP-320 is a great player. I'd definitely rank it over the players you mentioned. Like Leyawinn said, it is quite a bit slower than the PS3 and it has no built in wifi, but IMO, it has it where it counts. It's also quieter than the PS3 although the PS3 Slim is pretty quiet.

 

[sivart]

The LG BD390 has a built in hard drive? :\ I can't find it in any specs online? What would it be used for?

 

[Fallengod]

The LG BD390 has a built in hard drive? :\ I can't find it in any specs online? What would it be used for?

Ya that LG is their newish one I guess. I guess I was slightly off with that, I was thinking it was similar to PS3, but it just looks like its.. "It has 1GB of onboard storage, so you won't need to plug in a USB memory stick to download extra content. You'll need an Internet connection to access BD-Live features and the BD390 is equipped with both an Ethernet port and built-in Wi-Fi. The BD390 is the first player we've tested to support a faster Draft-N Wi-Fi connection and it will still work with slower 802.11b/g networks."


Anyhow thanks guys. I havnt seen the pioneer BDP-320 listed in any top10 lists yet but I will look into it.

 

[cheesehead]

Put a fan in your cabinet, or put the PS3 on top of the cabinet. It's a pretty good player, and you can get one of the older non-slim models for not too much cash.

 

[EvilYoda]

PS3 or Oppo.

 

[Fallengod]

Ya. If the noise didnt bother me, itd be PS3 all the way. I still may go for that tho.

I dont know much about the Oppo except they seem to be rated very high and also insanely expensive heh.

I was just at costco and they got the Panasonic BD60K for $130, as well as a sony and the samsung 1590 for $150.

 

[smitbret]

The new PS3 Slim is quieter than the old one and not as prone to heating up, since the cell processor has moved to the 4.5nm manufacturing process. That being said, my PS3 that I bought in April is not the least bit loud. my Dish Network receiver is a LOT louder. My vote would still be PS3, although the LG is a great option. Guy I work with loves his and the Wireless N is awesome for streaming .mkv from a PC. The PS3 doesn't do the netflix streaming like the others do, but it'll be here around the new year.

The Oppo is the best if money is no object.