Advice on blueray player

[ainarm]

Ok deciding finally to jump on the HD bandwagon. However I have read some things about blueray that make me unsure of what to look for on a player. Does anyone have any recomendations for players now? Things/features to look for. Better yet what brands/models absolutly to avoid.

Any help is appreciated. And website where I can do my own research is fine also.

Rick Drake

Per request edit:
Currently running a Mitsubishi 52" DLP 1080P television. Older model does not have 24 frame capability I believe, that is something that has to be avail. on the TV also right? As to receiver. Cheap. Something else I am looking at replacing. Low end Sony surround sound in a box package. Christmas present so I wasn't griping. Do I need to be concernend with what version of hdmi is present? Or will the TV handle whatever is put out?

 

[erwos]

What kind of TV and receiver do you have?

People are going to give you the knee-jerk response of "PS3 DUH!", but the BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 are worth a good look, too.

 

[techwanabe]

I"m sure many, including myself, will simply recommend a Play Station 3 as one of the best Bluray players on the market. One of the reasons is you can plug it into the internet and receive firmware updates to the latest and greatest version standards. I'm quite happy with mine! If you can work a deal, like the credit card deal, you can get it for $300. Some of the cheaper stand alone Bluray players are now at or less than $300 from recent observations in Best Buy.

 

[Trader05]

i've had a ps3 for a while now and supposingly its the best blu-ray player to own. Some of friends now that want blu-ray really dont want a vg console, so i suggested the following:

I wouldn't really go for a cheapo knockoff brand, because most players have upgradable firmware for future support of movies, and i think having a reliable company for firmware updates is always better for a comfort zone.

A lot of first gen players are at clearance prices now, especially Sony's S300 model on amazon for $229 today (not sure if its sold out). These are blu-ray revisions 1-1.1. Skip out on 1.0, they most likley dont have a secondary video decoder. The big difference between 2.0 and 1.1 is downloadable extra content in movies from the web, if your into that.. Big thing to look for is load times, obviously the older the models take a while to load.

If you find a good price on one, check online for reviews. Usually i check Amazon's negative views first.

::edit::

I've heard bad things about Samsungs, but i know it was from earlier models. Not sure about the newer models. Again, do some research before buying one.

 

[JackBurton]

I'd highly recommend a PS3 whether you want to play games or just watch Blu-ray movies. The PS3 is currently at the top of the list of "Best Blu-ray Players." And it is there for a reason.

1. The most future proof Blu-ray player out.
2. Can decode all advanced HD audio codec internally.
3. Profile 2.0 compliant.
4. Fastest load times.

Negatives:

1. Bluetooth controlled so you can't easily use a universal remote with it.
2. Can't bitstream to a receiver.
3. It's too awesome?

There are other Blu-ray players out, like erwos mentioned, but the PS3 is really the best all around player. There is a reason people keep bringing it up every time someone is looking for a Blu-ray player. It's just an all around great player. If you want to take a look at a comparable Blu-ray player, you can check out Sony's BDP-S550. It doesn't load nearly as fast the PS3, is $100 more expensive, but you get IR. YEAH!

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Negatives:

1. Bluetooth controlled so you can't easily use a universal remote with it.
2. Can't bitstream to a receiver.
3. It's too awesome?

4. No HDMI-CEC
5. No 480i24 or 1080p24 output of DVDs (albeit even the S550 doesn't do that - I think the BD50 will).

 

[Obsoleet]

My choice: wait till they are $99.

Silver discs are ridiculous in 2008. Streaming is the future, and while it will be improved upon.. I prefer to jump on that bandwagon now. I won't pay a lot for a BR player personally. I wouldn't mind a dvd player that upconverts though, and also happens to play blurays for $100.

I can wait till that price hits.

 

[sivart]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Negatives:

1. Bluetooth controlled so you can't easily use a universal remote with it.
2. Can't bitstream to a receiver.
3. It's too awesome?

4. No HDMI-CEC
5. No 480i24 or 1080p24 output of DVDs (albeit even the S550 doesn't do that - I think the BD50 will).

6. Stretches all SD materials on BD discs. (I.e. extras, trailers, etc). You have to use your display to correct this if you can.

 

[techwanabe]

I am actually very pleased with the upscalling abilities of the PS3 Bluray player. While I started by watching mostly Bluray movies from Netflix, lately I've gotten a number of DVD's too, and they look pretty good. Basically you dont' get any pixelation effects (I mean small blurry ones) like when SD broadcasts look on a 1080P screen.

If load times are slow on stand alone Bluray players compared to the PS3, they must be really slow because there is some delay before stuff comes up even on the PS3. I still need to get the standard remote because the game controller is not user friendly for controlling movies. The Sony PS3 remote is about $20-25 depending on the street price you can get it for.

 

[Rio Rebel]

There are legitimate reasons to get something other than the PS3:

No analog out for audio (so if you want the high def audio formats, and you don't have an HDMI receiver, you won't get them).

Shape of unit doesn't stack well.

As mentioned above, difficulty with universal remotes.

On the other hand, not many blu-ray players are can also receive streaming media, so that's a nice plus.

 

[Rio Rebel]

And by the way, streaming may be the future, but everything I've seen points to compression when you buy or rent the digital stream. So only Blu-ray (or the now defunct HD-DVD) gives you truly the best picture available right now, and in the foreseeable future.

 

[JJ650]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Negatives:

1. Bluetooth controlled so you can't easily use a universal remote with it.
2. Can't bitstream to a receiver.
3. It's too awesome?

4. No HDMI-CEC
5. No 480i24 or 1080p24 output of DVDs (albeit even the S550 doesn't do that - I think the BD50 will).

I thought the PS3 supports the option for 24hz video output assuming the TV supports it. There's the option on my 60gig.

Or I am thinking this is something it isn't?

 

[Obsoleet]

Everything is compressed, unless you're looking out a window or at the park. Streaming you just get 720P typically instead of 1080P. Depends how picky you are. I'll take bluray, but for cheap because I don't want to start another shiny disc collection. There's no reason to get what you want though. I prefer convenience over quality. I work, I'm not much of a HT hobbyist. Unless bluray adoption picks up dramatically everyone will be forced to join me eventually in streaming. This is likely the last go-rah for hard media so enjoy it if you do.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: JJ650

Originally posted by: erwos
5. No 480i24 or 1080p24 output of DVDs (albeit even the S550 doesn't do that - I think the BD50 will).

I thought the PS3 supports the option for 24hz video output assuming the TV supports it. There's the option on my 60gig.

Or I am thinking this is something it isn't?

It'll output Blu-Ray movies just fine at 24hz. It won't do the same for DVDs.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Everything is compressed, unless you're looking out a window or at the park. Streaming you just get 720P typically instead of 1080P. Depends how picky you are. I'll take bluray, but for cheap because I don't want to start another shiny disc collection. There's no reason to get what you want though. I prefer convenience over quality. I work, I'm not much of a HT hobbyist. Unless bluray adoption picks up dramatically everyone will be forced to join me eventually in streaming. This is likely the last go-rah for hard media so enjoy it if you do.

Just because you are still bitter over your HD-A2 purchase, doesn't mean the OP will be unhappy with an Obsoleet Blu-ray player.

Blu-ray's market is exclusively to those looking for better than dvd quality, something that streaming can't even touch yet, and probably not for a long time to come. Enjoy your convenience, but don't assume disc sales will fall to streaming in the near future. Disc sales dwarf online sales. Disc manufacturing capacities dwarf internet distribution capacities.




Anyways - player features list:
http://www.blu-ray.com/players/compare.php

 

[WraithETC]

Originally posted by: sivart

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Negatives:

1. Bluetooth controlled so you can't easily use a universal remote with it.
2. Can't bitstream to a receiver.
3. It's too awesome?

4. No HDMI-CEC
5. No 480i24 or 1080p24 output of DVDs (albeit even the S550 doesn't do that - I think the BD50 will).

6. Stretches all SD materials on BD discs. (I.e. extras, trailers, etc). You have to use your display to correct this if you can.

Change upscaling to normal and it will preserve aspect ratio.

Unless you want no stretching at all meaning black bars all around to save native resolution.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: WraithETC
Change upscaling to normal and it will preserve aspect ratio.

Unless you want no stretching at all meaning black bars all around to save native resolution.

That only works on DVDs. It will not work on BR-Ds that have 480i or 480p extras.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Everything is compressed, unless you're looking out a window or at the park. Streaming you just get 720P typically instead of 1080P. Depends how picky you are. I'll take bluray, but for cheap because I don't want to start another shiny disc collection. There's no reason to get what you want though. I prefer convenience over quality. I work, I'm not much of a HT hobbyist. Unless bluray adoption picks up dramatically everyone will be forced to join me eventually in streaming. This is likely the last go-rah for hard media so enjoy it if you do.

Just because you are still bitter over your HD-A2 purchase, doesn't mean the OP will be unhappy with an Obsoleet Blu-ray player.

Blu-ray's market is exclusively to those looking for better than dvd quality, something that streaming can't even touch yet, and probably not for a long time to come. Enjoy your convenience, but don't assume disc sales will fall to streaming in the near future. Disc sales dwarf online sales. Disc manufacturing capacities dwarf internet distribution capacities.

Agree'd, and the reason I got a Bluray player is that I wanted better than DVD quality to display on my 46-inch 1080P LCD TV (ie Hi def source).

I will comment that upscaling can make DVD's look quite acceptable, and even good, on a TV like I have. And I've also watched enough Bluray movies now that I can see that the difference between a well upscaled DVD and a mediocre mastered Bluray isn't always that big. When you get a really good Bluray, they can look amazing, but some are just so so.

Anway, to each his own if Obsoleet wants to wait until BR players are $100. Getting a BR player doesn't "obsoleet" your DVD collection and force you to replace it. Quite the contrary, you can simply add BR to your collection and still enjoy your DVD's.

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Everything is compressed, unless you're looking out a window or at the park. Streaming you just get 720P typically instead of 1080P. Depends how picky you are. I'll take bluray, but for cheap because I don't want to start another shiny disc collection. There's no reason to get what you want though. I prefer convenience over quality. I work, I'm not much of a HT hobbyist. Unless bluray adoption picks up dramatically everyone will be forced to join me eventually in streaming. This is likely the last go-rah for hard media so enjoy it if you do.

Just because you are still bitter over your HD-A2 purchase, doesn't mean the OP will be unhappy with an Obsoleet Blu-ray player.

Blu-ray's market is exclusively to those looking for better than dvd quality, something that streaming can't even touch yet, and probably not for a long time to come. Enjoy your convenience, but don't assume disc sales will fall to streaming in the near future. Disc sales dwarf online sales. Disc manufacturing capacities dwarf internet distribution capacities.




Anyways - player features list:
http://www.blu-ray.com/players/compare.php

I never bought HD DVD or Bluray for the same reasons. You fanboys just don't get it, we don't all have an emotional stake in HD vs BR.

Disc sales are far higher than streaming, unless you take away DVD. Or if you do count DVD, which is the only reason your claims are true, and were to add in all streaming sources such as YouTube, then no.. more people are watching streams today than disc manufacturing capacities are capable of.
Comparing streaming sources such as Youtube to DVD isn't fair. But not admitting that you're propping up disc statistics using DVD as your ammunition isn't either.

So far, there's not enough adoption of Bluray to even ensure it's survival, as you pointed out DVD is still going strong.

Once we get $100 Bluray players at Target, then you might get some widescale adoption.

 

[JackBurton]

Personally, I hope Blu-ray players stays in the $400+ range (although some are already below that mark). I like to keep the good stuff to a limited elite few.