Best combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD player?

[Kaido]

Title says it all

 

[Shawn]

Well there are only 3 to pick from: the LG BH100, the LG BH200, and the Samsung BD-UP5000. Of those I own both the BH100 and the BD-UP5000.

Hands down, the Samsung BD-UP5000 is the best combo player out of the 3. It's profile 1.1, supports all HD DVD special features, has a HQV Reon video processor which upscales standard DVDs better than anything I've ever seen, it can bitstream all of the audio codecs and can decode all but DTS-MA and output them via it's 7.1 analog outs. My review here.

The LG BH-200 is similar in that it is also profile 1.1, supports all HD DVD special features and can bitstream all of the audio codecs. However it only has 2.0 analog outs so no high def audio without an HDMI receiver. It also doesn't have the Reon, but it does have the QDEO which is almost as good.

The LG BH-100 is a first generation player and it's only profile 1.0. In addition it doesn't support bitstreaming and can only display 1080p at 24Hz, not 60Hz (probably not a problem if you have a newer TV). It does have 5.1 analog outs though and can decode TrueHD so you can get high def audio that way. No way to get DTS-MA with this player though. Also, it does not support HD DVD's HDi, which means it doesn't support any of the menus or special features. It has it's own menu system that works pretty well, but stuff like PIP and Internet connectivity won't work. The only reason I got this player is because I got it dirt cheap for my dad and he only owns a few HD DVDs anyway and doesn't care about the menus or special features. It's not bad, but it's slow as a Blu-ray player so only consider if you can find it for almost nothing. Pics of the guts and HD DVD menu system.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Well there are only 3 to pick from: the LG BH100, the LG BH200, and the Samsung BD-UP5000. Of those I own both the BH100 and the BD-UP5000.

Hands down, the Samsung BD-UP5000 is the best combo player out of the 3. It's profile 1.1, supports all HD DVD special features, has a HQV Reon video processor which upscales standard DVDs better than anything I've ever seen, it can bitstream all of the audio codecs and can decode all but DTS-MA and output them via it's 7.1 analog outs. My review here.

Does it support BD-Live and all the newer goodies that a regular Blu-ray deck does? I want to get the combo deck for my parents...one drive for CD/DVD/Blu-ray/HD-DVD, to make things easy on them. And lol $1200 on Amazon...ouch *pokes around on eBay*

 

[sivart]

Neither support BD-Live (Profile 2.0). Can they in the future, maybe, will they, probably not.

I heard that some Best Buy's still have the BH200 for under $300 on clearance.

If they don't have any HD DVD's at the moment, I'd go with a plain BD player for them instead.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: sivart
Neither support BD-Live (Profile 2.0). Can they in the future, maybe, will they, probably not.

I don't think the UP-5000 even has an ethernet port, so no on that. LG has confirmed that the BH200 won't be seeing a Profile 2.0 update, and has cut a fair number of checks to mollify pissed-off owners.

 

[Shawn]

The BD-UP5000 definitely has an ethernet port since it's required for HD DVD. Both players could be updated to profile 2.0, but they won't be. LG has said no for sure now, and Samsung well don't count on it. BD-Live is completely pointless though. Are your parents really going to connect the player to the internet and download new movie trailers and that crap?

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Shawn
The BD-UP5000 definitely has an ethernet port since it's required for HD DVD.

Apologies - I meant _USB port_. It doesn't have enough flash to be BD-2.0 compat.

 

[Shawn]

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAMSUNG-BD...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.refurbdepot.com/pro...9fSI-5YCFRJ4xgodFRYtAg

http://www.techgearnow.com/ind...t_info&products_id=246

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: Shawn
The BD-UP5000 definitely has an ethernet port since it's required for HD DVD.

Apologies - I meant _USB port_. It doesn't have enough flash to be BD-2.0 compat.

I'm pretty sure it has 1GB of memory though, but 512MB is allocated for HD DVD, and 512MB is allocated for Blu-ray. Even so, they could still work around that and enable BD-Live features, even if the player didn't meet the specs. They aren't going to though.