Need blu-ray player suggestions

[Malak]

Need to get a blu-ray player, have no clue what to look for. I'm thinking wifi and netflix access will be good to have, but don't know what brands or models are worth looking for.

 

[JackBurton]

Price range?

 

[Malak]

Price range?

I don't see any reason to go above $100, looks like there is plenty available near that.

 

[Chess]

want it to be 3d ?

 

[Malak]

want it to be 3d ?

No.

 

[Redshirt 24]

I'd probably aim for something a hair over $100, like the Panasonic DMP-BDT210, but that's me. That said, wifi-capable BD players seem to be rather scarce below the $100 mark to begin with (Dynex, Magnavox, Toshiba...maybe you can catch a sale if you watch).

 

[frowertr]

I just bought this one off Amazon last week. It was Sony's top of the line model last year and it has been discontinued to make room for a newer model that will come out this year. It is more than $100 but really $100 is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a BD player. I paid $170 to the door. It has built in wifi and tons of streaming services (i.e. VUDU, Flixter, Netflix, Hulu2, Pandora, Slacker Radio, etc...). It will also play just about any form factor known to man except laser discs and LP. I got it because I needed a SACD player as well as a BD player. It also loads up BD's fast. Some of the cheaper players take forever to load discs.

It comes with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1 and 2 in 3D. You could always resell those on eBay to get a few bucks back out of them.

 

[jhansman]

You didn't say what connections you need, so if it's just HDMI, the Panny is a great choice from what I read. I, however, opted for the BDP-BX58, (which is just a BDP-B580S repackaged for Costco) because it is currently connected to an aging CRT display via component video and to my receiver via coax audio; it, of course, has HDMI for future consideration. Sounds and looks great, has all the streaming goodies you expect these days-$130 at Costco.

EDIT: Also consider if you think you may want to use the player as a DLNA media center device. The Sony does nicely in this function. When I bought mine, I knew I wanted to stream from my PC to my TVs (wired and wirelessly), but had no idea what device would receive the stream. Turns out this player handles it all nicely. Also note, latest firmware employs yet another DRM called Cinavia, which has caused quite a ruckus among the AV crowd.

 

[Malak]

I just bought this one off Amazon last week. It was Sony's top of the line model last year and it has been discontinued to make room for a newer model that will come out this year. It is more than $100 but really $100 is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a BD player. I paid $170 to the door. It has built in wifi and tons of streaming services (i.e. VUDU, Flixter, Netflix, Hulu2, Pandora, Slacker Radio, etc...). It will also play just about any form factor known to man except laser discs and LP. I got it because I needed a SACD player as well as a BD player. It also loads up BD's fast. Some of the cheaper players take forever to load discs.

It comes with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1 and 2 in 3D. You could always resell those on eBay to get a few bucks back out of them.

What you consider scraping the bottom is just buying a basic player, which is all I need. I don't care about having 3D or a bunch of apps I won't use. Only reason I want wifi is because it is nowhere near my router. I'm not going to spend anywhere near that for a player.

 

[JackBurton]

What you consider scraping the bottom is just buying a basic player, which is all I need. I don't care about having 3D or a bunch of apps I won't use. Only reason I want wifi is because it is nowhere near my router. I'm not going to spend anywhere near that for a player.

I think you are under the impression that BD players are like DVD players. Even though BD players have been out for awhile now, they aren't perfect. Most of the cheaper players (bottom of the barrel) may run into compatibility issues with discs and you'll have to rely on the manufacture to provide those update for you. If you stick with the name brands like Sony, LG, Samsung, and Panasonic, you should be ok. Go with something like Magnavox or some off brand player and you'll probably be out of luck when a disc refuses to play. And at $100, you're probably looking at a very low end player. And you know what they say, "you get what you pay for."

At your price point of $100, I suggest you just walk in the store and pick whichever play is <$100. Your requirements are pretty basic (you're not getting wifi for $100), so just about any player will do. IMO, $100 doesn't buy a very good BD player and would recommend just sticking with DVD's.

 

[corwin]

If you order the BDT210 quickly and get the "rebate" sent in for the free Avatar 3D disk they are still selling for around $70 on Ebay...I did that and in the end ran me less than $80 for the player

 

[jhansman]

This model from Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26...&amp;skuId=2333036) is only $80 and has built-in wifi, but the Dynex brand is Best Buy's. Normally, I believe you get what you pay for, but I got a Dynex 32" LCD on Black Friday for the bedroom for $200 that has performed excellently. That said, a display has basically only one thing it has to do well, whereas a wifi BD player has to play CDs, DVDs, BDs, stream, and have the right connections for your current gear. With that in mind, I opted for the Sony, and if I hadn't, the Panasonic BD-210 would have been my next choice.

 

[frowertr]

What you consider scraping the bottom is just buying a basic player, which is all I need. I don't care about having 3D or a bunch of apps I won't use. Only reason I want wifi is because it is nowhere near my router. I'm not going to spend anywhere near that for a player.

Don't know why I still post anymore with responses like yours. Just trying to be helpful and share my opinion.

You said you needed Wifi and Netflix so I was under the assumption you wanted to do some streaming which is why I went through the trouble of typing all that up about that player which has all those streaming services built in...

And there are differences in players at different price points. Play back picture quality, disc loading time, player/disc compatability, noisy playback issues, quality of the remotes, built-in Wifi issues etc... all factor into the price. Also, Wifi is hit or miss with streaming players. Don't buy one expecting to be able to stream Netflix in HD (crappy streaming HD mind you) because it doesn't always work.

If you were my friend and were looking to spend no more than $100 I'd say to either save up more or buy a brand name top of the line used model used off eBay.

 

[corwin]

Not sure this would be a good option for you but came across it while browsing for other things at Monoprice, only 1 review so I think it's pretty new...wireless blu-ray player for $77...doesn't mention any apps at all but is cheap and basic which seems to be your primary request

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10908&cs_id=1090801&p_id=8296&seq=1&format=2

Everything else I've gotten from them has been great

 

[pmark]

The Panasonic DMP-BDT220 is around $135 from Amazon. It is the newer version of the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 which a lot of people like.

 

[queequeg99]

Costco is now selling the Sony BDP-BX58 for $110. It is wi-fi enabled and streams netflix. There is a lengthy thread over at avsforum.com about this player.

 

[Chess]

That Sony is pretty decent.....

I have never been a big fan of streaming stuff over wifi, I think it sucks and buffering wait times... .Thats just me though.....

avsforum has a TON i mean TON of insight and information on tons of bluray players like quee said....

 

[Matt1970]

This model from Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26...&amp;skuId=2333036) is only $80 and has built-in wifi, but the Dynex brand is Best Buy's. Normally, I believe you get what you pay for, but I got a Dynex 32" LCD on Black Friday for the bedroom for $200 that has performed excellently. That said, a display has basically only one thing it has to do well, whereas a wifi BD player has to play CDs, DVDs, BDs, stream, and have the right connections for your current gear. With that in mind, I opted for the Sony, and if I hadn't, the Panasonic BD-210 would have been my next choice.

I got that model for my girlfriend for Christmas. It drops the internet every once in a while but other than that it works great.

 

[chrisheinonen]

Panasonic BDT-210. Bit perfect HDMI at all colorspaces, fast, good video processing, and Avatar 3D. I haven't used the 220 yet buy don't assume it is the same, as Sony downgraded the 570 to the 580 with cheaper build quality and a slower processor. I tested 15+ players this past year probably, bought the BDT-210 for myself.