Possible first Blu-Ray player purchase: got some questions

[tomdkat]

So, I'm looking at getting my dad a replacement DVD player for Christmas. Right now, he's got an $80 Toshiba upconverting DVD player that works fine but I'm wanting to get something with better performance.

For months, I've been on the fence between getting him an Oppo DV-980H or a relatively inexpensive Blu-Ray player.

I'm considering the Oppo mainly because of the price point and the fact it supports SACD and DVD-A playback in addition to having great upconverting video performance. He's not into high-res audio now and I believe is dated A/V receiver (Technics is the brand, I think) has analog audio inputs but I'm not totally sure.

I'm open to Blu-Ray player recommendations if we can keep the price point between $150-$200, $250 if you must go that high.

His display is a 42" Vizio 1080p LCD HDTV.

Your thoughts?

Peace...

[Ruined]

Panasonic DMP-BD35.

Fast, cheap, upconverting as good as the 980 or better, if connected to internet automatically downloads and installs latest firmware updates to ensure everything continues to sail smoothly, decodes all HD codecs, BD-Live capable. Best in its pricerange, super user friendly, virtually no glitches, nice remote, great for a first time blu-ray user. Can also display images from your camera (i.e. JPG) and movies from your camcorder (i.e. AVCHD) stored on an SDHC card that can be inserted in the front of the player.

Amazon.com: Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player: Electronics

Also, SACD and DVD-A are both dead formats, to soon be replaced by hires Blu-ray 3.0 music format (compatible with all BD players).

This player was available for ~$149-$199 in several places on Black Friday, it looks like it has gone up back to ~$225 it was floating at just prior to Black Fri. If you keep an eye on it I'm sure you'll see it for ~$199 again before XMAS.

Also it comes with a 2 free movie mailer:
http://www.panasonicsleepingbeauty.c...erForm_3r1.pdf

[ganthc]

Yeah, I would go with the blu-ray player, because you might as well prepare him for the next round of movies. I think Ruined's suggestion is a good one if upconverting is important for your dad's dvd collection. If he gets a Netflix account, he could also start renting blu-rays if he wants as well. I think the bd player will also have a more "wow" factor for a gift than just getting another upconvert dvd player.

[firestorm]

I just got the BD-35 yesterday, and it, thus far, appears to be a very competent player. I've had very little exposure to Blu-Ray, so I can't speak with any kind of authority on the subject. But I am very pleased with the up-converted picture on our 50" Panasonic.

I switched around quickly and frequently between movies, but my first impression is that it does quite good with cartoons.

With live action films, I could see some noise and such, but I don't have a sense for what to expect. Our old 27" Wega does 16:9 wide mode, so we could view anamorphic DVDs with 480 lines within the 16:9 window. Because of that, such details were never noticeable before.

Can't say much else given the short amount of time we have had it. The BD-35 does not have analog out though. The 55 does, but we're talking "$299" vs. "$399", and I've seen the 35 for $249 all over the place. Haven't seen the 55 on sale at all. I wasn't quite prepared for the long boot time, even after reading about BRD players. I mean, the drawer itself takes forever to open. Beyond that, it is very acceptable. My one big wish list item, which I've heard exists in no current BRD player, is multi-disc resume.

[ganthc]

You know, I think I have gotten used to the slow boot up time because of hd-dvd. My current dvd watching device is the hd-xa2 or the hd-a2, both of which take a minute or two to start up and finally open the disk tray. I have changed my routine to account for it too. If I know I'm going to watch a movie, I click the open disk tray button and then go about turning on the TV, which take a few seconds to warm up and show a picture, then turn on the receiver, get my movie out and go turn off the lights. Usually when all that is done the tray opens and I load the movie. But yeah, just sitting their with the disc waiting on the tray to open can be annoying. I don't have that problem with the ps3, and I'll see about the bdp-s350 soon.

[Ruined]

Get it now, tom!
Save $100 When You Buy a Blu-ray Player and Four Warner Blu-ray Discs Together

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

I'll see about the bdp-s350 soon.

The S350 is a bit slower than the BD35. The fastest standalone is actually the Samsung 1500 believe it or not.

[firestorm]

The load time for the BD-35 isn't "bad". It's more the "I just upgraded hardware, so all my software is upgraded/better too" syndrome. IOW... I watch a bit of one movie, get the itch to see a bit from another, then bammo... waiting for that stinkin' tray again.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Get it now, tom!
Save $100 When You Buy a Blu-ray Player and Four Warner Blu-ray Discs Together

Thanks! I'll pull the trigger when I can.

Peace...

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Panasonic DMP-BD35.

Fast, cheap, upconverting as good as the 980 or better, if connected to internet automatically downloads and installs latest firmware updates to ensure everything continues to sail smoothly, decodes all HD codecs, BD-Live capable. Best in its pricerange, super user friendly, virtually no glitches, nice remote, great for a first time blu-ray user. Can also display images from your camera (i.e. JPG) and movies from your camcorder (i.e. AVCHD) stored on an SDHC card that can be inserted in the front of the player.

Amazon.com: Panasonic DMP-BD35K 1080p Blu-ray Player: Electronics

Also, SACD and DVD-A are both dead formats, to soon be replaced by hires Blu-ray 3.0 music format (compatible with all BD players).

This player was available for ~$149-$199 in several places on Black Friday, it looks like it has gone up back to ~$225 it was floating at just prior to Black Fri. If you keep an eye on it I'm sure you'll see it for ~$199 again before XMAS.

Also it comes with a 2 free movie mailer:
http://www.panasonicsleepingbeauty.c...erForm_3r1.pdf

I back Ruined on this one TK. I just picked this model up for $229 at Sears. Not so much the price, but it's better then the BD30 that I had and you can't beat the picture on SD material. Great player.

Wow Look at me. I had a panny A110 for 7 years and now I've had two in 10 months. Whats up with that.
F

[tomdkat]

Well, I took your advice and got my dad the DMP-BD35k and it worked out VERY well! We watched Batman Begins as our first Blu-Ray disc movie so we could compare it to the DVD release. The upconversion is so good, we couldn't notice a video quality difference on his 42" Vizio LCD HDTV (given our viewing distance of 15' or maybe more) between the DVD release and the Blu-Ray release. However, he did comment on how much more active his surround channels seem to be, even with the DD 5.1 audio we listened to.

His A/V receiver is old enough that we used the Panasonic's downconversion capability to listen to the Dolby TrueHD audio as DD 5.1.

So far, he's very happy with the player!

Peace...

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Frankie

I back Ruined on this one TK. I just picked this model up for $229 at Sears. Not so much the price, but it's better then the BD30 that I had and you can't beat the picture on SD material. Great player.

The 51FD has noticably better upconversion... but it is hard to find that at a similar price! Also for a dad or someone not as tech savvy, the BD35 presents the most user-friendly Blu-ray experience.

At the BD35's pricepoint it has no equal IMO.

[ganthc]

You might also say that at the distance they are from the TV plus the size of the TV that upconversion may lose some of its impact. However, I would say that HD should definitely be noticeable, and I hope your dad is able to check some blu-ray movies out with dts tracks, because you'll really notice the sound increase.