Best blu-ray player on the market under $299.

doctorcilantro

The Sony seems like a GREAT deal especially given the forthcoming DLNA support. This is what my in-laws need so the can get some web content and later use their iPhone for DLNA (w/ J. River). The SACD is a great extra too.

Thanks!
DC

wutadumsn23

cheddar wrote: »

especially since they took SACD capability out.

Which is why I am glad my first gen 80GB is still kicking (knocks on wood)

JZsFinest wrote: »

I got a PS3.

Congrats, you will not be dissapointed.

-Jeff

digitalvideo

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

The Good:
- DLNA support, so you can stream stuff off your PC (huge selling point for me)
- DLNA isn't functional yet. It is listed on the specs for this player, but with a footnote that it's coming in July.

- DLNA support. Although it's not there yet, this is a huge selling point for me. The Panasonic doesn't have it and isn't slated to get it. The LG doesn't have it, I have to spend another $70 to get the BD-570 to get it. The Samsung has it, but not worth the reliability issues. Also, these are all the 2010 players I've been looking at, so it's unlikely that anything is going to come out this year that has it. So I decided to grab this player and wait for it, maybe they will release it before the promised date, who knows...

How important is DLNA support and is it something more and more players will have in the future and will it necessary for future features?

AsSiMiLaTeD

DLNA is just for streaming media off a PC, it just allows you to hook into a pc with music and movies and such and stream that content to your BDP. How important that is really depends on you, but I'm sure more players will be adding it.

Cherokee_Outlaw

http://www.hometheatermag.com/discplayers/608denon2500/#

Look around and you can grab them for around $250 shipped.

It doesn't have BR Live but I really can care less about chatting with my friends during a movie. WTF?

Built like a tank.
Orginal MSRP was $999

I've had one for about 6 months now. Only run Blu-Rays via bought and Block Buster Online. Hundreds of BDs ZERO issues. Lot's of AWWWWs

polkatese

DLNA is a nice feature, but I won't lose sleep if I don't have it. I have the feature built in on my Marantz AV8003 and has been using it a few times, to stream home video from my PC to the display, wirelessly. It works good in most cases, but subject to your typical streaming video wirelessly (slow buffering, depending on the wireless traffic congestions within your home network, number of active connections, etc. etc.)

A feature that I would be excited would be the ability to surf the internet wirelessly from a player/gear on your display ala Apple TV.

AsSiMiLaTeD

polkatese wrote: »

DLNA is a nice feature, but I won't lose sleep if I don't have it. I have the feature built in on my Marantz AV8003 and has been using it a few times, to stream home video from my PC to the display, wirelessly. It works good in most cases, but subject to your typical streaming video wirelessly (slow buffering, depending on the wireless traffic congestions within your home network, number of active connections, etc. etc.)

A feature that I would be excited would be the ability to surf the internet wirelessly from a player/gear on your display ala Apple TV.

I wouldn't recommend a wireless connection for streaming HD video, I use a wired connection.

polkatese

Agreed, and running a line from the main router to the gears is not practical for me. Down the road, I hope true broadbands (FIOS, Google fiber, etc.) would alleviate that.

Cherokee_Outlaw

Doing some looking on the DVD-2500BTCI. the $250 seems to not be so easy to grab. $300 is the best I see right now. I know about two months ago Amazon had them on sale for $199! crazy crazy

AsSiMiLaTeD

polkatese wrote: »

Agreed, and running a line from the main router to the gears is not practical for me. Down the road, I hope true broadbands (FIOS, Google fiber, etc.) would alleviate that.

That's not going to make a difference though if you're still wireless inside your home. I get 33 down and 3 Mb up, but none of that makes a bit of difference if I'm still running wireless from my router.

Before the Sony player i was running wireless to my PS3 (in fact I still am in the other room now), and even Netflix SD looks tons better via the wired connection.

doctorcilantro

I can play 1080P mkv over wireless LAN in an G/N network with no problem. I was surprised but the Touchsmart PC we added in the kitchen was doing x264 hardware decoding I think as the cpu was at about 5-10%. I use J. River Media Center's Library Server function. Not sure if the Touchsmart has a G adapter in it.

I can actually stream 24/96kHz audio over WAN to my office although lately something in the last month is causing buffering.

I'm not using DLNA but JRMC has just started supporting DLNA so you can control and push content to your PS3 etc.

Maybe using JRMC as the control would result in better performance. I don't really have a need for it, but the future is wide open. The DLNA protocol allows me to control my HTPC with my iPhone or render content to DLNA devices. There are of course existing remote control apps but DLNA is pretty fast actually from what I have seen (just used s a remote and searching 120K audio file library on JRMC).

I see the big advantage as giving people easier access to web content and Netflix as well providing a piece of hardware that can do SACD and Blu-Ray. My in-laws could use something like this.

DC

toucanet

How is the upconversion quality of DVD's with the Oppo player?

cheddar

polkatese wrote: »

A feature that I would be excited would be the ability to surf the internet wirelessly from a player/gear on your display ala Apple TV.

The ps3 has a passable browser. And you can get usb keyboards and mice for it. Not 100% compatible with all websites, but it works for basic surfing. You can even use a psp handheld to take complete control of the ps3 and wirelessly surf, listen to music, and watch movies stored on the ps3 anywhere in range of your network.

I do this occasionally, but still prefer to surf with a pc and listen, watch media on the main rig as the psp's screen is very small.

bhudson

I picked up a lg bd370, works great,has you tube and internet updating for only $180. works great for me!

polkatese

cheddar wrote: »

The ps3 has a passable browser. And you can get usb keyboards and mice for it. Not 100% compatible with all websites, but it works for basic surfing. You can even use a psp handheld to take complete control of the ps3 and wirelessly surf, listen to music, and watch movies stored on the ps3 anywhere in range of your network.

I do this occasionally, but still prefer to surf with a pc and listen, watch media on the main rig as the psp's screen is very small.

Interesting...I didn't know that. Thanks Cheddar, although I don't need another console at this time.

Btw, weren't you in the 360's camp before?

cheddar

360's camp? I just believe in getting the most out of whatever 'camp' you buy. The 360 is great for games and has a great online setup, but it's not very good for the kind of integrated multimedia stuff I like. It doesn't even support a current HD disk format anymore.

So although I think I was on the polk forum saying I really enjoyed Bioshock and was on unlocking all the achievements a while back, I've always used the ps3 as a blu-ray player, almost since the format launch. In truth, I always thought I'd upgrade to a new player by now. But every time a new feature I want comes out, the ps3 firmware upgrades to handle it and I keep it in the rig.

sang4201

I went through a couple of new Blu-ray players in the last month and I was very disappointed. Most features listed on the players from Bestbuy were very poor in function. I went with the PS3 as well. Great decision. I don't think that there is a player in that range with all of these options. Get PS3 media server and you can stream itunes music, MKV, etc....!

Danny Tse

I just ordered the Sony 370 Blu-ray player for $160.00 shipped directly from Sony with one of its "reverse auctions".

jojomgee

ps3 always works for me......

Sherardp

cheddar wrote: »

360's camp? I just believe in getting the most out of whatever 'camp' you buy. The 360 is great for games and has a great online setup, but it's not very good for the kind of integrated multimedia stuff I like. It doesn't even support a current HD disk format anymore.

So although I think I was on the polk forum saying I really enjoyed Bioshock and was on unlocking all the achievements a while back, I've always used the ps3 as a blu-ray player, almost since the format launch. In truth, I always thought I'd upgrade to a new player by now. But every time a new feature I want comes out, the ps3 firmware upgrades to handle it and I keep it in the rig.

The picture quality from the PS3 does not compare to that of the Oppo BDp83. Huge differences. Check one out for a few days.

cnh

You're probably right Sherardp but I doubt if anyone with a 50" or smaller screen is going to see a huge difference on blu-ray playback...maybe on upscaling SDVD, Audio, etc.

On the other hand...the CPU in the PS3 is still far more powerful than most of what's out there. And I think that might include the Oppo...because it is NOT a gaming machine. The Sony Cell processor is a mini-super-computer--almost.

cnh

virtualdean

cheddar wrote: »

However, there is now too much competition in the market to say any player is the 'best'. You really have to look at your individual needs and match them with a player's feature set. I wouldn't limit yourself to any one manufacturer as they all will compromise somewhat on price vs. features. And the ps3 3d upgrade will probably not be the full 1080p 3d available in the latest players. With refurbs at Frys going for as low as around 239 bucks, it's still a good player for the price (and still in the OP's price range new at $299). But players like the universal oppo player now exceed its feature set in some areas, especially since they took SACD capability out.

Sony can be so......stupid...This eliminates me buying a ps3 for the bedroom.

wutadumsn23

I am 100% satisfied with my PS3 as my Blu Ray player and could care less if the 3D upgrade is the full 1080p 3D that is available in newer players or not. IMHO, for the money, and as long as it has been around with only minimal upgrades required, it is a beast. To each his own though, and I am in the minority though as I have a first gen 80GB model that still supports SACD playback and all the other good stuff they took out of it to make it more affordable, way before the Oppo was even in production.

-Jeff

digitalvideo

I posted this on another thread but I think it's also suited here too.

I have the Oppo 83, very good player, but really only for dvd upconverstion as pretty much all bluray players on the market all look amazing on bluray equally. There really isn't any difference between bluray players for bd PQ. But DVD upconversation is more noticeable. The Oppo and Pioneer bd players have excellent upconversation for dvd's. If you watch just bluray and dvd movies today than it doesn't matter. The Oppo or Pioneer bdp-320 are excellent.

As I figured out more features on my Oppo player and it's functions and how my Pioneer Kuro plasma works I realized that if you have a top of the line tv like the Pio Elite Kuro's or Samsung's top LED that the bd player doesn't really matter if you use 'Source Direct' on the player and pass the native content from the bluray disc to the tv and let the tv's processors to the processing.

For example: I have the Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-151FD plasma and it has a special 'Advance Mode' that detects a 1080p/24 signal and automatically upconverts it to 1080p/72 with it's processors and gives it an amazing authentic cinema look to it and it's the closest you can get to 3D without it being 3D. So I set my Oppo to 'Source Direct' and let my tv do the processing and I like the look of the Pio Kuro's processing over the Oppo's. I would be very equally happy with a Pioneer bdp-320 from Walmart for $120 bucks that has equal PQ for bluray as the Oppo and equal PQ for dvd and just use it's 'Source Direct' feature and let my Pio Kuro do all the work.

So the moral of the story is if you have a top of the line plasma or LED and only watch bluray and dvd movies then it doesn't matter what bluray player you get between a $500 Oppo or $120 Pio 320. Load times mean nothing to me whether I have to wait for the player to load a disc for 20 seconds or 40 seconds. I would get the Pioneer bdp-320 if I were you and save around $350 bucks.

They list the price of the Pio 320 as $399 but you can get it at Walmart today for around $120.

http://hometheatermag.com/discplayer...lu-ray_player/

digitalvideo

The BD Player Test Part shootout:

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/thomasnorton/010410BD2/

cheddar

virtualdean wrote: »

Sony can be so......stupid...This eliminates me buying a ps3 for the bedroom.

Then get the oppo if you want a good universal player. I don't own it so I can't speak for it, but many on this forum love their oppo. People who bought the ps3 early are reaping the benefits of Sony selling the hardware below their cost as is pretty standard for a game machine launch. Now that they're cutting some of the less used functionality to bring down their costs, I would agree that there are many great options besides a ps3 for a blu-ray player.

cheddar

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

I am 100% satisfied with my PS3 as my Blu Ray player and could care less if the 3D upgrade is the full 1080p 3D that is available in newer players or not. IMHO, for the money, and as long as it has been around with only minimal upgrades required, it is a beast. To each his own though, and I am in the minority though as I have a first gen 80GB model that still supports SACD playback and all the other good stuff they took out of it to make it more affordable, way before the Oppo was even in production.

-Jeff

Agreed, I have an early 60GB that includes all the functionality except the bitstreaming of the slim. And since the firmware upgrades are free, I'll take whatever 3D upgrade they come up with since it's just another in a long line of free upgrades anyways.

cheddar

virtualdean wrote: »

Sony can be so......stupid...This eliminates me buying a ps3 for the bedroom.

Assimilated did a nice write-up you might be interested in comparing sony's new sacd/universal players to the oppo.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1322778&postcount=13