...please. now that blu-ray players have come down quite a bit in price I thought i'd look into buying one. unfortunately, I don't know what's considered good nowadays. I have mixed feelings about Sony product but think Samsung and Panasonic have done a great job with their lcd tv's. so, this leads me to believe blu-ray players by the same companies would be worthwhile. i've seen the sony and samsung blu-ray players at target for under $150 but don't know exactly what I should be looking for - or does it not matter? also, i'm fairly certain my lcd is a 720p (I bought it a few years ago), so am I correct in assuming that picture quality won't be that great unless I have a 1080i or 1080p lcd?
blu-ray player recommendations
- Thread starter gaseousclay
- Start date
you assumption is pretty fair, you won't be taking full advantage of blu ray with 720p. Your tv will probably have to rescale it to fit, some tv's do this well so the picture will be great, others not so well and the picture will be good and watchable.
get a blu ray anyways,,panasonic dmp-bd60 goes for around $300 us i think and is great. you could also get a ps3 which will play games and great blu ray. Sony make good stuff so don't shy away, just as good as samsung if not better! Panasonic stuff is very good also. Pioneer make great players but cost a bit more.
I suggest you go to a proper HT store, try a good new tv out with 1080p and get em to throw in the pana blu ray or ps3 if you get a sony.
put ya current tv in the bed or den, garage or something or even try and trade it in or ebay it. it's definately worth getting a 1080p tv. tv's these days are better and cheaper than they were 3-4 years ago.
get a blu ray anyways,,panasonic dmp-bd60 goes for around $300 us i think and is great. you could also get a ps3 which will play games and great blu ray. Sony make good stuff so don't shy away, just as good as samsung if not better! Panasonic stuff is very good also. Pioneer make great players but cost a bit more.
I suggest you go to a proper HT store, try a good new tv out with 1080p and get em to throw in the pana blu ray or ps3 if you get a sony.
put ya current tv in the bed or den, garage or something or even try and trade it in or ebay it. it's definately worth getting a 1080p tv. tv's these days are better and cheaper than they were 3-4 years ago.
My vote would be for the PS3, one of the best BlueRay players on the market. Can also now stream Netflix through it.
+2 watching Cool Hand Luke on Netflix right now.
The only downside with the PS3 is it's very hard to integrate with a Universal Remote. There are workarounds, but it's a hassle.
True, but not that much of a hassle. I use the Schmartz PS3IR-500 adapter that cost me $40. + shipping and integrates seamlessly with my Harmony. It even allows remote power on and off. The only thing I don't like about the PS3 is that it uses a lot more power than other stand alone Blu-ray players when it's playing a disc. It's not a Green product.
The cooling fan can also be a touch noisy if you're very sensitive to those things. It doesn't bother me.
If you're looking at a stand alone product, I like Samsung.
- Peter
I am VERY happy with the LG BD390 that I picked up a month ago. It has wireless networking built in. If you can run a network cable to it, then you can save a few bucks and get the BD370 that doesn't have wireless.
I'm really enjoying the Netflix streaming on it, and am very happy with it's performance, thus far.
I'm really enjoying the Netflix streaming on it, and am very happy with it's performance, thus far.
As suggested earlier, you will need a 1080p TV to get the most out of your Blu Ray discs. If you are planning on upgrading, make sure to get a TV with 24p support. Most Blu Ray movies are shot at 24 frames per second, while TV is shot at 60 frames per second (60i - North America - 60 interlaced fields = 29.97 frames). Since TV shows are shot at a faster rate, TV sets need to be able to properly show this. Since 24 doesn't go fully into 60 (mathematically), 3:2 pulldown is needed to properly display the frame rate. A 24p capable TV does not need the pulldown and can directly output the video resulting in much smoother output.
The PS3 used to be the best Blu Ray player on the market, but now there are several sub $200 players that outperform the PS3 (I use my PS3 for Blu Ray playback). If you are not a gamer, then it would make sense to go for a standalone. Some things to look out for are Profile 2.0 support, Ethernet or Wi FI to get the most out of BD Live.
You can head over to Newegg - they have some great deals going on and you can have a look at the user submitted reviews before making a decision.
The PS3 used to be the best Blu Ray player on the market, but now there are several sub $200 players that outperform the PS3 (I use my PS3 for Blu Ray playback). If you are not a gamer, then it would make sense to go for a standalone. Some things to look out for are Profile 2.0 support, Ethernet or Wi FI to get the most out of BD Live.
You can head over to Newegg - they have some great deals going on and you can have a look at the user submitted reviews before making a decision.
I'm with the camp that says start with a true 1080p TV (not 1080i) and then get your Blu-Ray. If you don't have a gaming system the PS3 really does offer the best of both worlds. The picture is fantastic and if you route the sound through your surround system again you get the best of the best.
i just read a news story the other day that they will start issuing in 3D blu-ray over the next couple of years. that means that, once again, all the current fancy-pantsy blu-ray players will become obsolete... again. just like the last cycle of technology.
me? i'm still happy with my original nintendo and a crt television. incidentally, wasn't there a post the other day about what parts of our lives are old school?
me? i'm still happy with my original nintendo and a crt television. incidentally, wasn't there a post the other day about what parts of our lives are old school?
i just read a news story the other day that they will start issuing in 3D blu-ray over the next couple of years. that means that, once again, all the current fancy-pantsy blu-ray players will become obsolete... again. just like the last cycle of technology.
me? i'm still happy with my original nintendo and a crt television. incidentally, wasn't there a post the other day about what parts of our lives are old school?
PS3 will support Blu-ray 3d with a free update, this is the main advantage that PS3 has going for it as a blue-ray player, it's got the processing power to back it up and Sony is very dedicated to maintaining the latest and greatest in blu-ray player tech on ps3 as it becomes available.
We have a Sharp AQUOS blu-ray disc player and are quite pleased with it.
Just got a Panasonic BR player that offers Netflix and Pandora streaming, and we love it.
Even though Netflix's streaming catalogue is still a little sparse, it takes the sting out of cancelling cable - we can still watch non-network shows, even if they are a couple season's old.
Even though Netflix's streaming catalogue is still a little sparse, it takes the sting out of cancelling cable - we can still watch non-network shows, even if they are a couple season's old.
I am enjoying my Sony BDP-S30 quite a lot. (Currently 124.99 at Amazon.com)
It up-converts DVDs to higher resolution, not 1080p but much better than standard DVD, and it is quite slim, small and light. Only flaw IMO is that it does not feature an eject button on the remote, but that isn't really an issue since you have to go to the machine to get the disc anyway. I also really like how fast it is. Very impressive as far as Blue-Ray players go.
It also has HDMI output in addition to standard, and uses about 20ish-watts of power when on. Also, unlike most older (and even some current) Blue-Ray and DVD players, it can actually shut completely off when not in use. However, if you prefer leaving it in 'standby' mode then you can do that too. It only uses like 5watts in standby. (The only advantage of 'standby' over turning it off is that it will load/boot-up in about 6 seconds -- about 14 seconds faster than if you left it off.)
I hope that helps.
It up-converts DVDs to higher resolution, not 1080p but much better than standard DVD, and it is quite slim, small and light. Only flaw IMO is that it does not feature an eject button on the remote, but that isn't really an issue since you have to go to the machine to get the disc anyway. I also really like how fast it is. Very impressive as far as Blue-Ray players go.
It also has HDMI output in addition to standard, and uses about 20ish-watts of power when on. Also, unlike most older (and even some current) Blue-Ray and DVD players, it can actually shut completely off when not in use. However, if you prefer leaving it in 'standby' mode then you can do that too. It only uses like 5watts in standby. (The only advantage of 'standby' over turning it off is that it will load/boot-up in about 6 seconds -- about 14 seconds faster than if you left it off.)
I hope that helps.
