So I’m starting to think about buying a blu-ray player. Anyone know of any really good deals? Any recommendations on good or bad players?
I’m hoping to get one for $150, but every time I see one it’s a Sharp Aquos, which seem to have TERRIBLE reviews.
There’s also some 2.0 firmware issue of some sort, where I want to make sure I get a new enough one. Anyone know exactly what the deal is with that?
thanks
If you like video games from what I’ve heard the PS3 has a really good blu-ray player. I have one and I like it, but I also use it for games.
Get a PS3. It’s Sony’s own baby and the player least likely to run into firmware problems in the future. At $299, it’s double the price of standalone BluRay players, but well worth it IMO. Not only can you play the occasional game or two if you’re into that, there are also downloadable movies and TV shows. You can also play your own videos and/or music from a USB drive.
If I ever have the money to get a blu-ray player, I’m going to get a PS3 too. It’s useful for games but also has really good reviews as a blu-ray device.
I briefly looked into getting a blu-ray player before deciding I didn’t really care that much about blu-ray, and the PS3 seemed like the optimal solution. One issue with blu-ray I read about is that unlike regular dvd decoding it’s somewhat hardware intensive, so the cheaper units can take a long time to load a disc, on the order of a couple of minutes. Not the end of the world, but I would find it pretty annoying. (I don’t know if there would be other delays or slowdowns as well, I only remember reading about the load times.) Because the PS3 is a game machine, it has a far more powerful processor than your standard blu-ray player so it (supposedly) runs quite smoothly.
PS3s aren’t bad, but I kinda want a Samsung BD-P1590. It’s an update of the BD-P1600 which got generally good reviews. I might default to a PS3 though since there are several games I do want to play.
Another option is to find one that will connect directly to Netflix. You should at least consider whether you’ll want it connected to the internet to take advantage of BD Live, if that’s something that interests you (it’s pretty hit or miss for some people).
I’ve an early PS3 that I use mostly as a Blu-Ray player. I love it.
Honestly (and it seems weird to say this, since I’ve played so many video games in my life), I don’t think I’d ever really play games on a PS3. I had an xbox 360 for a while and barely used it, and now we have a Wii and never use it.
So I just want a good cheap full featured blu ray player. Seems like this holiday season has to be when they go to <$100, but maybe there will be a hot deal before then.
Another chiming in that I have a PS3 that I use primarily as a blu-ray player but play all of my other dvds on it too, and it upscales nicely.
Plus, it’s all set for broadband, so any firmware updates are easy to get.
I’ve been very happy with my Panasonic DMP-BD60. $195 on Amazon right now.
It plays Youtube, but not Netflix (something a lot of people want). Not a big deal because I only use it for its intended purpose: playing Blu-ray movies. Don’t care about BD Live or even Special Features on the disc.
Does anyone know how BluRay players are at playing DiVX-encoded data dvds? I have a TON of these and am considering upgrading from my Divx-compatible Philips DVD player. Can the PS3 handle them without any hassle?
Lots of porno huh?
It handles them just fine as long as you have the proper firmware update, both the video and audio codecs are encoded right, it’s a Tuesday, at least half the planets are aligned, and you roll a DC15 or higher against its Bad Temperament save. In other words, as with other supposedly DivX-compatible devices I’ve used, success seems largely a matter of luck. I remember playback being sketchy at times, with certain files causing the video and audio to go out of sync.
However, if it’s any consolation, I don’t think the PS3 performs any worse than other devices in this regard (talk about damning with faint praise). Or maybe I’m just clueless with this sort of thing and you’ll have better luck.
Bump: Anyone have any comment on [a great deal on a refurbished blu-ray player](a great deal on a refurbished blu-ray player)? I tried to google around for reviews or commentary on that model and only got links to the deal itself.
thanks
Based on what I’ve seen here, I’m going to get a PS/3 from a pawn shop - they’re in all the pawn shops here in houston. I haven’t priced them, but I doubt that they’re expensive.
This handles them just fine, (this being the US version); and it’s usually on sale (hey, $229!) .mkv files look great. IME LG players will play about anything you chuck at them, not very techy like some :coff Aquos coff:. For an extra hundred you can get the wifi version. Large downside: LG won’t get off their ass and upgrade the firmware so I can watch my Dollhouse BD’s. Good thing I kept the Aquos!
First off, why do you want to sidestep to Blu-Ray? The difference in quality between 1080i with an upconverting DVD player and 1080p on Blu-Ray is marginal until you get larger than 50 inches and are using a good HDMI cable such as a monster cable. Where Blu-Ray really excells is the sound quality. It was designed to deliver HD quality sound over a theater style 7.1/7.2 sound system, DVD wasn’t.
That being said, if you do want a player the PS3 is arguably the best one on the market and with the $100 price drop for the PS3 Slim on 9/1 its a pretty good deal. Its one of the few players that comes stock with 2.0 firmware and is designed to be upgradable with new features as Sony releases them. Beyond that you get a decent gaming system with a large library of legacy games and homebrew games via PSN.
Is this a whoosh? Or do you just own stock in Monster?
I was about to chime in with the same thing. If you really do like monster cable I’ve seen these that might really interest you.