# How Sucky (or not) is a Cheap Blu-Ray Player? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750 "2011-07-03T21:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/1 "2011-07-03T21:05:02Z")
Haven’t made the move to Blu-Ray yet- mostly because of a lack of funds. Last time I was in Best Buy, I saw a couple of $80 and $90 Blu-Ray players mixed in with the $200 and $300 (and up, of course) players. Might stop by again this week, possibly with and possibly without $90 on my person. Just wondering . . . . . . would I be likely to be very disappointed in a cheap Blu-Ray player? As I am likely to stop by the store again this week, if anyone feels that brand names and model specifics are needed to answer this question I can report back later. I don’t remember from my most recent trip what the brands were. I was thinking it may be a question that could be addressed in general terms. Those of you who would never go cheap for this kind of thing, how much am I giving up in exchange for the lighter price tag? Info of note: I’m really not a hardcore technophile. Anything that puts my media in front of my face is usually o.k. (I’ve never in my life used speakers other than those built in to the T.V. itself). So I don’t need a machine that enhances the experience in the _most_ amazing way possible. I would, however, be unhappy with a player that _detracts_ from the experience Basically, I am really just looking to replace my old DVD player which, in its age, has become quirky to an extreme that is testing my patience. I figure that it is silly at this point in the game to buy another DVD player. Blu-Ray is rising in popularity and is backwards compatible. Since I figure that’s what I’ll have eventually, it seems silly to buy a DVD player. Related Question: I have never bought any serious hardware on Amazon. Would you confidently buy a _USED_ Blu-Ray player if the seller had 100% customer satisfaction? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/2 "2011-07-03T21:18:58Z")
A low-end Blu-Ray should be fine for your needs. It’s a mature technology so the parts are cheaper and I suspect it would do as well as a first-generation player from a few years ago. At prices like that, as long as it’s from a manufacturer you’ve heard of, but not Coby, you should be happy. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/3 "2011-07-03T21:27:03Z")
There’s an Amazon seller who has 100% feedback who is selling this one: [sylvania nb530slx](http://www.nb530slxbluraydiscplayer.com/) Used for $49.95 I may end up getting it. **dropzone** , your casual answer really wiped away any kind of minor anxiety I might have had. I’ll check the Thread again to see if anyone has any warnings about buying major electronics used. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/4 "2011-07-03T21:57:35Z")
“Casual?” I’ve been in the A/V biz since 2000 and this is one of the few things here I actually know something about. That makes it “professional.” I’m just a casual person. 😉 ETA: Sylvania is a brand name owned by Funai, which also makes (probably low-end) players for Sharp, Toshiba, and Denon. I don’t think you can go wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/5 "2011-07-03T22:04:11Z")
Cheaper ones won’t have a bad picture or sound. They’ll just have less options. They may not have networking or WiFi capabilities or analogue 5.1 or 7.1 outputs and they may not decode TrueHD or DTS-HDMA on board. They might also load slowly and have slow response times from the remote control. If you don’t care about any of that, a cheap one should still give you a great picture. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/6 "2011-07-03T22:19:33Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > “Casual?” Sorry, hesitated on the word choice there. I meant to note your reassurance as a contrast to my previous worrying on the matter. As in, here I was just over thinking the issue until you came in with a “ **bienville** , you’ll be fine” kind of helpfulness. Thanks again for the info. Thanks also, **FordTaurusSHO94**! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/7 "2011-07-03T22:31:03Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > They might also load slowly and have slow response times from the remote control. Cheap Denons, probably Funais, have improved that a lot in the past year, at least according to the Denon trainer. ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/8 "2011-07-05T12:54:36Z")
I may as well piggyback onto this thread. Are there any BlueRay players that are capable of being region-free? This can be either as they come or through a hack. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/9 "2011-07-05T13:13:06Z")
Something to consider when buying a Blu-Ray: Even cheap ones nowadays come with the ability to play streaming video from Netflix and Amazon and other sources. I bought one at Costco for about 100 bucks that has all this stuff. You might find yourself using that functionality a lot more than playing the disks, Netflix instant is pretty awesome. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/10 "2011-07-05T13:28:15Z")
I rather like my Magnavox. It was about $70… Black Friday special from Wal-Mart. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/11 "2011-07-05T14:06:23Z")
> [@Hook](#): > > I may as well piggyback onto this thread. Are there any BlueRay players that are capable of being region-free? This can be either as they come or through a hack. Yes. I have a modded bluray player. At the bottom of [this](http://www.gattiweb.com/bluraymod.html) page there’s a list (possibly not comprehensive) of players that can have a region-free chip installed. ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/12 "2011-07-06T12:49:11Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > Yes. I have a modded bluray player. At the bottom of [this](http://www.gattiweb.com/bluraymod.html) page there’s a list (possibly not comprehensive) of players that can have a region-free chip installed. Thanks for the reply. I did not explain fully. What I am looking for is a BluRay that is capable of playing the collection of regular DVDs I now own from 3 regions. The Philips DVD player I have is capable of this and I was hoping to find a BluRay with this capability, rather than need to have 2 players hooked up. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-sucky-or-not-is-a-cheap-blu-ray-player/587750/13 "2011-07-06T21:09:43Z")
Not bargain basement, but a \<$150 BR player favorably reviewed > **[HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcasts - Podcast #477: Panasonic DMP-BDT110...](https://www.htguys.com/podcasts/2011/5/6/podcast-477-panasonic-dmp-bdt110-blu-ray-player.html)** > > We have been doing this show for the past six years and have had an opportunity to review a lot of... Brian