About a year ago I bought my first HD TV. Shortly after I bought a Sony Blu Ray player. From the beginning I had problems with the Sony. Many times disks are unplayable. You put them in and get a back screen (sometimes you get the menu but then a black screen). Also it will periodically just “Die”. I get the Blu Ray splash screen and then nothing which requires me to unplug and replug it in until it comes back. The first instance happened early on and I should have returned it but I didn’t. Finally I have had enough and want to get a different one. Any suggestions? Only requirements is it has Netflix and built in Wi Fi. Thanks in advance.
First, are you sure that the player’s firmware is up-to-date? If so, and you still have trouble with it, I highly recommend Samsung’s Blu-ray players. Mine has been trouble free for over 3 years now. I don’t know anything about the 3D ones; mine is a regular old BR player.
Thank you. I will check out Samsung. Yes indeed my Sony’s firmware is up to date (I actually just checked again just in case 
) Any other suggestions are appreciated.
While I don’t have any positive recommmendations, I had the worst luck with a Dynex Blu Ray player, and would avoid it at all costs. I thought I would mention it because I, too, was looking specifically for a player with Netflix and wi-fi, and it was the cheapest of the lot. I now know why
What’s your budget, Quimby?
I would say the most I would want to spend is around $200. I would love (and would be willing to pay more for) a multi disc Blu ray. My DVD player plays 5 disks and it spoiled me (it is great for season sets for example) but such an animal doesn’t seem to exist.
You should be able to get a used PS3 for about $200. Wifi, Netflix, Hulu Plus, media center connection to your PC, VUDU, MLB.tv, NHL.tv and an excellent bluray player.
We got an LG BD670 about 8 months ago. It lists at about $200, but if you are willing to be a bit patient you should be able to get it for about $160. I paid $157 on Amazon.
So far, we’ve been happy with it, for the most part. Early on, it would occasionally (about once a week) black out and have to be rebooted, but firmware updates seem to have fixed the problem. It’s been fine since.
It’s great at playing Blu-Ray discs. Some discs take a good minute or so to get to the main menu screen, but that’s the case for quite a few Blu-Ray players, and is determined, in some measure, by the complexity of the menus and options on the disc.
It does Netflix, Hulu plus, Amazon video, MLB, NHL, YouTube, Pandora, and a whole bunch of other internet services. The Netflix interface is nice, and is considerably better than the Netflix app on my Panasonic Viera TV. I subscribe to MLB.com during the baseball season, and it works great. The YouTube app sucks on the LG, though, and if you’re a big YouTube user, you might want to consider a different player. If i want to watch YouTube, i use the TV’s interface, because Panasonic does YouTube much better than LG.
The BD670 comes with wireless internet built in (not just wireless-ready), so you don’t need to buy a separate dongle. If you’re going to use wireless, though, it might be a good idea to ensure that the player is reasonably close to your wireless router. My router is upstairs, and the player sometimes had trouble getting a good signal. In the end, i bought a set of powerline ethernet adapters so i have an ethernet connection between the router and the player, and everything works great now. If you don’t need wireless or 3D capability, you can save some money and get the BD650 or BD630.
Just another make sure it’s not a Sony. Though it works it’s user interface is bad, Netflix menu and controls are unfriendly, auto-timeout-power off is annoying and can’t be overridden, and the thing doesn’t always remember where you left off, so keep a eye on the timer to find your spot again.
I’ve been quite happy with the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 that I got at Amazon for under $140.
It handles all the usual VOD services like Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Hulu, etc., it loads BD discs fast, and if you insist, it also does wi-fi in addition to wired Ethernet. If you have a 3D TV, it also does that. I don’t have a 3D TV or 3D eyes, so I have no comment on how well it does there.
Oh, did I mention that it’s fast? My oly quibble is that the front panel flips down when the tray opens, but it does not self-close.
I’ve got a Samsung and while I’m impressed at it’s speed and picture quality I really, really dislike the soft-touch interface on the unit.
It doesn’t give you any feedback when you touch the buttons and they don’t respond half the time. The most basic “power” and “eject” keys either don’t respond or have delayed response times. Drives me bonkers.
I want to thank everyone for their input. After doing some of my own research and checking Amazon, I went with the LG. Amazon had it for $119. Too good to pass up. Thanks again all.
Update in case anyone cares, I got the LG today and set it up and it works great! I finally was able to play my X Men First class disk which always made the Sony die.
I realize I’m late to the party, but if anyone else reads this, you can always consider a Playstation 3. It works very well as a BluRay player, the firmware is easy to update, it’s got the built-in WiFi, and heck, you could always play games on it as well.
You are late, and not just because the OP already bought a player.
Munch suggested a PS3 back in post #7.
Anyone know if the PS3 is compatible with Amazon Prime streaming?
As far as I know, it isn’t. I have to use my TV to stream Amazon Prime. I suppose there could be an update in the future to bring it in.
I believe it is via PlayOn.