????

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

It is on Par with the Reon. Early reported troubles were adressed via firmware.

It is on Par with the Reon. Early reported troubles were adressed via firmware.

Thanks. So would you recommend it?

Thanks. So would you recommend it?

If he/she won't, I sure as heck will. The only issue with it is if you have 4:3 SD DVD's. Hollywood movies playback brilliantly to use English English.

Good - so now, would you please, translate this sentence to English for me? :D

I mean mainstream widescreen SD DVD's playback without issues as they are supposed to be stretched.

I do believe that when Brits (e.g. Simon Cowell and Jeremy Clarkson) use the term "brilliant", they mean outstanding, cool or perhaps shiny? That's what I meant by English English--that stuff they speak in England.

????

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

$399.95 at Best Buy

????

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

Quite the contrary, it's actually really good. When I saw it it was a bit oversaturated etc but all these defaults could be adjusted manually.

$399.95 at Best Buy

Thanks. That's why I was considering it.

Hollywood movies playback brilliantly to use English English.

Good - so now, would you please, translate this sentence to English for me? :D

Thanks. That's why I was considering it.

It's my prime candidate for a backup player - err, for amin player as my A35 would retire to the closet, for backup... ;) I don't really care about Blu-Ray but it's completely hackable, that makes my trackpad itching... :D

There is a 10% coupon for BB out right now. Makes the player $359. I just got another one today, and they actually honored the 25$ gift card deal too! So $359 and a $25 card, for a player that has all the functionality, an quality of a very good standalone BR player.

Nice...

And the upconversion is excellent.

Yeah, I saw that...also FYI, you can get a 10% off coupon for BB anytime at the post office in the change of address packet.

Thanks. So would you recommend it?

Hell Yea. Actually price matched my unit yesterday. 399 - 12% BB Rewards coupon + 25 dollar gift card. Not bad for one of the best HD-DVD players made and Profile 2 compliant verry soon so i can play quiz show on MIB online:p.

Who sad it wad bad?

It's very good IMO.

It's not as good as my 2005 model Pioneer DV868AVi but then I didn't expect it to be. Despite costing technically the same price my (now sold) Pioneer was the top of the range/premium model in 2005. I doubt Pioneer's current Premium model is much better.

The LG BH200's Upscaling is still very good though.

I think SD playback is very good on the BH200. I just wish they'd fix the 4:3 stretch issue.

Hell Yea. Actually price matched my unit yesterday. 399 - 12% BB Rewards coupon + 25 dollar gift card. Not bad for one of the best HD-DVD players made and Profile 2 compliant verry soon so i can play quiz show on MIB online:p.

Looks like you can go back over and collect some money since they've dropped the price another $60 today.

I was over at Best Buy today and didn't see any of them, not even a demo, but it says on-line that they them. Must be in the back room.

And what is this gift card you're talking about?

There is a 10% coupon for BB out right now. Makes the player $359. I just got another one today, and they actually honored the 25$ gift card deal too! So $359 and a $25 card, for a player that has all the functionality, an quality of a very good standalone BR player.

Nice...

And the upconversion is excellent.

Well, looks like I will be collecting another $60 back! Making the effective purchase price $280.

Get 'em while they are hot folks. Won't last long at this price!

Looks like you can go back over and collect some money since they've dropped the price another $60 today.

I was over at Best Buy today and didn't see any of them, not even a demo, but it says on-line that they them. Must be in the back room.

And what is this gift card you're talking about?

Search for BB coupons, you should be able to find it! I did!

I personally think it plays SD great. Besides the 4:3 issue but I dont have any 4:3 movies so Im good. Only time I experience this is when I play special features that are in 4:3 format. And really it doesnt really bother me. Special features is secondary anyway (least to me).

Well, looks like I will be collecting another $60 back! Making the effective purchase price $280.

Get 'em while they are hot folks. Won't last long at this price!

Did you have to represent your coupons (mine is lazy return and re-ring) I wonder if I go for the price match if I will have to return the 25 dollar gift card and then present both coupons on the new sale price. Any experiences (collective) on this?

Did you have to represent your coupons (mine is lazy return and re-ring) I wonder if I go for the price match if I will have to return the 25 dollar gift card and then present both coupons on the new sale price. Any experiences (collective) on this?

No, you won't have to do that, but I still want to know where these 25 dollar gift cards come from.

No, you won't have to do that, but I still want to know where these 25 dollar gift cards come from.

I found a link to in at HD digest in the BD Deals. Sorry no link. It was a scan. If I find again I will post a link.

No, you won't have to do that, but I still want to know where these 25 dollar gift cards come from.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3830/giftcardfs3.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3830/giftcardfs3.jpg

Excellent. Thanks!

$399.95 at Best Buy

No 339.00 now at BB.com.:D

The QDEO is a highly competent video processor on par with the REON. I have compared this unit with the 5000 and the 1200 using the HQV benchmarks and the results were very similar, dare I say nearly identical. I have read reports that the reon is slightly sharper and I kinda agree, but not by much. For the price it can't be beat right now as I bought mine full price when it first came out. Ouch!

I second the amazing quality of the Qdeo... its nearly identical to my xa2 in terms of dvd playback. the bh200 is an amazing player and at the price at bestbuy.com of 339.99 its almost a steal espescially if you use the above coupon for $25 more off.

I love this forum. Just went to Best Buy and had them price match their web site to $339.99 as the store is still selling these for $399.99. Then I used a 10% off coupon from the Post Office (thanks IrishLegend) which scanned fine but for some reason wasn't taking 10% off so the clerk had to over-ride it so I got the unit for $305.99. Now I can stick my HD-A2 in my family room (while having a backup HD-DVD player) and use this in my theater for all my HD-DVD's. Hell, I may even have to buy some Blu-Ray even though I favored "red" from the beginning! I'll post and let you all know how the QDEO performs in contrast to the HD-A2 upconverting, but from all accounts it should be clearly superior.

The 200 is superior to the A2 in upscaling, I have both.

That's what I've read too although this thread was started because someone heard (mistakenly?) it wasn't very good.

The 200 & REON playback of SD DVD is = in quality, just not = in style/look.
The reviews have the REON w/a sharper/stronger PQ & the 200 w/a smoother/softer PQ.
So its a personal and/or system/source choice between the two.

I prefer softer, can you tell, cause to me its more film-like.
However, those that wish their, especial digital, displays too show every hard edge go REON.
Or, if one had a 'softer' , especially analog/rear projection, display the REON may bring up detail.
I'm a plasma fan, so the 200 takes the digital edge off, for me anyway.

Good luck & welcome to combo land!

Excellent post. Well said.


The 200 & REON playback of SD DVD is = in quality, just not = in style/look.
The reviews have the REON w/a sharper/stronger PQ & the 200 w/a smoother/softer PQ.
So its a personal and/or system/source choice between the two.

I prefer softer, can you tell, cause to me its more film-like.
However, those that wish their, especial digital, displays too show every hard edge go REON.
Or, if one had a 'softer' , especially analog/rear projection, display the REON may bring up detail.
I'm a plasma fan, so the 200 takes the digital edge off, for me anyway.

Good luck & welcome to combo land!

Hooked it up, threw Beowulf in and tada - no go. Did firmware update with usb drive and 5 minutes later Beowul, Harry Potter 5, and Sea Biscuit all look beautiful. Put in Sd version of Beowulf and surprisingly good, but then it looked very good on the HD-A2. So I tried my Sd copy of Transformers which was noticably softer than the HD-DVD version with the HD-A2. It's still not as good as the HD-DVD on the LG, but wow, it is very good. I'd go so far as to say it looks about as good as Cinemax has been showing on their HD feed (TW compresses that channel bad). So with some quick disc changes and comparisons, on my 96" screen fed a 720p signal, the LG BH-200 upscales noticably better than the HD-A2. HD-DVD's look equivalent to the HD-A2 as I really don't notice a difference between the players and without having them on at the same time, I don't think anybody would. I suspect Blu-Ray will also be just as good as any other Blu-Ray player out there.

Well, I wanted one of these but if it stretches 4x3 content then that's a deal-breaker for me. Are there any plans for this to be fixed in a firmware update?

Sadly I doubt it. LG or Samsung have never admitted it's a problem. I even read LG consider it "there by design". There are workaround though to get SD out as 4:3 and it doesn't effect all TVs.

On my Samsung LCD TV I can choose the 4:3 mode just fine, hopefully when I upgrade my TV to Full HD it will also continue to work.

Hell Yea. Actually price matched my unit yesterday. 399 - 12% BB Rewards coupon + 25 dollar gift card. Not bad for one of the best HD-DVD players made and Profile 2 compliant verry soon so i can play quiz show on MIB online:p.

How can you say it is one of the best HD DVD players around? I have an XA2 and I am sorry but so far just as an HD DVD player, this LG is falling flat on its face. Going through my collection the disc issues are piling up. This is like 1st gen HD DVD players before the fw updates.

Despite the fact that the LG BH200 has some issues with HD DVDs that all of you should please report to LG rather than discussing those in detail here without LG knowing about, it is indeed one of the best HD DVD players available. I own two HD-XE1, that is the European version of the HD-XA2.

The HD-XE1 is a bit crippled by Toshiba since firmware 2.8. It can't even output 1080p/24 Hz when it is set to Frame Rate Auto (which is required so that you can play back Pal DVDs without severe stuttering). All you get with framerate auto is 1080p , no 24 Hz. Plus the fan is too noisy. In addition, the HD-XE1 has the shutdown bug (at least a lot do, one of mine has), sorry this is not what qualifies it as better than the LG BH200 per se. A Reon and a QDEO processor? I suppose well it's about the same, both are great.

By contrast, the LG BH200 does not shut down at random and it plays back my Pal DVDs without stutter plus I get 1080p/24hz with my HD DVDs without having to change this in the setup menu. And it is whisper quiet.

The edge enhancement of the Reon is indeed fantastic :rolleyes: My 2 cents: The Toshiba HD-XE1 is great but not that great.:) I own both, I like the LG BH200 a little bit better. Still hoping for firmware fixes for both.

OK I said "just as an HD DVD player". So all your PAL woes and such really do not apply. I have an XA2 with fw 2.7 and it has never shut down on me and plays every HD DVD in my collection flawlessly. Sorry to hear you got a bum unit. Maybe you should get it fixed/replaced like others have.

Already sent it to Toshiba for repairs. But I doubt that they are able to repair it, they don't even know what a shutdown bug is here in Switzerland. and they do not replace faulty HD-XE1 players either. They probably simply return it and say it works as designed. :rolleyes:

Did your HD-XA2 play the US HD DVD Eastern Promises? My two Toshibas HD-XE1 refused to play beyond 7 minutes and 36 seconds. Got an error from the players. The LG BH200 played this disc flawlessly. My 2nd HD DVD that the Toshibas can't play but the LG BH200 can. But I agree, usually it is vice versa, I also have my share of LG BH200 playback issues test HD DVDs :confused:.

I rented Eastern Promises HD DVD and it played perfectly on my XA2. It is on my short HD DVD Want List. I never updated past 2.7 because everything was working perfect and all the reports of new issues, why would I? My player is out of warranty soon so I do not want to mess with it.

On the topic of the BH200 as a DVD player, I have to say I am impressed. I am one of the few here I'm sure that appreciates the auto stretch of 4:3 DVD. The PQ is way better than I had expected and I can't lie, looks noticeably better than the Denon DVD-955 (2910) that I was using in the bedroom before on my 42" plasma. The ol' Denon, sittin on the bench again, haha. It keeps getting sidelined and even did like a 6 month bid in my closet. Oh well, it is a nice backup machine. I probably will never sell it.

These HD DVD problems on the LG are irkin me though. I will have to hit LG up on Tues and put a bug in their ear.

Well, I wanted one of these but if it stretches 4x3 content then that's a deal-breaker for me. Are there any plans for this to be fixed in a firmware update?

FYI: I'm not sure how much it helps you but when I watched a PAL disc @1080p50 last time I watched it in 4:3 with the help of my scaler.

Annecdotal but I noticed my SD plays better @ 720p than 1080i on my plasma.
Totally opposite when I was using the Tosh A30.

Not sure which has the right of way in terms of conversion.

Annecdotal but I noticed my SD plays better @ 720p than 1080i on my plasma.
Totally opposite when I was using the Tosh A30.

Not sure which has the right of way in terms of conversion.

Whichever looks best to YOU is the right way. 720p sets often look better than 1080i/p sets with SD content because the upscale so well.

Whichever looks best to YOU is the right way. 720p sets often look better than 1080i/p sets with SD content because the upscale so well.

Very well put - I agree.

Whichever looks best to YOU is the right way. 720p sets often look better than 1080i/p sets with SD content because the upscale so well.

Well, they only have half as many pixels to upscale. It kind of lowers the bar, no?

I've been meaning to call LG, but my girlfriend's been sick. I had to get new tires for my car, etc. (Don't ask.) Hopefully, I can connect with them tomorrow.

Sorry, but the BH200 is just an okay HD DVD player. It has way too many issues with non-mainstream titles, imports and Shooter/Clerks II.

My A20 may have 1080p issues, but it plays pretty much every HD DVD I've thrown at it--nearly 300 titles.

I think SD playback is very good on the BH200. I just wish they'd fix the 4:3 stretch issue.

I keep seeing people mention this. Why don't you use the viewing mode on your TV to put it into the proper 4:3 look. Or does that do something completely different? :confused:

I keep seeing people mention this. Why don't you use the viewing mode on your TV to put it into the proper 4:3 look. Or does that do something completely different? :confused:

Yeah, I didn't realize that would work. I've since tried that and it seems to work fine. The only pain is having to switch the TV setting back and forth between 4:3 and 16:9 depending on content.

On my Panasonic 42" plasma, throwing the plasma's aspect ratio to 4:3 only *partially* corrects the problem. Within that 4:3 frame, the video is still noticeably stretched. I have to take a second step and set the BH200's output to 480i or 480p. Way too many gymnastics to watch a standard DVD, or 4:3 extras on a movie DVD (not to mention that, by going into the BH200 menu, the disc automatically stops and you have to once again go through disc boot-up, the FBI warning, etc., just to watch something the way it is intended. LG, this is not "normal" nor acceptable.