Hi. am kinda new to AV forum and relatively inexperienced in world of H D players
Am retired and this will b my first purchase of an HD player
Have build up my HD library about egually taking advantage of Amazons BOGO sales
BR-52
HD-48
SD-500
Original thought i would take a chance with Sammy 5000 because of reading positive reviews from sound vision and CNET articles, especially since 5000 upconversion had reon chip like XA2
Pre-ordered from Amazom for FEB 2008 delivery
Started reading threads in AV forum about Sammy 5000 and now have serious doubts
Started reading threads about Toshiba A35 and Pany30 and they all seem like they have issues of some kind one way or the other, depending on who u listen to
But it seems the best of the reviews in Blu-Ray come from Pany 30
And best review in HD DVD come from XA2 and A35
Am interested in up conversion as well as great Video and Audio quality and my common sense is telling me to hold off on purchase of 5000 and go with A35 ( good up conversion ) can use that for my SD library and Pany 30 for great video and audio capabilities
Amazon has great sale on now 10 free HDDVD's with purchase of A35 and 5 Blu-Ray with purchase of Pany 30 comes out cheaper then 5000
Right now have
Sony KDL -52XBR5 3HDMI Connections
Bose Acoustimass 16 series with 7 speakers
Onkyo-TX-SR804 7 Channel Amplifier-will buy Onkyo 1.3 AV receiver in future
Now am presently going Digital Optical from DVD player or players to AV receiver
And HDMI 1.3 direct from DVD player or players to XBR5
WOULD APPRECIATE SOMEONE WITH FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE TO ADVISE ME
Sorry for long Ad
Marty

There are problems with the 5K regarding currently supported audio formats. Samsung promises an early update -- some are unsatisfied that it isn't perfect out of the box.

There are others who are bashing all dual players for whatever reason comes to hand because they stop the Holy March of Progress to their desired victor in the Great Format War. Take some posters with a grain of salt.

I have seen horrid reviews of every last product on the market. Usually the reviewer had some other set of needs than I did, so I have to read carefully to see if their showstopper was even of interest to me.

The Panny is the first full standard spec (profile 1.1) blu-ray player (ignoring the PS3 which can meet any spec). Many more to come in 2008, but right now it's the only one, and this puts it ahead of the "profile 1.0" players which are being phased out.

The HD DVD players all have a common spec, so it's added features that drive the decision. The XA2 has the best upconverter among them by widespread agreement.

I'm quite happy with the upconversion of the Sammy -- and it's the first upconverter that I thought was better than my Sony TV's scaler. Then again, I've not actually seen the XA2.

Thoughts: There's a lot to be said for the deals on separates. Then again take a look at the mail-in disc selection -- the choices are limited and you probably won't find a lot of joy there, and they take about 3 months to arrive. Of those "10" discs, only 3 are ones you choose and get right now.

HDMI: If you burn 2 ports with separates and another with your cable/sat set-top-box, you have used all 3.

Onkyo: IF you can get analog audio 7.1 inputs from the player, and the player decodes all formats, you won't need to upgrade this for some time. Saves many $$$ to keep your AV. Assuming the Onkyo has 7.1 analog inputs: most do in that range. It's unlikely that it would have more than one set of inputs, though, so again separates are an issue. Example: even though the XA2 has 5.1 analog outputs it doesn't help you with the Blu-ray player. Or vice-versa.

The unified player with analog discrete outputs was important for me and my Denon 3803. $1500 to replace.

The Samsung, however, does not currently support all formats over analog audio -- they promise that in an upgrade but it surely doesn't right now. However, it allows you to hook to the TV with one HDMI for both formats, to the AV amp with a bunch of audio cables, and have no need to replace the amp for several more years (until the sat/cable folks offer better than DTS).

Hope this helps.

Trust me when I tell you that there are problems with every player. Entrance into the world of HD is for the patient and the tolerant. The A-35 has lock up issues on certain DVD's for some, not for others. The XA2 has power down issues.

Toshiba (Onkyo 805) can't seem to make a stable player and the Blu-Ray gang can't seem to sustainably release movies I really want to see.

The heck of it is once you've experienced HD....it's hard to go back.

In the end you'll have to do alot of research and then quantiy which issues you can live with and can't live with. Then buy the player that has issues you can live with.

Samsung 5000, OR A35, and Pany 30 PLEASE HELPTwo separate HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc format players that work, will not cost any more than (1) BD-UP5000 that does not. If you must buy a HD DVD player now I recommend going the separate format route or better yet wait until CES 2008 next week to see what's new for next year.

Yeah, I'd go with something OTHER than Samsung! They have had nothing but issues on all their players so far. That's not to say that there aren't issues with other manufacturers, but Samsung has probably been the worst next to Toshiba.

The Panny BD30 seems to be pretty decent for stand alone players. The best overall would be the PS3.

Dan

I have had an hd-dvd player (toshiba hd-a1) for a few years now. I recently decided to go format neutral. I was strongly considering the 5000. I have an onkyo 805 with 1.3 support. I decided to go with the pany 30. I did not want to buy a player that did not guarantee it would be able to send the latest codecs via hdmi. I got mine for 449.00 plus 10 free movies so I was ok with the price. I will eventually get an a35 and move the a1 to the bedroom. I dont mind having 2 separate players. My 805 has 3 hdmi inputs. I can got both players for a little less then the current price of the 5000. One of my co workers just got a 5000 and is happy with his.