Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dark_Planet 
I felt that there wasn't much improved coming from my s590 they both preform about the same.
And the remote still sucks its feels cheap and makes plastic squeaking noises and it has the same 2008 look and feel.
I hope the panasonic will preform better.
Oh and it still has the annoying prompt come up before netflix loads.
THE INTERNET IS NOW READY CLICK OK TO LOAD NETFLIX................What idiot at sony made users press ok before an app loads after you already click the app?
I wish I could afford an oppo because I'm sick of these light flimsy china quality players.
I agree with everything you said. But I think you're making a bad assumption that because it has a cheap case and cheap buttons it has bad performance. True, they cut back on build quality with every generation to cut costs, but it's the inside that counts, and that part keeps getting better. Panasonic might be put together a little better, but it's so far behind sony in terms of features, it's not even on my radar anymore.
And while a killer remote would be great, I have to ask who with a home theater even uses the OEM remote? I haven't used an OEM remote for anything in at least 10 years. So even if sony's remote sucked, I would never have even noticed. Panasonic has had essentially the same confusing remote design they've had for years, although it's shrunk in size like sony. So if you're looking for a better remote, you'll have to look beyond panasonic. The one thing I do like better about panasonic is their devices are addressable, so you can independently control up to 3 of the same model with unique codes.
I think it's a mistake to get Panasonic's worst player, the BD89, and expect it to be any better than sony. I think you'll find that model to be spectacularly bad. You should at least go for a 220 or 230. And be aware that with panasonic, the Amazon app stinks, you get no stream quality info on Netflix, DLNA stinks and it has only a fraction of the streaming apps sony has. Those are the main reasons I switched from panasonic to sony last year after being a loyal panasonic customer since the 90's.
But I can't argue with you about that idiotic "THE INTERNET IS NOW READY" message. That's the single most annoying thing about these sony players. Just play the movie already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
aaronwt
Aren't OPPO players also made in China?
I was amused to find out a few years ago that my cheap Insignia blu-ray player had exactly the same cheap, no-name Chinese disc drive as a top-of-the-line Oppo. Of course these days, "Chinese quality" doesn't mean what it used to, since nearly everything is made in China, both great quality and terrible quality stuff. But I can definitely see Dark_Planet's point. A $500 player is going to be better put together than a $100 player. Performance may not be much different, but the build quality will be. Personally I can live with a cheap case and cheap buttons that I never touch anyway.
Edited by mdavej - 3/15/13 at 7:34am
Can hardly wait to get it, and hopefully start taking advantage of Netflix Super-HD for starters. Will be replacing a Samsung 3D player which works fine, but is a few model years older - will move this to the upstairs great room to be able to stream Netflix programs for the kiddies.
