Any new players coming that look better than the Panasonic?

The new Sharp looks interesting, will be out this fall.

My favorite right now? The PS3. Why? Excellent Blu-ray, upconverting DVD, even plays SACD. Very upgradable. Fast loading. Lots of other capabilities.

Samsung has a new one comming out this fall, I believe the 1400 series, they seem to always have an interesting design. I currently own the panasonic and while load times are no where near ps3 fast, they are not that bad at all.

The dual format Samsung coming out is being rumored to be priced around $600 and fully support all features and functions of both formats (BD-Live)

Some people here may not like HD-DVD, but what the heck, if you can get a dual format player with a better feature set than a Blu-Ray only player for the same price, I like the dual format option. You are also not void of Universal's releases by going this route.

Just an idea

Engadget says the Samsung dual format player will cost around $600 more than their standard Blu-Ray player.

link

Also, EngadgetHD reports that the upcoming Sharp player will be released in Japan only, as has been mentioned before on the forum. This really sucks because the Sharp was going to be my first HD disc player.

Thanks for the info. I must have misinterpreted what I had read earlier. This puts a damper on my plans as I had planned to get this player, but if it is above $1000, I think I'll hold out.

To the OP... I recommend waiting until players start coming out that do two things:
1. Support next generation audio codec decoding on unit.
2. Support profile 1.1 or more preferably BD-Live.

I think you will be happy a year from now if you hold out for one of those.

the higher end sony s500 is something to consider as well, should do 1.1 and dts-hd ma. its the one i'm waiting for if i don't get a ps3

Exactly what I'm waiting for as well...plus I need 5.1 analog outs because I don't have an HDMI receiver, so the PS3 is out. Since the Panny doesn't have the 1.1 spec, its out too. Here's to hoping a player with these features comes soon after the 1.1 spec is released.

Any info on this unit that I can look up online? Thanks in advance...

How about this one Samsung BD-P1400

no solid information available that i know of other than it is the high end alternative to the s300. bfdtv hinted that it would you use the new chips which may allow for dts-hd ma decoding as well as being bd profile 1.1 ready and hdmi 1.3. all at a price premium to the s300 do out this fall more than likely

At the newly reduced price of $499.00 for the 60GB the PS3 is really the Blu-ray performance and value king. Personally, I was set on picking up the Panasonic but I'm now waiting on the Samsung 1400. However, other than the remote control issues with the PS3 there's little compelling reason to replace it with a stand alone player, IMHO.

I own the samsung bdp-1200 and I haved owned the sony bdps300. IMHO the bdp 1200 has the best picture quality of all the blu ray players out right now. The load times are fast and I have played over 20 movies no problem. The silicon optix reon processor is the best for upconverting and honestly unless the new players have something better than the reon processor, i dont see how it can get better than this.
Sure the bdp 1200 is not BD Live compliant, but if you can live without PIP and interactive features that most people never even use then I think this is a solid unit to have. For me its all about the movie and the picture quality and samsung surely delivers in that department.
The PS3 is a great machine, but the reason I didnt choose it is because I rarely play video games and I wanted a sleek looking stand a lone and not a video game system in my room with playstaion controllers.


-Johnny

There always is and always will be "better" machines coming; it is just the nature of technology.
That is the paradox we hobbyists have to face.
However, you can wait and miss out on experiencing BD right NOW.
Right now, there are some good deals out there on players.
For example, the Panny BD-10a comes with 5 free movies right in the box.
The Blu-Ray group is offering an additional 5 free movies (if you buy any BD player by the end of the month).
By the time you factor in 10 free movies (at $20 each), the player will cost you no more than $400 (MSRP $599).