OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 5

I'll be leaving for Florida on Saturday, and wanted to pick up my first BD player. With the Can $ being par with the US $, I can't pass this opportunity up.
I want a player that does all decoding internally and outputs Multi CH PCM, via HDMI, to my 1.1 HDMI Integra 7.6 AVR . I really would bite the bullet on a BD player that meets the following criteria:

1) Internally decodes DD+, DD True HD and passes it via HDMI as Multi CH PCM to my Integra 7.6 - HDMI 1.1 AVR.
2) Internally decodes DTS MA, I know... none do it, yet! (promised to do so with a confirmed FW up-date)
3) Is profile 1.1
4) Does a true 1080/24p (to complement my 60" Pioneer Kuro).
5) Excellent/Very good SD Up-conversion (like Samsung / Reon chip)
6) Comes with some free, mail in/in store movies (not a deal breaker)
7) Not interested in PS3

Does anyone know which BD player will cover all or the most of these. I am flexible (willing to wait for FW) on point # 2.

Thanks

Paul

I currently have a PS3 as my BD player and a HD-A35 as my HD DVD player. I have a Denon 3808 which can do the Dolby True HD as well as DTS MA etc.

Basically what is the BD player that will give me all the features my A35 does as far as ethernet and ability to stream audio to my reciver that it does the decoding? I don't get why the PS3 can't but whatever.

I was leaning towards the Panny but the lack of ethernet capapbilities turned me off.

Any suggestions?

i believe the bd30 does bookmark but not with any disks that have java on it...

Bottom line

$400-$500 to spend on a Blu-Ray player

1080p a must
Sound Quality is VERY important

what should i look at?

(i know NOTHING of BLU-RAY, I just jumped HD-DVD ship 10 minutes ago and looking for another ship)

Wait until Super-bowl time, the firestorm of player sales will start then.

OK, help me out here...ple-e-e-e-ase.

I'm contemplating neutrality, and haven't clue 1 about Blu-Ray players.
I get more confused, the more I read
My confusion is over this talk of "Profile 1, 1.1 or (now I'm seeing references to) 2".
What the heck does it really mean to me, as a buyer..
I don't want to buy a player that I'll need to replace in a couple months (or so).

Which do I want to look (/wait) for and what players will have it, as well as PCM , TrueHD and DTS-MA??

TIA..

Yes, but for how much money??? Now I think the BDA needs to work on getting prices down. That was the one thing that HD DVD did do in this war. It will be all for not if the prices don't come/stay down.

i would go with the panasonic dmp-bd30. It's in your price range, and it's 1.1 compliant. Only downside is no ethernet connection, if you want that you'll have to wait for the 50, but I don't know if pricing has come out on that yet.

if SQ is your primary after PQ, then I would recommend the Panny BD30 (BD50 if you can wait). The BD30 does bitstreaming for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD-MA.

THe only reason to get a ps3 is that it is the only Profile 2.0 (online interactive features), but you will lose a little on the sound from DTS-HD-MA to DTS-core until they figure out how the ps3 can handle DTS-HD-MA.

-Splints

So the BD30 will at least match my A3 in terms of sound quality then?

My receiver(denon 887) Would always show as multichannel/PCM for my HD movies , the sounds was

Here is the link about BD Profiles: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=868226

That will answer the questions about profiles.

As for players to look for, it depends on what your needs are. The PS3 and the Panny BD30 are probably the most popular options depending on your needs.

If your looking for the best in AQ and have HDMI 1.3 AVR, then the BD30 is a great choice. Otherwise the ps3 has a lot of nice features on top of being a BD player including games, demos, trailers, and probably the only true future-proof player that has been confirmed to be Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) ready. You will lose a little on the AQ since it doesn't support DTS-HD-MA, but unless you know what you want the PS3 is really a pretty solid option.

-Splints

I'm not familiar with Denon models, but if it supports HDMI 1.3, then it can support bitstreaming of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD-MA which would equate what you get from your A3 (tho I can't claim to be familiar with all the specs) since those are about as good as it gets from what I can tell.

-Splints

Hi,

Very good point. We should be concerned about this issue. Some have suggested that Blu-ray is geared for videophiles and audiophiles who will gladly pay the high profit margins, while HD DVD was geared for the average consumer who are more price-conscious. If that is so, we may be headed for another niche market like the previous HD audio format war with formats dieing a slow death from mass market indifference due to expensive and limited titles.

Persnally I don't consider myself an average consumer. So I'm still looking, and willing to pay a comparable amount, for a Blu-ray player that matches up with my Toshiba HD-XA2 in features and performance. So far I'm led to believe that nothing is close for use in a dedicated home theater, including the reasonably priced PS3. I will be closely following reviews of the BD-50 and other full-featured Blu-ray players that are yet to be announced.

Larry

I am currently in the market of replacing my A-35. I was thinking of getting the PS3 but am not familiar with B-Ray. Audio is really not a big deal to me since my reciever only gets optical not HDMI. Upconversion is important since I have a large DVD collection. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Wow... Thank you, Splinters, for steering me back to the Profile thread.
I feel outstandingly foolish
I read in great detail, the confusing parts, and somehow totally missed the simple outlines in the FAQ portion.
Made to order for a dummy such as I!
Richard Paul authored a marvelously educational thread... I was just too frustrated with my own ignorance to follow it, until you sent me back with a fresh mind...LOL!

Thank you, again, mate.

Thank you Blu-Ray fans for this thread. I'm another guy who JUST got on the HD-DVD bandwagon last month and am a bit peeved that I got on the wrong horse.

I'm considering waiting for the BD50 as I need the analog outs, but I may go with the 30 now as I'm planning to upgrade pre-pros later this year to a HDMI 1.3 compliant unit. I'm just trying to decide whether to return the A35 I just bought a few weeks ago as I already have a very good upscaling DVD player (Denon 2910).

I just jumped too but only have an A2. I need the analog outs also along with the advanced internal decoding for my Denon 3803. I'm not particularly anxious to replace the Denon. I don't have an decent upscaling machine so I'm going to keept the A2 and then move it into bedroom.

Since you have the 2910, I think it makes sense to return to A35. Have you compared PQ of both?

I seem to remember you from the AV123 site - am I right?

So I'm at a crossroad... Do I purchase a Sony 300 and get 5 additional free DVD's for $399 at Best Buy or purchase the Panny BD30 for $395 from buy.com and forget about the free DVD's?

The S300 can be had for $299.

What abt Samsung 1400 ? Isn't that a good one ?

thanks Donnie... Do you know where? So then the question really becomes is the BD30 $100 better than the s300?

Stay away from the 1400 and especially the 1200.

I'm thinking about getting a Panny BD30K and have a question. I currently have a Panny SD DVD recorder DMR E-30 and record material on Panny DVD-RAM disks. Does anyone know if these will play on the BD30K??

Thanks.

Ya I heard 1200 is nasty, but 1400 was reasonably better as it also has DTS HD MA decoding ability and price is also much lesser than Panny or other better ones. And what if I had to make a choice between Sharp BDHP20 or Samsung 1400 and SONY S300 also to fit my budegt ? Panny is kind of higher in my range.

Any quick thoughts on that ?

I'm a little discouraged as well. It seems that the best blu-ray player is the ps3. I bought one and returned it the other day as I did not need any gaming, just movie watching. But my point is that even coming to the second and third generations of the blu-ray players, they still don't have the same capabilities of my first generation hddvd player as far as audio decoding and interactivity is concerned. The Panasonic bd30 seems to have the most going for it but it still lacks the internal decoding of true-hd that I need for my older receiver with analog connections. It also lacks the ethernet port for interactivity and firmware updates. Some of the other brands have issues of their own and are not profile 1.1. I'm not trying to bash blu ray, I want to join the club(johnnycomelately) but for us people that have been spoiled by hddvd features on affordable products, there seems to be no answer for an affordable full featured blu ray product just now. I guess I'll wait for the Panny bd50 and pay whatever price they will be asking and my guess is that it will probably be pricey now that HDDVD seems to be on the way out.
Just a rant-not trying to pick a fight.

Interactivity is a late bloomer for BD, so I can see how that is bothersome for those switching. Since Profile 1.1 became a baseline in Oct 07, so I would expect it will take this year before BD gets up to speed in that arena. Ideally the wait will include nicer interactivity features, but we will have to wait and see.

-Splints

Yet another lost soul here overwhelmed with these specs and info that I didn't think I'd have to worry about for a long time, etc...this is a great thread, nice to see the level headed BR guys here lending a hand to us wacked out HD DVD folks.

Anyway, I'm not lazy, impatient, but not lazy - I've skimmed through this thread and a few others, I'm still gonna cheaply throw this out for the quick "yes, go for that" or "no, wait" though...I don't care about the ethernet connection stuff, have zero problems DLing and ISO burning FW updates, actually kinda prefer that, seems easier in fact, so....as of right now, I'm leaning towards buying the ONKYO TX-SR605 and the BD30 - does this seem like a good pairing (bear in mind, I'm about to drop a couple grand on a display, so money is an issue)?? Thanks.

The Samsung 1400 does not decode DTS-MA. No BD player out there does that (yet). The Panny BD30 will send DTS-MA via bitstream to an AVR that is capable of doing the decoding.

I own the Panny BD30 and Onkyo 605 and it is a great combination. The BD30 will bitstream all of the latest audio formats (including True HD and DTS-MA) and the 605 decodes them all. BD PQ is excellent. Std def DVD PQ is adequate.

People if you want a player that's on the market right now the only future-proof options as I see it are:
Panny DMP-BD30k or PS3

Anything else and you are missing something or paying way too much...