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OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 495

post #14821 of 15133
2/26/13 at 9:58pm
I don't want to buy any more heavy equipment. All I wanted, if it existed, is a keyboard that sends out IR signals to to Sony (or Panny) deck -something like a very big remote with separate keys on a keyboard. Maybe this couldn't be done since the system is designed to only let you scroll the remote and pick one letter at a time.
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post #14822 of 15133
2/26/13 at 10:13pm
So ALL wireless USB keyboards and keyboard apps are off the table? I wish you had mentioned that earlier. In that case, there isn't a 3rd party keyboard that will work. Even if you found an IR remote with a qwerty keyboard, there are no sony or panasonic IR codes for all the characters.

Good luck
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post #14823 of 15133
2/26/13 at 10:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

So ALL wireless USB keyboards and keyboard apps are off the table? I wish you had mentioned that earlier. In that case, there isn't a 3rd party keyboard that will work. Even if you found an IR remote with a qwerty keyboard, there are no sony or panasonic IR codes for all the characters.

Good luck

This is all beyond me!!! Explain to me what I can do in simple terms to accomplish what I want.. What would a "keyboard app" do? IOW, I get what you call a "wireless USB keyboard". How does that talk to the player? Do I connect something to the player?

Thanks.
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post #14824 of 15133
2/26/13 at 10:42pm
The same way it works on a computer. Plug in the USB dongle and start typing. They come in all shapes and sizes, from a deck of cards to full size.

If you have a smart phone or iPod you can use it as a keyboard and mouse with a free program from Sony.

Those are your options. IR and Bluetooth won't work.
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post #14825 of 15133
2/27/13 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

The same way it works on a computer. Plug in the USB dongle and start typing. They come in all shapes and sizes, from a deck of cards to full size.

If you have a smart phone or iPod you can use it as a keyboard and mouse with a free program from Sony.

Those are your options. IR and Bluetooth won't work.
Based on the Panny website, their new players/streamers work with smart phones as well.
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post #14826 of 15133
2/27/13 at 7:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillP View Post

Based on the Panny website, their new players/streamers work with smart phones as well.
The old models do too, but I was unsure if QWERTY worked. I know at least the remote functions work from a smartphone. Any idea if a USB keyboard works on panny?

USB keyboard works quite well on sony. You can navigate with the cursor keys and response is very fast (faster than IR remote). But there is a bug. When navigating Netflix with just a keyboard, for example, the screen saver will turn on because it never sees any IR remote activity. I had to press a button on the remote to recover.

Sony's TV Sideview iPhone app, on the other hand, stinks. Sometimes QWERTY works, sometimes it doesn't. And while the mouse works in the web browser, it's very slow and laggy at times. Not quite ready for prime time.

I'll stick with my IR remote and do my Netflix searches and queue management elsewhere.
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post #14827 of 15133
2/27/13 at 3:14pm
Here is what it says on the Panny website about their new players/streamers(these capabilities are definitely not there on my Panny 110 from 2011):

View Palm-Sized Content on Your Big Screen TV with Miracast™
Now you can stream movies, TV shows, music, videos, photos and more from your Android 4.2-or-higher-enabled mobile device directly to your TV. Panasonic's new DMP-BDT330 Smart Network 3D Blu-Ray Disc™ Player is equipped with Miracast, which makes it possible to play mobile content on the big screen. No more crowding around a tiny phone to share your favorite content. Miracast makes exploring and enjoying the Internet—including popular streaming Apps—easy and fun.

Make Web Surfing More Fun
The Panasonic DMP-BDT330 Smart Network 3D Blu-Ray Disc™ Player comes equipped with an Internet browser. So all your favorite sites usually seen from your PC, smartphone or tablet can be displayed on your large-screen TV, from the comfort of your living room. It makes surfing the web more fun, more social and more sharable—a great way to bring friends and family closer together.
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post #14828 of 15133
2/27/13 at 3:20pm
I understand that, but I was talking about using a keyboard on a smartphone to control the player, not streaming video to it. That definitely used to work on my 110. HERE's the app. I just can't remember how the keypad part worked, whether or not it was a full qwerty keyboard that worked in all the apps, like Netflix searches.
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post #14829 of 15133
3/7/13 at 6:16am
Help. I need a solution here...

Have an LG BD570 in the family room, and a BD390 in the bed room. Both work great for DVD, Bluray, Netflix, and most importantly streaming .MKV and other formats natively including DTS, DD5.1 and higher from a windows share folder, not using DLNA. We just upgraded to a 3D TV in the family room and now want to get a 3d Bluray player.

It appears that all bluray players that support streaming video files today do it via DLNA. In my experience trying different DLNA servers with our Sony TV's and PS3, its not as good as the native network streaming of the LG's we have. Either there are delays to start streaming, we can't FF/RW, the audio gets converted to stereo, in some cases the movies just don't show up to even try playing, or some such. When streaming the old LG players might not have a "pretty" interface with cover art, etc, but they start playing fast, can FF/RW, pass through the audio, or re-encode to DTS, etc.

Even the new LG's seem to use DLNA and no longer play files from a shared network folder.

Do I have any options to get one device, to do it all? Is there a 3D Bluray player that will do what my BD570 and BD390's did?

Any suggestions? (and if you MUST suggest a Bluray player that uses DLNA, can you suggest a good server to run on a Windows PC?)
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post #14830 of 15133
3/7/13 at 9:27am
The DLNA client in Sony players seems to work best if you use serviio as the DLNA server and select the Bravia TV output option.
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post #14831 of 15133
3/7/13 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Venture View Post

Help. I need a solution here...

Have an LG BD570 in the family room, and a BD390 in the bed room. Both work great for DVD, Bluray, Netflix, and most importantly streaming .MKV and other formats natively including DTS, DD5.1 and higher from a windows share folder, not using DLNA. We just upgraded to a 3D TV in the family room and now want to get a 3d Bluray player.

It appears that all bluray players that support streaming video files today do it via DLNA. In my experience trying different DLNA servers with our Sony TV's and PS3, its not as good as the native network streaming of the LG's we have. Either there are delays to start streaming, we can't FF/RW, the audio gets converted to stereo, in some cases the movies just don't show up to even try playing, or some such. When streaming the old LG players might not have a "pretty" interface with cover art, etc, but they start playing fast, can FF/RW, pass through the audio, or re-encode to DTS, etc.

Even the new LG's seem to use DLNA and no longer play files from a shared network folder.

Do I have any options to get one device, to do it all? Is there a 3D Bluray player that will do what my BD570 and BD390's did?

Any suggestions? (and if you MUST suggest a Bluray player that uses DLNA, can you suggest a good server to run on a Windows PC?)

Budget?
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post #14832 of 15133
3/7/13 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hernanu View Post

Budget?
$175 or less if possible.
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post #14833 of 15133
3/8/13 at 4:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Venture View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by hernanu View Post

Budget?
$175 or less if possible.

In that price range, you're pretty much stuck with one of the Sony players -- S590 (if still available) or its replacement S5100. Their networking is generally considered to be better than Panasonic's. Their new BDT-230 isn't shipping yet, though. They may have made significant improvements.
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post #14834 of 15133
3/11/13 at 1:11pm
Hey everyone,
I would really appreciate some advice here.
I've got a Panasonic DMP-BDT310 and I'm considering purchasing an Oppo 103. Will I see a noticable gain in quality? I do listen to 2ch music regularly so that has moderate importance to me as well.

Thanks for any input!
Jason
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post #14835 of 15133
3/12/13 at 7:12am
Are any if the new players from any of the big manufacturers out yet?
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post #14836 of 15133
3/12/13 at 8:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Selden Ball View Post

In that price range, you're pretty much stuck with one of the Sony players -- S590 (if still available) or its replacement S5100. Their networking is generally considered to be better than Panasonic's. Their new BDT-230 isn't shipping yet, though. They may have made significant improvements.
Is it possible to get what I want if I raise my price point?
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post #14837 of 15133
3/12/13 at 8:50am
Oppo's players support both DLNA and SMB/CIFS. They cost about $500 for the 103 and $1000 for the 105. Previous generations are available used, but at essentially no discount.
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post #14838 of 15133
3/12/13 at 9:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Venture View Post

Is it possible to get what I want if I raise my price point?
You should consider getting a dedicated file streaming box if you don't want to spend a mint on a player that does it all.
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post #14839 of 15133
3/12/13 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

You should consider getting a dedicated file streaming box if you don't want to spend a mint on a player that does it all.

Yea, you could get a Sony BDP-1100 ($88) and a Dune HD TV 103D ($139) for close to $230 if you shop about.

If you didn't want to go Dune, you could go WDLive Play ... but no HD audio support ... and no DVD native playback support (since no Mpeg2)

That would give you a great BD/DVD player with on-line streaming, and a pretty much faultless local streamer that will play virtually any MKV, with any video codec ... and give you a lovely movie "wall".


Edited by apw2607 - 3/12/13 at 8:04pm
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post #14840 of 15133
3/12/13 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by apw2607 View Post

Yea, you could get a Sony BDP-1100 ($88) and a Dune HD TV 303D ($139) for close to $230 if you shop about.

Dune TV 30 3D is $199.99, not $139 (unless you know some special place to buy from)
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post #14841 of 15133
3/12/13 at 8:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adude View Post

Dune TV 30 3D is $199.99, not $139 (unless you know some special place to buy from)

Sorry. You are quite right. I was thinking 103d but my finger typed 303d.
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post #14842 of 15133
3/13/13 at 5:31pm
I'm looking for a good 3D Blu-ray player under $300.
It will be hooked up to a Panasonic WT50 (not sure if that matters).

- "Must" have:
- Cinavia Free
- Play .MKV

I don't know much about 3d Players, so not sure what else to look for!
I'm ready to buy it today! (needs to be from Amazon.com)
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post #14843 of 15133
3/13/13 at 6:11pm
^^^
Just make sure it came out in 2011 or earlier and is NOT on THIS list (some 2011 players are infected). It can be tricky because 3D and Cinavia happened about the same time. Have you ever thought of buying or renting movies?
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post #14844 of 15133
3/13/13 at 6:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

^^^
Just make sure it came out in 2011 or earlier and is NOT on THIS list (some 2011 players are infected). It can be tricky because 3D and Cinavia happened about the same time. Have you ever thought of buyin g or renting movies?

I guess I could just setup my HTPC and play all .mkvs from there...

So, forget about the "no Cinavia thing", which blu-ray player do you recommend under $300?
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post #14845 of 15133
3/14/13 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSee View Post

I guess I could just setup my HTPC and play all .mkvs from there...

So, forget about the "no Cinavia thing", which blu-ray player do you recommend under $300?
What do you plan to do with it, discs only or streaming too? If so, which apps do you use most, Netflix, Amazon, etc.? I assume you don't need DLNA since you have an HTPC. Do you plan to use HDMI CEC? Do you need wifi? Do you need optical, coax or analog audio?
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post #14846 of 15133
3/14/13 at 9:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by DSee View Post

I guess I could just setup my HTPC and play all .mkvs from there...

So, forget about the "no Cinavia thing", which blu-ray player do you recommend under $300?
What do you plan to do with it, discs only or streaming too? If so, which apps do you use most, Netflix, Amazon, etc.? I assume you don't need DLNA since you have an HTPC. Do you plan to use HDMI CEC? Do you need wifi? Do you need optical, coax or analog audio?

Amazon streaming. + discs.
Possibly HDMI CEC, Wifi would be nice...
Not sure about the audio. It's going to be hooked up to a AVR-1913 receiver.

I'm thinking about getting a Panasonic 220 today at a local store for $109.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk
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post #14847 of 15133
3/14/13 at 10:06am
Just be aware that the panasonic does not support Amazon watch lists or DD5.1. Also the newer 230 just came out. So prices on the 220 will probably continue to drop since it was just discontinued. Unless you can find a really good deal (like under $100), I'd hold out for the 230. We don't know if the Amazon app is any better in the new model, but it might be.
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post #14848 of 15133
3/14/13 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by turbosc297 View Post

Hey everyone,
I would really appreciate some advice here.
I've got a Panasonic DMP-BDT310 and I'm considering purchasing an Oppo 103. Will I see a noticable gain in quality? I do listen to 2ch music regularly so that has moderate importance to me as well.

Thanks for any input!
Jason

I had the oppo 103 and returned it.
I ended up with the $100 panasonic 220 instead.

The Oppo has several issues with HDMI outputs, sharpness, color, etc.
The hope is they will address the issues with FW.
What broke it for me was the SD performance.
Playing the original SD DVD from the Oppo was no better than streaming a ripped file.
At that point I wasn't sure i was getting my $$ worth from the machine.

So I went the opposite way and spent very little on a cheesy, featherweight 220 machine.
It does not look impressive in my rack at all. (yuck)
But- it performs.
Blue Ray is just as good as the Oppo- maybe better if you factor in the Oppo's sharpness issue.
SD DVD performance from the 220 is where I was really blown away.
I played the same disc in both and the 220 is clearly better. Richer and sharper image without the processed look.
I was shocked.

I hate the look and build of the Panasonic unit- but the image is rock solid.

That said- the audio on the Oppo is very nice. It delivers with force. Sound is full- you really feel it.
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post #14849 of 15133
3/14/13 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojogypson View Post

I had the oppo 103 and returned it.
I ended up with the $100 panasonic 220 instead.

The Oppo has several issues with HDMI outputs, sharpness, color, etc.
The hope is they will address the issues with FW.
What broke it for me was the SD performance.
Playing the original SD DVD from the Oppo was no better than streaming a ripped file.
At that point I wasn't sure i was getting my $$ worth from the machine.

So I went the opposite way and spent very little on a cheesy, featherweight 220 machine.
It does not look impressive in my rack at all. (yuck)
But- it performs.
Blue Ray is just as good as the Oppo- maybe better if you factor in the Oppo's sharpness issue.
SD DVD performance from the 220 is where I was really blown away.
I played the same disc in both and the 220 is clearly better. Richer and sharper image without the processed look.
I was shocked.

I hate the look and build of the Panasonic unit- but the image is rock solid.

That said- the audio on the Oppo is very nice. It delivers with force. Sound is full- you really feel it.

I agree across the board on that.
My Panasonic 871 is way cheap looking and lightweight, but the performance vs the price has blown me away...
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post #14850 of 15133
3/15/13 at 6:38am
Just about to buy a Sony 590 from Amazon.com

At $115.00 this is just perfect price


Other players with 3D and built in wifi I should consider at this price?

I already have two, the oppo 93 which I am about to sell
-- and the fantastic Sony 790

Most of all I would just buy another 790, I am so happy with it.

But its kind of pricey, what are the cheaper alternatives - that plays Life of pi in 3D and Skyfall just as perfect as my Sony 790 and Oppo 93 ?

PS
This new sony 5100 - whats the "big deal" with this, compared to the older 590 ?? Its only 10-20 dollars more expensive, I guess.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Blu-ray & HD DVD › Blu-ray Players › OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE.