OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 153

Originally Posted by jdeanmc

Recently gave my old sony blu ray player to my father in law,i was using ps3 anyway,so i need a new standalone blu ray player.
Made my mind up on the panasonic bd 35,then found out there scarse and about to be replaced next month.
im trying to decide if i should wait on the newer model,just get the sony 350,or get the pioneer 51 fd?
#1i dont care about getting it online,my basement theater doesnt have ethernet ran and my ps3 barely picks up the wifi signal from upstairs anyway.i usually just download to disk then just stick it in the ps3 for firmware updates.
#2 i want to bitstream everything to my yamaha rx-v1800 via hdmi,so i dont care about internal decoders.
#3 load times arent that big of a deal to me,ill control this with macros on universal remote,so when i power it on i can just stay on the sofa for another min.no big deal
biggest thing i want is audio quality(clean to avr,hdmi)and picture quality
i cant see that much that the new models in a month are so can offer with this criteria(unless im missing something)
can someone offer some insight on these choices?
i guess i just would like someone thats has any of these to tell me if theres anything they dont like about them or if there close enough that any of them will impress me the same.the pioneer and the sony i can pick up locally.
btw the older sony i got rid of didnt bitstream audio,thats the reason i got rid of it,i doubt any of these were slower than it so again i dont see load times as a big deal

Originally Posted by winston9332

you are the perfect candidate for a 51fd

Originally Posted by Rieper

I need a BR player to compliment my US Playstation 3.

I'm in the US, and I import Blu-rays from Amazon.uk website.

Specifically, I need a player that will play Region B movies.

I understand the Panasonic BD30 has a firmware which will allow region free playback, but its not endorsed by Panasonic (in other words, its hacked).

Can anyone offer me suggestions?

Originally Posted by browerjs

I'm in the market for my 3rd BluRay player. I already have a PS3 and a BD30, but want to put one in my bedroom. I love having netflix streaming on my 360, so I want to be sure to get a BR compatible with it.

Are my only options the Samsung 2550, 1600 and the LG (which I'm not interested in at all). Am I missing any? Is there any reason to go with the 2550 over the 1600 if I don't watch any SD DVDs? I also don't need wireless as I have ethernet wallplates at all my televisions, and I have never used BD-Live and I don't anticipate it anytime soon.

Originally Posted by iknown

I bought a Pioneer 51FD last friday from 6AVE. I paid $248 + taxes (total $265). I connected to my Denon 3808 receiver and everything seems to be okay.

Now I am wonderting whether Samsung 2500 was a good option for me or not. Since I have one more week to decide whether to return the Pioneer and buy a Samsung (for $290 + taxes). One of the reason for looking at Samsung is its ability to play Video CDs (VCD). I don't care much about the Profile 2.0, Netflix streaming etc (those are nice to have, but not a deal breaker for me). Regarding sound, I am bitsreaming the audio to my Denon, so not a problem for me.

Has anyone compared Pioneer's BD playback with Samsung's? . I know that Pioneer has got excellent BD playback and it is also excellent on SD-DVD playback.

Compared to my old PS3, the load times of Pioneer is not great, but I am able to live with that. If Samsung offers better load time, that will be an added advantage. But my primary criteria is picture quality.

-iKNOWN

Originally Posted by wiyid2001

hello folks...seems like alot of the very informed and knowledgeable people here like the Samsung BD-P2550. I just bought a Sammy PN50A400 plasma and have a Harman Kardon AVR-110 AVR and a set of Paradigm speakers for my surround. Atoms,Phantoms and CC-150. I am looking at getting a decent BD player. I presently own about 400 SD dvds and 0 blu rays but obviously will purchase some in future. So I guess I need a good up scaling player..and my budget is about $250 CDn. Thanks

Originally Posted by kincade

From my reading it looks ilke the samsung bd-p2550 fits our criteria (I think?).

Originally Posted by winston9332

Before the bottom fell out on the pricing for Pioneer BDP 51FD, the Samsung 25X0 was the best value on the market as a true swiss army knife - outstanding SD playback, netflix streaming in HD, and Pandora streaming for $350. I also own two and love them. They BD PQ is not as sharp as my Panny 55 or Pioneer 51, but the units have been tanks - playing every worn out Netflix BD I have thrown at them. The Sony 350 is in a lower league in my opinion.

Originally Posted by asiandude

I wonder why the BD images are not as sharp from the 25x0 when compared to your Panny or Pioneer...
How about SD DVDs?

Originally Posted by kincade

Wow, what a thread! I think I've been reading it for 4 hours now and more confused than when I started... Hoping I can solicit a bit of advice.

We need a BD player for our living room/entertainment room. It will be feeding a Panny 50pz800u that we just purchased. Sound wise the new codecs are not important as it's feeding an older HK AVR435 into 5.1 surround (and we may go to just a 'soundbar' or front stage only). The criteria would be:

Must have:
-excellent SD upconversion. 99% of our library is still DVD and I have no desire to replace the whole thing
-must be an IR remote as all components will be hid in the closet (except for the tv of course)
-must play cd's occasionally
-good BD performance picture wise

Would be nice:
-netflix streaming would (although we would need to do it wirelessly, so not sure about that yet)
-layer change on DVD that is not noticeable
-pandora would be nice also (see previous wireless comment)
-decent load time
-affordable. we don't need the absolute best on the market as it's a 2nd tv/entertaining room.

From my reading it looks ilke the samsung bd-p2550 fits our criteria (I think?). Anything else we should be looking at?

Originally Posted by Jets

Is there any point in buying a bluray player if my main display is not capable of 1080p? I have an ali type Plasma so it will do 1080 resolution but only interlaced..

Originally Posted by abba1

Long time AVS reader...my very first post. Here is my situation; I have a Sammy 5271 and am sitting about 8-9 feet away. My present blu-ray player is a Panny 30. Everything is bitstreamed from the Panny to a Denon 2809 and from there into the Sammy. Movies are all that I watch. The Panny is not used for any other media (C.D.'s etc). I'm planning to buy a 2nd Blu-ray player and am torn between the Pioneer 51 and the up-and-coming Oppo. From what I have been reading there is a fair amount of discussion between these two players especially in terms of PQ which is important to me. Any suggestions as to which one to purchase would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Jets

Is there any point in buying a bluray player if my main display is not capable of 1080p? I have an ali type Plasma so it will do 1080 resolution but only interlaced..

Originally Posted by mrtbig

OK, I can get a 2 month old BD55 and a Pioneer 51FD for about same cost. I have a Yamaha RX-V2500 so I need analog outs. I currently have a Panasonic BD10A and have been happy with it but wanted DTS-Master Audio. The Panny does it but the Pioneer is still waiting for the firmware upgrade. I just got a Sony VPL-HW10 projector and wanted a Blu-Ray for it is the reason I want another. Please give me some suggestions as I have been on the fence and going back and forth?

Originally Posted by Neuromancer

If those are your two options, I would go with the Pioneer BDP-51FD. Although slower than the Panasonic in terms of turning on and disc load times, and it completely lacks any ethernet support required for BD-Live and external media support, the video and audio performance on the Pioneer BDP-51FD are much better than the Panasonic. The de-interlacing and scaling of DVD media on the Panasonic Blu-ray players are mediocre at best, as the player suffers from horrible edge enhancement artifacts and fails many common cadences.

The Pioneer BDP-51FD, on the other hand, comes very close to higher end video processing, such as those afford by Silicon Optics Reon/Realta and ABT VRS.

Originally Posted by Jets

Is there any point in buying a bluray player if my main display is not capable of 1080p? I have an ali type Plasma so it will do 1080 resolution but only interlaced..