Feb
8
Sharp Aquos BDHP21U 1080p Blu ray Disc Player
Now you can enjoy the best of 1080p video on your AQUOS
Feb
8
Sony BDP S350 1080p Blu ray Disc Player
plays Blu-ray high-definition discs (selectable output resolution: 1080p signals available through HDMI output only; 720p/1080i signals available through HDMI or component video) * built-in audio decoding to PCM for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS * bitstream audio output for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, and DTS-HD Master Audio * BD-Java interactive capability * BRAVIA Sync for control of compatible Sony TVs and components via HDMI *
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Good Blu-ray but is it worth it?
I've had this player for a 4 months. It plays regular DVD's just fine and actually outperforms my 1.5 year upconverting Philips DVD player. As for blu-rays - well, it's a bit of hit and miss.
1) Load times are faster than most. Keep in mind, you may as well insert the disc and go get a drink and something to eat because it takes that long to load the movie.
2) The interface is sort of clunky. If you accidently hit options you go the setup menu and then you have to reload the *whole* movie from scratch. The popup menu is more helpful and from there some movies can automatically resume - but most don't.
3) No zoom. No resume feature unless you bookmark a scene with the green button. I hear all blu-rays are like that.
4)Colors are fantastic and image is superb. 1080p at 24 frames per second is the way to go. I've noticed if you opt out of 24 fps and let the player do the 3:2 pulldown for you the image is a little softer. There are also other color options that I assume improve the image as well. I've left those all on default settings.
5) MAIN GRIPE - I can't play many formats on this player. I play my AVI and MOV files off my old Philips dvd player. Sony won't take them. No USB on thre front either. Connectivity is lacking. Upgrading the firmware without an ethernet cord is annoying at best. I can't get *real* DVD movies from overseas to play on there. There goes my Wong Kar Wai and Johnny To collection.
To be honest, I use my ROKU player more. However, when I do get a blu-ray rental in I *do* generally enjoy the superb movie quality. The sad thing is that out of the dozen or so rentals I've watched I've only liked two of the movies. The majority of the releases out there are Hollywood fluff that I don't usually watch much anyway. So, I have to say the whole blu-ray experience has been hit or miss with me. I'd recommend to anyone to just hold off and get a ROKU player instead which streams 720P wirelessly with lots of non-hollywood movies to choose from. The extra HD quality is only noticable if the movie was shot in HD or IMAX. The remainder of movies that were shot in 35mm are not noticeably sharper from regular upconverting DVD's from a distance of 8-10 feet from the TV.
4 Stars Not perfect, but I'm happy
After waiting for a decent blu-ray player to be significantly cheaper than a ps3 and tons of research, I finally decided to make this my first Blu-ray player. Right when you open the box, there's a note card telling you exactly what to do to get the profile 2.0 update. When you connect to the internet, it takes maybe 5-10 minutes for it to update and install, after which it strangely seems to shut itself off, and then you're good to go.
I don't consider myself qualified to compare image quality of blu-ray players, since this is my first, and I haven't even tried using DVDs yet. My simple opinion on the matter of image quality is that it looks fantastic. However, I'd rather focus on a few of the quirks I've found with this system, since that was the stuff I liked finding out about when I was researching. I'll try to keep this concise.
First, everywhere I looked, people praised this thing for being tiny. Well, if you're used to seeing what tiny can mean with DVD players, you'll be disappointed. The S350 is a good foot and a half wide (much wider than an xbox, and about as wide as most audio receivers). For me, that caused a little bit of a problem, but maybe it won't for you. Height (about 2 inches) and depth (about 7 inches) actually are pretty compact though.
I read mixed review about its ability to remember your location on a disc, and I've gotten mixed results out of the player. Sometimes you turn it off and it remembers where you were when you come back, other times it forgets it if you do so much as press stop. Maybe one day I'll figure out the system to it, but right now it seems completely random.
My main discovery, though you can't really call it a problem or even bad, is that, if you have a 7.1 system, this thing will not output to your back speakers at all if you use its decoder. If you have an audio receiver that can decode the newer formats (i'm using an onkyo 606), make sure you switch the S350s audio settings to Direct, not the default Mixed. Let your receiver do the decoding, since it will probably do a better job.
Outside of these little things (and the recent discovery that you cannot get slow motion or any kind of step out of it), I'm very happy with this player. It's quick, quiet, and beautiful. If you invest in an hdtv, this thing is definitely worth the $300.
1 Star never got it
i never received this item. contacted seller several times and amazon. After the minimum time (jan 6 to feb 3) i submitted a claim and amazon is in the process of crediting my account.
i am thankful for amazon's a-z guarantee.
5 Stars Good player, great value.
Very nice player, easy setup and great picture with HDMI. Very impressive up-resolution on DVDs, almost as good as Blu-ray discs.
5 Stars Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc Player
This is my first Blu-ray player so I don't have a lot to compare it to, however, the quality of picture is excellent for Blu-ry and HiDef discs. The price was right, too. All in all, I very pleased with it.
Feb
8
Eforcity Black 6FT 2 Meter HDMI Male to DVI Male Cable
- Cable built with matching impedance, PVC jacket, molded ends and inner hood soldered 360 degrees to the connector to achieve a complete end to end shielding. - Eliminate unnecessary signal conversions. - 24 bit/pixel, 165 MHz max clock frequency. - 5 Gbps bandwidth, 55% spared for future expansion. - Connectors: HDMI Male to DVI Male. - Color: Black...- Cord Length: 6 ft / 2 m...- Accessory ONLY
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Works at 120Hz 1920x1080p 32bit color flawlessly
Works at upto 120Hz 1920x1080p flawlessly at a 32bit color depth...Verified and true!! That's pretty high definition by any high-def standards. It goes to show that a 6ft $4 dollar cable is just as good as any rediculously priced brands that come in fancy and wasteful packaging. Shame on them.
Also be aware that some more expensive DVI-HDMI cables will even cause signal corruption above 24Hz...you'll never know till you try
5 Stars Buy no other cable.
Its a cost effective cable. While being cheap in terms of price, it seemed ever so sturdy to me. Spending any more elsewhere than what I paid for this would seem stupidity. The gold plating seems good enough. I am entirely contented .
5 Stars CHEAP! Awesome deal!
Got it for myself to hook up my PS3/Xbox360 to my 19" HD monitor(computer Monitor) and worked perfectly, the picture is gorgeous!
5 Stars Cheap good cable
Isn't it funny how people pay lots of money for these things, even though the cheap ones (like this) work perfectly?
5 Stars This cable works GREAT!
I am using this cable to connect the 7800gt in my HTPC to my 61" Samsung LED DLP. I had no issues getting 1920x1080 to work properly in Windows XP, and my Sammy reports 1920x1080 @ 60hz. Full 1080p for less than three bucks! Don't get ripped off buying a cable that is no better and 20x the price.
Feb
8
Panasonic DMP BD35K 1080p Blu ray Player
PRODUCT FEATURES:Blu-ray Disc player with PHL referenceChroma Processor Plus7.1ch lossless decode and analog outputBD-LiveVIERA linkSD card slot
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars One of the best...
With the price coming down on Blu-Ray players, there are a lot of models to choose from. I've used the cheapo Memorex models but they simply do not compare to the Panasonic. Picture quality is top-notch and the upscaling is just as good. Spend a little extra and get this.
4 Stars Very nice player
I received this Blu-ray player for Christmas...so I've had it a little over a month. So far I'm quite pleased with it. I've noticed no vibration or hum another reviewer mentioned. It runs quiet and cool.
Pros:
- great, razor-sharp picture
- superb sound, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio
- easy to update firmware either by CD or by Internet
Cons:
- a bit slow, takes a while to "boot up"
- BD-Live is a bit clunky, need SD card to connect
Overall an excellent player.
4 Stars Great if pricey
This is the only Blu-ray player i have used and really like the picture, it could have been a little cheaper though.
4 Stars Great Player
Bought this player November of 2008 along with an Onkyo Receiver, Yamaha speakers and a 10 inch sub in hopes of creating the surround sound experience with Blu-Ray. Upon hooking up this player I was not disappointed. To achieve 1080p picture and get high Definition sound going with HDMI is the only way to go. I have a Panasonic 42" plasma and these two devices talk to each other through Vierra Link if hooked up via HDMI. For playing Blu-Rays, this player is excellent and by far one of the best players on the market.
I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars because of its DVD capability. DVDs are upscaled to 1080i however for sound, it outputs to my receiver in an analog format through the HDMI cable which cannot be decoded with my receiver. It actually bounces to the TV then back the receiver and which is decoded in a PCM format. The Sound Quality via that method is muffled with less bass, treble, and overall volume... if your TV has a THX decoder, this might work better than it does for me. I fixed it by hooking up an additional Optical Cable to my receiver and use a seperate setting when I play a DVD.
The other reason I rated it a 4 stars is because the technology has a long way to go with Blu-Ray... just like when DVDs came out 10 years ago. In my opinion the player could be faster in reading Blu-Rays... however I don't think its below average in that category by any means. The players will only get better and faster as the technology improves and new firmware updates are released.
Panasonic Viera TH42PZ85U
Panasonic BD-35K Blue Ray Player
Onkyo SR606
2 Yamaha NS-777
2 Yamaha NS-333 bookshelves for rears
Yamaha YST-SW315 10" sub
Yamaha NS-C444 Center
2 unknown brand satellite speakers for the 7.1
4 Stars Nice
Great picture, but not sure it's worth the cost of rebuilding my DVD collection with BRs.
Feb
8
Samsung BD P1500 1080p Blu ray Player
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Samsung BD P1500 1080p Blu ray Player
plays Blu-ray high-definition discs (selectable output resolution: 1080p signals available through HDMI output only; 720p/1080i signals available through HDMI or component video) * plays BD-ROM and BD-R & BD-RE * plays DVD-Video and DVD-R & DVD-RW * plays audio CD and CD-R & CD-RW * selectable 720p/1080i/1080p video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only) *
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good player for the normal person
This player is a good player for the money. Blu-rays use to be over $1000 and now you can get this one for about $200. It is very compatible with a samsung with Anynet+ and switches over easily. Great picture.
With a TV using Anynet+ select TOOLS on the remote and select the device off the Device List to change its settings such as time. Don't worry about the 1920 x 1080i 60Hz info in the top left if you have a 120Hz TV. That's the input signal, which is 60Hz because most TVs and components that aren't ridiculous broadcast in 60Hz. 120Hz TVs will convert the signal to 120Hz once received, so you will see 120Hz even though the input is in 60Hz.
The only problems I've had is that to get the most out of the player one needs to hook up InfoLink if you have it, or go to http://www.samsung.com/us/support/download/supportDown.do?group=audiovideo&type=blu_ray&subtype=blu_raydiscplayers&model_nm=BD-P1500&language=&cate_type=all&dType=D&mType=FM&vType=&prd_ia_cd=03020100&disp_nm=BD-P1500&model_cd=&menu=download to get updates. Otherwise, it will take a few minutes to bring up the movie, and it will sometimes act funny. Nothing to worry about, just turn it off and on and it will work fine again until you can get the update. It's like getting a new computer without updating it, or like a dog, you have to train it (or in this case update it). Otherwise, great player for the money, and works well with my LN46A750.
3 Stars Upconverting is poor
I bought this, tested it for an evening and returned it. But the test it performed best on is probably the most important to readers of this site. It was connected to a blu-ray compatible 32" Sharp TV with 1048 resolution. I was using an HDMI cable.
test 1: play a rented blu-ray DVD - it was pretty stunning - no complaints other than the nitpick that it took a lot longer to load than I've used. If I were buying the unit to play blue-ray DVDs, as most of you probably are, I wouldn't have returned it and would have either given it 5 stars, or not reviewed it at all since I haven't compared it versus Sony, etc.
test 2: play a normal DVD and compare to a 4-year old JVC DVD player connected to another input on the same television (analog for the JVC and HDMI for the Samsung of course) - I went back and forth about 20 times and oddly, the JVC looked better - not a lot better, but better enough that I found it less painful to repack the Samsung and drag it back to the store than to have to accept the loss of video quality on standard DVDs. I tried every combination of resolutions and aspect ratios on the Samsung (it has a very good interface for switching, by the way), but in no case did it play a non-Blu-ray DVD (I tried several) as clearly as the old JVC.
I'd love to hear a technical explanation for how this could be possible since the JVC doesn't upconvert at all. I did a blindfold test on my girlfriend and she also immediately picked the JVC.
1 Star Wish I could give it ZERO stars - 20% of reviewers HATE this product
As with several of the reviews listed here, mine will start with, "It worked great until..."
Though I can tailor that to, "It worked GREAT...for 4 DVDs."
Bought this to go with a new Samsung LN46A550 and, as stated, was delighted by what I saw and heard. Played the first disc of Lost Season 4, Hell Boy II, Encounters at the End of the World and WALL-E and raved to friends and family about how great things were.
Then, two days ago, went to play disc 2 of the Lost season and NOTHING. Machine would turn on and the tray would open and close, but upon closing, the screen would stay stuck at "CLOSE." If I turned the machine off and restarted it, I could hear it trying to read the disc, but would soon stop with the screen stuck at "LOAD." The player also no longer communicated with the TV through Samsung's Anynet feature. Tried two other new Blue Ray discs and got same result. Tried one of the discs I'd previously watched and same. Tried a regular DVD - ditto. Tried to download a firmware upgrade as that was one of the few tech tips available on the very slim Samsung trouble-shooting website. This also would not play. Called the number on the included "if you experience problems with this product.." (should have taken that as a warning) sheet only to have them tell me that they don't service models made in Canada - which was VERY annoying as I was calling the number INCLUDED with the product and the CS rep, judging by her accent, was a French Canadian herself. Eventually she agreed to try and help and 20 minutes later - after my repeating over and over that uploading the firmware wasn't an option since NO discs would load - gave an original bit of advice not listed in any of the reviews here..."try using some compressed air to clean the lense."
Thank you. You've been helpful.
Needless to say, that did not fix what is obviously a more serious issue. Wish I could waste more time with them by sending it in to their SINGLE U.S. repair facility in N.J., but judging by the horror stories about their repair process listed in reviews her and elsewhere, I am opting to return it to Amazon for a refund before the 30 day window closes (THANK YOU Amazon for that option!).
One lesson I've learned is to not just look at the top reviews or even the number of top reviews. This product still has a 4-star rating here and, with 111 5-star reviews looks very attractive. Only if you take the time to look close and do some calculating will you see that almost 20% of reviewers have given it 1-star and a total of 26.5% rate it 3-stars or lower. Apparently this product is like the proverbial box of chocolates.
Now I just have to hope that all the online chatter about Samsung's "A" assembly line TV's doesn't mean a looming nightmare with my new set...and that the SONY BDP-S550 I just purchased from Amazon will work better,
3 Stars Disappointed
This unit clearly warned upon opening the box that it would not play HD Blu-Ray DVD'S Returned for a refund.......
1 Star Be very weary
I purchased this blue ray player for my son for christmas. Today is the first of February and it has stopped working. It reads the disk, but doesn't put out a video signal. Of course, there is no returning it and I'm out a sizable amount of money for a useless machine. I can understand amazon having a 30 day return policy for some things, but for an expensive electronic piece of equipment, there should be an extention. I'm very disappointed. Won't be buying anything like this from amazon again.