The Official "Help me pick a Blu-ray player" thread

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

This is a no-brainer. The PS3 is by far the best blu-ray player regardless if you're a gamer or not. Its future-proof, easier to use, better trouble-shooting service, and many more.

Blurays looked better playing through my htpc... so the ps3 isn't that great, its nice but not the best... maybe has a lot of features, but for bluray, not the best...
so maybe this guy wants a badass laser engraver and not an all in one printer/fax/telephone/scanner/back scratcher/litterbox....

[JadedRaverLA]

Price no object? Get the $18,900 Goldmund Eidos 20BD. It's actually only Profile 1.0, really slow to load, and basically an acoustically-dampened Pioneer player... but, hey, you can feel smug since you dropped $19k on a BD player.

Seriously, though, either the upcoming Pioneer or Denon "super-players" will be my pick as the best, but as neither are out yet who knows which will be better. If the Denon ends up with SACD/DVDA playback, that would likely swing my vote toward them.

[metalifan1]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

Agreed.

[CAB]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

Price no object? Get the $18,900 Goldmund Eidos 20BD. It's actually only Profile 1.0, really slow to load, and basically an acoustically-dampened Pioneer player... but, hey, you can feel smug since you dropped $19k on a BD player.

Seriously, though, either the upcoming Pioneer or Denon "super-players" will be my pick as the best, but as neither are out yet who knows which will be better. If the Denon ends up with SACD/DVDA playback, that would likely swing my vote toward them.

If that Denon ships with SACD and DVD-A, it's an insta-buy for me. I'd like to consolidate components otherwise I'm going to have to start upgrading even more expensive items like pre-amps.

[moviefan]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

yes, but until there is a player that can load faster than the ps3 it will continue to be my suggested Blu-Ray player.

Load times have drastically improved in the new generation of players. Speed is no longer the issue it was a yer ago.
Picture quality, audio quality and upscaling quality are the major reasons to consider a standalone.
My bet is on the Sony S550 due in October.

[arush5268d]

I hear Toshiba's Blu-ray player is really turning heads. And it's got great upscaling.

[CAB]

With all due respect - and I mean all due respect, load times are the last thing I'm concerned about.

[Kyzer the Medic]

reguardless if price was no issue, I'd still say the PS3 for an all in one solution. The only downside I can see with the PS3 is the bluetooth remote. If they could make universal remotes capable it would be the best hands down

[arush5268d]

Originally Posted by CAB

With all due respect - and I mean all due respect, load times are the last thing I'm concerned about.

Ricky Bobby! Whoooo

[blu-backer]

Best by what criteria?

If you mean best value, then it's a no brainer that the PS3 is. It has tons of features that you can't get for a price anywhere near what the PS3 sells for.

But if you mean best standalone that doesn't play games, doesn't stream multimedia, doesn't browse the net, may not be future proof because of lack of update capabilities, doesn't play HD video files from a USB stick, etc., then I'm sure there are a few multi-thousand standalones that would meet your criteria.

The PS3 may not bitstream DTS-MA or TrueHD, but it decodes it and can pass it to a receiver just fine.

[dialog_gvf]

> The PS/3

If you don't care about:

- Decoding lossless outboard
- Not having analog outputs
- DVD upscaling

But, the PS/3 wins back points for future expandability. Unless there is a radical change, the PS/3 should be able to handle whatever ideas come out for Blu-ray over coming years.

And, look at Universal's U-Control tutorial. The PS/3 remote is pictured. The PS/3 is the current reference standard for Blu-ray.

Gary

[Entertainment72]

The PS3 may not be the absolute best at upscaling SD DVD's but damn it's no slouch, it does an admirable job.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by CAB

If that Denon ships with SACD and DVD-A, it's an insta-buy for me. I'd like to consolidate components otherwise I'm going to have to start upgrading even more expensive items like pre-amps.

Indeed. I want to put in a "proper" home theatre next spring, and it would be great to be able to have only one source unit for disc playback. Cost doesn't really matter, but quality does. I'd much rather have a $3500 Denon "super player" than have to have 2 or 3 players to do the same thing. My days of having a LD player, VCR, DVD player, SACD player, and CD changer all in my rack are over. Give me a player that does it all well, please (minus the LD and VHS of course).

[ronss]

i sure like my sony bdp-bx1 from costco,,,,though it does not rank up there with the more expensive players,,it does a great job for those that are tight on funds.....my friend was over and watched batman,,,,and he could not believe how nice the pic looked....batman looks great , one of the better movies i have seen ,,,i also have -remember the titans, red october, and polar express.

[Carlsberg19]

Call me old fashioned but i prefer a stand alone player to a ps3 anyday, even if i was to buy a ps3 i would still use my bd s300 to play movies and the ps3 for games

[arush5268d]

Originally Posted by Carlsberg19

Call me old fashioned but i prefer a stand alone player to a ps3 anyday, even if i was to buy a ps3 i would still use my bd s300 to play movies and the ps3 for games

+1

[MieDan4ever]

Thats exactly right! I dont mix games with movies on a single unit.

[BLUTRIG]

Originally Posted by MieDan4ever

Thats exactly right! I dont mix games with movies on a single unit.

If price is no object,I buy the Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD,but I'am A/V poor.I love what I have,it look great,sound great,easy to use and it bitstream.It all about picture & sound quality with BLU-RAY ,no games. MY RACK DIRECTV+HDDVR PIONEER ELITE BDP-95FD BLU-RAY PLAYER PIONEER ELITE DV-58AV with mods PIONEER ELITE SC-09TX A/V Receiver 10.2 Channel MONSTER POWER CENTER HTS 3500 ALL TO SAMSUNG 1080P LCD 5 ASCEND ACOUSTICS CMT-340SE mini-towers,all Bi-wire HSU Subs

[Entertainment72]

The PS3 is not the best player simply because it is not $5000, if it had been of course it would be.

[drago3451]

Originally Posted by Carlsberg19

Call me old fashioned but i prefer a stand alone player to a ps3 anyday, even if i was to buy a ps3 i would still use my bd s300 to play movies and the ps3 for games

My first player was the Sony S300 but it did not decode or bitstream all of the HD audio. I went out and bought a PS3 because I wanted to be able to hear all that blu-ray has to offer and could not afford the more expensive stand alone with the same capabilities. I still have my S300 hooked up and use it for SD-DVDs. In watching the same movie on each system (right after one another) the PS3 actually has a better picture with BDs than the S300.

I do not even play games with the PS3 because I feel the contoller is not as comfortable as the XBOX 360s.