help me choose a Blu-Ray player

[whedon]

Been using my PS3 to play Blu-rays for the past number of years and decided to pick up a cheap model today to takes it's place. Ideally I'd like a player that can handle both Region A and B as well as region free for DVD. But I understand that Multi-region Blu-Ray playback is hard to come by so I'll eventually get a RA player but till then I need a Blu-Ray player that can easily play R1 DVDs.

These are the players I'm looking at so if anyone can recommend one:
Toshiba BDX1250
Philips bd3200/05
LG BD650
Panasonic dmpbd75eb-k
Sony BDP-S185
Philips BDP2700
samsung bde5300
Samsung bdd5100
Panasonic BD75ebk
Panasonic bd45

[Scottyp3]

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=61928

[lokir1]

Originally Posted by whedon

Been using my PS3 to play Blu-rays for the past number of years and decided to pick up a cheap model today to takes it's place. Ideally I'd like a player that can handle both Region A and B as well as region free for DVD. But I understand that Multi-region Blu-Ray playback is hard to come by so I'll eventually get a RA player but till then I need a Blu-Ray player that can easily play R1 DVDs.

These are the players I'm looking at so if anyone can recommend one:
Toshiba BDX1250
Philips bd3200/05
LG BD650
Panasonic dmpbd75eb-k
Sony BDP-S185
Philips BDP2700
samsung bde5300
Samsung bdd5100
Panasonic BD75ebk
Panasonic bd45

Oppo

[bobbydrugar]

any panasonic or sony would do. Every Region A blu-ray player I have seen handles Region 1 DVD with no problem. If you need region free you can google region free mods for blu-ray players to find out which systems can easily be made region free and which will be a challenge.

Thanks,
T

[whedon]

Originally Posted by bobbydrugar

any panasonic or sony would do. Every Region A blu-ray player I have seen handles Region 1 DVD with no problem. If you need region free you can google region free mods for blu-ray players to find out which systems can easily be made region free and which will be a challenge.

Thanks,
T

I have multi region codes for most of them, really should of phrased my op a little better, im mainly looking at feedback on the players themselves. Going to be getting an American Blu-Ray player in the coming months, brother is bringing one home for me. Figure I'll have a dedicated player for both region A and B.

[bobbydrugar]

In that case I would vote for the panasonic models if possible. The sony's get my second place finish. and in the money is no object best of show we don't even think its fair to let it compete in this class the winner is OPPO.

Thanks,
T

[cheecheung]

Originally Posted by bobbydrugar

In that case I would vote for the panasonic models if possible. The sony's get my second place finish. and in the money is no object best of show we don't even think its fair to let it compete in this class the winner is OPPO.

Thanks,
T

Just curious how come you favour Panasonic over Sony? And why is OPPO better than both of them? Thanks

[bobbydrugar]

Oppo has the most format support Blu/DVD 50hz 60Hz, DVD-A, SACD etc. and reasonable region free mod kits. I think bluraychip.dk or something like that has a solid hardware mod for the oppo for between 89 and 149 US depending on which mod you want. I have about 3 panasonic players of different models 1 oppo bdp-93 and 3 ps/3's and one sony n460 i think and the panasonic players just have a better build quality to them. I should point out that the sony (not just the ps/3) is no slouch and a very good unit but the panasonics I bought had better audiophile options like multi-ch analog out and better audio processors then the sony's at the time. also the older panasonic bdt-350 had dual hdmi (so does the oppo) to support my at the time 3d display and my non 3d receiver without having to resort to some kind of splitter.

Thanks,
T

[bobbydrugar]

I should point out for completion sake that the sony N460 is probably the fastest loading of my units including the oppo. Now to be fair I am not totally up to speed on the newest offerings from any of them but traditionally my pecking order is still set as of about 8 months ago. The panasonics were the slowest of the units when it comes to loading times and such and the oppo is right in the middle with the PS/3's. As for picture quality they are all very close for blu-ray playback. But for DVD the oppo is the only one that scales better then my onkyo receiver. I think the top end panasonics just edged out the sony N460 on DVD but again they are all better then my X-box 360 per say and none of them were slouches or unwatchable for DVD. I also think that having the dual HDMI and having one dedicated to audio and one to video has improved both my video and audio quality but that could just be placebo and I can't back that up with measurements or anything just my eyes and ears, mostly my ears because I think the audio got a bigger bump then the video and that was consistant with both the panny 350 with dual hdmi and the oppo with dual hdmi. The remotes are all functional but the sony probably has the best user interface with the sony xross menu bar like the ps/3.

anyway thats what I got for now feel free to ask about anything i didn't cover and either me or someone around here will probably be able to help ya out.

Happy Hunting,
T