Panasonic DMP BD871 Any info on this player?

[MacinMan]

Hey all, I haven't posted here in a while, when i've needed help i've usually asked on AVS, but i seem to be lacking information on a blu-ray player i just bought.

I've decided to update my 2010 blu-ray models this year to have something current since it's been 2 years. I updated my Sony BDP-S570 to the 590, and information on that player has been plentiful. I have the panasonic DMP BD85, and decided to update it to the panasonic DMP BD871, which I can't find a lot of info on. While the sony has 3D capabilities, with sony i was forced to buy a 3d capable player, to get some of the other features i wanted. As for panasonic, that's not the case, so i didn't need to go all out on that one. In fact, my first player was the Panasonic DMP BD601K which i was satisfied with, the only reason i upgraded was to try netflix instant streaming a couple years ago, which i've dumped, because it wasn't my style, and I really never used it after a while.

Anyway, I have also switched from cable to 4G internt for portability as well so, streaming as a whole as ceased, because of data caps, and also before that, i'd much rather use local media then the internet for watching, and managing my content.

With this said, i found out that the 871 only has about 4 services, youtube, cinemanow, vudu, and netflix. This did surprise me a bit but since i don't stream much anymore, it's not a huge let down since i have other ways to access pandora and amazon when I want them.

The other changes i've noticed are, the lack of component on all 2011 players and newer, and no more optical out, this isn't an issue either, as for video, both TVs have HDMI, and the soundbar i use which gives virtual surround can take L/R RCA red and whites, which doesn't sound any different to me when deal with two channel audio.

Other things i've noticed about the player is, it's a tray loader, over the current upper panasonic 2012 model such as the BDT3x players which are slot, and from experience with computer drives, tray loaders have been preferred.

Load times are extremely fast, on the new player, it will play mp4 files, my most commonly used video format for media files, and other nice little features that would apply to me on a daily basis instead of getting a huge bunch of features and only needing not even half of them. As far as tvs go, i have a 32" and a 42", and with most players content looks identical on screens in that size, even with the 85k, it didn't look spectacularly greater then any of the new players i bought with it's extra video features.


So bottom line, first impressions have told me this is a decent player for just a disc player, some media, and basic network functions.

If anyone else has other feedback that would be helpful please post

Oh one other thing, there is no more SD card slot so BDLive on this player is a usb stick thing now. Not a big deal, i don't use BDLive i just stick something in there so it won't complain about no memory, and the disc will play.