Pioneer BDP-51FD

[jasab2]

Is the Pioneer BDP-51FD a good buy for $200.

I am in the market for new big screen and Ultimate Electronics
has this unit on sale. While looking at the tvs, the salesman tells
me about this "screaming" deal on the BDP-51FD. He says it's last
years model and has as good a br picture as can be had for that
price. I understand some features are not available either, but
I am more interested in picture quality than features.

I am zeroing in on a Samsung 63" plasma and was wondering
if anyone had any thoughts on this br player.

Thanks in advance.....

Tom Sabaj

[wafi]

I'd go for it....the PQ on it imo is pretty great. Sure the profile's not 2.0 but if you dont care about BD Live then its def a good price for a solid player.

Btw welcome to the forums!

[HD Man]

I have the Pioneer 51 and the Elute 05 and both have outstanding picture and audio quality. The only real knock, besides not being 2.0 compliant, which I could care less about at this time, is the slow load times and some problems on layer changes. Otherwise I'm very happy with the players.


Also, BB was blowing these players out for $149, so you might be able to get a little better deal!! I thought I was getting a "deal" a year ago when I bought the 51 for $420. Depreciation is a mutha...

[wafi]

Originally Posted by HD Man

Also, BB was blowing these players out for $149, so you might be able to get a little better deal!! I thought I was getting a "deal" a year ago when I bought the 51 for $420. Depreciation is a mutha...

Yeah BBs ran out of those within a day! I went back the day after it went on sale for $150 [was actually there when the manager and his side-kicks were setting up the clearance table for the 51s at my local store on the day of] and they were gone. Should have just gotten a couple of them for Xmas when I saw it go on sale! Regrets are a mutha...

[HD Man]

Also, the 51 is very similar to the Elite 05 and I've highlighted some of the differences below:

Internal differences:-05FD has higher quality analog component video DAC.
-05FD can use HDMI for audio WITHOUT using HDMI for video. 51FD requires you use HDMI for video in order to support HDMI for audio.

Cosmetic differences:-05FD has touch capacitance controls vs. buttons on the 51FD
-05FD has glossy black metal front plate (likely to enable touch cap.) vs. glossy black plastic front plate on the 51FD
-05FD has gold plated rear terminals vs. standard terminals on the 51FD
-05FD has primarily gold highlights vs. silver highlights on the 51FD
-05FD has amber LED display vs. white LED display on the 51FD
-05FD remote has metal buttons vs. plastic buttons on 51FD - enter button feels cheap on both, however.
-05FD has Elite badge, 51FD does not.

Other differences:-05FD has a 2yr warranty, 51FD only has a 1yr warranty.

Non-differences:
-Both have the same analog audio DACs
-Both have identical output quality over HDMI (Audio & Video)
-Both have the Pioneer-specific PQLS jitter-elimination circuit
-Both have a general jitter-reduction circuit
-Both support the same sound formats, have the same outputs, and support the same features in software
-Both are of the same general build quality
-Both use the same firmware

Not to sound like a Pioneer fanboy, but I will admit I am, if you can get this player for a cheap price,($150-$175) you'll be happy. Is it the best player out there, no, but it depends on what features you're looking for.

[HD Man]

Originally Posted by wafi

Yeah BBs ran out of those within a day! I went back the day after it went on sale for $150 [was actually there when the manager and his side-kicks were setting up the clearance table for the 51s at my local store on the day of] and they were gone. Should have just gotten a couple of them for Xmas when I saw it go on sale! Regrets are a mutha...

I hear you Wafi!!

[jasab2]

Thanks HD Man..

My wife and I are most interested in picture quality rather than a multitude
of features. Slow load time is not a big factor to us either. It seems almost
all the folks think very highly of the 51's picture quality.

[HD Man]

JASAB2, Glad to assist!!

Just be sure to update the firmware to 1.32 and you should be good to go.

Welcome to the Blu World