Pioneer Elite Bdp-05fd Blu-ray Player October Review Link

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Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD October review link

I really like Pioneer products since in generally they are high quality products that last over 10 years sometimes. To my disappointing according to this review there are better BLU-RAY players on the market compared to the $800 Pioneer. The player is not BD-LIVE profile 2.0 which is a minor issue for some, but to make matters worse the existing firmware according to the review is unreliable with player lock ups and lip sync issues. This is something that should never occur with a Pioneer Elite product. Every high-end consumer electronics company from time to time makes products that have major bugs when they are first released, it is rare to see this happen in a Pioneer Elite product. Hopefully a firmware update will offer more reliable BLU-RAY playback and hopefully full DTS HD master audio decoding will be added.

Important highlighted quotes from review

"Although the BDP-05FD lacks BD-Live capabilities, it does bring a lot to the table. It internally decodes Dolby TrueHD and sends it via HDMI as PCM or analog from the 7.1-channel output. Unfortunately, DTS-HD Master Audio cannot be decoded in its entirety—only the lossy core data can be extracted until a future firmware upgrade allows all the data to be decoded."
"The Pioneer's performance with Blu-ray titles was a mixed bag. I experienced many lip-sync errors on Alvin and the Chipmunks, and playing the extended versions of The 40-Year Old Virgin and Forgetting Sarah Marshall froze the player completely and required a power cycle. On the other hand, the theatrical versions played without a hitch.

When accessing the bonus features on every Blu-ray disc I tried, a severe lip-sync error of nearly one second accompanied the start of each supplement. Hitting Pause and then Play on the remote sync'd the audio and video, but this is the first Blu-ray player I've used that exhibited this problem.
When I reported these problems to Pioneer, I was told that it was likely a firmware issue. The current release is version 1.02, so the company sent me a beta of version 1.07, which I loaded into the player. Unfortunately, it didn't do much to improve the situation. "

"Comparisons & Conclusion

The PS3 beats all other players in responsiveness, and it puts out an impressive 1080p/24 picture, but it isn't a perfect player. It doesn't have the hardware to support bitstream output, it's incompatible with IR remotes without buying additional equipment, and it doesn't have analog outputs for legacy equipment owners. But at a price of $399, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
The BDP-05FD has a lot going for it in the specs department, even though it's only BonusView complaint. For $300 less, the Panasonic DMP-BD50 conforms to BD-Live, it decodes both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, and it's more reliable for disc playback. However, it only sports 5.1 analog outputs. Any day now, I'm expecting to get the new Panasonic BD55, which has all of the above specifications and adds 7.1 analog outputs at an attractive price of $399.
I really wanted to like the Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD, but it was just too unreliable, from lip-sync issues to player lockups. It's impressive in the rack with its sturdy build quality and glossy black façade, but looks aren't everything. Future firmware upgrades should improve the shortcomings I've noted, but with a premium price of $800, the BDP-05FD should deliver a first-class experience—unfortunately, it doesn't with the current firmware.

Highs
Excellent build quality
Capable of sending Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams
7.1 analog outputs

Lows
Stability issues with Blu-ray playback
Poor DVD performance
Non-backlit remote"

Full review can be read at this link

http://ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/pioneer_elite_bdp-05fd_blu-ray_player/index.html