Best Blu-ray Player under 200.00

[Cmiller44]

Hey fellas...I need to get a Blu-ray Player for under 200.00..3D would be nice ,but doesnt have to be....Thanks guys..

[lilboyblu]

I'd recommend the Sony BDP-S580. It can currently be had for $116.59 at Amazon or $129.99 at Best Buy. Normal retail is $200. I picked one up myself on Black Friday. The Blu-ray picture looks great, it streams everything, and it's easy to use. It's even better than the great Samsung BD-C6500 player (which has since been moved to another room) that it replaced...and the Sony was half the price too.

There are mixed reviews, even here on this site, so you'll want to do your homework to see if it's right for you. But for my money and needs, and for the use that it has gotten over the last few weeks already, I'd suggest taking a look.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Cmiller44

Hey fellas...I need to get a Blu-ray Player for under 200.00..3D would be nice, but doesnt have to be....Thanks guys..

My vote goes to the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 3D Blu-ray player (coincidentally, Amazon's top seller among all Blu-ray players ; current price: $129.99). Purchased this on Black Friday and it's nothing short of phenomenal. Disc read times have been improved significantly over last year's offerings (I own a DMP-BDT100 as well; load times with this model have been cut by half). I don't own a 3D display, so I can't vouch for its 3D capabilities, and I have no way to test its 2D-to-3D conversion of DVD and 2D Blu-ray material. The touch-free sensor may be a bit gimmicky, but it does work. Menu navigation has been simplified as well. Only downsides experienced thus far: the firmware update does take a while, and there's no integrated memory (there is an SD memory slot though). 2D playback is where it truly shines, and its upconverting ability of DVD material is quite impressive. Just a solid all-around machine.

[aequalszero]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

My vote goes to the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 3D Blu-ray player

Just got one too - still finding my feet with it, but so far everything has been fantastic. Bitstreams HD audio tracks flawlessly, loads discs quickly, upscales nicely.

Here's a UK award it won recently: http://www.whathifi.com/awards/2011/blu-ray-players

[Shagadelic]

Panasonic DMP-BDT210
Got this as well,
did the update after plug in, and have been happy ever since.
I stayed away from future updates.
Do not own a 3D TV yet.
late summer $140. @ BB.

[Lucif3r]

Just ordered the DMP-BDT210 for my sister, her Sony from last Christmas died last night. Added bonus is I'll keep the Avatar 3D blu since she doesn't have a 3D TV and Amazon has a $20 credit deal currently running.

[ryan4blu]

Originally Posted by Lucif3r

Just ordered the DMP-BDT210 for my sister, her Sony from last Christmas died last night. Added bonus is I'll keep the Avatar 3D blu since she doesn't have a 3D TV and Amazon has a $20 credit deal currently running.

wondering if i should pay the difference for the 310 model?

[Cortiz]

Panasonic makes good blu ray players......but......they don't last. I've owned two older generation Panny players, BD35 and BD60 and both lasted about a year and a half. They just stopped reading BD's. (DVD's were fine). I purchased a Sony S350 around the same time I had the Panny BD35 and the S350 still going strong today......I've also own a Sony S770 that I bought last year and so far so good (knock on wood). Maybe I just has bad luck with the Panny players, but if you searched the Panny threads, you'll be surprise how many people Panny players has died in less than 2 years......So with that being said, my vote goes for a Sony player....

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by ryan4blu

wondering if i should pay the difference for the 310 model?

The BDT310 is worth considering (for its dual HDMI outputs) if you don't own a 3D-ready A/V receiver; if you own a 3D-capable receiver and/or don't care for 3D, then the BDT210 is all you need.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Panasonic makes good blu ray players......but......they don't last. I've owned two older generation Panny players, BD35 and BD60 and both lasted about a year and a half. They just stopped reading BD's. (DVD's were fine). I purchased a Sony S350 around the same time I had the Panny BD35 and the S350 still going strong today......I've also own a Sony S770 that I bought last year and so far so good (knock on wood). Maybe I just has bad luck with the Panny players, but if you searched the Panny threads, you'll be surprise how many people Panny players has died in less than 2 years......So with that being said, my vote goes for a Sony player....

If we were considering last year's models, I think it's a push regarding which company's offerings were better (I went with a Panasonic DMP-BDT100 in the end). I liked the performance to justify purchasing a secondary player (DMP-BDT210) for my setup. Last year's purchase is holding up at the moment, so I can't comment on potential durability issues encountered by other users.

Perceived reliability issues aside, if asked for a recommendation this year, without question, I would go with one of Panasonic's offerings (over SONY's) because there are issues of colour accuracy reported by both owners and reviewers alike. Apparently, SONY went with a different video processor which is skewing the gamma and colour gamut results; couple this with the lack of picture controls in the menu and one would be hard-pressed to recommend one of SONY's 2011 offerings over Panasonic.

Here is one review documenting the issues encountered with one of SONY's mid-tier models, the S480:

AV Forums BDP-S480 review

[DGates01]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

My vote goes to the Panasonic DMP-BDT210 3D Blu-ray player Just a solid all-around machine.

I just got the 215, the big-box store version of the 210. Nabbed it at Costco for $119. Heck of a deal.

One nice surprise was that I can get Hulu Plus and Amazon streaming, although those were not listed on the box. I imagine the firmware upgrade now makes that possible.