Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

I've used a number of DVD, HD DVD, BD, and UHD BDs players (Pan 420 and 820) and I've never had to use a 'workaround' or fan because of the player overheating. Something is definitely wrong there especially at its price.

I’m actually surprised that given the size of that unit, it’s not well ventilated and overheats easily. So I agree, it doesn’t make sense.

[pr0darek]

The UB820 has a fan that is running all the time, in the UB9000 the fan only turns on when it reaches a high temperature, however, unlike the UB820, the UB9000's housing which is made entirely of steel and aluminum acts as one big radiator.

[Wes_k089]

Originally Posted by pr0darek

The UB820 has a fan that is running all the time, in the UB9000 the fan only turns on when it reaches a high temperature, however, unlike the UB820, the UB9000's housing which is made entirely of steel and aluminum acts as one big radiator.

You'd think such a large heatsink would help keep temps lower, not higher. Very odd

[pr0darek]

My UB9000 has good temperatures, if you want to get better results you have to turn off "fast start" and use "patcher" to fix kernel bugs(more info avforums ) not only will the temperature be lower, but the device will also be faster.

[Geoff D]

That patcher thingy might as well be witchcraft to me

[Naiera]

I'm not doing it myself either.

[Telemachus]

There was a day when I would flash homebrew firmware but those days are gone, not risking fooking over a $500 machine

[DRC72]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That patcher thingy might as well be witchcraft to me

Yeah way above my pay grade.

[chip75]

It's pretty straightforward once you've got a Virtual Machine running, the worst bit is keeping the player from going into standby. Getting the VM machine running and getting the USB stick recognised can be a bit fiddly, for some reason I can't reinstall it on my old PC, but it's fine on my other one.

I've patched two players, one went kaput a few weeks later, but the other is one currently okay. My players aren't running the latest firmware.

[Geoff D]

I've still got no idea what a virtual machine even is

[TooOldToDieYoung]

I was overwhelmed myself in the beginning but managed to make it work.
There are step by step instructions as well as a helpful community. Go for it.

[sojrner]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That patcher thingy might as well be witchcraft to me

The third Law.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I've still got no idea what a virtual machine even is

It's a machine in the virtual world, like HDTV1080P

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I've still got no idea what a virtual machine even is

It's basically an operating system running through another operating system. So in this case if you're using Windows, running a VM enables you to install Ubuntu and run programs within it.

It's not needed if you have a separate PC or a drive you can give priority over your Windows drive in the boot order.

[Geoff D]

OhnoI'vegonecrosseyed.gif

[MrHT]

Is the UB820 really an extremely durable player? I stumbled upon this website and they said the following, which really surprised me.

https://www.techradar.com/news/video...or-most-people

We've seen one run daily in a demo environment for years without breaking. If you buy this 4K Blu-ray player, it will most definitely give you a long life of entertainment.

[Telemachus]

I've used mine every day for 2 years zero issues yet

[spudeus]

I was an early adopter of the 820 and it has worked reliably for over five years. Once, it wouldn't eject a disc but corrected itself after I unplugged/replugged the unit.

[mdhaus]

I have both an 820 and 9000...and I've never had any temperature problems with the 9000 (or the 820 either). Discs that come out of the 9000 are a smidge warmer than they are coming out of the 820, but never warm enough to where I'd fear that it's a problem.

[MrHT]

I'm not sure what's going with the 820, but I'm seriously having bad luck. Mid last year, I bought one and had a glitch sometimes where the picture may freeze or pixelate for a brief second or two before the video loads up when you keep skipping chapters and/or fast forwarding continuously. I returned it for a full refund to Best Buy. So here I am 9 months later. I gave it another chance and bought another one on Amazon. Same exact glitch as the previous unit I had. It seems to happen when playing Dolby Vision, and you keep skipping chapters and/or fast forwarding continuously, the picture may freeze or pixelate for a brief second or two before the video loads up. I was like ok, as long as no issues when playing a movie straight through, then it should be fine. But today, after owning the unit for over two week, I play the movie "Grease" and midway through the movie, the picture freezes. I stop the player, it makes a weird grinding noise, and then goes back to the home screen. I replay the disc, and replay the scene and no freezing. So no issues with my disc and the player is glitching up, apparently.

I'm not sure what's with these latest batches of 820s, but I have a feeling Panny isn't making them like they used to. Because many people are reporting no issues with their units, yet I seem to always have a lemon. And I was an earlier adapter of the 420 and had ZERO issues with that player. So something is going on with how they are manufacturing these units now.

But with all that said, I will sadly have to return the the 820 to Amazon. No Dolby Vision for me, I'm afraid.