What's the cheapest/most basic 4K player you would recommend?

[BillBR]

So I've long since joined the 4K crowd with my combo 4K/region-free player. Yet I am increasingly running into an issue whenever I visit my Mom's house during the holidays--all these holiday films are coming out in 4K and I'd love to watch them while there but can't because she doesn't have a 4K player.

As such, I'm in the market for the cheapest player I can find that is still reliable enough to work most of the time. No bells or whistles needed. If any of y'all have a recommendation, I'd love to know!

[Jay Mammoth]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/panason...?skuId=6409661

[Moviefan2k4]

I'm wondering about this as well, since the few players folks have recommended on here have had their share of problems, skipping, freezing, and whatnot. I'm not spending $200 or more on a player if its not going to work fresh out of the box.

[rubystone356]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/panason...?skuId=6409661
Its on sale for 150. I got it when it was priced at 100 at christmas.

It works like a champ. Stay away from LG.

Jacob

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by rubystone356

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/panason...?skuId=6409661
Its on sale for 150. I got it when it was priced at 100 at christmas.

It works like a champ. Stay away from LG.

Jacob

How long have you had this player? I'm asking because other Panasonic models (the 450 and 820) have had major problems, and I'd really prefer to avoid them if possible.

[rubystone356]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

How long have you had this player? I'm asking because other Panasonic models (the 450 and 820) have had major problems, and I'd really prefer to avoid them if possible.

a few years before covid.

about 2018 or so?

Jacob

[Jonathan McLeod]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

How long have you had this player? I'm asking because other Panasonic models (the 450 and 820) have had major problems, and I'd really prefer to avoid them if possible.

Really? Panasonic is the one brand still available that isn't synoymous with problems. I've had my 820 2.5 years now and had no major problems at all.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Jonathan McLeod

Really? Panasonic is the one brand still available that isn't synoymous with problems. I've had my 820 2.5 years now and had no major problems at all.

I'm just going by what I've read in a couple of threads in this section of the site; there seems to be a debate about players malfunctioning, and even their overall quality when they don't. All I know for sure is that if I'm gonna spend $200 for a new disc player, it better be worth the money. I don't need the proverbial bells or whistles, but I do want it to work, without any mods or other stuff done to it. I spent almost $600 on my TV 5 months ago, and its been great...but if 4K discs will look better than the Blu-Rays, I'm willing to upgrade.

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I'm just going by what I've read in a couple of threads in this section of the site; there seems to be a debate about players malfunctioning, and even their overall quality when they don't. All I know for sure is that if I'm gonna spend $200 for a new disc player, it better be worth the money. I don't need the proverbial bells or whistles, but I do want it to work, without any mods or other stuff done to it. I spent almost $600 on my TV 5 months ago, and its been great...but if 4K discs will look better than the Blu-Rays, I'm willing to upgrade.

You're not going to find a player without complaints. Panasonic is the most highly regarded but even those have issues with some things like DVD playback.

[JWgrayhawk]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I'm just going by what I've read in a couple of threads in this section of the site; there seems to be a debate about players malfunctioning, and even their overall quality when they don't. All I know for sure is that if I'm gonna spend $200 for a new disc player, it better be worth the money. I don't need the proverbial bells or whistles, but I do want it to work, without any mods or other stuff done to it. I spent almost $600 on my TV 5 months ago, and its been great...but if 4K discs will look better than the Blu-Rays, I'm willing to upgrade.

TBH, if you only spent $600 on a 65 inch TV, I wouldn't bother with a 4K player- unless you got a great deal and your TV is much better than the price indicates. Lower level tvs won't do a good job on the things that make UHD an appreciable upgrade to BD: HDR and Wide Color Gamut. UHD isn't mostly about increased resolution, which may not even be noticeable.

In fact, I've read posts from users with lower level TVs where the BD looked better than the UHD because the TV did a poor job on HDR and even trying to run UHDs w/o HDR, the HDR to SDR conversion caused problems.

I'd suggest saving your money on a player and discs to upgrade your display when you're ready. A better display will have much better Picture Quality with BD than your present display does with UHD.

[jephdood]

I've heard the Panny 820 is a tank. I'm planning on buying one tonight if Best Buy will price match Amazon's Prime sale price. If not, I'll probably wait and see what things are like for BF. But that is the player I'm targeting myself.

[dcx4610]

Can't go wrong with the 820. It's a fan favorite here. I've thrown 100s of movies at it and have never had a problem with it. I love how fast it powers on too.

It's worth spending a little extra to have a quality player if you are going to be using it a lot.

[Naiera]

The 820 is a mid-range player and feels like it. It’s no Oppo, which is the kind of player I would call a “tank”. It’s also not the fastest player, but it’s very competent in every aspect, really. I was lucky to get one used for like $200 and maybe 70 UHDiscs later it’s still working perfectly.

Upgrade the remote. The one that comes with it isn’t terrible, but a big, big upgrade is only like $30 on eBay or Amazon.

[Moviefan2k4]

The 820 is $500 on both Wal-Mart and Amazon's websites, and that price point is just too rich for my blood. I almost picked a smaller TV when picking one out 5 months ago, but $550 for a 65-inch screen seemed like a bargain at the time. I can't justify a similar price for a 4K player, though...at least not yet.

[MisterXDTV]

A Vizio-V Series has like 200 nits peak luminance in HDR, not nearly enough

You are better off sticking with 1080p Blu-ray.

If you really need access to UHD discs then a Panasonic UB420 will give you a good HDR->SDR conversion

[Naiera]

No static tonemapping is good. Stick with normal Blu-ray.

Assuming a Lumagen Radiance Pro is out of the question, of course

[fredreed]

First off the Panasonic 820 which I have and the Sony 700M both are good. But I have not any issues with both of them at all. If your looking for just a basic 4K blu ray player then just go with the Panasonic 150. I mean the only downside is that there's no Wi-Fi built In you would to connect It to your router for updates but It's all.

The panasonic 150 is getting almost a 5 star rating because It is your basic 4K blu ray player. I would go to bestbuy and compare the panasonic models side by side along with the Sony 700m unit that way you can see for yourself what unit best fits your needs.

[Yogi6807]

Please do not buy the 150. I have no idea why these people are recommending it. It has nothing to do with the 420 820 and 9000. It doesn’t even display bright scenes like it’s supposed to. Look up Vincent’s teoh review of it vs the Sony x700. It is literally the worst player to buy. Pick any other cheap player and you will be good to go.

[gkolb]

The Panny UB150 does not have the same guts or main silicon chip as the more advanced players. Should be avoided.

[LettuceJUMP]

I used to scoff at the mention of magnavox. But after using many 300-500 players, I found for my family’s needs the $50 4k magnavox player did the trick. It obviously lacks audio/video features but it plays the discs and looks good enough for my wife and kids.