Funai BD Player - Owner's Thread (Magnavox. Sylvania, Insignia, etc.)

[Blown 4.3]

walmart has this MAGNAVOX model. just bought it yesterday.i got the last one.
spure of the moment purchace. i have yet to play a BD on it, i don't have one, netflix. but the upscaling looked pretty good.

MAGNAVOX NB530MGX

just an fyi. hope it helps

[get1080pnot720p]

I had my first playback problem yesterday (finally), with "The Bourne Identity" (just released this week); took five+ attempts to load, then froze during three attempts at approximately 0:10:52. Oh well; threw in my DVD copy and dealt with the lesser quality.

[Blown 4.3]

i watched SUPERMAN RETURNS on the magnavox. it played nicely, no troubles. the picture was just great, as was the audio.

[jmkoch]

I bought a Sylvania NB500SL9 at a Costco in December. Price: $149.99 net of an in-store rebate. This was the first time a player appeared in my pauper's price range. I was able to buy one without cheating on my allowance or risking divorce, unusual interrogation, and / or violent dismemberment.

It has played 8 different commercial Blu-ray's tried to day, borrowed from Netflix.

More important, it plays all my BD+R, BD+RE, and AVCHD-DVD discs burned of may amateur video projects.

Biggest complaint: The price I paid has not re-appeared. Costco no longer carries the line. Perhaps I had the advantage of an inventory closeout deal.

Biggest worries:

1) That neither Slyvania or other manufacturers will cut their prices to that level or lower, which is probably the only way to incite mass purchases during the present gloomy market.

2) That new versions of the same player or firmware updates may make the players intolerant of BD+R or BD+RE discs. Ostensibly, this would be to frustrate BD piracy, but would also make it impossible for amateurs or small commercial videographers to share or distribute videos for display by BD players.

[gushin]

Firmware update for Sylvania models (I wonder if these will work with the Magnavox). No details as to what the update fixes:
http://www.funai-corp.com/support/updates.aspx

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by gushin

Firmware update for Sylvania models (I wonder if these will work with the Magnavox). No details as to what the update fixes:
http://www.funai-corp.com/support/updates.aspx

I wouldn't try it on the Magnavox until Funai makes it officially released for that specific model.
Also, if your player is currently not encountering any issues, I would pass on the update until more information is found on what it resolves or enhances.
*If it ain't broke, don't fix it*

[echoespf]

I just bought the Magnavox blu ray at Sams at a closeout price of 128. Im not sure if this is at all sams but I couldn't resist the price!!!

[rpalguta]

I assume it is the NB500MS9? I have the same model which I think is the same as the Walmart one except MS9 is all black. Mine has played every Blu-Ray disc I have fed it!

[ronjones]

I've updated post #1 of this thread to add the link for the firmware update for the Sylvania BD player. This currently firmware update will only work for the Sylvania brand players. An update for the first generation Magnavox BD player is expected soon but no word on if or how an update of the similar Insignia BD player will be offered.

[docmontgomery]

Does the new magnavox (nb530mgx) player have more audio inputs than just the coaxial audio input?

[rossijames]

I purchased the Magnavox Blu Ray player after I read Consumer's Report rating on it. It came in 2nd in their report over a Panasonic. It is a wonderful player and I got it for only $150 at Sam's Club.

[JPatlanta]

The above post confuses me. I just checked Consumer Reports and printed it out and no Panasonic players are listed.

Consumer Reports rates the Magnavox NB500 model third, behind two Denon blu-ray players ( and they cost $750 and $1000 ).

Walmart now has the new model NB530MGX for $198, so I'm thinking about buying it today. I'm hoping it is upgraded and even better than the highly rated NB500MG9.

[PatrickL2009]

I bought the Magnavox NB530MGX (the upgrade from the NB500) at Walmart for $198 about two weeks ago. With it, I purchased an older Blu-Ray (300) because I like to conserve money. I plugged it to my Toshiba New HDTV (got it for xmas) via HDMI, and it had a fairly reasonable loading time. It had great picture/audio. No less quality than the new Sony, which my neighbor has. The DVD up-conversion is nothing special, an average job, but good for the price. That's not the reason I bought it anyway. Aware of the lack of firmware updates, I purchased the most recent Blu-Ray disc I could find at Walmart to see if it played with the same perfection. I bought Madagascar 2, released about a week or so ago, and it played perfectly with outstanding picture/audio. So far there has been no problems and I am very satisfied with my purchase. I hope it continues.

[rossijames]

Originally Posted by JPatlanta

The above post confuses me. I just checked Consumer Reports and printed it out and no Panasonic players are listed.

Consumer Reports rates the Magnavox NB500 model third, behind two Denon blu-ray players ( and they cost $750 and $1000 ).

Walmart now has the new model NB530MGX for $198, so I'm thinking about buying it today. I'm hoping it is upgraded and even better than the highly rated NB500MG9.

The CR I read is from their annual edition of 2009 Best Buys. It rates 1. Denon, 2. Magnavox 3. Panasonic. Guess some editions list them differently.

[get1080pnot720p]

Originally Posted by HDPlasma

I wouldn't try it on the Magnavox until Funai makes it officially released for that specific model.
Also, if your player is currently not encountering any issues, I would pass on the update until more information is found on what it resolves or enhances.
*If it ain't broke, don't fix it*

Wow, Funai listing a firmware update for *any* of their models is highly promising for the Magnavox...I stand corrected, and look forward to updating my $128 "cheapie" (that has successfully played all but one of thirty Netflix BD rentals ("The Bourne Identity" tooks multiple load attempts and froze @ 10:57 during every attempt to watch it)) in the near future! I'd bet that the "500" Sylvania firmware would do it for the Magnavox, as the layout is exactly the same, but like you said, why bother just yet?

[get1080pnot720p]

On that note, though, does anyone with the Magnavox dare to load the firmware for the "500" model Sylvania, and let us know if it works? Since Funai still does not acknowledge Magnavox as one of its brands, and the Magnavox site doesn't list Blu-Ray or this player as one of the company's products, I'm still wondering whether or not we'll see a firmware update for the player on either one of these sites, and I'm guessing that the Sylvania firmware is/would be identical, since the players are identical...?

[PatrickL2009]

I'll try to upload the firmware to my Magnavox if someone tells me what will go wrong if it doesn't work? Mine can still be exhanged at Walmart for a new one, I bought it two weeks ago (It's the 530) so it's not a big deal. Can someone answer that question?

[get1080pnot720p]

Thanks, but that's not the same model (we're talking about the "500" model we (most of us) bought from Walmart for $128 on Black Friday). You have the newer model apparently, which won't have the same firmware as the old (I don't think it's manufactured by Funai, either). Generally speaking, if firmware isn't downloaded/burned/loaded into the player properly (or if the power goes out mid-installation), your player will die (it likely won't turn on again). It's that simple. That said, I burned this "500" Sylvania firmware, simply to see if my Magnavox 500 would recognize it, but it gave me an error message, both times (burned once as "live," burned second time as "mastered" (closed and finalized) through explorer (Vista)). Anyway, hopefully an update for both Magnavox players will be posted soon *somewhere,* so that I can watch "The Bourne Identity" without hitches, and so that if I ever want to watch "Casino Royale" (apparently it won't load, though I've never tried) I can do so (meaning "Quantum of Solace" probably won't load either, which will be a problem next month). As for new films released on Blu-Ray over the last few months...no problems to speak of (yet).

[PatrickL2009]

Walmart's new Magnavox (the 530) is a Funai player. It's obvious in it's design. It looks very similar to the 500 and sylvania players except the Blu-Ray logo is in blue and the Maganvox logo is in a different position on the player. The manuals and phone number that came with my player are for the Funai Corp. It's just an upgraded 500 with a better audio outs and it's played everything perfectly for me, even though I haven't tried any Bond films. If anything every goes wrong, I also hope a firmware update releases. Anyways, theres no need for me to try the firmware update, but I would of anyway because I can get a new one so easily. Hopefully Funai will at least recognize Magnavox Blu-Ray players in the near future.

[sewerdog]

bottom line is either one of these worth buying or are they garbage