My Opinion: Magnavox vs. Sony

[olivehead]

just picked up the bdp-s360 from BB for $225 (the 10% coupon works on their sale price, and none of their local competitors, incl. sears and walmart, would take the coupon). for 2 weeks i've had the magnavox nb500mgx ($98 from walmart). while the magnavox is a perfectly good entry level player, and with BD and DVD has performed without a hitch, the sony is just much "smoother," easier to use, has better menus and remote, can be updated via ethernet connection, and so on. having hooked up both to my plasma, i'd also say the sony has a marginally better picture. don't get me wrong, though. the magnavox is a steal in the current market for 98 bucks. but if you have the means, i'd suggest springing for the sony if it's that vs. the magnavox or any other the other funai clones. you may prefer panasonic or samsung brands, which i can't comment on. the only reason i happen to have 2 now is because the bedroom dvd player went out after 10 years, and rather than get a $30-70 dvd player, i thought i'd give blu ray a shot. liked it enough to do some research and decided to get the sony for my main set up. haven't regretted the purchase so far.