Dune BD Prime Review

[TKhp]

I had been watching these players for a while now, and with the release of the latest 3.0 model, I thought it was the right time to purchase. I was not sure how this unit would stack up to other players, but in the end I can say I am very happy with my purchase.

I received my Dune BD Prime 3.0 just before Christmas, and have been putting it through it’s paces since I received it.

MSRP: 499.00
Internet price: 449.00 – 499.00
Purchase source: duneplayer.com

Opening the box:
Upon opening the box, I found the unit was well packed, and damage free. The case has a nice finish, and the look of the player is that of many other standard players. The unit comes with a full function remote, batteries, power cord, USB flash drive for BD Live, HDMI cable, and a typical analog cable. There was nothing else needed to hook up the player through conventional means.

Connections:
The back of the Dune BD Prime 3.0 has the standard connectors.
Video: HDMI, composite, and component
Audio: stereo analog, SPDIF (coax and optical), and a true 7.1 analog connector bank. (a very nice feature for theater users with a separate amps)
Data: 1 Esata, 2 rear USB, 1 front USB, and Ethernet connection.

Setup:
Connection via HDMI was as simple as any other unit, and the video resolution adjustment was easy. The unit power up time is about 15 seconds from button press, to on screen menu. When the unit was shipped to me, the interface defaulted to 1080i. In the setup menu it was very easy to change to 1080p. The user interface is nice, elegant and user friendly with it’s icon view. It does not look cartoon like, and I would say it looks very professional. The interface section is easy on the eyes, and very easy to read. The home screen choices can also be modified to your liking, a big plus for me since I am not an internet radio, or IPTV user. I was able to hide these on the home screen by following the on screen menu system.

BluRay Playback:
BD Rom: Load time seems very reasonable. I would say as fast, if not faster than other players I have. I have found no BD Rom titles to date that it has not played. Upon loading the movie the drive seems to be quite noisy, and I was a little disturbed by this while the movie was loading. After the load was completed, and movie playback started, the drive was quiet. My only complaint here is a overall quieter drive would be nice, but in reality, it does not disturb movie viewing. There is no fan in this unit, so there is no noise generated by the unit other than the optical drive during movie start.

DVD playback:
This was one of my biggest concerns. Up sampling is very important to me, and I did not have very high hopes for this player. The player loaded a DVD very quickly, and the loading noise of the drive seems somewhat reduced with a DVD in comparison with a BD. (Less data?) After starting playback, my concerns of up sample quality vanished. In my opinion, this player up samples with the best of them. I would say a VERY close second to an OPPO, and the more I read from others with this player, I am not alone in that opinion. Overall DVD playback surprised me.

Audio:
Perfect! Passes TruHD and DTS MA without incident. Both streams light the corresponding lights to indicate HD streams on my Integra. I also tested something that was a personal problem for me with another player, and that was TruHD and DTS MA passing a regular 5.1 stream. Also no problem. I connected the player to an older Onkyo via optical spdif, and playback was flawless. The audio setup area has the ability to switch output from Bitstream to PCM. Another very nice feature for people who want PCM.

Network usage:
OK, so up to now the Dune BD Prime 3.0 is just an optical disk player. This is where the good stuff begins. The Dune BD Prime 3.0 is considered a hybrid. By hybrid they mean it can not only natively play optical media, but also can be used as a network media player. The player is capable of playing back Blu-Ray and DVD commercial backed up titles from a storage in folder structure. (DVD VOB, BluRay BDMV or Disk Image ISO file) The network setup requires basic network knowledge of file sharing, and general network setup. The player can read shares from all types of operating systems, and also includes a network browser to be able to locate your content. The network browser is nice if you do not want to make dedicated shares for your media. BluRay and DVD formats can be played across a network connection, or from a direct attached storage drive. I have personally tried over 25 BluRay titles and over 50 DVD titles and can report all play without incident. I can also report BluRay live even works from a backed up format. All testing was done with a 100mbps connection, so I feel I can say gigabit is not required.

Library view:
Network or attached movie storage can be indexed for view using mymovies. (http://www.mymovies.dk) This program was originally used for media center, but also includes provisions for players such as the Dune BD Prime 3.0. The best interface description I can come up with is stunning! Your backed up media is given a graphical front end that is truly impressive. Enclosed is a link to a screen shot.

http://www.mymovies.dk/how-to/writte...d%20HDI%20Dune

Support:
Very important to most people. I cannot speak for all retailers of this product, but I did purchase mine from an online store. The support I received from them was more than I could have ever hoped for. I was given one on one phone support by very knowledgeable people on a network issue that turned out to be of my own making. The support people were not only able to help with their product, they also helped with me with networking and mymovies implementation. I am in the USA, and I purchased from duneplayer.com.

I am by no means a professional reviewer, but I felt this product needed to be mentioned. There is very little on the internet about this units, and what is written seems to be lacking enough information about the player form an opinion. It has served me very well so far, and I am again very pleased with my purchase. So pleased in fact I ordered a second player to use elsewhere in my home.