Panasonic DMP-BD55 VS. Sony S550

[ejk01]

I am going with one of these two models as well...so far all of the technical/operational differences mentioned here favor the Panasonic.

Are there any areas where the Sony is superior??

[BigMel]

Originally Posted by ejk01

I am going with one of these two models as well...so far all of the technical/operational differences mentioned here favor the Panasonic.

Are there any areas where the Sony is superior??

I just purchased the panny 55k and I currently own the Sony 500 and decided against the BDP 550 due to all the confusion about the DTHD-MA. I do think the panny has better picture quality than the 500 and 550. Nevertheless, I am awaiting a 200-300 price drop on the 5000ES. The panny is easy to set up, great PQ and AQ and seems to be more intuitive but in the end I would not have squabbled with the 550. It is also a great machine.....I just get sick and tired of Sony cutting corners and being ambiguous.

[lpfan71]

It seems to me that the Panasonic is more agreeable and user friendly than the Sony despite how similar they may be.

[Theo Cupier]

Does this all mean that the actual performance of the two players is basically identical?

I'd read a few comments which suggested that the Panny:
- gave better picture quality when upscaling SD DVDs
- have better audio quality when internally processing audio and sending via analog.

How valid are those criticisms? If they are borne out by your collective experiences, would anyone take a punt as to whether they actually worth the extra price of the Panny?

Personally, I have an elderly SD DVD player (doesn't upscale, does do prog scan) so I'm figuring that EITHER player will have better SD DVD picture quality than I currently experience and the HD audio quality will be much better than regular DD5.1 or DTS in either case.

I'm not seeing an awful lot that is telling me I must buy the Panasonic from a performance point of view. Have I overlooked anything?

[Cortiz]

I went back and forth between The Panny 35 and the Sony S350, and I ended up keeping the Panny because of this:

Better sound on the Panny through my LCD Speakers. I don't have any audio equipments and the Sony just sounded too low and the dialog sometimes was hard to make out. With the Panny I don't have that issue.

The Panny has the slow motion option while the Sony Does not.

Other than that, I think both players puts out great PQ and boot up and loading time it's just about the same. They are both very quick.

I also think that the Sony looks nicer than the Panny.

[lpfan71]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I went back and forth between The Panny 35 and the Sony S350, and I ended up keeping the Panny because of this:

So theoretically it should be the same for the 55 and 550. But still sounds like people are leaning towards the Panasonic.

[LittleBear]

It appears that the Panasonic costs about $20 more than the Sony, on average.

I am also torn between the two brands. I think it comes down to which one is the most reliable. It appears the Panasonic has a slight advantage in reliability.