Panasonic DMP-BD55 VS. Sony S550 - Blu-ray Forum

LittleBear · 12-03-2008, 01:39 AM

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.

lpfan71 · 12-03-2008, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Yea. It sounds like the Panasonic is worth the extra money.

Jmobie · 12-03-2008, 05:36 AM

We own a lot of Sony equipment, and after reading the manual for the S550, our next 1080p set might be a Sony, too. That Bravia Sync looks pretty neat. I think we only owned 2 Panasonic products before, a VCR and a TV. As far as I can remember, we have had 3 Sony receivers, 4 Sony DVD players, and a TV. So that's one reason we went with the S550. Another was that the S550 was $305 when we bought it, and the BD55K was $325ish. I knew they were about equal in features. Lastly, but likely the least, is that the S550 just looked cooler with its blue front. It looks even better than the picture.

LittleBear · 12-03-2008, 06:52 AM

Is there any factual data showing the Panasonic to be more reliable than the Sony, in regards to the Blu-Ray players?

ejk01 · 12-03-2008, 07:01 AM

It seems that all the + features line up with panny...at least from this thread.

+ Panny

1. On the BD55, the digital and analog outputs operate simultaneously and independently. I use analog for lossless BDs and digital bitstream for DVDs. The Sony can't do that.

2. I can leave Secondary Audio on all of the time and lossless is still decoded in the player. With the Sony, turning on secondary audio means a lossy track is used even if there's no secondary audio present. So, you have to switch player settings to listen to commentaries.

3. If you use BD-LIVE a lot and download a lot of HD video clips the Panasonic has a front loading SD card slot where as the Sony USB slot is harder to access since it is in the back.

4. Also the Panasonic has better DVD upconversion. The Sony will upconvert 480I DVD's to 1080P/60 where the Panasonic has a option to do a reverse 3:2 pulldown for 480I DVD's and upconvert to 1080P/24.

5. Load times are little faster on the Panasonic compared to the Sony.

6. Seems like it's the Sony machines that have firmware issues that take a while to get resolved. Panasonic is pretty quick, or typically ahead of the game; blu-rays just about always play on day one with the Panasonics; on the rare occasion when not the case, Panasonic gets the firmware updated within a few days. Rarely hear about a disk that does not play on a Panasonic; check this website for all the various Sony issues that have cropped up.

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

+ Sony

$20 cheaper, looks better

LittleBear · 12-03-2008, 07:33 AM

It looks like I will go with the Panasonic BD55K. It's $20 more than the Sony but it looks it does have a slight advantage over the Sony.

LittleBear · 12-03-2008, 08:41 AM

Well, I went with the Panasonic DMP-BD55K

Plus I got the $100 off and 4 Blu-Ray DVD's (Blood Diamond, GoodFellas, The Perfect Storm, Batman Begins) with the deal.

All the above plus delivery for $304.00!

commish · 12-03-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleBear

Well, I went with the Panasonic DMP-BD55K

Plus I got the $100 off and 4 Blu-Ray DVD's (Blood Diamond, GoodFellas, The Perfect Storm, Batman Begins) with the deal.

All the above plus delivery for $304.00!

Can you share a link to this deal?

chrisrushing · 12-03-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleBear

Well, I went with the Panasonic DMP-BD55K

Plus I got the $100 off and 4 Blu-Ray DVD's (Blood Diamond, GoodFellas, The Perfect Storm, Batman Begins) with the deal.

All the above plus delivery for $304.00!

Where did you get that deal???

chrisrushing · 12-03-2008, 03:16 PM

I have 2 questions...

What is the comparison of the blu-ray picture on these two models?

What is the comparison of the dvd upscaling on these two models?

Side note: I know the Samsung BD-P2500 has the HQV chip for upscaling... isn't that a better image than these 2 models as far as upscaling?

I'm a newb with the bluray stuff so forgive me.

Theo Cupier · 12-03-2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleBear

It looks like I will go with the Panasonic BD55K. It's $20 more than the Sony but it looks it does have a slight advantage over the Sony.

That's the problem, over here in UK land the price difference is around £100 ($150) at the moment, which does make it more of a serious decision. The Panny has to do quite a bit more to justify that sort of price jump.

I found ejk01's list of pros & cons useful, but for me, personally in my setup, none of the specific merits of the Panny are compelling to me for $150.

Aerodude73 · 12-03-2008, 12:14 PM

I just "Added" this to my cart, after reading all the Pros vs Cons with this player vice the Sony S550 -- which I was all set to buy once the price got near $300 or so. Looks like it does the same Audio wise anyway as the Sony, and has a few more Advantages (upconversion, load times, slow-mo feature) as well.

* (Little Bear - what deal were you referring to where you got the player and 4 dvd's for a little over $300?

-- Thx.)

12-03-2008, 05:36 AM	#3
Jmobie Active Member Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Chicago, IL 4K collection:27 Blu-ray collection:91	Price, Brand, and Color (maybe) We own a lot of Sony equipment, and after reading the manual for the S550, our next 1080p set might be a Sony, too. That Bravia Sync looks pretty neat. I think we only owned 2 Panasonic products before, a VCR and a TV. As far as I can remember, we have had 3 Sony receivers, 4 Sony DVD players, and a TV. So that's one reason we went with the S550. Another was that the S550 was $305 when we bought it, and the BD55K was $325ish. I knew they were about equal in features. Lastly, but likely the least, is that the S550 just looked cooler with its blue front. It looks even better than the picture.

12-03-2008, 12:14 PM	#12
Aerodude73 Blu-ray Archduke Member since:Oct 2008 Location:Middletown, RI (MEMBER OF THE "ECPP")™ Home Theater Gallery:134 4K collection:423 Blu-ray collection:2493 DVD collection:7 Digital collection:3 Blu-ray reviews:9 Trading Score:31	$326.16 (3rd party seller) - Amazon I just "Added" this to my cart, after reading all the Pros vs Cons with this player vice the Sony S550 -- which I was all set to buy once the price got near $300 or so. Looks like it does the same Audio wise anyway as the Sony, and has a few more Advantages (upconversion, load times, slow-mo feature) as well. * (Little Bear - what deal were you referring to where you got the player and 4 dvd's for a little over $300? -- Thx.)

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12-03-2008, 01:39 AM	#1
LittleBear Member Member since:Dec 2008	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.

12-03-2008, 06:52 AM	#4
LittleBear Member Member since:Dec 2008	Is there any factual data showing the Panasonic to be more reliable than the Sony, in regards to the Blu-Ray players?

12-03-2008, 07:01 AM	#5
ejk01 Junior Member Member since:Nov 2008	It seems that all the + features line up with panny...at least from this thread. + Panny 1. On the BD55, the digital and analog outputs operate simultaneously and independently. I use analog for lossless BDs and digital bitstream for DVDs. The Sony can't do that. 2. I can leave Secondary Audio on all of the time and lossless is still decoded in the player. With the Sony, turning on secondary audio means a lossy track is used even if there's no secondary audio present. So, you have to switch player settings to listen to commentaries. 3. If you use BD-LIVE a lot and download a lot of HD video clips the Panasonic has a front loading SD card slot where as the Sony USB slot is harder to access since it is in the back. 4. Also the Panasonic has better DVD upconversion. The Sony will upconvert 480I DVD's to 1080P/60 where the Panasonic has a option to do a reverse 3:2 pulldown for 480I DVD's and upconvert to 1080P/24. 5. Load times are little faster on the Panasonic compared to the Sony. 6. Seems like it's the Sony machines that have firmware issues that take a while to get resolved. Panasonic is pretty quick, or typically ahead of the game; blu-rays just about always play on day one with the Panasonics; on the rare occasion when not the case, Panasonic gets the firmware updated within a few days. Rarely hear about a disk that does not play on a Panasonic; check this website for all the various Sony issues that have cropped up. 7. The Panny has the slow motion option while the Sony Does not. + Sony $20 cheaper, looks better

12-03-2008, 07:33 AM	#6
LittleBear Member Member since:Dec 2008	It looks like I will go with the Panasonic BD55K. It's $20 more than the Sony but it looks it does have a slight advantage over the Sony.

12-03-2008, 08:41 AM	#7
LittleBear Member Member since:Dec 2008	Well, I went with the Panasonic DMP-BD55K Plus I got the $100 off and 4 Blu-Ray DVD's (Blood Diamond, GoodFellas, The Perfect Storm, Batman Begins) with the deal. All the above plus delivery for $304.00!

12-03-2008, 03:16 PM	#10
chrisrushing New Member Member since:Dec 2008 Blu-ray collection:10	I have 2 questions... What is the comparison of the blu-ray picture on these two models? What is the comparison of the dvd upscaling on these two models? Side note: I know the Samsung BD-P2500 has the HQV chip for upscaling... isn't that a better image than these 2 models as far as upscaling? I'm a newb with the bluray stuff so forgive me.

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