Best Blu-ray Player to Date Suggestions

[MJailme]

Originally Posted by arush5268d

Sure...the DMP-30. I bet the price will drop once the -50 comes out. I'm just very anti-PS3. I have no interest in owning a gaming console.

If you don't use it for games and just watch movies, then it's not a game console, its a blu-ray player.

[arush5268d]

Originally Posted by MJailme

If you don't use it for games and just watch movies, then it's not a game console, its a blu-ray player.

Yes, but I don't like the way it looks or how loud it is.

[ack_bak]

I have owned a Samsung standalone which I sold for a PS3 and have not looked back. I highly recommend a PS3 if you want a reliable player that is fast (loading, response time), supports all the Blu-Ray specs (Bonus View, BD Live), decodes all the audio codecs, and has a great picture.

The fact that the PS3 has built in wireless is a major plus for many folks as well. Cnet recently reviewed the Panasonic BD50 and compared it to the PS3 and Samsung 1500. Here are some of the highlights of the comparison:

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-player...tag=prod.txt.1

The main takeaway from these tests is that the differences between these Blu-ray players is slight, but that if you're a videophile the DMP-BD50 is a notch better than the BD-P1500, and just a tiny bit worse than the reference PS3. Also note that if you plan on using these players in 1080p/24 mode, the differences essentially disappear, as we noticed virtually no differences between the players in 1080p at 24 frames per second mode.

...These speeds were all significantly faster than the Samsung BD-P1500, and among all of the standalone players we've tested, only the LG BH200 loaded discs as quickly as the DMP-BD50. Of course, the PS3 is still the speed champ, and we're constantly frustrated by how unresponsive standalone players feel in comparison.

Standard DVD performance
DVDs are still plentiful and cheap, so DVD performance is still a big factor on Blu-ray players. We popped in the standard DVD version of the HQV test suite to see how the DMP-BD50 looked with test patterns. The first resolution test looked good, displaying the full resolution of DVD and with no image instability. The following tests, however, were a disappointment. A test with three shifting white lines was filled with jaggies, as was the following test with a rotating white bar. We were also disappointed to see the DMP-BD50 perform particularly poorly on a test with scrolling titles, with both vertically and horizontally scrolling text was mangled. Granted, most of the DMP-BD50's failures were on video-based tests--which are less common than film discs--but it's still unacceptable on a disc player at this price. And it did pass the difficult 2:3 pull-down test, which many players choke on. Still, the cheaper Samsung BD-P1500 performed much better on these tests, as did the PS3

So it looks to me like the $399 PS3 bests the BD50 (a $699 MSRP player) on PQ, loading and response times, and DVD upscaling. I honestly have a hard time not recommending the PS3 to people based on the current state of standalone players. Sony has two new standalone players coming out in July, so perhaps the PS3 will have some better competition.

[jerm4512]

I really appreciate all the thoughts and opinions I am still trying to way all my options and want to have what is best overall and will have a great picture. I am sure the PS3 will do well but I also think to myself is there a stand alone player out there now that can be compared to the PS3 and not cost $700.

[spaceball1]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

So it looks to me like the $399 PS3 bests the BD50 (a $699 MSRP player) on PQ, loading and response times, and DVD upscaling. I honestly have a hard time not recommending the PS3 to people based on the current state of standalone players. Sony has two new standalone players coming out in July, so perhaps the PS3 will have some better competition.

Especially the response times, even the fast Panasonics are slower than the PS3. You might as well start making yourself a sandwich waiting for discs to load on the standalones. The PS3's audio capabilities are superior to any player in its price range, and are very comparable to those in the $600-700 MSRP range.