Pioneer BDP-HD1 Elite Blu-ray player

[Gamekid]

The pioneer player looks great, but it may be some time before it sees the light of day.

[Psiweaver]

So i talked to my rep today and he said that it shoudl still be coming out in october but he didn't have an exact date yet but that he hadn't heard anything saying it wouldn't be coming out until the spring.

[JimPullan]

My Pioneer rep said our orders will ship to us on or before November 01, 2006. This will also be the date they will begin to appear on store shelves. The MSRP will be $ 1,499.99 and the mass merchants will most likely sell at $ 1,299.99 throughout the Holiday Season. My rep also said the Player will be 'allocated distribution' to dealers, meaning through the holiday season only a certain amount of Players will be available, and once your sold out . . your out !! So, if you plan on this unit, get it on order NOW!

Jim

[JTK]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

My Pioneer rep said our orders will ship to us on or before November 01, 2006. This will also be the date they will begin to appear on store shelves. The MSRP will be $ 1,499.99 and the mass merchants will most likely sell at $ 1,299.99 throughout the Holiday Season. My rep also said the Player will be 'allocated distribution' to dealers, meaning through the holiday season only a certain amount of Players will be available, and once your sold out . . your out !! So, if you plan on this unit, get it on order NOW!

Jim

Jim, maybe you can help me with this:

For a long time, I've been someone who simply has been out of luck in regards to Pioneer Elite products.

I really wish they'd consider even just ONE authorized online dealer to help make these Elite products more available.

[JimPullan]

Originally Posted by JTK

I really wish they'd consider even just ONE authorized online dealer to help make these Elite products more available.

The Pioneer Elite line has been distributed through custom home entertainment stores, and recently with one of the mass merchandisers. Historically, they have placed their products in front of the higher end qualified buyer and not entry level establishments. This mass merchant is really a 'test' for Pioneer Elite. It is through stores like mine (high end custom) that does the majority of their business.

I have seen 'unauthorized' representation of their merchandise on the internet and on ebay. The internet offerings are usually a 'broker' who does not inventory, support, or warrant the product, simply moving floor planned merchandise with a dealer who is in financial trouble with their lending & floor planning financial institution. Pioneer Elite states clearly they distribute and stand behind their products through only authorized dealers and warn against other purchasing avenues. With the introduction of this mass merchant, we, the custom dealer will 'price match' what the mass merchant is doing. I am not quite sure that an 'order taker' at a mass merchant can present and sell a higher end product. Most of us have far more technical knowledge of a product then they do. Find an 'authorized' custom dealer who represents the Pioneer Elite line and they will price match your best deal from any other 'authorized' dealer of the Pioneer Elite product line.

I hope that this was helpful for you . . .

Jim

[JTK]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

<snip>

I hope that this was helpful for you . . .

Jim

Indeed and as always.

[JimPullan]

ps: When I get my allocation of these units and you'd like one I'd be glad to ship it to you, and Yes I'll match the best price from an 'authorized dealer' !

Jim

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

The Pioneer BD player popped up today in Best Buy's inventory system... Normally items don't pop-up until they are close to being released. The date listed on it was 9-26, I do believe, although the release dates normally only hold true on CDs, DVDs, BDs and HD-DVDs.

We should clarify this unit will be fore BB's with MagHiFi in them.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

ps: When I get my allocation of these units and you'd like one I'd be glad to ship it to you, and Yes I'll match the best price from an 'authorized dealer' !

Jim

I'll let you know. Let me know when you get them in.

[shamus]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

ps: When I get my allocation of these units and you'd like one I'd be glad to ship it to you, and Yes I'll match the best price from an 'authorized dealer' !

Jim

How about a power buy Jimbo???????

[JTK]

Anyone care to comment on this dialogue I had with someone that I consider a very good source of information:


HIM:

The HD-A2 will decode DTS-MA and TRUE HD. That's a fact!

Unfortunately none of the forthcoming BluRay players will do both....





ME:

I thought the Elite and possibly the Panasonic were firmware upgradeable to do this.





HIM:

A buddy of mine in the industry just told me this tonight and it may be a big blow for BD.

Apparently the Pioneer will do DTS MA only and the Panasonic TRUE HD only. I beleive he told me the SONy will only do uncompressed LPCM. None of the lossless codecs is mandatory with BluRay... I don't know what to do as certain studios are going to be releasing either DTS MA tracks OR TRUE HD tracks....but not both.


ME:

What about uncompressed PCM? That's arguably the best anyways. If those players have that, does any of the rest of that really matter?



No response yet.

[shamus]

Originally Posted by JTK

Anyone care to comment on this dialogue I had with someone that I consider a very good source of information:


HIM:

The HD-A2 will decode DTS-MA and TRUE HD. That's a fact!

Unfortunately none of the forthcoming BluRay players will do both....





ME:

I thought the Elite and possibly the Panasonic were firmware upgradeable to do this.





HIM:

A buddy of mine in the industry just told me this tonight and it may be a big blow for BD.

Apparently the Pioneer will do DTS MA only and the Panasonic TRUE HD only. I beleive he told me the SONy will only do uncompressed LPCM. None of the lossless codecs is mandatory with BluRay... I don't know what to do as certain studios are going to be releasing either DTS MA tracks OR TRUE HD tracks....but not both.


ME:

What about uncompressed PCM? That's arguably the best anyways. If those players have that, does any of the rest of that really matter?



No response yet.

Thats why I got the Samsung..... I will upgrade in a year when all this stuff is worked out.

[Dave]

I dont see a problem here. Future players may have BOTH. It is normal for firstgens to have separete futures in diferent players.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Dave

I dont see a problem here. Future players may have BOTH. It is normal for firstgens to have separete futures in diferent players.

True, but there's a chance in hell here that at least one of them (the Elite) might be able to cover most, if not all bases, by firmware if nothing else.

That's the kind of information I think we all want to track down.

[ethan]

Originally Posted by JTK

Anyone care to comment on this dialogue I had with someone that I consider a very good source of information:

Can I assume you are being sarcastic

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ethan

Can I assume you are being sarcastic

About what?

If you're suggesting that what I wrote and passed along here was misinformation, then by all means, please correct it.

[ethan]

I'm a bit jumpy on these things, I thought you were being sarcastic about him being a "good source of info"...

He didn't sound like a "reliable source" because the aswers are in the usual unreferenced, unreliable form ("apparently","I beleive he told me","a buddy of mine said"), those are informations without references, mostly hearsay, with a possible interpretation inbetween, no context, told from memory, not even sure of exactly what he was told. He didn't give any reason to beleive his buddy was a reliable source, nor did you give us any reason to beleive he himself is a reliable source. You also didn't want to associate yourself with the information (you used a quoted form of the discussion), which is the reason I assumed sarcasm on your part

The information conflicts with the CEDIA report mentionning Panasonic reps saying that a free firmware upgrade would enable BOTH formats. It also conflicts with the CNet report on the Panasonic player saying the same thing. Since these reporters are accountable on their reputation for spreading false information, they are much more reliable than the anonymous buddy of an anonymous buddy of yours.

The information itself cannot be proven true or false, but it fit's nicely in the ockham's razor category, that is, from my point of view. I can only continue to beleive those cnet and cedia reports until a better source of information comes long. From your point of view it might be different, you might actually know how reliable the guy is, and also how reliable his source is, and who he works for, his name, position etc...

[GTP]

If the P/E does both DDTHD and DTSMA....I am interested in a power buy from an authorized dealer also.

Even if it only does DTSMA until a later firmware upgrade for DDTHD...I am interested.....as long as it doesn't have to be sent in for the upgrade.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ethan

I'm a bit jumpy on these things, I thought you were being sarcastic about him being a "good source of info"...

Definitely understood.

He didn't sound like a "reliable source" because the aswers are in the usual unreferenced, unreliable form ("apparently","I beleive he told me","a buddy of mine said"), those are informations without references, mostly hearsay, with a possible interpretation inbetween, no context, told from memory, not even sure of exactly what he was told.

He definitely was running on hearsay on this one and he'd be the first to tell you.

He didn't give any reason to beleive his buddy was a reliable source, nor did you give us any reason to beleive he himself is a reliable source.

Difficult to do, quite honestly. I find myself quickly crossing some lines, or putting other people in a situation that I just can't do.

You also didn't want to associate yourself with the information (you used a quoted form of the discussion), which is the reason I assumed sarcasm on your part

Ah, I see.

Well, that's fair enough. I was trying to be careful with it and I was trying to distance myself from it vs. trying to present it as gospel fact.

That's why I posted it here and basically asked everyone what the deal was and was hoping someone like Jim or AVI could take a crack at it.

The information conflicts with the CEDIA report mentionning Panasonic reps saying that a free firmware upgrade would enable BOTH formats. It also conflicts with the CNet report on the Panasonic player saying the same thing. Since these reporters are accountable on their reputation for spreading false information, they are much more reliable than the anonymous buddy of an anonymous buddy of yours.

At that rate, yes.

Thank you for reminding me of these things. I'm going to forward that little reminder to him straight away, as I'm sure he's not going to appreciate being misled or misinformed.

The information itself cannot be proven true or false, but it fit's nicely in the ockham's razor category, that is, from my point of view. I can only continue to beleive those cnet and cedia reports until a better source of information comes long.

LOL! Works for me! Believe me: He, myself, and pretty much all of us will be more than happy to keep on believing what those sources have said.

From your point of view it might be different, you might actually know how reliable the guy is, and also how reliable his source is, and who he works for, his name, position etc...

If you look at my last post and what I copied and pasted, it's obvious he was passing along glorified hearsay from a source HE trusted.

Originally Posted by GTP

If the P/E does both DDTHD and DTSMA....I am interested in a power buy from an authorized dealer also.

Even if it only does DTSMA until a later firmware upgrade for DDTHD...I am interested.....as long as it doesn't have to be sent in for the upgrade.

This would make my toes tingle a li'l bit.

[JTK]

I am merely repeating my buddies word. He is a beta tester for Sony and well connected in the industry...but he could be wrong or misinformed.

I hope your guys are right. This would be significant as any 1.1 HDMI receiver / processor would be able to play the completely lossless tracks of TRUE HD and DTS MA without ever needing HDMI 1.3 in a processor. Let the player do the decoding and why bother waiting or upgrading to a HDMI 1.3 processor. There are a few 1.1 processors now and 1.3 processors are at least a year out. Of course, analog is still an option..

I guess we'll just have to wait.

There ya go.