Panny In Stock and Shipping!

[Chris Beveridge]

I'm not giving much credence to reviews of the player until they've been tested through a number of discs and have some decent posts to them. Personally, I can't stand it when someone basically plays with a new unit like this for what, a couple of minutes a disc?, and then says "I can't recommend it now". Well duh, you shouldn't make any recommendations until you fully play with it and figure out what's what.

I wouldnt belive a word this person says. He is one of the biggest hd dvd fan boys there are read his post history.

[Gamekid]

I hope the reviews for the panny player are better then sammy's was, otherwise we'll have another flopped blu-ray player.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by kevinca1

I wouldnt belive a word this person says. He is one of the biggest hd dvd fan boys there are read his post history.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. If this were Anthony P I'd be much more likely to take it seriously despite being just a sampling review. If OTOH, Andrew P's comments are echoed by the majority then I'll be picking up the Sammy for sure. No sense spending a lot more for equal or barely better quality IMO.

[GoldenRedux]

Here's a more thorough and fair intial review from Cliff Stephenson on AVS;

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post8606129

I understand where he's coming from, but I don't agree with his final assessment on how the player will sell and the quality of the playback of the titles - how can any player, regardless of price or generation miraculously improve any current titles? What exactly is it that people were expecting this machine to do? It is up to the BD studios to put out superior BD titles that will shine on an y player, not the other way around.

Anyway, the biggest news here is that the player will be upgraded to do DTS-HD (not sure if MA is included in that) and Dolby THD, according to a note in the box!

I am all over this machine once I see a price drop.

[Josh]

His review sounded fine to me. Fixed some macroblocking errors and no skips on the DTS audio. The machine is delivering video and audio as promised. Is it $1300 good? Who knows. I've seen people spend a lot more for DVD players that give you a slightly better picture than a $200 player.

[zombie]

Cliff's review tells me that I should be picking up the Sammy for around $600 instead.

[Chris Beveridge]

Depends on how long you intend to keep the player; if the 7.1 analog outs and the upcoming firmware for Panasonic having the DTS-HD-MA on it, plus the ergonomics, it may be worth going with the Panasonic. If you intend to upgrade your player by next June when BD-Live is in full effect and 2nd gen players are more copious, then the Samsung may be the best bet for a low investment. There's still the Sony due by the end of the month as well.

Maybe the HD DVD side has it right. We're just given choices instead of going for one unit.

[zombie]

If I pick up the Sammy I would definitely plan on getting a better player a year from now. The thing is I've got like 16 BDs already and haven't watched a single one yet because I've been waiting to hear the reviews for these new players.

Oh and on a sidenote, despite looking and sounding very good, the HD DVD of Tokyo Drift does nothing, I mean NOTHING, to improve a horrible sequel.

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by nyg

Cliff's review tells me that I should be picking up the Sammy for around $600 instead.

Tells me that I should be picking up the PS3 for around $500 instead.

Seriously though, there are some good things that came out of this that were/are big concerns to me, including DTS HD etc. Apparently there WILL be firmware updates to enable these audio formats down the road.

I didn't even realize that the Panasonic could do DVD-Audio. Did I read that right?

For now, I simply think it makes more sense to get either a PS3 (if you are a gamer anyway) or heavily discounted Samsung and wait until 2nd gen players and reduced pricing comes into play.

[GoldenRedux]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Tells me that I should be picking up the PS3 for around $500 instead.

The review seemed a bit nit-picky to me, but it did tell me to get the Panny when there is a decent price drop/sale, hopefully by the Christmas shopping season. I want the 7.1 analogue outs and the DST-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD decoding. I like the BD-J abilities as well. As far as BD-Live, that will come with my second, far less expensive player a year or two from now. Hopefully it will be a universal as well.

I didn't even realize that the Panasonic could do DVD-Audio. Did I read that right?

Yes. This has been discussed here. It was in the Owner's Manual that someone posted a link to. It's definitely a plus and makes the player that much more appealing to me. Too bad it doesn't do SACD as well, though. If the player has a nice analogue stage and sounds as good as or better than my Denon DVD-2200, I might put the Denon up on eBay and just use the Panny for DVD-A, DVD, BD and (hopefully) audio-only BD releases. I have my Sony XA9000ES stand-alone SACD/CD player for SACDs and CDs.

For now, I simply think it makes more sense to get either a PS3 (if you are a gamer anyway) or heavily discounted Samsung and wait until 2nd gen players and reduced pricing comes into play.

Not unless you want a decent stand-alone player with more functionality now, and plan on just adding a second player later on in the game when you know the prices will drop drastically anyhow.

[Rob Tomlin]

I agree Golden.

[PeterTHX]

Sony and Panasonic were on opposite sides of the SACD/DVD-Audio war. That's why you never see DVD players from Sony supporting DVD-Audio and Panasonic supporting SACD.

Of course they were also opponents in the VHS/Beta battle.

Panasonic threw their weight behind Toshiba's SD format and that help convince Sony/Philips to fold MMCD into DVD.

That they BOTH strongly support and develop for Blu-ray shows that this is truly a unified format and Toshiba is solely responsible for this format war. :f

[Jeff®]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

That they BOTH strongly support and develop for Blu-ray shows that this is truly a unified format and Toshiba is solely responsible for this format war. :f

I think that Toshiba might have folded if not for Microsoft's announcement of support (which was also probably responsible for Intel and whatever pressure was applied to HP).

[Jazar]

Originally Posted by Jeff®

I think that Toshiba might have folded if not for Microsoft's announcement of support (which was also probably responsible for Intel and whatever pressure was applied to HP).

I agree 100%. This war is going last a lot longer thanks to MS.

Regarding the Panny, the best news to me about the panny is that it's one more BR device in the market. Right now there are two. By next month there will be five. That's what people need to see: All of their favorite CE brands selling BR equipment and only Toshiba (and knockoffs) selling HD DVD.

[Dave]

And the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...nyswebsit02-20

[GoldenRedux]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

I agree Golden.

Thanks.

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by GoldenRedux

Thanks.

You bet. You just added more in depth analysis to what I was saying before I ran out of steam!

[ProvenFlipper]

Reviews like this make me happy that I just went with the Samsung player. I plan on using this one for about a year, and this time next year, Samsung will become bedroom player and I will get a new 2nd gen player that will sport all of the features.

[Gamekid]

On amazon.com, there aren't any reviews of the panny player yet.