Which 3D Blu-ray Player to buy and where? Region A, B & region free recommendations

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by Regislive

I bought the LG BP550 mod player from 220 and it works great. It was basically the cheapest 3D player that they had and it works as well if not better than my 'main' house player. Honestly I think the sound out of it is fantastic. Region switching is super easy for blu...you just open it up...put the disc in...then hit 1, 2, or 3 for what region (A,B, or C) you want.

I think after promo codes and shipping it was like $120 US.

Thanks, I saw your earlier post saying the same thing.

My current player is an LG and has been fine but is glitching now so I'd like to try another brand, and obviously I need a UK seller.

[grazina31]

Originally Posted by the13thman

Thanks, I saw your earlier post saying the same thing.

My current player is an LG and has been fine but is glitching now so I'd like to try another brand, and obviously I need a UK seller.

A while back I bought a Sony bdp-s6700 from the US and I could not be happier. I only use it for playing region A 3D discs to maximize player longevity and would definitely recommend anyone looking for a player to get this sony. The 3D is fantastic and the player has never glitched on anything.

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by grazina31

A while back I bought a Sony bdp-s6700 from the US and I could not be happier. I only use it for playing region A 3D discs to maximize player longevity and would definitely recommend anyone looking for a player to get this sony. The 3D is fantastic and the player has never glitched on anything.

I have one of those, as well, that I use to play non-US region locked discs.

It has been excellent, except for one recent experience: I attempted to watch the new Beauty & the Beast 3D BR that I had bought from the UK. Several times, it gave me a black screen and would then continue, but then it would not continue and I had to power cycle the machine to get it to play. Eventually, I gave up for that night.

A few days later, I tried it on one of my other BR players, a Panasonic DMP-BDT215, and it gave me a message that I wish I had written down or photographed. It concerned the idea that my BR player was not up to date in some way and that I needed to update it.

I wasn't set up for that, so I played around hitting stop then play and after several cycles, it decided to play and I watched it without further incident.

Fast forward another day or two and I tried it on my other Panasonic BR player, a DMP-BDT360, and got the same message. I then looked through the manual for the player and was reminded that it could do firmware updates via wifi, so I did that. I then tried the Beauty and the Beast disc in it and it played flawlessly. The firmware update seemed to make the difference.

I suspect that my Sony was having a similar issue due to the need for newer firmware (which IMO is stupid - discs should be compatible with older players) so I intend to upgrade the firmware on the Sony, since I believe that it can also do that over wifi.

Sorry for the Off-Topic info, but it seems like some discs now require player updates and I thought people might like to know that. I am sure that someone else here knows a lot more about this issue than I. I just wanted to share what worked for me.

[Colonel Mortimer]

What are my best blu ray player options with 4K, Dolby Vision, and 3D capabilities right now?

Thanks!

[revgen]

I believe the current best quality options are the Panasonic UB820 and UB9000.

They're both about the same, but the UB820 is less expensive since it doesn't have the the same analog outputs that the UB9000 has. The UB820 retails for $500.

If the price is too high, then I recommend looking at Sony and LG models. I'm not a fan of Samsung.

[Colonel Mortimer]

Originally Posted by revgen

I believe the current best quality options are the Panasonic UB820 and UB9000.

They're both about the same, but the UB820 is less expensive since it doesn't have the the same analog outputs that the UB9000 has. The UB820 retails for $500.

If the price is too high, then I recommend looking at Sony and LG models. I'm not a fan of Samsung.

Awesome! Thanks for the input.

[infiniteCR]

Originally Posted by Regislive

I bought the LG BP550 mod player from 220 and it works great. It was basically the cheapest 3D player that they had and it works as well if not better than my 'main' house player. Honestly I think the sound out of it is fantastic. Region switching is super easy for blu...you just open it up...put the disc in...then hit 1, 2, or 3 for what region (A,B, or C) you want.

I think after promo codes and shipping it was like $120 US.

Thanks for the recommendation. Cost a tad bit more now, but had a player scare a few nights ago and the wife and I wanted to pickup a player to have on hand in case one of our other two goes down in the future. This one will keep good company with the spare 2016 lg OLED

[mpls1981]

As long as this thread is completely on Region Free mode; can anyone confirm if the Sony UBP-X800m2 is region free? Online says yes, but the back of the player says Region A and the photos I find on the Region Free sites that include the back image, also only say Region A.

[Elsinore]

Originally Posted by mpls1981

As long as this thread is completely on Region Free mode; can anyone confirm if the Sony UBP-X800m2 is region free? Online says yes, but the back of the player says Region A and the photos I find on the Region Free sites that include the back image, also only say Region A.

I don’t believe that model itself is region-free from Sony. (It’s listed on the instruction sheet I posted above.) You may be seeing online ads offering that model with a hardware modification from the seller that makes it region-free. But that wouldn’t appear on the unit itself because it’s an aftermarket modification.

[mpls1981]

Originally Posted by Elsinore

I don’t believe that model itself is region-free from Sony. (It’s listed on the instruction sheet I posted above.) You may be seeing online ads offering that model with a hardware modification from the seller that makes it region-free. But that wouldn’t appear on the unit itself because it’s an aftermarket modification.

I saw your post, but everything I was reading online didn't mention any modifications actually being made to this player and called out the conflicting information on the player itself. Per the instructions you just do some weird setting change with the remote and it works.

I may end up just trying a test by switching to a different region and playing a Region A disc to see if it errors.

[jstxanothrxstory]

Originally Posted by mpls1981

As long as this thread is completely on Region Free mode; can anyone confirm if the Sony UBP-X800m2 is region free? Online says yes, but the back of the player says Region A and the photos I find on the Region Free sites that include the back image, also only say Region A.

It's not region free out of the box, but can be modded, which is what you're probably seeing. I don't believe Sony makes any machines region free from the get-go.

[2112rushfan]

As I wrote in the Spiderman NWH thread several days ago, hubby and I had been planning to get a region free player later this year. I have been buying alot of used, really cheap region B 3D's from amazon sellers.
My first region B disc was by accident:I preordered Nutty By Nature 2 from amazon Germany as it was listed all region but arrived region locked. They gave me a refund and told me to just keep it. It's been sitting unopened on the shelf for years.

News of the SMNWH region lock prompted us to go ahead and order a new player Monday. We already have a Sony 6700, a 6500 and an older (2012) Sony S590 (we still use it for our original 3D tv, the Panny Plasma which is now in our bedroom).

We at first thought about getting another 6700 but for only a little more we went with the Sony X700.
Our 2016 LG OLED is 4K capable, we do have a few 4K discs that came in combo packs but we've never been able to watch them.

Well the player came yesterday (Wednesday) and after we set it up I decided to try one of those 4K discs: BBC nature doc "Dynasties".
When we put in the disc a message came on the screen saying the tv would need to restart-something or other about enabling HDR colors etc


All I can say is we knew our tv has nice PQ but nothing like this. I could almost reach out and feel the fur on those lions. It was stunning, incredible, amazing.
(Sorry to sound like an idiot but I didn't know just how good this tv is until last night lol)
After that we decided to try a region B 3D and per the instructions included it played without any problems.

We bought it from 220 Electronics via amazon. I had some saved gift cards and that helped with the cost. I also looked up this model on Crutchfield, they named it "best budget 4K Blu-ray player of 2021" and it is their top seller this year. I can see why. It is a very nice unit for the price.

Our plan is to use this player only for 4K's and B region 3D's. The 6700 is set up beside it and we'll continue using it for region A's.
We're very happy with the price we paid and the ease of use. I hope it lasts as long as all of our other Sony players

Sorry the lengthy post but I'm pretty excited about the whole "new" world of viewing pleasure that has now become available.
Hmmm, maybe I should actually thank Sony for region locking SM No Way Home lol

[RA1D3R]

So my Sony BDP-S6700 has stopped reading bluray discs in less than a year (about 9 months). Very disappointed by this. What are some decent 3D players that don't cost an arm and a leg? Not Sony!

[Jlardonio]

Originally Posted by RA1D3R

So my Sony BDP-S6700 has stopped reading bluray discs in less than a year (about 9 months). Very disappointed by this. What are some decent 3D players that don't cost an arm and a leg? Not Sony!

Doesn't it have warranty?

My 11 year samsung bd-d6500 player also stopped reading discs... the logic board was the problem... just bought a new one and it's working normal as before.

[Oboler]

Originally Posted by RA1D3R

So my Sony BDP-S6700 has stopped reading bluray discs in less than a year (about 9 months). Very disappointed by this. What are some decent 3D players that don't cost an arm and a leg? Not Sony!

I’ve had a Panasonic for 5 years now and never any problems. The only negative I can think of is that they have a dedicated Netflix right in the middle of the remote, which is too easy to press when you don’t want to, so can be more than frustrating in a dark room. Player is reliable though!

[RA1D3R]

Originally Posted by Jlardonio

Doesn't it have warranty?

My 11 year samsung bd-d6500 player also stopped reading discs... the logic board was the problem... just bought a new one and it's working normal as before.

I can't find the receipt. I have the warranty paper and the manual. Sony said I had to have the receipt.

[Jlardonio]

Originally Posted by RA1D3R

I can't find the receipt. I have the warranty paper and the manual. Sony said I had to have the receipt.

If you bought it online maybe you can find the receipt at your account or contact the seller if they can send it to you.

A PS3 or PS4 can be good replacements for your player or you can look online for the logical board of your player... you just need to open it and look for the part no.

LG is a good brand to replace a sony player.

[GreatGreg]

My player died near the end of 2021 after seven years of daily use.

Replaced it (Pioneer) with a Sony X700 Region Free 4K 3D player for about $350 and have been happy with it.

[lucasatakros]

Originally Posted by RA1D3R

I can't find the receipt. I have the warranty paper and the manual. Sony said I had to have the receipt.

You might be able to get details from your credit card statement also....

...the retailer might even be able to print a duplicate receipt.