Buying a home theater...need help

[RPinney]

Sorry, but I'm not sure why this content disappeared in my other thread, so I am re-posting it. Sorry if this violates any rules...

Hi there,

I recently purchased a panasonic TC-P50S1 HDTV for $xxx.xx and it came with a free bluray player (BD60). Now, here is my dilemma.

I can either:

Keep the blu-ray player and purchase the SC-PT770 for about $320

OR

I can sell the blu-ray player ($150 back) and purchase the SC-BT300 for about $475, making it basically the same total cost of the previous option (after selling the blu-ray)

So, to sum this all up, my question is this: What is better, a Panasonic SC-PT770 home theater in a box with a standalone BD60 blu-ray player OR a SC-BT300?


Comparison PROS / CONS (I am merely listing the DIFFERENCES rather than mentioning all the great features of both of these systems)

What the SC-PT770 has over the SC-BT300:
With the SC-PT770, comes all the wireless equipment needed for rear wireless speaker. Whereas, the SC-BT300 is wireless READY but does not include the proper wireless equipment.

What the SC-BT300 has over the SC-PT770:
The SC-BT300 is a 7.1 channel system while the SC-PT770 is only 5.1 channel. Also, the SC-BT300 is a 1250 watt system while the SC-PT770 is "only" 1000 watts. (also has youtube streaming - don't care)


After looking at the differences, I should mention that I prefer the wireless setup for my room because I don't want to have to fish tape the wires under the carpet. However, I would also like to have everything built into 1 thing, rather than having a receiver and then a blu-ray player on the side, why not just have them combined. Lastly, I am not interested in spending another $130 on a wireless receiver for the BT300, I would have to live with the wires.

I can't decide!!!



Also...will I even be able to hook up the blu-ray player to the SC-PT770 - there are no HDMI inputs! I also need to connect an xbox360 to this home theater system, will I absolutely need 2 HDMI ports if I want this to be possible? I have 3 HDMI ports on my TV...but I want to be able to use the new HD sound codecs