Any good recommendations for Blu Ray?

[Tushar]

Hi! I'm considering Blu Ray players. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

It seems this coming year network streaming for Netflix, etc (wireless) and HD transmission on HDMI are becoming standard on some of manufacturers lines (if not this year then next year). I'm wondering if there's any DVD players with high video and sound quality from Blu-Ray format, and transmits HD audio formats on HDMI, and wireless network streaming. Anything do all of that and boot up quickly as well? Looking at cheaper offerings (<$350) since my wife so far has been quiet as I put my music system together which to me implies she will explode if I buy too much more.

I will continue to use my Oppo-980 DVD player for any CD/DVD/DVD-A/SA-CVD's so DVD upconversion and sound quality from non-Blu Ray formats are not important. I have a Denon AVR-988 that says it decodes some of the HD audio formats so I'm not looking for any analogue outs on the Blu Ray player.

[davef]

Hi Tushar,

I am also looking for a new Blu Ray player with NetFlix streaming. Definitely let me know what you come up with and any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

[Tushar]

Dave,

Hi! Since you asked, from what I've read and what is commented in AVS Forum, the difference in Blu Ray disk playback is same for all brands (assuming you are using HDMI out). For Netflix streaming and quick startup time, it seems that Samsung 3600 is good (better Netflix streaming than Roku). There are issues reported re: overheating, setting it up to communicate with your wireless N network (it comes with wireless dongle), but it seems to be solidly reviewed. It seems to be selling for about $330-350. I am probably going to buy that one (have to figure out when) if it has Deep Color (36bit). The way they fit the extra cost of wireless and Netflix into the HW, however was to decontent on DVD Upconversion chip vs. the preceding Samsung model-- which I think was the 2550. It also has reviews of bad analogue out. I use my AVR to process digital info and will keep my Oppo for CD, SACD, etc, so for me the samsung is a good fit. just giving you update since you asked. I don't know when I will actually buy it-- probably some time this summer.

[Tushar]

Dave-- Never mind. From posts there are alot of concerns for Samsung in terms of lip-synch and wierd failures. LG has less wierdness, but still some reports of lip synch concern. I'm wondering whether to get a Roku to get Netflix until there are good mature solutions on the BLu Ray front... LG 390 would seem to be the best choice out there right now.

[davef]

I actually purchased the Samsung 3600 a few weeks ago. I am quite impressed so far and the Netflix streaming is even better than I expected. I haven't noticed any of the "reported" probems so far. I am even considering dumping our cable movie channels now as I feel the selection offered by Netflix is far more interesting than cable.

[Tushar]

Dave,

Thanks! I am leaning toward the Samsung as well (mainly for Pandora and because LG has some problems with not being able to turn off some tags). The video from Netflix is supposed to be better than Roku with DVD quality for SD content and not quite Blu Ray quality for HD content (assuming adequate bandwidth on router, Internet provider.

Do you see any lip synch issue? If not, what brand TV do you use.
What do you think of Pandora? Tried it on my laptop and quite impressed with what it does.

[davef]

Dave,

Thanks! I am leaning toward the Samsung as well (mainly for Pandora and because LG has some problems with not being able to turn off some tags). The video from Netflix is supposed to be better than Roku with DVD quality for SD content and not quite Blu Ray quality for HD content (assuming adequate bandwidth on router, Internet provider.

Do you see any lip synch issue? If not, what brand TV do you use.
What do you think of Pandora? Tried it on my laptop and quite impressed with what it does.

Haven't tried Pandora yet but the Netflix streaming is fantastic... IMO, this is the future and it will eventually replace cable. $20/month for Netflix vs $180/month for lousy movies on cable? Comcast/TimeWarner had good OnDemand content but the OnDemand content on ATT Uverse is awful.

I haven't noticed any Lip Synching issues yet and I am using this with a 37" Vizio LCD via HDMI.

[Tushar]

Thanks! My guess is the lip synch issue is from TV sets, not Blu Ray with too much image processing set up. My Sony currently does this and I have to offset quite a bit on my DVD player and/or receiver to correct.

I agree with you about Netflix- it's amazing value. I'm mainly buying the BR player for that feature.

[davef]

I'm mainly buying the BR player for that feature.

Same here -- Pandora and the fact that it actually plays DVDs (and the BD quality is stunning) are added bonuses.

Haven't tried an SD DVD yet for upscaling but this was never a concern of mine. Only DVD's I own are kids movies etc and in my opinion, the worse Barney / Thomas / Wiggles / Little Mermaid etc. look, the better.

[TooManyHobbies]

I'm curious as to what sort of download speeds your seeing for Blu-Ray movies. On another forum, someone posted that it was taking 2.5 to 4 hours for Netflix Blu-Ray titles to download and be ready to watch. The person was very disappointed, since they anticipated almost immediate availability, but they said that was only the case with standard definition. We subscribe to the Netflix unlimited plan, so downloading from the Internet is a free option for us. I'd do it with the Roku box, though, as we have the new Oppo Digital BDP-83 and wouldn't trade it for anything else. We have a collection of standard DVD's, so upconversion is important to us. The BDP-83 does an excellent job with upconversion and Blu-Ray.

Bill

[Tushar]

Ditto on the question of download speeds. I'm more curious, though what kind of ISP, modem speeds you have and how that is affecting quality. The Samsung websites recommend using 5.0GHz draft N for the HD streaming, 2.4GHz draft N for SD; but I doubt I can find an ISP in my area who exceeds the bandwidth my wireless G can handle (my current ISP is <30MBPS (probably single digit MBPS in reality, the modem is 30-50MBPS)...

[davef]

I'm curious as to what sort of download speeds your seeing for Blu-Ray movies.

NetFlix movies really don't download in the typical sense -- they are streamed real-time. I streamed (2) HD movies over the weekend (HD content for streaming is very limited at this point). I noticed no difference in startup times for SD content or HD content. Movies begin playing within several minutes.

[davef]

Ditto on the question of download speeds. I'm more curious, though what kind of ISP, modem speeds you have and how that is affecting quality. The Samsung websites recommend using 5.0GHz draft N for the HD streaming, 2.4GHz draft N for SD; but I doubt I can find an ISP in my area who exceeds the bandwidth my wireless G can handle (my current ISP is <30MBPS (probably single digit MBPS in reality, the modem is 30-50MBPS)...

My ISP is ATT (Uverse) and I am on their pro-plan. Download speed is supposed to be 1.5mbps, nothing great and the Samsung 3600 is connected to my network by way of wireless.

[bdfin]

I know you guys are looking for units that stream also....but if anyone is looking to go BR on a budget, I saw units today at Wally World for 128.00 bucks. So if anybody is looking to add or convert on the cheap....just thought I'd mention it.

[Tushar]

Finally got the BDP-3600. Wow.

[davef]

Finally got the BDP-3600. Wow.

I find it rare these days that a product fully meets my expectations, but the BDP-3600 has succeeded (at least thus far). Highly recommended :)

I am actually quite surprised at the video quality of NetFlix streaming, MUCH better than one would expect.

[Tushar]

Net flix streaming is pretty good, tough some movies seem to have a loss of detail in faces and odd coloration due to the compression.

Actually surprised with DVD upconversion. I was assuming it would be poor, but surprised to find it does a very good job (compared to my Oppo DVD)...

[TooManyHobbies]

I was able to purchase an Oppo Digital BDP-83 in early May. While this unit does not do Netflix streaming video and is more expensive than the Samsung 3600, the Blu-Ray and upconversion capabilities are very impressive. You can certainly tell the difference between the two formats, but the upconversion is many times better than watching a standard DVD on a 52" TV. There is no graininess, lack of detail, or artifacts in the upconverted 1080p video. Since my wife and I have a modest collection of standard DVDs we are not planning to replace, the unconversion performance was important to us. The BDP-83 has not been a disappointment in any respect.

Bill

[muzz]

I know you guys are looking for units that stream also....but if anyone is looking to go BR on a budget, I saw units today at Wally World for 128.00 bucks. So if anybody is looking to add or convert on the cheap....just thought I'd mention it.

Yep, those were the Magnavox 500's (Funai), I got 1 for upstairs because all that was up there was a regular DVD player, and she doesn't always like coming down here in the cave to watch a BD.

I had considered spending more $ for a Streamer (Sammy3600/LG390), but it's quite a bit more $, and I have read about issues, so I figured I would wait till the next series come out/they get rid of the bugs.....

[Tushar]

Too Many Hobbies,

I agree with you that good upconversion makes a big difference for DVDs. My wife is used to our Oppo 980 and wasn't blown away by the Blu Ray experience. That said, we noticed a sharper, seemingly more detailed image from upconversion on the Samsung. For sure, your Oppo does better at upconversion than mine. I was just surprised that the Samsung was better as well.