Advice needed - which blu-ray player?

[bigboss]

After recently splurging on my home cinema system, I'm now back in the market for a blu-ray player. My PS3 is currently happily performing the duties at the moment, & i'm quite happy with it. But it doesn't play DVDs from other regions.

One of the options for me was to buy a region free DVD player, but now I think I should go for a universal blu-ray player instead for better blu-ray experience as well.

I certainly won't pay anything more than £600, although I don't mind even cheaper players, as long as the quality is good.

So far, my options were Pioneer, Panasonic & Sony. Pioneer players would nicely match my KRP 500A media box (although I'm not bothered if it matches or not), but they're excruciatingly slow in starting the discs. Panasonic players are marginally better at disc loading times. Sony is the fastest, but I think Panasonic players better the Sony ones in terms of performance.

I've now heard of Oppo BDP-83, which is really quite interesting, & they seem to tick all the right boxes for me. But I'm not sure about the after sales support & warranty. It's cheaper buy on Ebay, but CRT projectors are based in UK &, I hope, will provide the support in case of any problems.

What's my best option?

 

[pete321]

I got my Oppo from CRT last week and so far have been very happy with it. I personally went for the CRT option rather than eBay, blu-ray players are still relatively new tecnology and CRT's customer service is supposed to be very good. There's a reference on another forum indicating that a BDP-83 failed within a day, CRT sent out an immediate replacement before having the faulty one collected. I don't think you can ask for more than that!

I've owned a Denon DVD-2500BT before and although I can't now do a direct comaprison, I'd say that both HD & SD pictures are very similar, both very clean with Blu-Ray and DVD (the Oppo can be used as a transport in Source Direct mode). I prefer the more dynamic sound from the Oppo. Plus the set-up menu looks great and is easy to use, multi regionzone, SACD/DVD-A/MKV etc. It's a great player.

The only niggle I've found is the Oppo screen is too bright causing screen burn in the 3 minutes before the screen saver cuts in, having said that I just press the Pure Audio button and that turns all video signals off.

How it'll compare to the new players coming out from Pioneer and Denon I don't know. Having said that, at this price point I don't think you'd notice too much difference in the HD picture with any of them at normal viewing distances. In which case it comes down to what else the player does for the same money.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks Pete! I can see that you also own a Sony player & have owned a Denon previously. I'm sure there will be a difference in performance, but is the difference discernable, & worth the cost difference?

 

[pete321]

The outgoing Sony BDP-S350 gives excellent performance per pound and I'm sure it's replacement plus it's Panasonic rival will be excellent buys. I could notice an improvement in picture and sound with both the Denon & the Oppo, however the biggest difference was with DVD rather than Blu-Ray. Having paid £599 for the Denon, i didn't feel the price difference of over £400 justified the difference in blu-ray picture. I've paid the same for the Oppo, but the sound is greatly improved, plus all the other features it has over the Denon including lightning quick load times and multi-zone ability.

The price of the 2500BT is coming down now as it's replacement looms and if you can get one for under £400, it's perhaps a good buy, but it still is a bit fussy with some discs. My 2500BT spat a few discs out which my Sony played with no problem. If you don't want any of the extra features of the Oppo, the new mid-price Pioneer BDP-320 may prove to be a better alternative. I can't imagine you'd notice much difference in HD picture quality at normal viewing distances, probably won't be in the same league with SD though. I guess it depends how many DVD's you've got in your movie collection.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks Pete! The only reason I'm going for another player, is for DVDs. Otherwise I'm quite happy with my PS3. But if at all I'm buying a player, I might as well buy a blu-ray player.

The only problem with Pioneers is, slow loading times. I went on the CRT projectors website, & found the JVC XV-BP1. It's half the cost of the Oppo, but has all the features I need (fast loading time, good DVD upscaler & ability to play multiregion DVDs). Oppo looks very well featured, but most of the extra features are unusable to me (SACD etc.)

How is this player?

 

[Anonymous]

With your fantastic display, I would suggest you go for a Pioneer BDP-LX71 which can be had for £429.99, new on E-Bay.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks for the info, Valian! The only problem with the older Pioneer models is that they are only profile 1.1 & quite slow to load discs.

There are 2 sides of me: one tells me to buy a decent cheap player, like the JVC or Panasonic BD60, & the devilish side is pushing me towards buying a no compromise player, like Oppo (afetr all, I didn't compromise on the TV!!).......it really depends on whom I succumb to.....

 

[pete321]

The Oppo will give you one of the best upscaling machines for DVD, not only that there will be a big difference in blu-ray playback over your PS3. The load time for DVD is instant, for blu-ray,whilst not exactly fast, it's massively faster than the 2500BT, and a fair bit faster than the Sony BDP-S350. I'm finding that by the time I've put the blu-ray in and sat down, it's more or less starting to play.

Don't know what the DVD upscaling is like on the new Pioneer's, but the Anchor Bay system on the Oppo is supposed to be one of the best. I watched the DVD of Enemy At The Gates the other day and apart from the lack of colour depth, you'd have thought you were watching a blu-ray, the picture was that sharp at normal viewing distance. Also, it was the R1 version and so was being upscaled from 480i, making the resulting picture quality even more impressive

 

[Andrew Everard]

BD player Supertest in the September issue, with subscribers next couple of days, in the shops next week. Covers players £240-£400.

 

[pete321]

Andrew Everard:BD player Supertest in the September issue, with subscribers next couple of days, in the shops next week. Covers players £240-£400.

Andrew, I know you won't want to be drawn on Oppo's blu-ray abilities, but as an Oppo DVD player owner you'll be able to advise BigBoss of the virtues of the Anchor Bay system....

 

[Anonymous]

Yes browsed one in WH Smith at St.Pancras International yesterday!

 

[Andrew Everard]

TBH don't use the Oppo too much as a DVD player, mainly for Super Audio CD from time to time.

 

[Andrew Everard]

angelface59:Yes browsed one in WH Smith at St.Pancras International yesterday!

September issue?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I've been using one of the new Philips BDP7300 Blu-ray players for about a month now and must say that the quality is very high.

 

[jase fox]

If your wanting a player "now" i'd go for the Denon-2500BT, but if not i'd be tempted to wait as new models are shortly coming out from the big guns.

 

[bigboss]

Andrew Everard:BD player Supertest in the September issue, with subscribers next couple of days, in the shops next week. Covers players £240-£400.

THIS is the issue I'm desperately waiting for! Oppo may be the best DVD upscaler around, but that comes at a cost of £600. Is it really worth the premium, considering I don't listen to SACDs? When the player officially launches, I'm sure it'll be cheaper.

Denon looks promising. I'll check it out.

My gut feeling is, I'll buy the blu-ray player that's the group test winner of the forthcoming issue. I'm somebody who's quite happy with PS3 blu-ray performance. So I'm quite sure I'll be happy with the blu-ray performance of any standalone player. I just want a decent DVD upscaler (multiregion). I don't want to spoil myself looking at more expensive players, considering I've just spent a lot on my home cinema system.

Thanks Andrew! On which day will I be able to buy the issue?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Wednesday 29th.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks!! So I guess I'll buy my player on Wednesday then!!

 

[bigboss]

Saw the Panasonic DMP-BD60 on Ebay yesterday for £160 (brand new with manufacturer's warranty)......couldn't let the offer go....so bought it!! I'm sure £160 is a bargain for this kind of player, whatever the results of the supertest may be. I'll still buy the magazine.......need to know which one is the winner, & how the BD60 has performed against its rivals!