independent
Well-known member
tinydancer:Davo2008:
Is the only genuine difference between the 35 and the 55 the analogue outputs? WHF think the sound's better on the 55, but the specs are remakably similar! The 35's available for £225 which I think is pretty good. So we have....
Denon 2500BT - £640
Panasonic DB55 - £300
Panasonic DB35 - £225
Sony bdps550 - £219
As it stands at the moment, one vote for each. First to 10 wins!
Where did you see the Panasonic DB55 for £300? £50 cheaper than I've seen it!
Pana 35 £199 at john lewis
Is the only genuine difference between the 35 and the 55 the analogue outputs? WHF think the sound's better on the 55, but the specs are remakably similar! The 35's available for £225 which I think is pretty good. So we have....
Denon 2500BT - £640
Panasonic DB55 - £300
Panasonic DB35 - £225
Sony bdps550 - £219
As it stands at the moment, one vote for each. First to 10 wins!
Where did you see the Panasonic DB55 for £300? £50 cheaper than I've seen it!
Pana 35 £199 at john lewis
in my opinion, if we are talking ability then the denon wins hands down, but if we are talking value for money then the sony 550 at the moment
So that's what it boils down to! The million dollar question. Do you want to pay huge amounts of cash to get the best that's out there (and even then maybe wishyou had the Denon 3800) or spend less money for a better value player that's not as good. Every time you watch a disc, would you be wondering how much better it would be on the denon? Personally, I'd like to buy the best that I can, but the though of spending £650 is making me feel sick! I'd love someone to say that the Sony or the BD55 are mind-blowing and the difference between them and the Denon isn't that big!
By the way, the DB55 for £300 is a corporate thing. It's a code you put in at checkout to get 25% off on the Panasonic website (£399 less 25% = £300). Ithink anyone can use it, so I can post it tomorrow, if you're interested. Also applies to the new Vieras etc, but then my bank really WOULD start reposessing stuff!!
By the way, the DB55 for £300 is a corporate thing. It's a code you put in at checkout to get 25% off on the Panasonic website (£399 less 25% = £300). Ithink anyone can use it, so I can post it tomorrow, if you're interested. Also applies to the new Vieras etc, but then my bank really WOULD start reposessing stuff!!
Hi Clare (or anyone else in the WHF team). Please can you put an end to this indecisiveness and let us know what YOU would personally do.... Panasonic BD55 for £300 or Denon 2500BT for £640? Thanks!
If you can afford it (and have a great AV amp for HD Audio) the Denon is a true step up in performance. If not, you'll be very pleased with the Panasonic (which has the advantage of being Profile 2.0, if that matters to you).
And just to throw a spanner in the works, i'd not overlook this bargain, either....
And just to throw a spanner in the works, i'd not overlook this bargain, either....
I got the pioneer BDP-51FD, it's quite simply stunning and cd playback is outstanding, got this for £300 and over the moon with it. Using it with an Infocus X9.
Cheers
Cheers
Excellent, thanks Clare. And with the Denon, would it definitely upscale SD better than my current Denon 2930? The 2930 has the HQV Reon chip in it I believe which is the same as my new Onkyo 876, so does that mean my 2930 is now redundant anyway?
I got it from TLC Broadcast Claire, also got it multiregion, im amazed at the CD playback, its quite superb, BR's are also brilliant. For the money I wouldn't buy anything else.
Cheers
Cheers
Davo2008:
Excellent, thanks Clare. And with the Denon, would it definitely upscale SD better than my current Denon 2930? The 2930 has the HQV Reon chip in it I believe which is the same as my new Onkyo 876, so does that mean my 2930 is now redundant anyway?
The Denon 2500BT will be better with DVDs than your 2930, because it's not just the chipset to add into the equation - lots of other playback improvements, too. And you've a superb upscaling receiver, too, so have some interesting A/B upscaling comparisions to try!
Excellent, thanks Clare. And with the Denon, would it definitely upscale SD better than my current Denon 2930? The 2930 has the HQV Reon chip in it I believe which is the same as my new Onkyo 876, so does that mean my 2930 is now redundant anyway?
The Denon 2500BT will be better with DVDs than your 2930, because it's not just the chipset to add into the equation - lots of other playback improvements, too. And you've a superb upscaling receiver, too, so have some interesting A/B upscaling comparisions to try!
Davo2008:
So that's what it boils down to! The million dollar question. Do you want to pay huge amounts of cash to get the best that's out there (and even then maybe wishyou had the Denon 3800) or spend less money for a better value player that's not as good. Every time you watch a disc, would you be wondering how much better it would be on the denon? Personally, I'd like to buy the best that I can, but the though of spending £650 is making me feel sick! I'd love someone to say that the Sony or the BD55 are mind-blowing and the difference between them and the Denon isn't that big!
By the way, the DB55 for £300 is a corporate thing. It's a code you put in at checkout to get 25% off on the Panasonic website (£399 less 25% = £300). Ithink anyone can use it, so I can post it tomorrow, if you're interested. Also applies to the new Vieras etc, but then my bank really WOULD start reposessing stuff!!
The discount code would be outrageously, indecently helpful, if it doesn't get you into trouble! Am now thinking of the Panasonic BD35 as bitstreaming audio to my new Yamaha Z7, but still not 100% sure if what means there is no need for me to go for the BD55. Clare, can you think of any benefits of having the BD55 over the BD35 if using the Z7? (Also good to see you rate it too elsewhere on the site!)
Thanks everyone.
So that's what it boils down to! The million dollar question. Do you want to pay huge amounts of cash to get the best that's out there (and even then maybe wishyou had the Denon 3800) or spend less money for a better value player that's not as good. Every time you watch a disc, would you be wondering how much better it would be on the denon? Personally, I'd like to buy the best that I can, but the though of spending £650 is making me feel sick! I'd love someone to say that the Sony or the BD55 are mind-blowing and the difference between them and the Denon isn't that big!
By the way, the DB55 for £300 is a corporate thing. It's a code you put in at checkout to get 25% off on the Panasonic website (£399 less 25% = £300). Ithink anyone can use it, so I can post it tomorrow, if you're interested. Also applies to the new Vieras etc, but then my bank really WOULD start reposessing stuff!!
The discount code would be outrageously, indecently helpful, if it doesn't get you into trouble! Am now thinking of the Panasonic BD35 as bitstreaming audio to my new Yamaha Z7, but still not 100% sure if what means there is no need for me to go for the BD55. Clare, can you think of any benefits of having the BD55 over the BD35 if using the Z7? (Also good to see you rate it too elsewhere on the site!)
Thanks everyone.
tolmie:
I got it from TLC Broadcast Claire, also got it multiregion, im amazed at the CD playback, its quite superb, BR's are also brilliant. For the money I wouldn't buy anything else.
Cheers
That's a superb deal - TLC has now put price back to £326, same as the Sound and Vision deal I linked to above.
And yes, it's an awesome player for the money: pretty much the same performance as the Pioneer '71 for a lot less cash.
I got it from TLC Broadcast Claire, also got it multiregion, im amazed at the CD playback, its quite superb, BR's are also brilliant. For the money I wouldn't buy anything else.
Cheers
That's a superb deal - TLC has now put price back to £326, same as the Sound and Vision deal I linked to above.
And yes, it's an awesome player for the money: pretty much the same performance as the Pioneer '71 for a lot less cash.
tinydancer:
The discount code would be outrageously, indecently helpful, if it doesn't get you into trouble! Am now thinking of the Panasonic BD35 as bitstreaming audio to my new Yamaha Z7, but still not 100% sure if what means there is no need for me to go for the BD55. Clare, can you think of any benefits of having the BD55 over the BD35 if using the Z7? (Also good to see you rate it too elsewhere on the site!)
Thanks everyone.
The 55 is better than the 35 for sound, plus for picture, too (few tweaks to the HDMI output etc) - with a receiver of that level, i'd say the 55 was a minimum!
The discount code would be outrageously, indecently helpful, if it doesn't get you into trouble! Am now thinking of the Panasonic BD35 as bitstreaming audio to my new Yamaha Z7, but still not 100% sure if what means there is no need for me to go for the BD55. Clare, can you think of any benefits of having the BD55 over the BD35 if using the Z7? (Also good to see you rate it too elsewhere on the site!)
Thanks everyone.
The 55 is better than the 35 for sound, plus for picture, too (few tweaks to the HDMI output etc) - with a receiver of that level, i'd say the 55 was a minimum!
Clare Newsome:tolmie:
I got it from TLC Broadcast Claire, also got it multiregion, im amazed at the CD playback, its quite superb, BR's are also brilliant. For the money I wouldn't buy anything else.
Cheers
That's a superb deal - TLC has now put price back to £326, same as the Sound and Vision deal I linked to above.
And yes, it's an awesome player for the money: pretty much the same performance as the Pioneer '71 for a lot less cash.
Too many tempting deals out there! Still trying to decide how to spend my Christmas money - new mobile, new TV, more Blu-rays - can't decide.
I got it from TLC Broadcast Claire, also got it multiregion, im amazed at the CD playback, its quite superb, BR's are also brilliant. For the money I wouldn't buy anything else.
Cheers
That's a superb deal - TLC has now put price back to £326, same as the Sound and Vision deal I linked to above.
And yes, it's an awesome player for the money: pretty much the same performance as the Pioneer '71 for a lot less cash.
Too many tempting deals out there! Still trying to decide how to spend my Christmas money - new mobile, new TV, more Blu-rays - can't decide.
Can the onkyo 876 be used to further enhance the Denon picture, or would it not do anything? Or would it DEGRADE the Denon picture?? i.e. should you use one or the other but not both?!
Panasonic code is NJFIEMX. Try it and let me know if it works (maybe I have to delve deeper to get a further code.)
Thanks again!
Panasonic code is NJFIEMX. Try it and let me know if it works (maybe I have to delve deeper to get a further code.)
Thanks again!
...p.s and interestingly, the BD55 can now be purchased (using the code) for £294 which inccludes 2 free blu ray movies.... is there a point where you just have to buy something? And what point would that be for the Denon....??
Ye I ordered it before the price went up so I'm a very happy chappy. I really cant fault it and find it a big step up from my PS3 which I didn't expect. Looking forward to seeing where it comes in your top 5 players.
I have just bought the Samsung BD-P2500 at £188 delivered via Robert Whytes and put on The Dark Knight last night on Blu-Ray and all I can say is WOW! The depth of blacks and detail were stunning run through my Infocus IN76 Projector via 1080P/24 and via Analogue Sound.
Cheers.
Cheers.
I'm still going to wait to see the full head to head reviews in the next issue before i make my final decision.
I originally purchased a pana 35, but took it back shortly aterwards because although the picture was great the sound, compared to my existing HD DVD player (toshiba ep35), lacked in both depth and spaciousness.
As I see it now taking into account previously read reviews:-
pana 35 great picture but the sony 350 beats it on sound - the sony 550 (which is presumably slighlty better than the pana 35 & sony 350) is lacking slighlty in the sound dept, particularly bass, and is therefore bettered by the pana 55
So for my current budget I am now considering the pana 55 (and hoping there really is a noticeable difference in sound quality over the pana 35), but I still want to see where the pioneer 51 fits into the equation and how it compares both on the picture and sound front
I originally purchased a pana 35, but took it back shortly aterwards because although the picture was great the sound, compared to my existing HD DVD player (toshiba ep35), lacked in both depth and spaciousness.
As I see it now taking into account previously read reviews:-
pana 35 great picture but the sony 350 beats it on sound - the sony 550 (which is presumably slighlty better than the pana 35 & sony 350) is lacking slighlty in the sound dept, particularly bass, and is therefore bettered by the pana 55
So for my current budget I am now considering the pana 55 (and hoping there really is a noticeable difference in sound quality over the pana 35), but I still want to see where the pioneer 51 fits into the equation and how it compares both on the picture and sound front
professorhat
Well-known member
Davo2008:Can the onkyo 876 be used to further enhance the Denon picture, or would it not do anything? Or would it DEGRADE the Denon picture?? i.e. should you use one or the other but not both?!
It could only possibly enhance DVD playback if the upscaler was better i.e. if you set the Denon to output at 576p when playing DVDs and let the Onkyo upscale to 720p / 1080p. Only way to know which is better is to try. It can't do anything with Blu-Ray as this obviously does not need to be upscaled.
It could only possibly enhance DVD playback if the upscaler was better i.e. if you set the Denon to output at 576p when playing DVDs and let the Onkyo upscale to 720p / 1080p. Only way to know which is better is to try. It can't do anything with Blu-Ray as this obviously does not need to be upscaled.
Davo2008:
Panasonic code is NJFIEMX. Try it and let me know if it works (maybe I have to delve deeper to get a further code.)
Yup, that works - £297.99 inc £4 delivery...
Panasonic code is NJFIEMX. Try it and let me know if it works (maybe I have to delve deeper to get a further code.)
Yup, that works - £297.99 inc £4 delivery...
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