Budget Blue-Ray Player???

[admin_exported]

Firstly thanks to those that helped me to chose my Panasonic tele - went for the 46pz81 and must say I'm very happy.

Anyway my next mission is to upgrade to Blue-Ray and would really appreciate your help again.

I'm looking for a budget entry level player maximum £200.

Any suggestions? - been looking at the Sony 350 which is on offer for £150 in Argos but was pondering whether a Panasonic may be a better match for my tele.

 

[Big Chris]

I have the Sony 350 and I'm very happy with it. I'm sure you will be too. For £150 I'd be all over it. I paid £200 for mine in October.

 

[Anonymous]

Sony 350 here too. Can't go wrong for the money and I'm chuffed to bits with mine.

 

[laserman16]

Well pleased with my Sony S350 as well.You could also look at the Panasonic BD35. Both get very good write -ups.

 

[tvmog]

I have the 350 as well, and at the price I paid for it it is superb value. It has a stunning picture, however it does not decode the higher end HD audio formats. At first I did not think this would be an issue as given the quality of my home cinema system I was quite happy to carry on using bog standard Dolby or DTS 5.1. However, a couple of recent discs have only had the HD audio formats and I was forced to listen to them in standard stereo. If this is likely to be an issue for you in the future you may be better off waiting for the Sony 360 which is mentioned else where on this site and apparently will have HD audio decoding and sell for around £230.

 

[laserman16]

I thought it defaulted to Dolby or DTS 5.1 if you could not decode the HD track, which is a core soundtrack within the HD track.Then again I might be wrong, maybe "Professorhat" or someone else could help on this.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

laserman16:I thought it defaulted to Dolby or DTS 5.1 if you could not decode the HD track, which is a core soundtrack within the HD track.

Then again I might be wrong, maybe "Professorhat" or someone else could help on this.

AFAIK yes it should be downmixed to standard DTS or DD not a simple stero mix acording to the players spec.

 

[laserman16]

D.J.KRIME:laserman16:I thought it defaulted to Dolby or DTS 5.1 if you could not decode the HD track, which is a core soundtrack within the HD track.

Then again I might be wrong, maybe "Professorhat" or someone else could help on this.

AFAIK yes it should be downmixed to standard DTS or DD not a simple stero mix acording to the players spec.

I thought so , my S350 seems to do it ok anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

I also have the Sony and if you decide to go for it, you'll have bought yourself a cracking Blu-Ray player; but if I was in your position then I would pay an extra £20 and go for the Panasonic BD35; firstly, it will compliment your TV slightly better and secondly, it is probably marginally a better player than the Sony.

Kind Regards

Andy

 

[D.J.KRIME]

andyb1984:

I also have the Sony and if you decide to go for it, you'll have bought yourself a cracking Blu-Ray player; but if I was in your position then I would pay an extra £20 and go for the Panasonic BD35; firstly, it will compliment your TV slightly better and secondly, it is probably marginally a better player than the Sony.

Kind Regards

Andy

There is also the added benifit of being able to ditch one of the remote controls as both bits can be operated by one.

 

[Sorreltiger]

I don't think you should need to resort to stereo to hear a DTS Master soundtrack - this was the only omission on the 350 BTW. ÿOf course, it doesn't matter if use your amp to decode. ÿThe latest Blu-ray player review in WHF confirms the view that the Panasonic shades it for picture quality, whereas the Sony (also very good in that department) produces better sound. ÿThe 'one remote' issue may be a clincher, however!

 

[tvmog]

laserman16:D.J.KRIME:laserman16:I thought it defaulted to Dolby or DTS 5.1 if you could not decode the HD track, which is a core soundtrack within the HD track.

Then again I might be wrong, maybe "Professorhat" or someone else could help on this.

AFAIK yes it should be downmixed to standard DTS or DD not a simple stero mix acording to the players spec.

I thought so , my S350 seems to do it ok anyway.

I thought this was the case too, and on some discs it has been. But on both "Quantum of Solace" and "Burn After Reading" I had a 5.1 signal during the trailers, menu screen and producer logo, but the sound dissapeared as soon as the film proper started and I had to reset the Sony to downmix to stereo to get any audio at all. (At least it was a very good steroe track)

 

[laserman16]

Not had a problem with my "Quantum of Solace".

Strange that.

 

[tvmog]

Apologies for digging up an old thread but I thought I'd better set the record straight in case I've confused anybody. It would appear that it is my receiver that is the problem. It is part of a Panasonic Home Theatre System which includes an upscaling DVD player but also has an optical input which allows me to connect my HD box and Blu ray. Although the integral DVD player will decode both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1, the optical input will only accept Dolby Digital and PCM, hence the lack of 5.1 on discs that only have a DTS audio track.

 

[Anonymous]

There are some bargains to be had but if I was buying I'd buy a Sony bdps350 or Panasonic dmpbd35, around about £200ish.

 

[Big Chris]

The Sony 350 is on Play.com for £160 inc. delivery.

 

[cram]

tenner cheaper at Amazon

 

[laserman16]

tvmog:Apologies for digging up an old thread but I thought I'd better set the record straight in case I've confused anybody. It would appear that it is my receiver that is the problem. It is part of a Panasonic Home Theatre System which includes an upscaling DVD player but also has an optical input which allows me to connect my HD box and Blu ray. Although the integral DVD player will decode both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1, the optical input will only accept Dolby Digital and PCM, hence the lack of 5.1 on discs that only have a DTS audio track.

No apologies needed, at least you know that you have not got a problem with your BD player. I'm running audio thru a Sony DAV-S500 and that will decode both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 fed from the optical which is why I was a bit confused when you said you had a problem with Quantum of Solace.

Hopefully will upgrade to an AV receiver sometime this year although at the moment I'm a statistic of the credit crunch so its not the most important thing on my shopping list at the moment.

 

[tvmog]

It's a bit of a pain because an increasing number of discs seem to be being released with only a DTS based audio track, but like you a new receiver isn't very high on the shopping list at the moment.

 

[laserman16]

tvmog:It's a bit of a pain because an increasing number of discs seem to be being released with only a DTS based audio track, but like you a new receiver isn't very high on the shopping list at the moment.

Suppose you're in a worse position than me, at least I can get the DTS.

 

[carter]

ive got a 350 to and you will not be disapointed if you go for the sony its very good value and looks good on my older panasonic screen so it should look even better on yours.