pioneer bdp-51fd worth buying or is there better players for £300

admin_exported

New member
Aug 10, 2019
2,556
4
0
Visit site
hi, thinking of getting the pioneer bdp-51fd blu ray player,is this the best one for price.hd-dts no problem have hd fully compatible amp so software update not an issue,ritcher sounds has them on offer for £300 which i hope they have in stock. any major issues playing blu-ray discs with this player?
 
Pioneer players are very good, amongst the best in class. The only downside, is their loading time.....more than 2 minutes. You can look at Panasonic DMP-BD80, or Sony S550. Sony players have a fast loading time. There's also this upcoming Sony S560....to be released in July-September.
 

v1c

New member
Feb 8, 2009
79
0
0
Visit site
Now is not the time to get the 51 not with the BDP120 , 320 and LX52 announced.

www.cdrinfo.com/sections/news/Details.aspx?NewsId=25193

Hifix taking preorders on 320 so they are coming to our shores summerish time.

www.hifix.co.uk/sku.lasso?item=ab735a8908937b2565a3c8b9c4445eeb

ÿ

ÿ

ÿ
 

drummerman

New member
Jan 18, 2008
540
3
0
Visit site
It's a very good player and sounds decent with cd too. It's certainly not lightening quick but I don't think I ever had to wait 2 minutes for a disc to play and I am still using firmware v. 1.17 as I never had any problems/glitches. Many run fw 1.25 without problems but some have experienced audio
drop-outs amongst other issues, the reason I stick with 1.17 for the
moment. In any case, I really don't care to wait a minute before watching a 2 hour film. There is a lot of discussion around whether further fw updates will speed the player up. There's also some concensus that the issue is now more related to the transport used than the software itself. I believe the new players use the same transport so if that's the case, no advantage there.

I think it's more important that pioneer come up with a 'definitive' firmware update that at last includes the (almost a year) promised DTS MA coding and without introducing further operational problems in the process. The new players won't be imune to that either, so no advantage 'out of the box' there. It's no issue for me as I don't do surround etc and it won't be for you if your receiver can decode it.

If BDLive is important to you then the new players are the ones to go for. I had a quick look at the 320 which someone suggested and the price is around £160 more than the BD51 on pre-order. I think it's the same machine other than BDLive. A lot to pay for a 'gadget' that's not properly supported yet of what I can gather. I give my BD51 a live span of perhaps a couple of years as BlueRay is still in it's infancy relatively speaking. If the 320 comes down in price to similar levels as the 51 then it's an easy decision whether you want BDLive or not but in the current economic climate I can't see that happening soon.

To sum it up; Fantastic pictures, good sound, great adjustability and menu's, looks good, nice build. - Slow'ish (?), Pioneer's usual slow firmware updates, not v.2.0.

I compared it to Denon's transport only £700(900) player and preferred the Pioneer. I would perhaps compare the BD51 with one of the new panasonic players if one of them is around the same price and if you can stand the look. They seem to have fewer software problems though I'm not 100% sure about that.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
What I don't understand about the Pioneer is why you have to wait for the entire operating system to boot up, for the machine to open the drawer to accept a disc, thus allowing you to retake your seat! Can't this bit of machine control sit in it's own control chip not requiring the machine to be fully booted up to function? Cost cutting. I am actually unimpressed. Unlike the previous poster, I don't like having to wait while the machine slowly chugs into life before I watch a film. It does this well to it's credit but the film itself is only part not all of the user experience. You may disagree, but that is what I think and I don't think I'm alone.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
hi, drummerman thanks for your indepth advice as you have the pioneer.i just bought it today and have not been disappointed,loading times have been excellent and nowhere near the 2 min or longer loading times as i have been told.
 

v1c

New member
Feb 8, 2009
79
0
0
Visit site
The pre-order price for the BDP 320 is now only £9.05 more than a BD51. I suspect the DTS MA coding will be resolved on this one as well. Oh well just got a 51 myself but will be getting an LX52 now. Qui Sera Sera.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts