pioneer vs panasonic

[admin_exported]

just a quick question for the what hi fi team, is the pioneer lx71 worth the extra cash over the panasonic bd55??

Thnaks

 

[Andy Clough]

Yes. The Pioneer is our Best Buy blu-ray player £500-£700, while the Panasonic fits in the £300-£400 band and is our overall Product of the Year on a performance/pound basis.

But the Pioneer delivers a step up from the Panasonic in terms of picture performance, and sonically it's performance is breathtaking, majoring in detail, refinement and finesse.

The only caveats to add are that the BDP-LX71 can't decode DTS-HD Master Audio onboard (although Pioneer says a future firmware upgrade will solve this) and there's no Ethernet connection for automatic updates over the web, or BD-Live functionality.

But if these things don't bother you, it's a terrific player and worth the extra money over the Panasonic.

 

[Anonymous]

Andy Clough:
Yes. The Pioneer is our Best Buy blu-ray player £500-£700, while the Panasonic fits in the £300-£400 band and is our overall Product of the Year on a performance/pound basis.

But the Pioneer delivers a step up from the Panasonic in terms of picture performance, and sonically it's performance is breathtaking, majoring in detail, refinement and finesse.

The only caveats to add are that the BDP-LX71 can't decode DTS-HD Master Audio onboard (although Pioneer says a future firmware upgrade will solve this) and there's no Ethernet connection for automatic updates over the web, or BD-Live functionality.

But if these things don't bother you, it's a terrific player and worth the extra money over the Panasonic.

I'm sure it is a great player and i'd love one....for free.

£600 is a lot to pay for a player that can't do DTS-HD MA out of the box, is not BD Live and no ethernet for EASY updates. Okay you can drop the BD Live but the others are a must.

Future firmware updates are just lazy, rushing a product out before it's ready. It's not on Pioneer, I expect more of you. What happens if the update never happens? You're stuck with a relatively expensive player that can't do what you ask of it.

If I'm paying £600 I WANT latest specs AND a fair degree of future proofing.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your views guys, much appreciated. I think I'm going to wait for a bit on the whole blue ray thing but was just pondering the question. If the pioneer drops a few quid over the next 6 months and gets up dated i might consider it.....mind you there will be plenty of other options in 6 months time no doubt..........

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, first post here, so be patient with me here.

ÿ

I have the Pioneer on order. ÿHow can you install new firmware if there is no ethernet connection?ÿ

 

[PJPro]

USB pen drive?

Actually, I think it's a pretty poor show that ethernet connectivity isn't provided for exactly this reason.

 

[Anonymous]

It could also be on a disc, this was an option with Toshiba for their HD DVD players, you do need to register the product to do this.

 

[gregch]

fourforks:
Hi, first post here, so be patient with me here.

ÿ

I have the Pioneer on order. ÿHow can you install new firmware if there is no ethernet connection?ÿ

ÿ

You download the update and burn it to a CD. There's instructions (and a firmware update!) on Pioneer's uk website. Alternatively, I'm pretty sure your retailer would do it for you when it arrives if you wanted. Personally, I don't mind doing it (and I like to be the guy opening the new toy for the first time!) so I already got the update even though mine is also still on order - and might well come with the newer firmware.

Note: this new firmware is only to improve performance with menus, etc ÿAFAIK - the dtsMA update isn't due until early next year.ÿ