Sony BDPS570 vs Panasonic DMPBD85EBK

[cobhc]

Hi Guys,

I'm in America at the moment and I'm hoping to take advantage of buying some cheap Blu-ray's to bring back and play in the UK. However, I currently only have a PS3 to play Blu-ray's on, and as you all know, the PS3 isn't Multi-Region. So I've been looking at PRC Direct and the Blu-ray players they have that they do free Multi-Region upgrades on.

The 570 would have been the unit of choice, and was on there originally with the upgrade, but is no longer offered with the upgrade, so unless someone can give me a nudge of anywhere selling it Multi-Region for Blu-ray's at around £200, then I'm going to have to look at a different option.

The DMPBD85EBK is currently on PRC Direct for £219 with the upgrade. I don't mind losing 3D as I don't have a 3D TV at the moment anyway, but as far as I can tell, the Panasonic doesn't have so many of the streaming options as the Sony (BBC iPlayer for example). Can anyone confirm this? And also, would the picture and sound quality be about the same, or would the Sony still be better in that regard?

 

[cobhc]

Bump!

 

[cobhc]

Bump again!

 

[Anonymous]

Best Buys Blu-ray players
Under £200

Sony BDP-S370 *****£170 Aggressively priced and exceptionally gifted, this cheap Sony is a sure fire winner and able performer for those on a tight budget
Read
£200-£250

Sony BDP-S570 *****£230 This five-star 3D performer serves up images full of depth, as well as nimble, full-bodied sound
Read
£250-£600

Panasonic DMP-BD85 *****£280 The DMP-BD85 not only represents a fabulous return to form for Panasonic, it's also one of the finest players available to date
Read.

 

[cobhc]

Thanks for taking the time to copy and paste that, but I've already read all the reviews. However, I was looking for a comparison between the Panasonic and the Sony as far as image quality and wireless streaming are concerned. I was also looking to find out whether anyone knew of the Sony for sale with the bluray multiregion mod for around £200.

Thanks for you help anyway.

 

[richardw42]

I can vouch for what a good player the Sony is mines not multi-region, got it for £175 from Amazon.
It can be got for a small premium as a multi region DVD player, but if you want multi region Blu-Ray playback looks like you might have to pay quite a bit more than £200.
Do a google search and see what comes back but I saw one on a site at over £400.

 

[carter]

as far as i no the multi region hacks are for dvds not blurays.i could be wrong but that was my understanding.

 

[richardw42]

According to several sites you can get the Sony as multi region for blu-ray but who's to say it won't revert back to normal on doing the first update.
Personally I'd save the money by buying a region defined player. I'm pretty sure the money you save save on the machine (approx £200) will more than make up for any potential savings on CHEAP discs.
Also worth bearing in mind is that more than a few blu-rays are not region coded so it will be worth checking if you can buy any that would play on a uk machine.
Eg my US copy of Coraline plays perfectly on a uk machine