Which Blu-Ray / DVD to replace my dead player?

[admin_exported]

Please be gentle, as this is my first post.

I've currently got a Pioneer DV525 dvd Player and a Panasonic txp42x10b Plasma. The dvd player hasstarted playing up and won't play some discs any more. I want to replace it with either a dvd or blu ray player. As my TV's 720p, I'm not sure if there's a point getting a blu ray.

I'm open to suggestions, but all I want is a player that will play all my old DVD's and will look at least as good as my old player. I've looked at the Sony 360 and 760 and the Pioneer 320. Are the last two really worth the increased price for my set up?

Last question - any ideas for decent headphones to watch films with, given my telly?

Cheers

 

[Liam19]

On the contrary - Blu-ray will look very good on your screen (it certainly does on my HD-Ready Panny plasma, which is two years older than yours!)

You can't really go wrong with the Sony S360 - it should upscale your DVDs well, it's had rave reviews from everyone and is currently going for almost giveaway prices online. Clicky.

As for headphones, you best start here.

 

[Torres09]

Im with Liam on this one the Sony S360 is an absolute bargain, at that price i cant understand why anyone would want to buy a new DVD Player?

 

[Anonymous]

Will the 360 be good enough, or should I spend the extra on one of the other two? Is there an appreciable difference?

 

[lobby]

Thats always a hard question to answer because your talking about a £100 player now against a £250 plus player. Imho it's not 2 or 3 times better but you would notice subtle differences on pq and sq, but £150 difference is a fair few films, remember it's still fairly early technology, and this player could always be a backup or moved to the kitchen bedroom etc, i think i would go for that then in time things will develop better and money could go to tv upgrade etc.

 

[professorhat]

Agree with lobby - I'd go for the S360 for now and look to spending the rest on some titles to take advantage of the new technology. At a later date (e.g. perhaps when you've updated the TV to a Full HD model etc.) you could then look into a better player and move the S360 to a bedroom system etc.

 

[Anonymous]

Have you seen this thread...?

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/378621.aspx

 

[GazzyP]

Blu-ray on on a 720p screen is still a massive improvement over DVD. And I agree - go for the 360 and spend your pennies on some films or as I did susbcribe to LoveFilm who have almost all the new titles on Blu-ray for no extra charge. Enjoy!!

 

[Anonymous]

I got the Sony BDPS360 for only £80 from Play.com the other week, but notice its now gone up to over a ton. Still, you can't go wrong with it - makes my eyes very happy indeed when its doing its filmic dance.

 

[Anonymous]

GazzyP:Blu-ray on on a 720p screen is still a massive improvement over DVD. And I agree - go for the 360 and spend your pennies on some films or as I did susbcribe to LoveFilm who have almost all the new titles on Blu-ray for no extra charge. Enjoy!!

Just joined Love Film - Off to Richer Sounds tomorrow for my new 360!

Thanks to all for the advice

 

[Torres09]

Smart move, you wont be disappointed

 

[Anonymous]

My mum and dad's vhs/dvd player finally bit the dust just after xmas. I managed to convince them to get the S360 (to match their new sony HD telly) rather than a dvd player.

They love it. I am sure you will to. Picture quality on blu-ray is fantastic.

 

[Anonymous]

360 is now installed!

Awesome picture, but I can't record on my PVR now! Any ideas from anyone how to fix this? We often watch discs while recording TV so we can skip the adverts, but with the disc player on the tv signal disappears and I can't record - Argh!

 

[Sorreltiger]

Glad to hear that you're enjoying your new buy! To tackle the PVR problem, I think you'll need to tell us how everything's connected. If the aerial goes into the PVR and a lead goes from that to the TV, I wouldn't expect there to be any difficulty.

 

[Anonymous]

Things have improved a little bit after I moved the 360 input from hdmi1 to hdmi 2, but there's still interference during loading.

Here's how things are set up:

Aeriel lead from TV to PVR, then Scart back to Scart 1. 360 Connected by HDMI to HDMI 2.

I have no idea why there's interference, so any help would be most appreciated!