Blu-Ray disc players
 

I know nothing about these other than the fact the discs of the same name look better when played back on a HD TV that supports the 1080p format.

Googled a site and found this.
http://www.blu-ray.com/players/

For those of you who have a Blu-Ray player, which have you found that are reliable and work well?

It is time to upgrade to one now that I have an HDTV.

PS, I know you can play regular DVDs in a Blu-Ray player, but what if I bought Hell Boy II on Tuesday in Blu-Ray format, would it play in my present non Blu-Ray player normally?

PPSS, Looking at some at Best Buy.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage...&type=category
It seems the Samsungs (same brand of TV I just got) seem good.
I have a Panasonic DVD player right now, but no reviews yet on the couple that they carry.

Kind of leaning towards this Samsung, Model: BD-P1500.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1201913483931
My TV has a technology called Anynet+ which makes it work almost seamlessly with other Samsung products.

Read this in one of the reviews.
And what about cables?
Right now my present DVD player I am using component cables which look better than the other RCA types.

Is the HDMI that much better?
And I see this unit has an optical out for the audio, that is how my present DVD player is hooked up to my 5.1 sound system.

We have a PS3 and it only supports HDMI but component is fine for HD.

The prices on BR should drop a bit more soon so IMO I'd wait a little longer and get more for your $$$.

Thanks.
Reading a few complaints now on it in the reviews.
It does not support the + format for CDR+ CDRW+ DVDR+ DVDRW+.
It supports the - discs though of the above.

If you have CDs you have ripped or movies using the + discs, you are out of luck.

I would have to check my collection of discs to see if they are - or + ones.
The other Samsung that goes for $400 ($100 more than the one above) also does not support the + discs.
That could be a deal breaker for me.
But most like this one over the Sony Blu-Ray players.

I'd milk your current player for a bit longer til the feature list gets a bit longer and the bugs worked out.

I may do that.
Watching the four disc set of Primeval right now, and it looks amazing on the new TV.

Corey what TV did you end up going with ?

:dj:

The Samsung 40" one here from the LCD thread in this section.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....specifications

It gets very high ratings, and they sell very quickly at Best Buy.
It was also $100 off when I went there, so no need to talk them down to Circuit City's price.

That looks saweet !!!

Congrats mr. money bags
:D


:dj:

Happy to spend some of my work bonus to help out our economy here.

I think I am going to get the upconverting players instead of a Blu-Ray.
For starters, the Blu disc movies cost a lot more, and they will not play the DVDR+ discs I have.

And since my TV is a Samsung, it has a few features that are compatible with this Samsung player I am looking at.
1. My TV remote will control the player
2. Both feature Samsungs Anynet feature, which means if the TV is off and set to TV mode, inserting a disc in the player will turn on the TV and also switch it over to the player.

A guy at work told me the upconverting or upscaling as it is also known, can take your older DVDs or rented ones and convert them up to 1080P if your TV will support it, and my new TV will.

Here is the one I am looking at, and I would get an HDMI cable for it too.
Samsung DVD-1080P8 1080p Upconverting DVD Player

Best Buy has them too.
Samsung - Progressive-Scan DVD Player with HD Upconversion

Good plan. We watch standard DVDs on a 79 dollar Samsung upconverting player to our 46" samsung lcd tv, and its just great. I'll buy a separate blu-ray to go along with my separate HDDVD player :( when the time comes.... :flush:

Thanks for the info.
I watched Wall-E yesternight on my new TV and the old DVD player, and the flick looked great!

I ran the setup test too to optimize the brightness and contrast.
I had my brightness up on 68, and by the test it was a little high, it is now down to around 55 I think.
Stock was 45 for brightness out of the box.

I can only imagine how much better it might look on one of these new players, but the flick blew me away.
Also I run a 5.1 surround sound system, and the sounds are amazing from the movie.

Not To be a bummer but if you want HD then i say go with the PS3 or another BD player. I don't play many games but do have it networked for video,music, and photos. And for the up-converting players, I was dissapointed, you actually see the imperfections better. i.e. better view of a lesser source. If none of this sounds important then by all means go the less expensive route. my .02

I will more than likely go with the upconverter one on account of the Blu-Ray players will not play my older movies I made long ago.
They are all on DVDR+ discs.
Blu-Ray players and I imagine the gaming consoles too will only play the DVDR- discs which I do not have.

What I could do is keep my current DVD player and get a Blu-Ray.
But...will a Blu-Ray player upconvert movies you rent from Netflix or buy that are just regular DVDs and not Blu-Ray?
If not, what is the point in getting the Blu-Ray?
I would rather spend $18 on a store bought video or rent from Netflix than pay $30 a movie for its counterpart in Blu-Ray.

Just for the record I have never had a disc that did not work with my http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/27/pl...media-formats/.
Every disc it plays is upconverted. Though i cannot speak for the other players, i've had players that weren't compatable like you say.

Hmmm, looking at the link you gave me, it shows it will not play my backed up movies.
There is no + format listed.
So it looks like it will not support my media which is TDK DVD+R 8X 4.7 GB discs.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009KVUZ0?...0&linkCode=asn

Sorry about the link. On the side of my PS3 box it says;
Audio CD's,CD-R/-RW, Super Audio CD's
DVD Video
DVD-R/-RW,DVD+R/+RW
BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE
Would have taken a pic of the box but it wouldn't come out, Hope this helps.

That does help, thanks.
It does indeed look like the PS3 plays more formats than the current crop of dedicated Blu-Ray players out there.

I wonder whey they can not make a Blu-Ray player that can do the same?
Maybe they will one day.
I hate to buy a PS3 though, as I am not a console gamer, but I am a PC gamer.

After reading up more on that Samsung, it blows.
Some have good luck with it, others do not.

Lots of skipping, lockups, and loosing signal when hooked up via the HDMI cable.

Samsung gets rave reviews for their TVs which is why I went with one, but the disc players not good reviews.
Probably built by a vendor and rebadged would be my guess.

PS, I did find out that there are Blu-Ray players that can play the + discs too, just more money.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&type=category

The Denons will do it.
More research...