Pioneer Bdp-hd1 Blu-ray Player

[betty boop]

well I popped into e-home @ carnegie today

and got a look at the Pioneer BDP-HD1 blu-ray player

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/p...DetailComponent

what a beauty. looks very well made and looked a treat in its high gloss black. and most importantly it did a great job on the top notch dreamvision dream bee PJ they have there. and that was on both blu-ray and on DVD.

turned out it was an american import though. and would only play R1 DVD discs.

geoff there said he planned to get the pioneer player in once released locally with a rrp of $1,999, probably around may they reckoned it should lob.

keeping in mind the cheapest blu-ray player we have at present is the samsung at $1,599 after seign the pio really wonder why you'd buy the samsung when could get the pio for a little bit more.

geoff there also said probably not much to get the pio region free on dvd. basically told him if he can get the pio region free on DVD I'd buy one off him

[momaw]

pity it's internal components are *identical* to the cheaper Sony model, nor is it 1.1 compatible meaning it will soon be unable to play any "enhanced" features and be restricted to straight film and low quality soundtrack playback (higher quality playback will require 1.1 with full BDJ functionality). $2000 for a half functioning player......no thanks.

Do yourself a favour Al. You've waited this long. Wait a bit longer for the fully compliant models.

[djOS]

Im waiting for the Sony BDP-S500 (Q3 apparently) in the hope that it will actually be able to decode Dolby TrueHD & DTS-Master and for less than $999USD.

[betty boop]

pity it's internal components are *identical* to the cheaper Sony model, nor is it 1.1 compatible meaning it will soon be unable to play any "enhanced" features and be restricted to straight film and low quality soundtrack playback (higher quality playback will require 1.1 with full BDJ functionality). $2000 for a half functioning player......no thanks.

Do yourself a favour Al. You've waited this long. Wait a bit longer for the fully compliant models.

its great to even jsut see some alternative to the samsung and the pricey pana. on our own soil here mom.

lets see how things pan out.

a while still before its actually here. who knows what else might land by then as well.

what we need is choice and the more the better.

[momaw]

its great to even jsut see some alternative to the samsung and the pricey pana. on our own soil here mom.

lets see how things pan out.

a while still before its actually here. who knows what else might land by then as well.

what we need is choice and the more the better.

I agree 100% Al, I just wouldn't one of the good guys like yourself to get burnt on an "incomplete" machine. Once 1.1 becomes mandatory, I'll probably pick myself up a dedicated machine from pioneer or hopefully one of the better CE co.'s

[betty boop]

Thanks Al this is the same player I'm thinking of so yes region free dvd would do it for me also, were you looking at it on the new JVC PJ as well

yes region free on dvd for my next hi-def player will have to be a must as will not be able to fit in yet another hi-def player and keep my dvd plaeyr and the tosh hd-dvd jsut not enough space.

yes was good to see the pj. it isnt a jvc, it was the dreamvision dreambee. which really looked out of this world. geoff said it came from france. couldnt fault the picture on either blu-ray or dvd. the pj itself completely out of my league I'm afraid. one day

[momaw]

Interesting mate as having owned higher end pio gear I felt it matches if not betters Denon and Marantz up to the 3 or 4k mark and we don't get the Elite models where do you think the higher quality CE product will come from.

As you said we probably won't get the Elite, so if not, then hopefully one of the others will come to the party. Basically, with onboard audio decoding be such an integral part of the (both) format, I want to make sure it is a quality machine.

[betty boop]

As you said we probably won't get the Elite, so if not, then hopefully one of the others will come to the party. Basically, with onboard audio decoding be such an integral part of the (both) format, I want to make sure it is a quality machine.

and thanks for the heads up momaw. thats whats great about this forum. doenst look like the player has DTS-HD/MA, DD+ or DD true-HD decoding on board either. this was an early prototype machine which is probably why.

still a beaut machien if you see it, very well made and yeah if it would be region free on DVD that would be a real plus on its side I think.

[THX1979]

the complaints from people who have the pioneer are few and far between ( if u can beleive what u read in the forums)

i think that pioneer australia are importing a few Region A players to australia for demonstration purposes

perhaps that dealer can get one in for you too Al ?

[Cody]

Interesting mate as having owned higher end pio gear I felt it matches if not betters Denon and Marantz up to the 3 or 4k mark and we don't get the Elite models where do you think the higher quality CE product will come from.

i agree re the pio gear, top notch in my experience. re Elite - we do get them, its just that they arent called elite and dont come in black - eg my AVR is identical to the Elite VSX-84TSXi, i previously had the DV-989AVi which = the Elite DV-79AVi.

sure we dont get the full elite range, but thats to be expected as we are a smaller market.

no doubt we will get an Elite (equivalent) BR player, however like Sony, i suspect Pio probably wont bother with their first gen model. when we do get one, i for one will be having a close look at it, as it will no doubt be excellent.

[betty boop]

the complaints from people who have the pioneer are few and far between ( if u can beleive what u read in the forums)

i think that pioneer australia are importing a few Region A players to australia for demonstration purposes

perhaps that dealer can get one in for you too Al ?

hehehe I was actually thinking of you as soon as I saw the pio as know you were trying to get one from the states

[betty boop]

i agree re the pio gear, top notch in my experience. re Elite - we do get them, its just that they arent called elite and dont come in black - eg my AVR is identical to the Elite VSX-84TSXi, i previously had the DV-989AVi which = the Elite DV-79AVi.

sure we dont get the full elite range, but thats to be expected as we are a smaller market.

no doubt we will get an Elite (equivalent) BR player, however like Sony, i suspect Pio probably wont bother with their first gen model. when we do get one, i for one will be having a close look at it, as it will no doubt be excellent.

yes I too will be looking out for this one closely. this thing was very well made. and do hope we get the black here when it gets released here. looked sensational !

in a way I wouldnt mind of pio dont rlease there first born here. their second effort probably a better one with lessons learnt.

[The_Preacher1973]

yes was good to see the pj. it isnt a jvc, it was the dreamvision dreambee. which really looked out of this world. geoff said it came from france. couldnt fault the picture on either blu-ray or dvd. the pj itself completely out of my league I'm afraid. one day

Al,

That projector is the JVC. It just has a different case and a higher price tag. In terms of PQ the JVC will be identical, if not slightly better as I assume the JVC will get the updated firmware 1st.

[Highjinx]

Al,

That projector is the JVC. It just has a different case and a higher price tag. In terms of PQ the JVC will be identical, if not slightly better as I assume the JVC will get the updated firmware 1st.

Appears to be a couple of Cosme(tic) Clones about!

The CineVersum Version:

Black Wing 2

[Gino]

I hear the Black Wing is more than just a cosmetic clone though

[wheelz]

Len Wallis also have the pioneer set up.

http://www.lenwallisaudio.com.au/news/article.php?nid=251

[franin]

well I popped into e-home @ carnegie today

and got a look at the Pioneer BDP-HD1 blu-ray player

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/p...DetailComponent

what a beauty. looks very well made and looked a treat in its high gloss black. and most importantly it did a great job on the top notch dreamvision dream bee PJ they have there. and that was on both blu-ray and on DVD.

turned out it was an american import though. and would only play R1 DVD discs.

geoff there said he planned to get the pioneer player in once released locally with a rrp of $1,999, probably around may they reckoned it should lob.

keeping in mind the cheapest blu-ray player we have at present is the samsung at $1,599 after seign the pio really wonder why you'd buy the samsung when could get the pio for a little bit more.

geoff there also said probably not much to get the pio region free on dvd. basically told him if he can get the pio region free on DVD I'd buy one off him

looks very nice.

[betty boop]

Len Wallis also have the pioneer set up.

http://www.lenwallisaudio.com.au/news/article.php?nid=251

good to see. perhaps pio is approaching a few select specialist dealers to showcase there gear. hi-def needs more of that

[THX1979]

off track - in Adelaide at the Moment and Radio Rentals Prospect have the Sony BDP-s1 on display (not for sale)

No sh*t this is the most beautiful DVD player I have seen since Linn -spectacular design !! (eg the front fascia is made of glass )

[betty boop]

good to hear will. what sh!ts me abotu this stuff is the not for sale. Do they want this stuff to take off or what ?

[franin]

good to hear will. what sh!ts me abotu this stuff is the not for sale. Do they want this stuff to take off or what ?

They has an american sony blu-ray at HN, I asked to buy but the salesman told me it is not for sale as it belongs to sony.

[_moby_]

Len Wallis also have the pioneer set up.

http://www.lenwallisaudio.com.au/news/article.php?nid=251

I wonder if that is the US version Elite BDP-HD1 or an Australian release model?

According to that Len Wallis website link, from April 1 a Pioneer BDP will be included with any purchase of a PDP5000EX Plasma but no model number is mentioned.

Surely that would have to be a local model given that Blu-ray is region coded?

There was a sighting recently by an AV column of a pre-production sample of a Pioneer BDP for the Australian market (apparently to be priced at $1,400) so maybe this is it?

[THX1979]

everywhere I was in Adelaide on the weekend it was Blu Ray, Blu Ray, Blu Ray,

The marketing campaign For blu ray was huge!!

Hd-DVD by comparison was harder to find and, you guessed it, downplayed by the sales staff as the inferior format.

You have to wonder whether the Blu Ray Disc Association is throwing money at retailers to push their format.

And Toshiba's promo disc didnt help - they had Apollo 13 playing on several 720p Sony LCD's and the transfer was grainy (but i couldnt check if the player was putting out 1080i and the image was being wrecked by th TV's internal scaler). Toshiba could have used a Tier 0 transfer

The blu ray players were, curiously, hooked up to 1080p LCd's

Is the lack of HD-DVD marketing due to the fact that Castel cant be bothered and Legally Toshiba Australia hasnt the right to market it yet? or are there more sinister forces at work... :ph34r:

[betty boop]

I wonder if that is the US version Elite BDP-HD1 or an Australian release model?

According to that Len Wallis website link, from April 1 a Pioneer BDP will be included with any purchase of a PDP5000EX Plasma but no model number is mentioned.

Surely that would have to be a local model given that Blu-ray is region coded?

There was a sighting recently by an AV column of a pre-production sample of a Pioneer BDP for the Australian market (apparently to be priced at $1,400) so maybe this is it?

it would have to be a local model, as I foudn the us import at e-home would only play R1 DVDs ! and yeah would be region locked to US blu-rays.

I doubt very much a $1400 aussie model as the guys at e-home all said the pio when landed here would be $1,999. not that I would knock back a cheaper model.

[betty boop]

everywhere I was in Adelaide on the weekend it was Blu Ray, Blu Ray, Blu Ray,

The marketing campaign For blu ray was huge!!

Hd-DVD by comparison was harder to find and, you guessed it, downplayed by the sales staff as the inferior format.

You have to wonder whether the Blu Ray Disc Association is throwing money at retailers to push their format.

And Toshiba's promo disc didnt help - they had Apollo 13 playing on several 720p Sony LCD's and the transfer was grainy (but i couldnt check if the player was putting out 1080i and the image was being wrecked by th TV's internal scaler). Toshiba could have used a Tier 0 transfer

The blu ray players were, curiously, hooked up to 1080p LCd's

Is the lack of HD-DVD marketing due to the fact that Castel cant be bothered and Legally Toshiba Australia hasnt the right to market it yet? or are there more sinister forces at work... :ph34r:

its quite likely just blu-ray disc association throwing money at the retailers. we saw how much sony threw at the ps3 launch even though it was a very lacklustre affair.

april 1 we will find out re hd-dvd. other forvces at work ? hd-dvd is takign the softly softly approach I think. theyve already commented that hi-def is a tiny drop in the dvd ocean os yeah no point throwing tons behind it.