dvdnovice Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) I'm looking for a BD player to complement my new 46XBR45 and have narrowed it down to these two models. For the Panasonic BD-80 is the ability to playback DivX (via USB), an SD slot and the ability to playback AVCHD video directly from the SD card (I have a lumix camera so this is very useful for me). Also has 7.1 audio outputs (my current receiver is only 5.1 compatible and doesn't have HDMI inputs). For the Sony BDP-S760 is WLAN ability which allows access to BD live features without a physical network connection, and 7.1 audio outputs. They both seem similar in price ~$600. I was wondering what experiences (good and bad) others have had with these players. Apparently the slow start-time for the BMD-80 has been improved in the latest firm-ware upgrade. The person in the Sony Centre store also suggested getting a PS3 160GB as a BD player as this has WLAN ability for BD live and can playback lots of media files (including DivX) via USB. However it doesn't have an SD card slot and I have heard read that it doesn't (perhaps now fixed with a firmware upgrade) have onboard DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. Many thanks Edited October 21, 2009 by dvdnovice
bbar Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) dvdnovice said: I'm looking for a BD player to complement my new 46XBR45 and have narrowed it down to these two models.For the Panasonic BMD-80 is the ability to playback DivX (via USB), an SD slot and the ability to playback AVCHD video directly from the SD card (I have a lumix camera so this is very useful for me). For the Sony BDP-S760 is WLAN ability which allows access to BD live features without a physical network connection, and 7.1 audio outputs (my current receiver is only 5.1 compatible). They both seem similar in price ~$600. I was wondering what experiences (good and bad) others have had with these players. Apparently the slow start-time for the BMD-80 has been improved in the latest firm-ware upgrade. The person in the Sony Centre store also suggested getting a PS3 160GB as a BD player as this has WLAN ability for BD live and can playback lots of media files (including DivX) via USB. However it doesn't have an SD card slot and I have heard read that it doesn't (perhaps now fixed with a firmware upgrade) have onboard DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. Many thanks The 760 is getting great reviews and appears to be the one to beat right now. Hi Fi mag rated BR PQ slightly above Oppo as well as Analogue Audio. Edited October 21, 2009 by bbar
scanspeak1503560484 Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 The Sony unfortunately is not amenable to making region-free if that's important to you. Also, it doesnt have slow motion or frame advance.
dantan Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Looks as though the Sony '760 might just be the one to go for: http://whathifi.com/Review/Sony-BDP-S760/
dvdnovice Posted October 21, 2009 Author Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) scanspeak said: The Sony unfortunately is not amenable to making region-free if that's important to you.Also, it doesnt have slow motion or frame advance. Many thanks for all your replies. Scanspeak, I presume you mean BD region-free for the Sony. I presume the Sony S760 and PS3 are DVD region free. I have read on this forum that a chip is available to make the Panasonic Bd-80 region free for BD (it is already DVD region free out of the box). Unfortunately where I have my TV equipment is going to be difficult to run a network cable hence the interest in the WLAN feature of the S760 (?and PS3) to access BD live Edited October 21, 2009 by dvdnovice
Daniel P Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 PS3 is not DVD region free, BD80 is. BD80 can be BRD modded.
morcre1503562909 Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 BD80 would be my pick and it should be had for around the $500 mark with haggling. Benefits are it can be made region free for BD if you want and it has quick load times (not sure on the other two) compared to older players and from my experience the best colour reproduction of any BD player I have seen in action (which admittedly is only 4 machines)
EasterBunny Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 The Sony BDP-S760 appears to be the same player as the BDP-S1000ES that's available in the USA. If so no wonder it's good. Can anyone confirm this.
bbar Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 EasterBunny said: The Sony BDP-S760 appears to be the same player as the BDP-S1000ES that's available in the USA. If so no wonder it's good. Can anyone confirm this. Agree they look identical and appear to have same specs!
mrmaxwell1503559518 Posted October 22, 2009 Posted October 22, 2009 I have the Panny BD-80 and it's a great player. WLAN would be useful but I only need network access when I update firmware which is hardly ever and I couldn't care less about BD Live. It all comes down to what is important to you and what features you will use most....I needed 7.1 audio output and DIVC/AVCHD playback via USB/SD so I got the Panny.
dvdnovice Posted October 23, 2009 Author Posted October 23, 2009 mrmaxwell said: I have the Panny BD-80 and it's a great player. WLAN would be useful but I only need network access when I update firmware which is hardly ever and I couldn't care less about BD Live. It all comes down to what is important to you and what features you will use most....I needed 7.1 audio output and DIVC/AVCHD playback via USB/SD so I got the Panny. Thanks very much to everyone for your very helpful comments and suggestions . As I have a lot of DIVx files and have a Lumix camera that takes AVCHD videos, I am leaning towards the BD80 at present. I'm also going to see if anyone offers the BD region-free chip modification in the Brisbane area
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