which sub $300 Blu-ray player?

[Draken]

As above which would you recomend out of:

 

Pana BD-65 (just above $300)

Pana BD-45

Sony BDP-s370

Pioneer BDP-120

 

or something i've missed? I want BEST dvd and blu-ray sound/picture available not fussed about CD playback and ofcourse bitstream of ALL Blu-ray audio

 

Cheers

[stephennic]

Hi,

 

If you read the latest home cinema choice and what hifi mag reviews the sony s370 is one to beat. I only switched mine on yesterday, it sounded a bit forward and a little digital in picture. After 6 hours of using it its improved significantly now nice sharp natural picture with vibrant colors and the sound is crisp, detailed and quite open and dynamic.

 

I have sound drop outs on the odd dvd though, I just read that there is a firmware update for sound drop outs which I will look into. I think it was a problem on the older produced machines before July 2010

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[Draken]

cheers,

 

Is your model fully multi-zone for dvds? i know the AUS model is and thats as important as quality for me lol ?

[nixon76]

Philips BDP3000

 

I've got one - works a treat. Is basic (no onboard DTS-MA etc decoding) but is reviewed well around the web.

 

I multi-zoned mine (for DVD) using a remote 'hack' found on the web.

[Nigel Beale]

I like the panasonic BD players , because they don't try and get clever and modify the greyscale or colour balance as much as some.

It can be a common thing for players to modify the image so as to look different, ie add red to look warmer more pleasing at first glance.

[Guest]

Agreed.

 

Panny's one chip proprietary UniPhier video processor really is good, easily as good as the fancy boutique name stuff.

 

Only fly in the Panasonic ointment is the slow disc loading and lapses in good ergonomics.

 

And for some, the annual model updates, often for little gain.

Balancing that, Panasonics are always discounted so there are some great deals to be found.

 

Edit;

Draken, as a Sony rep can't you get deals on Sony gear ?

[Draken]

 

michael w;131461 wrote:

Agreed.

 

 

 

Edit;

 

Draken, as a Sony rep can't you get deals on Sony gear ?

 

lol yeah i can but cant find any info on wether or not there multizone for DVDs in NZ i know the AUS models are and should be the same but "Should" isn't good enough

 

Phillips sucks so there goes that. EVERYONE says the pana which is cool - i like the pana however the pioneer was $800 off so thought i'd ask!

[BazNZ]

What about a $197 Blu-ray 7.1 player from Dick Smith. I bought one for the bedroom as I already have a PS3 in the lounge. I've yet to test and compare it to the PS3 but the reviews are good. According to reviewers... the DVD is Region Free/Multizoned out of the box. Get this also...apparently with a simple code entered on your remote control...the Blu-ray regions can be unlocked and changed from Region A to B to C depending on the origin of the disc your wanting to watch at the time. I will confirm this once I unpack it and enter the code I have. Price wise this seems a very good deal with all the features and formats this player can read. I was going to fork out $100 - $150 for an up-scaling DVD player anyway until spying this in DSE. Surely I can't go wrong?

 

AMTC 7.1 Channel Blu-Ray Player

[AgrAde]

It has about a 10% chance of being an alright product that does what it says. It is most likely unreliable and with sub-par AV quality. Those random cheapie brands are hit and miss. Usually they miss by a mile.

[BazNZ]

 

AgrAde;131481 wrote:

Err, it'll be unreliable with average picture and sound. Working in electronics retail, the one thing I've learned is to never trust the no-name branded stuff. It is invariably rubbish. It has about a 10% chance of being an alright product that does what it says. It is most likely unreliable and with sub-par AV quality. Those random cheapie brands are hit and miss. Usually they miss by a mile.

 

:eek: Err...I have reguarly brought unbranded electronic products into NZ for personal use and never had any problems with any of them. Mobile Phones, Full HD 1080p Camcorder, Electronic Toys, Portable DVD Players. All with 12 month Warrantys and producing better quality at 1/5th of the price of big brands like Panasonic, Sony, Canon etc that are available here. Knowing where to source and what your buying helps. Until I try this Dick Smith BR I can't confirm Yay or Nay but hey it has a 12 month warranty too so we'll see in time I guess

[gunner9]

 

BazNZ;131477 wrote:

What about a $197 Blu-ray 7.1 player from Dick Smith. I bought one for the bedroom as I already have a PS3 in the lounge. I've yet to test and compare it to the PS3 but the reviews are good. According to reviewers... the DVD is Region Free/Multizoned out of the box. Get this also...apparently with a simple code entered on your remote control...the Blu-ray regions can be unlocked and changed from Region A to B to C depending on the origin of the disc your wanting to watch at the time. I will confirm this once I unpack it and enter the code I have. Price wise this seems a very good deal with all the features and formats this player can read. I was going to fork out $100 - $150 for an up-scaling DVD player anyway until spying this in DSE. Surely I can't go wrong?

 

 

 

AMTC 7.1 Channel Blu-Ray Player

 

Might be Ok for the bedroom but I would rather pay a bit more and grab a more recognised and trusted brand such as Panasonic. Hard to imagine that AV quality of a Dick Smith blu ray player will come close to a slightly dearer Panasonic, Sony or Pioneer blu ray player. Good luck though

[AgrAde]

 

BazNZ;131482 wrote:

:eek: Err...I have reguarly brought unbranded electronic products into NZ for personal use and never had any problems with any of them. Mobile Phones, Full HD 1080p Camcorder, Electronic Toys, Portable DVD Players. All with 12 month Warrantys and producing better quality at 1/5th of the price of big brands like Panasonic, Sony, Canon etc that are available here. Knowing where to source and what your buying helps. Until I try this Dick Smith BR I can't confirm Yay or Nay but hey it has a 12 month warranty too so we'll see in time I guess

 

Having worked at a few electronics retailers (mostly DSE), I know to not trust the products that the buyers for the company bring in. The DSE/digitor/AWA/transonic/RCA/sommet/konka (+more) brands i'm familiar with all have failure rates far higher than the name brands - illustrated by the piles of broken stock that sits in the stockroom. PILES. Never had piles of sony/panasonic/etc stuff. ever.

 

The stuff that doesn't break is usually lower in quality. Worse build quality, confusing engrish menus etc. TERRIBLE picture and sound quality for AV devices. I'm jaded because the stereotype of unbranded stuff being rubbish proves itself to be true time and time again.

[Ernie1553552694]

Buying good gear much better for the environment too. And yours...

[Shane Hanify]

 

AgrAde;131514 wrote:

... all have failure rates far higher than the name brands - illustrated by the piles of broken stock that sits in the stockroom. PILES. Never had piles of sony/panasonic/etc stuff. ever.

 

 

 

The stuff that doesn't break is usually lower in quality. Worse build quality, confusing engrish menus etc. TERRIBLE picture and sound quality for AV devices. I'm jaded because the stereotype of unbranded stuff being rubbish proves itself to be true time and time again.

 

Gidday Agrade.

 

Sounds like you have a real bee in your bonnet over this one. The cheaper brands (and to an earlier poster, the DSE ones are rebrands so these are covered too) are built to a price point, at probably a higher speed with less quality control than the big boys. Most times they'll do as advertised but are generally clunkier than the others. The SQ and PQ will most likely be lower than them as well and sometimes it's not too far off, but generally, people buying at these levels (for their main rig) will likely not have the level of gear that most people here do. Like for example using the sound from the TV.

 

One good thing going for DSE is their returns policy. It breaks, you get a new one. As Ernie says, it's better for the environment(s) to get the better gear, although in all fairness I've not returned much to them through products not working properly, but have not bought any big ticket items off them either.

 

To the OP, I don't know about specific BR players but if you can get a panny at that price I'd go with that.

 

Cheers, Shane.

[Ernie1553552694]

I'd second all of Shane's comments, although I'd say Shane is an anomaly around these parts. Stuff rarely get's chucked by him. It get's fixed.

[steverb]

If its 1/3 of the price, then it may be OK for a budget buy. This price diff will factor in any reliability issues.

 

After seeing the huge stacks of used/faulty/repaired DSE dvdr at one AK auction house, I have no doubts about DSE & other generics brands reliablity.

 

I bought 4, & made up 1 working one from them. These players got horrendously hot, no wonder they often broke down.

[stephennic]

Hi,

 

I have had the sony s370 for over a week now, it sounds pretty good even through its analogue inputs. The picture is excellent too. I would suggest it would probably be the one to beat under $300. Read the reviews on the net a lot of people rave about them.

 

Cheers

 

Steve.

[davyboy9]

Considered that but decided on the s570 as it gave better options. Apart from Bluray it was capable of streaming Youtube and other internet content via HDMI to the TV, was 3D ready and had a memory stick input.

It was also nice and compact.

[Guest]

You found one for <$300 ?

[Draken]

Decided on the BD-65 so i'll grab one of them at some stage!

[davyboy9]

No, but I got a good discount.

[scribble1553552750]

I currently use a PC with a BD drive, running MPC-HC and a BD decrypter program to read BD's (also means I can play any region). While this works most of the time, some disks trip it up (such as multi streamed video files) and it ends up being a chore to get it to play rather than entertainment.

 

So, I'm looking for a BD player at the cheaper end to complement my HTPC.

 

I've looked at the BD45 but that doesn't do 7.1 DTSHDMA so that's out.

 

That leaves, from what I can tell, the Sony S370 or the Panny BD65. But, from what I can tell, both of these are locked to Zone B for BD's?

 

Are there any cheaper region/zone free BD players out there?

 

Cheers,

Mark

[BazNZ]

 

BazNZ;131477 wrote:

What about a $197 Blu-ray 7.1 player from Dick Smith. I bought one for the bedroom as I already have a PS3 in the lounge. I've yet to test and compare it to the PS3 but the reviews are good. According to reviewers... the DVD is Region Free/Multizoned out of the box. Get this also...apparently with a simple code entered on your remote control...the Blu-ray regions can be unlocked and changed from Region A to B to C depending on the origin of the disc your wanting to watch at the time. I will confirm this once I unpack it and enter the code I have. Price wise this seems a very good deal with all the features and formats this player can read. I was going to fork out $100 - $150 for an up-scaling DVD player anyway until spying this in DSE. Surely I can't go wrong?

 

 

 

AMTC 7.1 Channel Blu-Ray Player

 

Would you consider this 7.1 Blu-ray player? Blu-ray Region Code Switchable, DVD Region Free and plays more Internet Video file formats than most available from a USB external hard drive? Picture quality looks fine to me so far upon testing it.

 

AMTC 7.1 Channel Blu-Ray Player

[rotaspec]

BazNZ, does it have analog audio out, or is everything fed via HDMI?

 

Gary

[BazNZ]

Hi Gary,

Yes it does have 7.1 analog audio out.