why am I apprehensive about buying a BluRay Player? - Page 3

Announced at CES. It's a BD60 that plays Netflix streams and processes DTS-HD MA audio. Expected out this spring.

No idea if it plays SACD, but i had no idea that the BD60 supposedly did until today. I don't own a single SACD disc so it's not really a priority for me.

I installed a BD60 at my parents house and i have no real complaints about it. Much better remote than the BD-P3600 for one thing. Light on the bells and whistles but most of the bells & whistles on my near-TOTL samsung don't work properly anyway. I'm a little bit disappointed that the photo viewer on the BD60 doesn't seem to have an automatic slide-show mode, but that's just a feature my mother thought she might like.

Edit: Oh, I should say before someone asks - I'm not going for the TOTL LG blu-ray (BD-390 iirc) because reviews say that although their netflix player functionally works perfectly, as compared to the Roku N1000, netflix video quality suffers. The quality of netflix video on the samsung players is just as good as the Roku, when the samsung works right, which is about half the time. People seem to say that the Sony blu-ray decks that do netflix do netflix unreliably with poor quality. I'd like to leave the Roku in the bedroom and have netflix playback on my blu-ray deck in the livingroom. I've come to terms with the reality that no off-the-shelf video player will work as well as my linux-based HTPC at playing files off the network.

Edit Further: Oh, I have more bandwidth than many island nations, and my blu-ray is hooked up to my network via GigE so, bandwidth is not a problem with netflix streams.

Canablelistic Humaniod Underground Dweller,

life is too short to deprive yourself for something you really want. Spend the money, don't be cheap.

If you are not concerned about 1080p or don't mind stereo audio then stick to downloading. I myself prefer 1080p and Dolby True HD audio so I went with Blu-ray. Downloads quality is just to poor for me.

Could not agree more,combination of 1080p/HD Audio and HD Display [bigger the better] is fantastic,I even find it hard to watch SD tv broadcasts now,and for that matter a lot of the HD tv leaves a lot to be desired.

Guess you do not need one enough.

You mean that pseudo 720p over compressed 2 channel only stuff?

I'll take a big pass and enjoy BluRay's complete dominance over anything seen on the net right now or in the long term future. There's nowhere near enough bandwidth in the conceivable future for hi-def internet based material to become mainstream without a complete overhaul of the broadband infrastructure (unless you're living in Japan and the content originates from a Japanese host)

Pretty much this. Most blu-ray titles run over 20 gigabytes just for the video.

There are people distributing direct rips from blu-ray over the 'net, but you need tremendous bandwidth to download them, and downloading many of them would probably paint a big target on your back wrt your ISPs policies.

It really suprises me that when it comes to music people will stop at nothing to get the best sound quality possible but settle for movies streamed off the net. I have read statements from some people saying they prefer their netflix this way because it easier than walking to their mailbox. I don't get it.

Panasonic was a DVD-A supporter and it will never release a SACD compatible Blu-ray player. It will play the CD layer of a hybrid SACD, but no Panasonic DVD or Blu-ray player will ever play the hi-rez layer of that disc.

On the other hand, Sony just announced 3 Blu-ray players at CES 2010 that will support SACD playback. While no pricing information has been released, I am predicting that they will not retail for more than the Oppo BDP-83.

I had been surprised to hear people claim that the BD60 plays SACD when no such ability is claimed by Panasonic.

It's interesting, the "product description" on amazon makes the claim, but the "technical details" do not. fwiw, panasonic.com makes no such claim.

The only issue I have with BR is the inability to rip to my PC easily. It's starting to get there, but very slowly. They do offer "digital copy" on some of them, but I hate DRM with a passion (not to mention the battery life it zaps with it).

I still have a PS3, because in the end BR will surpass DVD eventually . . . it's just a matter of when.

qft

HD-DVD should have won in either case. Finalized format with cheaper production costs.