Picking out a Blu-ray player

[RedMileDJ]

I did a search and didn't find a thread or posts about this, so here goes.

I'm looking to finally get a Blu-ray player for our HDTV. I'm not looking for anything crazy, but I do require some specific features.

1. Ability to hook up for Netflix.
2. Up-conversion (if it actually does a good job) for old DVDs
3. Ability to network and stream movies, pictures and audio from our PCs.

I don't really have a price point I'm looking for, rather I just want to hear what guys have been using. What has been successful and you've been happy with.

Any suggestions? Brands? Models?

Thanks!

[Ben_in_Canada]

[MrMastodonFarm]

Yeah, if you're looking for something that has Netflix I'm guessing you're going to have to get a ps3? I don't know any other players with that feature, and a standard ps3 is about 250 now.

[Igottago]

You can get Blu Ray players with all those features pretty cheap.

I got a Sony Blu Ray player that has everything you mentioned. It was about $120.

This one:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...ad9f5040aden02

[northcrunk]

Yeah go with the PS3, if not I would recommend a Samsung since you'll get netflix apps on it.

[GoinAllTheWay]

nm

[HELPNEEDED]

If you are not playing games do not get the PS3 only wireless G.

[Roast Beef]

Originally Posted by Igottago

You can get Blu Ray players with all those features pretty cheap.

I got a Sony Blu Ray player that has everything you mentioned. It was about $120.

This one:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...ad9f5040aden02

Can you set up a media server on your PC with this player? According to the specs the player supports AVCHD, AVI, MPEG2 and MKV. A server middleman with transcoding would be a must for some.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by HELPNEEDED

If you are not playing games do not get the PS3 only wireless G.

Watching a lot of movies on the PS3 really taxes the hardware as it runs much hotter than your standard Blu-ray player and will be noisier in operation. Not worth the extra money if you don't play the games. You can pick up Blu-Ray players with wi-fi that can pick up Netflix for $120 or even less.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Roast Beef

Can you set up a media server on your PC with this player? According to the specs the player supports AVCHD, AVI, MPEG2 and MKV. A server middleman with transcoding would be a must for some.

To be honest, I have no idea. I just know it has some networking/streaming features, I'm not sure about how in depth those features are. Truth be told I use it primarily to watch Blu Rays, and it does a fine job of that.

[Hack&Lube]

New PS3 is coming out that will be quite cheap, 16GB model I believe.

You'll not only get Netflix but a ton of other media sites/applications/youtube, etc. built in as applications optimized for sitting on the couch and not through a browser, etc.

[RedMileDJ]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

I game on my PC. No interest in getting a console.

Originally Posted by Igottago

You can get Blu Ray players with all those features pretty cheap.

I got a Sony Blu Ray player that has everything you mentioned. It was about $120.

This one:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...ad9f5040aden02

Nice! This was the model I was looking at. Either this or a Samsung that was similar.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Watching a lot of movies on the PS3 really taxes the hardware as it runs much hotter than your standard Blu-ray player and will be noisier in operation. Not worth the extra money if you don't play the games. You can pick up Blu-Ray players with wi-fi that can pick up Netflix for $120 or even less.

The bold part.


Thanks for all the suggstions! I'm probably going to pick up the Sony that Igottago linked...along with STTNG and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as my first Blu-ray DVDs.

Cheers!

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Red-Mile-DJ

I game on my PC. No interest in getting a console.

LOL, PC teh sucks

Just kidding, but I do enjoy what every system has to offer. PS3 is pretty good, this might be a good opportunity to get one.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Roast Beef

Can you set up a media server on your PC with this player? According to the specs the player supports AVCHD, AVI, MPEG2 and MKV. A server middleman with transcoding would be a must for some.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a media server, but you can stream off a PC that has a wireless router via a DLNA service, though I've found every avi/divx ends up being horrible pixelated and unwatchable compared to burning the file onto a disc and playing it. I've also found that mp4 files won't stream, though you can play them by burning of throwing them on a USB.

MKV files stream beautifully, though.

[Tyler12]

Oppo - BDP-93

It's the best Blu-ray player you can buy, has all the features you can swing a stick at and comes at a fairly heavy price. of $499.99 USD

I have a Pioneer Elite bdp-23fd which still has some of the best picture quality and upscaling performance compared to today's players, just not the current load times (which I am ok with) It has no streaming apps but would rather buy a streamer box then burn out a nice blu-ray player.

Same reason I would never want to use an Xbox as a Telus tv box, can you say burnt out.

Just my opinion, depends what your pref is.

[RedMileDJ]

Just a quick update:

I went with this Blu-ray player: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...ad9f5040aden02

We've linked it (via wifi) to our network and we're streaming our videos, pic, YouTube and Netflix just fine! I gotta admit, I was a little unsure about streaming Netflix, via wifi, but it seems to be great.

Oh, and ST:TNG (season 1) looks freakin' amazing in Blu-ray HD!