Sony BDP-S570 3D Capable and Wi-Fi Ready Blu-ray Disc Player with DVD Upscaling + Accessory Kit Review

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(More customer reviews)This item was delivered before the projected delivery date. It came in perfect condition and was easy to set up. We use it to watch Netflix streaming movies as well as a DVD player and it has worked flawlessly.

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Sony BDP-S770 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Review

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(More customer reviews)I've only had this player for about a week or so, but it has exceeded my expectations. I was a little skeptical to buy it from the SonyStyle website before I could read any user reviews or see the rating on Cnet, let alone find it anywhere else for sale. However, it was worth the risk. Here are a few things that stand out:
1) blu-ray content looks amazing
2) looks good, is easy to use (remote and exterior controls)
3) amazing built-in capabilities: built in Wifi is smooth, Netflix, Pandora, and the amazing Berlin Phil Digital Music Hall
4) Set-up of wifi is very easy...you are guided right through
After one week, I have zero complaints and give it the highest recommendation.
ps--I don't even use the 3D capability and don't care, so I can't comment on that

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Xtreamer SIDEWINDER Media Player- Passively Cooled & 7.1 HD Audio (New Model) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned this unit for well over 6 months. I wanted to wait and be patient before I reviewed it, hoping that promises and the long awaited 3.0 firmware upgrade would finally happen, well my patience is now exhausted. I didn't just invest in one Xtreamer, myself and friends bought three units as it supported the TV Live feature, streaming all the British TV and news networks, which was a major selling point to us. Within a few weeks of ownership these features disappeared, along with most of the channels featured in the 'live TV' feed.
I also was keen on their video jukebox which I waited months for, again to be disappointed. It took hours for me to add fan art to each title (I have a vast library). Only for it all to disappear a few weeks later and regardless of whether I set this up on the Computer interface or the machine itself, it would not successfully scrape my media files.
As there is no actual 'support' site, just the forum and chat room, it is virtually impossible to get answers. I have raised the above topics and more, along with many others in their forum, but no credible answers to date.
I should point out that just about everything on the Xtreamer interface has been created by third parties, ie dedicated owners who spend hours of their time, trying to do, what Xtreamer themselves should have done when they launched this thing. What makes it worse is that the actual Xtreamer website uses the various applications that it's users have created to sell their machine!! This creates an unfair 'sellable' image of a machine that is actually continually in beta testing.
To close, my biggest annoyance is the remote, unless you are standing three feet or less from the Xtreamer, it won't work. I was told this was a known problem and to use a Logitech or some other type of knowing remote. I have a Logitech and yes, it solved it. But if they know there's an issue, they should fix it. I noticed they are even selling Logitech remotes from their website now....so they themselves are basically admitting their remote doesn't work.
One reason I am finally writing this is that I am reading many unjustified negative reviews on Amazon, for example, the Logitech Google TV, while this unresponsive bit of plastic, receives generally good notices. To me this proves that many reviewers here on Amazon are actually affiliated with the actual items they are reviewing. Regardless of which I still value Amazon reviews in general and hope my honest few words will help someone wasting their dollars on empty promises.

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LG BD670 3D Wireless Network Blu-ray Disc Player with Smart TV Review

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(More customer reviews)Chose this model because it had streaming, DLNA, and wireless built-in (you don't need a separate dongle). I have not been disappointed in any of its functions. Wireless connectivity was a breeze - setup was straightforward and this model accepts a 32-character WPA2 security key (unlike previous LG TVs and Blu-ray player models which were limited to 18-20 characters, as I discovered when I bought a wireless dongle for our TV!). The wireless connection seems to be much more stable than with the other wireless devices we have. I occasionally have to turn off and on again to get a connection on startup, but this is unsurprising given how flaky our router is ... :-)
Blu-ray playback is really good. Our first Blu-ray disc looked grainy and I was concerned until I read various forum discussions that criticized this movie transfer. Many Blu-ray movies are apparently intentionally grainy because this duplicates the "film" experience that the director intended. You can use the movie mode on your TV to reduce graininess as this lowers the sharpness setting. Our second Blu-ray disc was really smooth and detailed, as were most of the other discs. Playback resolution is excellent, you can see every pore on someone's face and the depth of field is amazing. There were no stutters, freezes or glitches with any of the discs we have played. DVD upscaling is also good - I decided it is not worth replacing any DVDs with Blu-ray discs as the upscaled playback in 1080p looks just as good as Blu-ray playback.

Wireless streaming from Netflix was absolutely painless, once I worked out that the "Netflix ESN" that the player provides in the network setup menu is NOT the code that you need to use for Netflix connection setup. You need to select the LG Premium menu icon which accesses premium streaming services, select Netflix and get the connection code from the setup menu there. Enter the code once on the Netflix website ("Activate a Netflix ready device" in your account settings) and Netflix streaming works automatically after that. Hopefully my experience will save other people hours of trying to connect with the wrong code! Netflix streaming is excellent quality, much better than broadcast TV for most shows. The player seems to stream seamlessly from Netflix with almost no stutters or degraded resolution issues, even for HD movies. The only issues I have seen are when my internet connection is congested (Comcast net access is pretty bad on Friday evenings and Saturdays in my area). I am impressed.
A recent firmware update (April 2011) added Amazon Video on Demand, which also works great! It is really cool to have these services. The device also offers Vudu, Pandora, Napster etc. but I haven't used those. Firmware updates are easy, although these do take around 5-10 minutes to load via wireless connection - you need to keep your nerve and not turn off the player, thinking nothing is happening. Eventually, you get a message saying that the download has loaded and the player turns off and on again. If the download fails (which did happen once), the device is not affected (good design).
I was really impressed by how painless it was to set up media streaming from a PC using DLNA. A copy of Nero Home Media Server essentials was supplied on CD - I installed this, the player automatically detected my PC and presented me with a list of files I could play from the media folder. This was *so* easy! DLNA file-streaming has worked brilliantly: I only experienced problems with one, huge (10 GB) home movie file that stuttered and stopped. Then I discovered the USB connection on the right-front panel of the player. I had been so taken with all of the streaming solutions that I overlooked the easiest way to play media files, which is from an external hard drive or flash drive! The BD670 played the huge file from an external hard drive with no problems. Since then, the player has played everything I have thrown at it: AVI and MKV, etc. using lots of different codecs. With 3 firmware updates in the month that I have owned it, I have a lot of confidence that it is being updated constantly to play all of the latest disc and file formats. So I am a very happy bunny indeed!
UPDATE: *** Hulu-Plus just appeared on the premium services (network access) menu, as of the July 30th software update! I can't vouch for the quality, because I am not a member. But the demo videos seem to play just fine ... :-)

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(March 2011)
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Samsung BD-C6800 1080p 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)Got the player a few days back. Initial setup was a breeze. Got connected to the internet over wifi very easily. It downloaded some apps and things were up and running. I tried things like netflix, pandora, youtube, accu-weather, google maps, sudoku etc and it was just amazing. Then I got to the real deal - playing a BD and it was quick, fast and fun. I had trouble doing the firmware upgrade (optional) over the network but then I read on some forum that usb upgrade was easier, that turned out to be true and things were done in no time, the procedure for which was available on samsung's site. So far i'm quiet satisfied by the video and audio performance along with the elaborate apps and games that work on this.
I've used it via hdmi with my lcd tv and hd projector. I've tried both analog and optical audio out with the tv and the 5.1 receiver respectively. The remote is easy to use and has good range (bounced signals worked great, never had to point it to the player). Of-course it takes time to punch in the user id etc for the internet apps, but that is a one time setup.


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Vizio VBR120 Blu-Ray Disc Player - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)It's frustrating to hear how well this Blu-Ray player works for others, but it's also consoling to realize that I'm not the only one who's experienced problem after problem with it. I won't dwell on the glue issue, since it's been covered well enough by other reviewers. My main complaint is with the seemingly random hardware issues with this model. From day one, powering on the player has always been a crap shoot, and to date I've never been able to turn it on, or eject a disc, using the buttons on the machine itself. Thank goodness for the remote!
Sometimes it will play a disc quickly and without any problems; other times it will click and grind for one to two minutes before getting started. I want to be clear, however, that it's not so much the slowness that bothers me, but rather its inconsistency. Every day is a surprise, because I don't know whether it will turn on and hum smoothly away, or turn on and grind, or simply not turn on at all.
The coup de grâce came tonight, when I settled down to watch an evening film. Picture, but no audio. The user manual, a tome of wisdom, suggested that I either turn up the volume or double-check the mute button. Right. Thanks for the tip. Nor do I have any headphones or external devices plugged in, but the manual doesn't offer any suggestions beyond that.
I plan on returning this unit as soon as possible and exchanging it for something else. My recommendation to potential buyers? It's a great deal if you manage to get one that works as well as the models some of these other folks picked up; but it also seems like quite a few of us have run into a number of similar problems that you may want to avoid by dropping a few more dollars on a different brand.

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Panasonic DMP-BD655 networked Blu-Ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)Just got this today at CostCo (special for 119.00). My 18y/o daughter had this up and running in 30 minutes. We're watching a NetFlix movie as I write this. I'm not a techie so can't go into detail like some reviews... But it's great to have a nice Blue Ray DVD player that we can get streaming video from online. We own a 50" Panasonic plasma TV with a Panasonic home theater. Everything works together perfectly.

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Toshiba WLM-10UB1 Wireless Adapter for BDX2500 Blu-Ray Disc Player, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I got it free at a local store with the purchase of the BDX2500.
This adapter does 802.11 a/b/g/n and operates at 2.4GHz and 5.2GHz. All you do is plug it into the rear USB port and it just works without any sign of it installing itself. Boot time was not affected by having it plugged in. The interface for the adapter is pretty decent and it was nice that apart from the normal open, SSID and signal strength indicators, it shows the AP's capabilities (i.e. a/b/g/n). I only used it to test but am using only the wired connection.
A short word on streaming video. If you can help it then please, please, please use at least a wired Fast Ethernet connection because you'll be able to get consistent and reliable bandwidth. The next important thing is to make sure you have at least a 10Mb ISP connection. If you MUST use wireless then you really should use 802.11n in the 5GHz band. Remember, wireless is a convenience and good for your MOBILE devices to access non-bandwidth intensive content. Not everyone is capable of streaming dependable HD via wireless, yet.


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Panasonic VIERA TC-P50GT25 50-inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)Disclaimer: First I'd like to say that I do not have the equipment to view this set's 3-D picture yet. I bought it as a hedge against 3-D. I'm not sure if 3-D is going to take off, but if it does I know I'm ready for it. I thought I would get that out of the way so while you will know I cannot review that feature of the TV, I still have a lot to tell. Now on with the show...
The Panasonic comes shipped in a conveniently designed box where you simply punch out four inserts and lift the box top off of the base. Sort of like when you get a cake from the bakery in a plastic container. Inside's the TV, the stand, the remote (and batteries), the power cord, and the owner's manual. Attaching the swiveling base is very simple and involves screwing a metal fork onto the base then slipping the TV onto the fork and screwing it down. The whole process takes 5 minutes and I was able to do it without any assistance. Also, I'd like to mention that Amazon shipped the TV through a company called HomeDirectUSA. They were very professional and opened the box for me to make sure the TV was undamaged.
Looks wise the Panasonic isn't much. It's framed in a piano black trim and is about 3 inches deep. The base is also done in piano black with a chrome band around the edge. At the bottom of the TV's frame is a bronze colored streak. Overall it's a classy look, but also nothing special. On the lower edge of the TV are the 3-D glasses' transmitters and the remote sensor. On the left side of the TV are various buttons (channel, volume, menu, input, and power) along with a few inputs (HDMI, composite video, and an SD card slot) and two USB ports (for hooking up the wireless dongle amongst other things). On the back of the set (on the set's left side viewed from the front) are two HDMI, two components, one composite, one RF/coaxial, and a PC input. There is also an optical audio out. The TV's build quality is very good, the materials are nice, and it feels sturdy overall. Lastly, the included remote is long and narrow, but well laid out with large buttons that light up.
Using TV is straightforward and easy. It guides you through the set-up, scans for channels, sets up the network, and sets the clock. The menu system is logically laid out and easy to use. The picture controls are many and allow you to fine tune precisely, although the pro-setting are only available in Custom picture mode. Besides Custom mode there is Vivid, Standard, THX, and Game modes. Each mode can be tweaked individually and set up differently for each input. Some of the features included with the Panasonic are 5 individual timers to turn the TV on and off and a sleep timer. There is also VieraLink that, if the TV is connected to the Internet, allows you to view YouTube or Netflix among other services (I have not used this feature since I stream that content through my Blu-ray player). You can insert an SD card or a USB jump drive into the set and view photos, videos, or listen to MP3 files as well. This feature worked well when I inserted an SD card from my Canon camera and the photos looked very nice on the screen. Another nice feature is being able to set channels as your favorites so you can jump to them more quickly, or have the channel only scan favorites when you go up and down channels. Features to reduce burn-in include a pixel orbiter (which very slightly shifts the picture to prevent burn-in) and a scrolling bar pattern that wipes a white bar over a black screen for 15 minutes. While burn-in is much less of an issues with plasma sets then it used to be, if you like to watch non-high definition TV with the bars on the side, or play video games and pause them for a long time, plasma may not be the best bet for you. Finally, there are light sensors on the front of the TV to allow the set to adjust its brightness based on ambient light conditions.
Picture quality on the Panasonic is where this TV shows it mettle. I have the set hooked up in the following manner. My LG Blu-ray player and Nintendo Wii are hooked up to my Onkyo receiver, which is in turn hooked into the Panasonic via HDMI. The Blu-ray is hooked into the receiver using HDMI and the Wii using composite video. For cable, I use the RF/coaxial input. I am not a videophile and tweaked the picture menu myself where I settled on the Vivid setting with some adjustments to make it considerably less vivid (usually I hate vivid mode but I like it on this set). I find the picture looks best when I leave the automatic adjustment for ambient light on. I also have the TV set-up to show 95% of the image where the edges are cropped off so I don't view any image breakdown at the picture's edge. Watching any high definition content, be it Blu-ray, cable TV, or streaming Netflix, the picture looks its best with great detail and clarity (this is especially true when watching Blu-ray discs). Watching standard definition content doesn't look bad either, obviously it doesn't look great stretched out to 50", but the details hold up well and it's more than acceptable. Regardless of the source, the colors are accurate, the dynamic range is great with deep and detailed shadows, and there is no motion blur even when playing video games or watching animated content. My previous television was a 32" 720p LCD and compared to the LCD the plasma Panasonic looks more "fluid" and "film-like". The details don't jump out at you like they do on a high end LCD set (sometimes obnoxiously), but the picture is clear and sharp none the less. The screen has an anti-reflective coating that seems to work well. I have the set in a room with two big windows on the west side and I adjust the blinds when necessary to keep the sun's reflections off the screen. In the end, a plasma is no worse in this regard than a traditional tube television. Overall, I am very pleased with the picture and am a plasma convert.
The TV's built-in speakers are fine for casual viewing, but if you want a true big-screen experience you're going to want to hook this set up to at least a 2.1 system, if not a full blown 7.2 system. Mine is hooked up to a 5.1 system.
Speaking of sounds, I don't notice any humming from the set. Occasionally, if I have muted the sound and a bright white scene comes on I hear a slight hum, but it's barely noticeable and goes away as soon as the scene changes. Also, the set does not give off much heat as far as I can tell.
There are only a few negatives I have about the set and they are as follows: 1) The piano black trim on the set shows reflections much worse than the screen itself. 2) The set only has 3 HDMI inputs, most have 4. 3) The remote sensor is very low on the set and I have my center speaker in front of the TV so I have to angle the remote upward in order for the signal to reach the TV.
All in all... a great plasma set, with tons of inputs, features, and adjustability, but an especially great picture quality.
P.S.: Sorry for the long review. There is a lot to cover. If you'd like to know anything else leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.
11/24/2010 Update: Hitting the sub-menu button on the remote allows you to quickly change the behavior of the channel up/down button. For instance you can have it scan only your favorites, or just the digital channels. This is a nice touch, and a nice shortcut.
02/26/2011 Update: The television is still going strong and has maintained its excellent picture quality. I left a menu from my DVD player paused on the screen for about a half hour by accident, and after about a minute the retained image was gone. No issues with burn-in, humming, or anything. Great set.

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Magnavox NB500MG1F Blu-Ray DVD Disc Player (Manufacturer Refurbished) Review

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(More customer reviews)I can't say that "I like it" (4 stars) or "I love it" (5 stars) but this made in China, refurbished Blu-ray player met my expectations which explains the solid 3 stars, meaning "It's Okay".
As a player, this is an inexpensive, basic, no frills unit that does the job I expected it to do and not a lot more - play Blu-ray, DVDs and audio CDs in the bedroom. Nothing more than simple playback should be expected from it but, so far, it has played everything without a glitch. The picture is steady and crisp and so is the audio. There was no skipping so far and old DVDs that became unplayable on the DVD player that it's replacing can be watched again and play flawlessly.
First, for what the player lacks: Internet access. There is no Ethernet port and there is no WiFi - therefore there will never be Netflix or Pandora streaming or anything that needs a network connection. In addition there is no easy way to upgrade it or, if it's upgradeable, the capability is not documented in the manual.
On the positive side, besides the basic playback, this model does a pretty good job upscaling DVDs and has an SD slot - it supports SD, (miniSD and microSD will need an adapter) and SDHC and it does NOT support miniSDHC or microSDHC cards. You should be able to display JPEG pictures. Another welcome feature is its going into standby mode if no action is taken for a few minutes while displaying the 'menu'.
Available ports include HDMI Out, Audio Out, Component Video Out, Digital Out (coax) and Video Out.
The player came with a small and easy to use remote control (batteries included), a 50-page manual and an RCA component video cable.
I have no complaints about this model. It is, by design, an inexpensive, basic features Blu-ray player. Up until now, it performed as expected.
____________________________________________________
When it comes to the 'refurbished' aspect of this product, I am not as happy.
The unit that I got was dirty. This is not an exaggeration. It had greasy, visible fingerprints and palm prints all over it and I had to spend quite a while cleaning it up. It was also scratched. The scratches were minor but it was scratched nevertheless. The manual is a stapled Xerox copy of the original but it's readable. I understand that 'refurbished' is a rather fuzzy concept but I've been spoiled by the 'like new', quality of refurbished items I received from Linksys or Logitech. This unit arrived in a far from 'like new' condition.
Related to the not exactly 'like new' quality of this refurbished product, it's worth noting that the original 1 year Maganvox warranty does not apply. Instead, you get a 90-days warranty that "does not apply to the cosmetic appearance" (a quote). In addition, the buyer is expected to pay for shipping.
____________________________________________________I don't know if I should consider myself lucky for receiving a working unit but I can only review the product that I received which, once cleaned and hooked up to the TV worked well. The lack of high-end features is not a disappointment or a surprise and it's compensated by the low price. The apparent lack of support is a concern but, again, this is not an expensive product. The 3 stars are well deserved for what I got but I would not recommend this as a 'buy' to anyone who wants to play it perfectly safe or is shopping for a unit that should last for several years.MARCH 12, 2011 UPDATE:
4 months later, I like it more. It performed flawlessly so far. It was a good buy.
--
>> Brush your teeth, it's the law!

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Panasonic DMP-BD45 Ultrafast-Booting Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't typically write reviews of electronics, but I got this about a week or so ago and already watched a few movies on it and there were enough things that I liked about it (many that were not already mentioned) that I thought I would in this case. Most importantly, it is lightning fast compared to my previous blu-ray player (my old one seemed to take forever before it was ready to load and play, this one is ready to load in 30 seconds or so, and ready to play just as fast). This is a major plus in my eyes. Second, the on/off button is on the top right, and the open/close button is on the top left of the player (rather than on the front of the player -- this is very handy because you can see and press both very easily... not a huge deal, but I really like it and it makes it noticeably easier to use, so I thought I'd mention it). Third, it is very light and easy to hook up (unfortunately, it does NOT come with the HDMI cable -- but you can get one of those for less than $10; and it does come with the standard red/white/yellow wires so you can at least hook it up until your HDMI cable arrives). Finally, blu-ray disks look amazing on it (at least on my HD TV), and it also plays standard DVDs which look at least as good as the would on a non-blu-ray DVD player (so, if you have lots of regular DVDs, you can still watch them without losing any quality). Finally, the remote is easier to use then the one I got with my other blu-ray player (big and easy to find play, search backwards, search forward, stop, and pause buttons... the open/close butto is a bit small, but still pretty easy to find, and the power button is in the upper left as usual making it very easy to find/use). All for a very reasonably low price on Amazon.com (much cheaper than anywhere else I looked, and with free shiping and no sales tax no less!).
I'd also like to note that the fact that there is a slot on the front where you can directly plug in a SD or SDHC memory card is a major plus. You can watch the HD videos you record right off this player (and use the remote to select videos from a menu it creates of all videos on the memory card). Or, you can look at your photos directly on the TV (it even automatically rotates them so they are always upright... and it again creates a menu so you can select, or once you select, you can go through them one by one and look at them on the big screen). Both the videos and the photos looked amazing on my TV (I have a Samsung HD TV set). In sum, this is a great feature that is remarkably easy to use!

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Start watching your favorite High-Definition movies almost instantly with the Panasonic DMP-BD45 Blu-ray Disc player, which features an ultra-fast 2-second boot time. It also includes a Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot, making it easy for you to view and share both digital still images and HD video recorded with an HD camcorder in the AVCHD format.
Other features include compatibility with a wide variety of disc formats (including standard DVD movie discs), PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus video processing technology (learn more), Energy Star certification, and Panasonic's VIERA Link function--allowing you to operate multiple audio/video components using a single remote via HDMI. Additionally, Panasonic's lineup of 2010 BD Players are designed to reduce power consumption and also feature a slimmer, more efficient design to reduce packaging waste.





Key Features
High-quality image processing via PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus technology
VIERA Link utilizes HDMI to enable control all VIERA Link combatable products with one remote.
SD memory card slot enables you to play your photos and movies taken with digital cameras and camcorders by just sliding in an SD memory card into the SD slot.

What's in the Box BD Player, remote control (with batteries), power cord, operating instructions

Specifications


Disc/Media Compatibility


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Experience Movies Like Never Before The DMP-BD45 employs the PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus. Developed in collaboration with Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, this high image processing technology reproduces clear, vivid colors that are faithful to the original film.
Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc players employ high precision 4:4:4 signal technology, which working in tandem with PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus processes each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the horizontal direction to compliment vertical direction processing. P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD) is another technology that contributes to the superior picture quality of the Blu-ray players. P4HD processes more than 15 billion pixels per second and applies the optimal processing to every pixel.

Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc players further utilize 16-level motion detection to categorize the image motion of each pixel into one of 16 levels; diagonal processing to detect diagonals and correct the pixels accordingly; 1080p up-conversion to up-convert content recorded in the 480i/p or 720p format to 1080p.

This Blu-ray Disc player also provides 1080/24p output, reproducing cinema images from a Blu-ray Disc and DVD in their original 24p form with no need for conversion--enabling you to enjoy cinema images in the same format used in cinema with a 1080/24p-compatible TV.

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Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)[This is a long review warranted by the number of features of the BDP-S580. I want to try to provide as much relevant information as I can in an attempt to make this as useful to you as possible. If you only want a one line "this is great" review, I apologize, but some folks like details :) I know I do.]
IMPORTANT NOTE: I have added a number of updates and edits over time to keep this review up to date. Be sure to check those as they can show resolutions to earlier problems I experienced. Typically I left the original issues in place in the review, followed by an Edit with a resolution, so that other people running into the same problem may be able to find answers.
Some background...
This was bought to replace an older Sharp HP20U Blu-Ray player and some of the features of a DLink DSM-520 network media player. After also having owned the Sony BDP-S570 (the prior model to the S580) for a short while as a first replacement effort, I decided to return that and get this newer BDP-S580 model instead in the hope they might eventually fix or improve on a lot of the DLNA flaws in the 570.
Let me say up front that I do like this unit, but have some concerns.
I am running wired connection over gigabit LAN with CAT6, although this device only has a 100M ethernet connection, and use the fastest available Charter service where I typically get 15 to 28 Mbps download speed at any given time. I am using HDMI connections through a receiver to a Sharp 1080p TV.
First the good...
1) Blu-ray load times are far faster than many other devices out there. This was one of the main points I wanted to get with the unit. In fact the prior BDP-S570 release is still one of CNET's fastest ever loaders, even with the 'quick start' feature turned off, and this is comparable. I do recommend leaving the fast-start option off in general in order to save energy; the money cost of keeping the device in a kind of startup mode is not worth it if the player can get up to speed quite quickly anyway. As a load speed test, I used the "Avatar" BD, the worst loader by a long shot among disks I own. Avator took over 5 minutes to get to the main menu screen on my old Sharp, and on the Sony it gets to the main menu in around 2 mins 50 secs. This is still not quick, but remember that this is the worst loader I have ever seen. Other BDs such as "Master and Commander", "Cars", or "300" all got to their menus within around 30 secs, and by getting to the main menu, I mean it had to go through all the FBI copyright warnings etc.
2) The unit is quiet when playing a disk. Not silent, but seems better than the S570 and far better than the old Sharp. Note that when you leave a disk in while using other features of the s580, it still makes some noise as if it is always keeping the BD ready to go. I suppose this is no bad idea for a quick launch when you choose the BD from the menu system.
3) The BDP-S580 uses Sony's standard XDB interface that can be found on the PS3, PSP etc. I like it but some don't. In my opinion it is quick, clean, simple to navigate, and this particular device seems to respond very quickly when scrolling the icons/options (some have seemed more sluggish).
4) I had no issues with buffering, stuttering or pausing during playback of online video. I used Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, YouTube, and the Hulu Plus free HD video to test. No issues during playback of online audio either using Pandora, NPR, Slacker. However, please see notes below in the 'bad' section that relate to actually getting the streaming to start...
5) DLNA playback of Audio files is good and the interface is fast and responsive. Much faster than the Dlink DSM-520. All files have played great so far, and include .wma and .mp3 formats. Note that this comment is in regard to AUDIO FILES ONLY, see the 'bad' section for my thoughts on VIDEO files across DLNA...
6) Picture quality from BD is better than my Sharp player. I believe this is largely due to the deep color system that Sony uses. In fact there are several levels of color depth you can choose if you feel inclined to do so (I just left mine on the Auto setting)
7) Upconversion of standard DVDs is excellent. Most BD players that upconvert DVDs do it well, and this is no exception.
8) The "direct attach" USB drive option is improved in the S580 over the S570. This is where you use some kind of external USB drive - portable drive, desktop storage or even USB stick - and plug it directly into the USB port on the S580 to access files on it. There are 2 USB ports on the S580 which is helpful, one front, one rear. With the 570 you could only use FAT formatted drives which are generally not a great idea, but the S580 is now improved to allow use of NTFS formatted drives.
9) It has a general Internet Browser. This is useful but limited. I have run into issues where pages are not very navigable (msn.com) or where they fail with a reported 'page is too big' error (hulu.com). Where possible, using 'mobile' versions of the web page tends to be best.
10) You can pair this player to a compatible TV etc to allow one to control the other via HDMI. I turned this off to reduce 'overhead' since it will do nothing for me with my Sharp TV and receiver, but I wanted to note this.
11) Media types that can be played from a directly attached USB drive are numerous, and include the following (taken from the Sony BDP-S580 manual as of 3/25/11 - take note of the "*" numbers and check the info underneath!):
VIDEO File format Extensions:
MPEG-1 Video/PS*1*2, MPEG-2 Video/PS, TS*1*3 (".mpg," ".mpeg,",".m2ts," ".mts")
MPEG-4 AVC*1*2 (".mkv," ".mp4,",".m4v," ".m2ts,",".mts")
WMV9*1*2 (".wmv," ".asf")
AVCHD*2 *4
Xvid (".avi")
AUDIO File format Extensions:
MP3 (MPEG-1 AudioLayer III) (".mp3")
AAC*1*2*5 (".m4a")
WMA9 Standard*1*2*5 (".wma")
LPCM (".wav")
PHOTO File format Extensions:
JPEG (".jpg," ".jpeg")
What the *Notes mean:
*1 The player does not play coded files such as DRM.
*2 The player does not play this file format on a DLNA server.
*3 The player can only play standard definition video on a DLNA server.
*4 The player plays AVCHD format files that are recorded on a digital video camera, etc. The
AVCHD format disc will not play if it has not been correctly finalized.
*5 The player does not play coded files such as Lossless.Now the not so good...
1) I wanted this to be a replacement for my old DSM-520 network media player. I knew from bad experience with the s570 that this would not be possible, and you can see from the list of formats above with the *2 note against them that Sony does not expect those to play. Essentially MPEG2 and a subset of AVI are the only video formats that 'might' work. These notes here are to warn others, and don't directly affect my rating since I expected it, although I am hoping future firmware releases might improve the offering. While the s580 is DLNA certified, this means that it essentially only needs to be able to play a VERY minimum range of video formats, and even then, depending on things such as the specific codecs used, it still might not work. I have a number of video files in several different formats - none of which will even be seen to allow me to try to play. This includes .mp4, .vob, .iso, .avi, .m4v, .wmv all shared from a Iomega network storage device pushing out via a built in media server. [see edit below]
***
[EDIT 4/2/11] After getting a replacement unit, I am now able to see and play .mpg, .mp4(when renamed to .mpg), some .wmv, some .avi, all .vob. My original lemon would not let me even see these, now I can see and play. I am leaving the original note in place to help others who might run into the same problem.
***
Assuming you have a number of different format video files, if you want to be able to play ALL of your video files across your network to the BDP-S580, you will either need to use a media server that will transcode your files on the fly to something like MPEG2, manually convert all your media to a format that is supported (prohibitively annoying for most people) or get a different network media player instead of this.
(A reminder: the above note is really only regarding Video files on DLNA. My music files all behave beautifully so far, and include .wma and .mp3)
2) Playing of online video files. As I mentioned previously, playing online video files is great, but getting to them or getting them to start can be quite a slog. For some reason it takes ages (well, maybe 1-3 minutes) to get them to start. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'm running wired, not wireless. When I get the media playing I can see that I am getting over 18Mbps consistent download speed. When it runs, it can play high def files with no apparent issues. Its just connecting to the individual services, and in some cases opening the files when you get there, that takes so long. What's odd - again - is that I don't recall this being a problem with the BDP-S570 (the OLD model). I did set a static IP address and network info just in case it helped, as mentioned by another reviewer, but it made no difference for me. [see edit below]
***
[EDIT 4/4/11] This issue has been resolved by assigning a free public DNS server (8.8.4.4) as my primary DNS server in the network configuration. Originally I had this set to my local DNS server (my 192.168.x.x router). I don't know why this would really make a difference and I have never had any other issues with my DLink DIR-655 router serving as my DNS server before, however this does indeed resolve my problem. I no longer have any connectivity issues when connecting to the online video services like...Read more›

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Sony BDP-S560 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)There seems to be a lack of reviews online for the new Sony 560 and Panasonic 80 Blu-ray players. So I purchased both of these Blu-ray players from Amazon, mainly becuase I wanted to do a critical, side by side comparison of all features and the audio and video quality. It wasn't a professional test-based comparison, just flipping back and forth between these players and my Samsung BD-UP5000 Blu-ray/HD DVD player on my Sony 52" Bravia LCD and studying the image with a critical eye. (I got 3 copies of the Braveheart Blu-ray to do this). Here's what I discovered:
Video Quality: Pretty much a dead tie. Both players had rich, dark blacks. Video noise (smoothness) of the pictures was so close that I couldn't tell which I was watching most of the time. Sharpness was the same. Both pictures had good "3D pop". I wouldn't be surprised if both players used the same chipset. (By the way, the Samsung uses the Reon HQV chip, and while it looked a bit "smoother" by comparison, a tiny bit of the sharpness and detail shown on the Sony and Panasonic was missing on the Samsung. Also the Samsung has a very slight cyan cast to the blacks and the overall picture.)
Audio Quality: I think the Panasonic wins here, but only by a slim margin. Panasonic touts this player as a "high clarity audio" Blu-ray player and it does sound sweet through my Onkyo TS-SR805 receiver, on my Paradigm Monitor 11 speakers. Again, this conclusion is based only on the DolbyHD sountrack on the Braveheart Blu-ray. I'm going to do more serious listening, but I think the Panasonic will still prove better, audio-wise, with any source material.
Audio Formats: Both of these players will Bitstream or PCM output the new HD audio formats. This means that if your receiver doesn't decode them, the player will. Or vice-versa. Some people say pre-amps/receivers do a better job at decoding than BD players do, but I guess that depends on your gear. The Panasonic DMP-BD80 sure sounds good, and I couldn't hear a decoding difference between it or my receiver. With the Sony, I think the receiver may have sounded a touch better, but that might have been in my head.
Speed and Handling: No question about it, the Sony beats the Panasonic hands down. This new Panasonic is no faster than last year's model it replaced, the 55. Everything about the Panasonic is slow...load times, react times when buttons are pressed, or when skipping chapters. The Sony 560 is about the same as the PS3. Every cloud has a silver lining, and the Panasonic DOES give you time to make a cup of tea while your disc is loading! Another little thing about the Panasonic that I don't like is the size (width) of the disc tray...it's the same size or a hair bigger than the disc itself (instead of being smaller like most players) so it's very hard to grab the disc. This sounds like a little niggle, but try it and see. It will drive you nuts every time you try to remove a disc...you'll end up dropping them back onto the tray if you're not extremely careful.
Remote Controls: They're about the same...both very flimsy and cheaply made. Put a gun to my head and I'll say the Panasonic's remote is a little heavier and has larger buttons that are a little better laid out. The Sony 560 is drawing fire for this because it doesn't have an eject/drawer open button on the remote. This is a silly complaint...correct me if I'm wrong, but you almost have to be standing in front of the player to put a disc in or take a disc out anyway, right?!?!?! So what's the big deal about having to press the "open" button on the player? Serious remote-picky people have a Harmony remote anyway.
Other Convenience Features: Neither of these players has Netflix built in, I guess that's a big deal now. Unless they can steam full-quality 1080P (without pauses, subject to my ISP speed) I could care less about that. The reason I have 3 Blu-ray players is because I care about quality and I'm not too cheap to buy Blu-ray movies! The Panasonic has the Amazon/VieraCast and YouTube feature though. Again, I have no desire to see a rough, low-quality mpeg video shot by an idiot on a cell phone on my high def TV! Both of these players are BD 2.0 (BD Live) capable, but only the Sony has Wi-Fi built in. That's a nice feature because you don't have to run a CAT-5 cable from your router to your Blu-ray player. I think the 560 is the first stand alone BD player to have this (the PS3 had it all along). The Panasonic has 7.1 channel analog (RCA) audio outputs, important to people that have older receivers without HDMI. The Sony 560 dropped this feature that used to be on last year's 550 model. Most people have newer, HDMI capable receivers, so I see why they did it. (Sony also did it to make their step-up model, the BDPS1000ES seem more attractive. (That player is $699 and is basically a 560 with a handful of extra features added, like a headphone jack). The Panasonic has an SD card slot on the front, good if you want to view your pictures on your TV, and a USB jack. The Sony features two USB jacks, one on the front and one on the back.
Build Quality: About the same, maybe the Sony wins here by a hair. Both are smallish players, not very deep. The Sony is about 8/10's of an inch taller.
Conclusion: Overall I like the Sony better. It's wireless connectivity is a great feature, and Sony has a great history (with the PS3) of keeping the firmware updated, and this makes it easier. The Panasonic is a nice player, and has slightly better sound, but I'm sticking with the Sony. Anyone wanna buy a slightly used Panasonic DMP-BD80?
(By the way...I had no audio problems whatsoever with the Sony, like some other reviewers had. The Sony has a lot of audio output settings, and I still think some of them had them set wrong. That, or their other gear couldn't handle the output from the 560. I'm seeing a bunch of posts online recently about different TV's and receivers not being compatible or being able to handle certain audio signals, especially bitstream...if your gear doing the decoding doesn't have the "oomph" or processing power to decode it, it will choke and puke!)

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The Sony BDP-S560 Blu-ray Disc player delivers Full HD 1080/24p True Cinema video over HDMI and can upscale your standard DVDs to near HD quality . It also includes built-in wireless functionality (802.11N/G/B/A), allowing you to easily connect to the internet to download and stream BD-Live content such as additional scenes, shorts, trailers, movie-based games, and more. While compatible with most home wireless routers, the BDP-S560 Blu-ray Disc player also supports Wi-Fi protected set-up (WPS), for a quick and easy conection to WPS enabled wireless routers. The BDPS560 even supports Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs for up to 7.1 channels of high-definition sound.

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Funai PB750FX1 Portable Blu-Ray Player with 10.1 Inch LCD Screen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)i brought this and it was fine for a week. great sound and picture. then after one week nothing but a griding sound! this for
$400?

Stick to a known brand

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BD-HP80U Blu-ray Disc Player - 1 Disc(s) - Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought the BD-HP80U Blu -ray to sync up with my Sharp 52" Quattron 3d LED TV. I gave this unit 4 star in stability because of the initial set up. I highly recommend breaking out the book to set this unit up. My remote appeared not to work because I had no activity when pressing the buttons toward the unit. The IR remote sensor setting on the unit was set to wall. The default IR set up is suppose to be on the side of the player, but after checking the manual mine came out of the box set to the top IR sensor. There is a switch on the bottom of the unit and depending how you mount it will determine which sensor to use. On the wall the top and on the shelf the side. Then my Blu-ray kept black screening before the initial set up screen. After looking in the trouble shooting section of the manual it guided me to resetting and rebooting the unit to factory specifications. This fixed the black screen problem and I was then able to complete the setup by using the Blu-ray remote and the TV. After this I was able to configure the wireless setting to my home network. Sharp has a walk through menu in how to set up your blu-ray player to you home network. You will need to know your router's IP address, admin user ID, password, and what kind of security you have on your home network. Follow the menu screens and enter the information in the box and you shouldn't have any trouble setting this Blu-ray up to your home network. The first things I after I got my blu-ray connected to my home network was down load and install the latest firmware. I had no problems and udating the firmware will take about 3 to 5 minutes. I was able to set up a Netflix account with one month free access with Sharps website. The first movie I downloaded kept freezing up. Netflix gave me a survey and I received one day extension. I won't take a star away for this because of all the other variables that are involved streaming movies: internet speed, location of Blu-ray player, speakers, and amp, to name a few. Since the 1st day I have not had any problems down loading and streaming movies. This unit replaced my Panasonic Blu-ray player and Panasonics are some of the fastest loading Blu-ray players on the market. This Sharp Blu-ray is a little slower in loading than the Panasonic but not enough for me change my mind and not keep this Blu-ray player. It is much faster loading Blu-ray discs than Sony or Samsung Blu-ray players. I have played regular DVDs and this upgrades them to almost Blu-ray quality and the Blu-ray movies are great. I haven't bought my 3d glasses or a movie yet but I know the quality will be awesome. All in all I am happy with the purchase from Amazon.com. My order was processed and shipped and delivered within Amazon's guidelines. I would recommend this Blu-ray player especially if you have a Sharp LC52LE835U Quattron 52" or a 60" 3d LED TV.

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Samsung BD-P4600 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I know there have been a number of mixed reviews about this product, and it almost deterred me from selecting it when I was looking for a Blu-Ray player to go along with a Samsung 50" plasma HDTV I recently bought.
After having this player for a little over two weeks now, I can't be more happy with it. I wasn't sure how I was going to react to the unusual form factor, and I would not have originally thought about mounting a Blu-Ray player on my wall rather than keep it in a entertainment center, but it has worked out extremely well and I very much like having it wall-mounted for both access and use of the remote control.
The player has worked as smooth as silk and I have not had a single issue playing any DVD in my library, including titles burned on DVD-R and DVD+R disks.
I also really love the additional features of Netflix and Pandora and was amazed at the HD quality of the streamed Netflix titles.
I also like that with the wireless network access comes automatic firmware updates, which from I've been reading will prevent me from having to worry about newer Blu-Ray disk features from being usable.
I really have only two criticisms and one warning about this player.
I would really prefer it if the USB Wifi Dongle was positioned to be underneath the visible edges of the player. Having it stick out takes a bit away from the visual sex appeal of this player.
I will also say that they should issue one of these players to CSI graduate students for fingerprinting exercises. This thing is so sleek and shiny that you can spot fingerprints and smudges on it from a 10 feet away.
Lastly, if you are planning on putting this unit in a TV/Entertainment cabinet/housing, beware. Because it is a side-facing slot-loading player, you will not be easily able to load disks without turning the unit sideways each time. Fortunately for me, I enjoyed mounting it on my wall, but it would have been slightly annoying if I had had to stuff it in the new TV cabinet I bought at the same time.
Overall, I am thrilled with this unit and would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a leading-edge Blu-Ray player that will be a great home theater component for several years.


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Don't settle for anything less than the ultimate blu-ray experience. The BD-P4600 gives you everything you want and more, with breathtaking, high-definition picture and superior sound quality. You can download large files easily with its Wi-Fi connection and instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix and music from Pandora subscriptions. It's also wall-mountable and just 1.5" thin offering the most modern touch to any living room.BD profile 2.0 (BD Live) Get ready for the ultimate interactive film experience. The SAMSUNG BD-P4600 has lets you take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie. * Requires additional memory and an internet connection. BD wise Get a perfect replay of Blu-ray discs with other Samsung BD Wise products when using the HDMI connection. Netflix/Pandora streaming Are you a Netflix unlimited member? Instantly watch from a selection of over 12,000 (and growing) movies and TV episodes. Plus you can rock out to your favorite tunes. The BD-P4600 lets you stream your favorite music with the Pandora service. Netflix unlimited members can watch as much as they want- anytime they want. HDMI Experience billions of colors, high definition audio and improved frame rates even at full 1080p resolution. HDMI 1.3 is a video cable format that delivers it all from your Samsung Blu-ray player without any loss of quality. Since you only need one HDMI cable, there's no ugly mess of tangled-up wires. So your set-up is as clean-looking as the picture.DivX SD/HD With DivX playback up to HD 1080p, you can insert DVDs and CDs that have standard and high definition DivX movies downloaded from your computer and watch them on your TV.

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LG BD630 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was pleasantly surprised with the LG BD630! You get a whole LOT for the money! I am going to try and pick this thing apart somewhat in this review , so if you are interested then Read On Mc Duff!
I purchased this unit for my 81 year old father who has taken to watching Xvid and MKV files from the internet, usually documentaries on WW2 and other history programs. Of course he also watches DVD's but has not until now delved into Blu Ray or Netflix streaming.I needed something for him that had a very easy to follow menu system and worked WELL with a minimum of glitches.
The player itself is very basic on the outside. The BD630 features an on/off , eject, play/pause and stop buttons on it's face and a USB slot covered with a little rubber trap door on the right hand side with the disc drawer in the middle. It doesn't exactly exude high build quality on first glance, but what makes this little player SO good is the software inside. (more on that very soon) Mind you, it isn't totally cheap looking and as the saying goes good things can and DO come in small packages.
This is a very small (not very deep) unit and also a very lightweight one. It came packed with a decent PRINTED manual , basic cabling (you will need an HDMI or Component cable) and a functional remote that uses only 1 AAA cell, also included. It comes with a couple of printed adverts for Netflix and even a small sticker on the top of the unit that screams NETFLIX at you. (easily removed) The power cable is attached. You get composite video out, stereo RCA audio outs , Component Video and HDMI Out , a Coax Digital Audio out and a LAN port for connecting to your home network if you wish to use the Netcast features such as Netflix and You Tube.
Being at the low end of the LG food-chain, this particular player is NOT DLNA enabled and to play your video files (other than blu ray and DVD) you must stream from a USB device be it a thumb drive or external hard drive. You can not connect this unit via the Ethernet connection to your computer. LG starts including THAT feature a few more models UP from this one. I guess that is understandable given the price point.
The connectivity is very good really, you can use this device with everything from an analogue standard TV all the way up to 1080p HDTV and your audio options are just as good with the analogue stereo outs, or the Coax digital which can handle up to 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS and the HDMI which can pass thru the uncompressed Dolby TruHD or DTS Master Audio tracks that accompany much of the blu ray releases. You can set the Video output to match your TV resolution, set picture aspect ratio to play 4:3 programs as is or to stretch them to fill your screen. The USB port can be used to connect a USB thumb drive or even an external hard drive. It isn't too picky about the formatting of the drive and can also support up to 4 drive partitions. That alone is amazing for the price and a nice touch.
This brings me to my first and only MAJOR complaint about this machine. It is SO lightweight than when you plug in your USB drive or cable to it, the unit itself tends to push backwards. Perhaps adding some non slip little rubber feet to the bottom with a couple drops of super glue would easily solve that.
Just be aware that if you are not careful, you run the risk of knocking the thing over when accessing that feature. Note: To access any BD Live features you may wish to download and view, a USB drive is required as there apparently is minimal onboard memory. I personally disable BD Live on every machine I have as this tends to slow loading times.
Set up took less than two minutes after connections were made. The machine boots quickly. Easily as quickly as my Oppo BDP-80. Things got VERY interesting when I loaded a Java heavy Blu Ray disc and it loaded VERY quickly. I can honestly say this machine loads a Blu Ray disc FASTER than my Oppo (a nice fast machine) and that blew me away just to see it happen. Playback was as expected. GREAT! DVD up-conversion to 1080p was average for a new machine today, but better than average for machines only a year or so old. And the disc tray itself is solid and goes in and out without any sort of loud rattle of worrisome grinding noises. (a complaint for some Oppo BDP-80 and 83 users)
The Netflix GUI is about the same as on the current crop of LG TV's. Your performance is going to depend more on your internet connection and speed than the LG software which in my opinion is very good. Navigating my Instant Queue was a bit sluggish but I have the same problem on ANY of my Netflix enabled devices. Once you start playback and it loads, things work just the way you would expect and want them to.
It is noteworthy to mention I had NO problems at all playing DVD-R and CD-R discs. Discs containing Xvid and other video file types also loaded quickly and played perfectly. Just for fun I put in a region free Pal disc and it spit it back out with an on screen message telling me it was the wrong region. (I had to try) So basically, this thing will play ANYTHING I or my Dad owns EXCEPT for Pal. OH well, you can't have everything!
Basically, it works and works well. You can update the firmware via the LAN port or by downloading from the LG site and burning a disc or putting it on a USB drive which is what I did before attempting to play anything. Time will tell if LG continues to support this machine with further firmware updates as they become needed to play some of the more Java intensive titles such as the new Alien discs. If updating firmware intimidates you, find someone you know who is an old hand at it and let THEM do it so you don't accidentally 'brick' your player. Really, it isn't that difficult. (just don't turn the machine off while updating)
I personally own an LG 47 inch LE 5400 television and as expected the software in the BD630 is almost identical for playing computer files, mp3's looking at photos, etc. IN some aspects , they have improved the software and I was duly impressed. It is smooth, easy to see what you are doing with logically laid out screens , easy to identify the individual file names and the transport controls are solid and responsive when playing everything from an Xvid to a 720p or 1080i Mkv file. We didn't have any 1080p files to test so I can only speak for the others. They all loaded reasonable fast and played glitch free. Pause and resume worked perfectly. You can access the info screen while playing the file. Audio synch was a non issue. Basically this is everything a person could want in local media file playback. (6-7-11 EXCEPT playing Divx files, see my update below) Try as I could, I encountered NO glitches of any type other than having to set our Harmony remote response time to shorter as it was giving double commands for the left and right direction buttons.
Just the local media file playing ability of this unit alone is worth the purchase price. Add THAT with great Blu Ray playback, VERY fast loading times (depends on the Blu Ray title as some discs will load quicker than others) more than decent DVD up-conversion , Netflix streaming and much more and I think LG has a winner at a price point you just can't argue with. I remember just a few years ago Sony was selling their flagship Blu Ray Player for 999.00 and it didn't do 25% of what THIS machine can do. Good stuff and a FULL one year warranty for Parts AND Labor!
Oh yeah, my 81 year old father is having NO trouble making this thing work at all. I just caught him playing a HD video file that he had loaded himself and I thought to myself "now THAT is user friendly" !! If I run into any future problems or software glitches with this thing I will update this review and add whatever else I have learned.
UPDATE 5-13-11The LG is still going strong. We have yet to run into any file that will not play and unlike some reviewers have not experienced any player malfunctions with standard DVD playback including my Lord of The Rings extended editions. NO freezes, disc jams or failure to loads encountered so far. I still stand by my earlier statement regarding the Blu Ray disc load times. They ARE faster than my Oppo BDP-80 which is pretty fast to begin with.
IMPORTANT UPDATE 6-7-11 I found out the hard way last night that this player does NOT support any Divx files. I should have read the spec sheet more carefully as they do not list Divx as a supported codec. SO if you want to play any Divx encoded files you will need to 'trans-code' them using a program like 'Handbrake' or 'Any Video Converter' which is MY favorite (freeware) and change it into a codec the player DOES recognize. I was surprised to find this out as my LG HDTV WILL PLAY files with the Divx file extension. Go figure! SO FAR this is the ONLY type of video file I have run into that will not play. (Apparently LG didn't want to pay the licensing fee to Divx)


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If you want stunning Full HD 1080p and streaming entertainment, you've found it with the BD630 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

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