OP here. After seeing the quality of the netflix streaming, and giving that I have a 110 inch PJ screen, which just exacerbates poor quality, I am going with a stand alone, no internet BR player. Just the best picture. Period. No fancy stuff.
Hey, that's another excellent option. :Ti'm confused about the suggestion around the bd60 and the roku at $230
wouldn't one be better off going with the samsung 3600 for $220 http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BD-P3600-1080p-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B001TK3D4K for example
then you would get wifi/netflick/blu ray all in one
Right on. I'm all in with that idea. :TOP here. After seeing the quality of the netflix streaming, and giving that I have a 110 inch PJ screen, which just exacerbates poor quality, I am going with a stand alone, no internet BR player. Just the best picture. Period. No fancy stuff.
The 3600 doesn't have onboard wi-fi and 3 stars on Amazon. It costs a lot of cash to get the dongle.i'm confused about the suggestion around the bd60 and the roku at $230
wouldn't one be better off going with the samsung 3600 for $220 http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BD-P3600-1080p-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B001TK3D4K for example
then you would get wifi/netflick/blu ray all in one
from the amazon page "Connect wirelessly for BD-Live content or streaming services using the included USB Wi-Fi dongle"The 3600 doesn't have onboard wi-fi and 3 stars on Amazon. It costs a lot of cash to get the dongle.
Plus you get a hard drive in the Roku which means more space. I'm a firm believer in separates for electronics it's much easier to fix or replace one component than the entire unit.
1. The 3600 has Wi-Fi capability, and the dongle is inexpensive, or even comes with it.The 3600 doesn't have onboard wi-fi and 3 stars on Amazon. It costs a lot of cash to get the dongle.
Plus you get a hard drive in the Roku which means more space. I'm a firm believer in separates for electronics it's much easier to fix or replace one component than the entire unit.
Thanks Marshall for this precision. :TNo Harddrive in the Roku Netflix Streamer, but all your other points are true.
1. You are absolutely right (about Amazon).from the amazon page "Connect wirelessly for BD-Live content or streaming services using the included USB Wi-Fi dongle"
additionally my inlaws just received one from amazon and it came with the dongle
I get the separates concept but.
I'm not getting the advantage of a separate device for streaming netflix, that feature is pretty simple and benine. I'd be ok with it being in a player, , right now I'm leveraging xbox 360's or mce for all of our netflix streaming.
The LG BD390 is Wi-Fi (wireless), streams all sort of stuff, and better than the Sammy BD-P2500.It came down to the LG 390 and the BD80 for me. The Netflix feature set is what made the LG look good. The looks of the unit is classy. But, i have a problem with the whole Netflix streaming thing. I saw a stream at BB yesterday using the Sammy. Sure didn't look all that great compared to an actual disk. I also wonder how well HD Audio comes thru on a stream too.
I sure would like to hear what Netflix streamers look and sound like from those that have used it in comparison to a actual BR disk. Maybe this could change my mind since its such a unknown to me.
The BD60/80 has been reviewed to upscale SD Dvd's and image BR disks better than the LG390. So right off the top of my head for HT guys, im thinking the Panny seems like the best choice right now. Ive been following the latest FW updates as well. Starting to look like load times are comparable and the pause on BR disks has almost been eliminated.
No not necessarily as the BD format is still quite new most of the companies offer firmware updates if any problem discs appear, but to also improve the machines performance...the majority of bargain players work just as well seeing that performance wise the native 1080p24 should ideally be the same for all BD players.Do all of the blu-ray players have problems ? I'd like to pick up a (under $200) player for my dad for Christmas, hate to give him a gift with problems...
I replaced my PS3 with one(due to my anger at the firmware bomb nonsense) and have loved it. It's a little slow on opening and closing, but it's solid. I personally have no need for Netflix streaming. I use their blu-ray/dvd service instead.Make sure you pick a machine that has active FW updates with it, then actually update it when you take possession. Id still say the Panny BD60 is the best one out there in your price range and probably competes with higher priced machines SQ wise. It just doesn't have any of the other features that has been discussed earlier in the thread. The latest FW update for the Panny supposed to have fixed the occasional pause the machine was reported to have by some.
Here is an example of FW History for the B60..
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/bd/download/bd60/bd60_na.html