Which Blu-Ray player... (Sony, Pioneer & Samsung)

[kenmo]

Presently looking to get a Blu-Ray player...

The players I'm considering are all around $149.00

Pioneer BDP-121 (Circuit City has for $159.00 Canadian)
http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POCEN/Products/Home+Entertainment/Blu-ray+Disc+%26+DV...121.Kuro?tab=F

Samsung BDP1600T
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10132742&catid=

Sony BDPS360
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10124075&catid=

Any thoughts on these three? Also does anyone know if any of these players will play region free dvds?

Thanks kindly

[fritzi93]

Dunno about region free. Anyway, I have the Sony BDP-S360 and can confirm it plays BD 5/9 with menus, and is not finicky about (+ or -) R or booktype. So if you're thinking about doing AVCHDs, that player will do fine. I like mine so well I got another on Black Friday for $118 bucks U.S. at Wal-Mart.

The Samsung will only do AVCHD (no menu) on DVDRs.

Others can tell you more about the Samsung and Pioneer players. Good luck.

[johns0]

Get a sony,mine plays the avchd with no issues at all,bought a sharp to begin with but brought it back after finding it will not play avchd.

[jman98]

No region free on any of those. Sony and Samsung players are currently among the most difficult anywhere in the world to make region free. You can count on one hand the number of BluRay players that can be made region free for DVD playback by entering a code and none of them are sold in North America. The only North American BluRay players that can be made region free are the Momitsu (hardware hacked by the sellers) and Oppo (you have to do your own firmware replacement).

[INFRATOM]

The most important thing to consider in buying Bluray player is audio otherwise you beat the purpose. Most Bluray movies audio is TruHD or DTS HD if the bluray player doesn't have these decoders and your amp doesn't have HDMI, analog input or these decoders you'll be listening to dolby 2.1. So don't jump and buy unless your system is qualified. My suggestion is Oppo, it has all the decoders and analog audio output incase. It is more expensive but it worth it. One other thing to consider most number of movies are in dvd and upscaleing is very important. This oppo makes the dvd's look like Bluray almost as good.

[budz]

I have a Panasonic BD35 player and have never had any issues with it. It was last Christmas's hottest blu-ray player. The newer model BD60 is just as good and even better.

Panasonic, BD60, on sale $149.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasonic+-+Blu-ray+Disc+Player+with+1080p+Upconversion/92...0ray&cp=1&lp=1

Amazon.com has it instock with 2 day free shipping, $127.49
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMP-BD60-Blu-ray-Player-Black/dp/B001V9LA44/ref=sr_1_1...1178350&sr=1-1

Buy your HDMI cables from monoprice.com!

[MJA]

region free dvd/BD player cost a lot.Oppo/BD payer is selling for $499


The LG BD 370 is a nice player .I'm not sure if it's available in Canada

[reg505]

How does the blu-Ray PlayStation 3 compare to them?

[MJA]

reg505,
open a new thread for your question

[bbanderic]

The most important thing to consider in buying Bluray player is audio otherwise you beat the purpose. Most Bluray movies audio is TruHD or DTS HD if the bluray player doesn't have these decoders and your amp doesn't have HDMI, analog input or these decoders you'll be listening to dolby 2.1. So don't jump and buy unless your system is qualified. My suggestion is Oppo, it has all the decoders and analog audio output incase. It is more expensive but it worth it. One other thing to consider most number of movies are in dvd and upscaleing is very important. This oppo makes the dvd's look like Bluray almost as good.

Good advice, If HD audio decoding or analog outs are a factor you might want to look into the higher priced units ($200-300). Netflix sreaming capabilities is something I'd look at as well.

The Oppo is a great unit but way overpriced IMO, you can get the same features in a Panasonic, Sony, Samsung or LG for half the price.

[hddvdrebel]

I think the PS3 is well worth the extra expense. I'm not a gamer, but the PS3 does a wonderful job of storing and playing digital photos from its hard drive, you can utilize an external hard drive, it will play various video files, using the freeware PS3 media server software one can play videos from your computer hard drive via either an Ethernet or wireless connection. One can also use the media player to stream video from the internet. It comes with a built-in web browser that is handy and you can connect a wireless keyboard and mouse.

One can play music files from the internal or external hard drive, and then switch over to your photographs while the music is playing or you can surf the net while listening to your music files.

PS it also plays bluray without any problems, (and apparently play video games, although I haven't tried that yet