Cheap Blu-Ray Player that does it all....like Philips Dvd Players do?

[sconepanman]

I got the BD.4.874.00 last night .took less than 5 min for the player to download it


I read about the update BD.4.598.00 on AVS forums thats why I was asking if you tried it .

you think the lack of netflix is due to hardware or firmware?

Nope. Never seen 4.598. Netflix is most likely simply firmware. They have to upsell consumers somehow since the DVD/BD functionality is now very close on all players from what I can see.

EDIT: 4.598 now up on BD530 link. It's the second firmware down the page.

[Moontrash]

I grabbed one of those LG bd530 models at Wal-Mart last sunday the 5th and immediately hooked it up and updated the firmware..i believe it was version 748 or sumthin like that..It played all my discs w/ an issue(PAL played great)....usb and divx/xvid were no issues(except for 1 file..it wont play on any player with usb i have)...I had 1 problem though that warranted me returning and gettin a refund, I couldn't watch any movie in widescreen mode. It kept squishing the picture side to side. My philips player can do this and the fix was changing the aspect ratio settings in the players options but alas,....it was greyed out...the 16:9 function was chooseable but the 4:3 option was greyed out. If the title was flagged in the ifo file as 4:3 or 16:9(cant remember), it played fine. I watched a tv series and it looked great...no squishing. So i called LG and they said it was the discs I had were set that way. I knew this was crap cause my philips player can fix this with a check of a box in its settings. I told them the option for this was grayed out and got no solution. I even popped in some retails, same thing. I guess is it was a bad firmware flash or its just bad firmware period. I wasnt willing to risk waiting around for a new version to fix this cause knowin my luck, by that time I couldn't return the player I would be stuck with sumthin doesnt do what it's suppose to. I was impressed with its ability to play anything but not playing the movies like their suppose to be seen, that bummed me out.

I can't find any other model anywhere that does the same thing for the price or close to the price. I thought I had a great cheap BR alternative, but my luck it wouldn't let me keep it lol. I guess I'm just gonna have to get the philips 3560 dvd player and be done with it and wish and hope that another brand/model comes out thats near the price and works reasonably well.

[Gavino]

is there an european model of the lg530, searched in some lg european sites but couldnt find it.

http://www.lg.com/pt/tv-audio-video/dvd-blu-ray/LG-leitores-blu-ray-BD350.jsp (Portugese)
http://www.lg.com/uk/tv-audio-video/video/LG-blu-ray-player-BD350.jsp (English)

[ricardouk]

Thanks for the links Gavino

Couldn't find the bd350 a few weeks ago in the portuguese site, just searched a bit and it costs €140 ($183) 3 times more.... it looked like a good and affordable player ($60)

Gavino do you know any spanish store or site that has this player at a more reasonable price?

[sconepanman]

I thought the euro version was the 550? That 350 looks like an older model.

[MJA]

sconepanman,

did you try any new releases on the BD530? I watched Inception lastnight not bad at all

[sconepanman]

sconepanman,

did you try any new releases on the BD530? I watched Inception lastnight not bad at all

I have already watched Inception on it. Excellent all round. I have also watched or rather suffered Santa Paws, it played fine. I have Shrek FC lined up as well as The Expendables.

[Gavino]

Gavino do you know any spanish store or site that has this player at a more reasonable price?

fnac currently has a factory reconditioned BD350 on offer at 59 euros (normal price listed at 159(!) euros).
http://www.fnac.es/LG-BD-350-Reproductor-de-Blu-Ray-PRODUCTO-REACONDICIONADO-Periferic...lu-Ray/a342162

They also have the BD550 (with Internet connectivity) at 99 euros.
http://www.fnac.es/LG-BD550-Reproductor-BluRay-BD-Live-USB-Periferico-imagen-y-sonido-...lu-Ray/a407024

(Perhaps sconepanman is right and the 550 is replacing the 350 now.)

Both still a lot more than $60 - US prices look enviable from over here.

[sconepanman]

Gavino do you know any spanish store or site that has this player at a more reasonable price?

fnac currently has a factory reconditioned BD350 on offer at 59 euros (normal price listed at 159(!) euros).
http://www.fnac.es/LG-BD-350-Reproductor-de-Blu-Ray-PRODUCTO-REACONDICIONADO-Periferic...lu-Ray/a342162

They also have the BD550 (with Internet connectivity) at 99 euros.
http://www.fnac.es/LG-BD550-Reproductor-BluRay-BD-Live-USB-Periferico-imagen-y-sonido-...lu-Ray/a407024

(Perhaps sconepanman is right and the 550 is replacing the 350 now.)

Both still a lot more than $60 - US prices look enviable from over here.

In Canada it's called the bd555c, how's that for consistency? it's not $60 either but starts around $100. Only the US gets the really cheap prices. Still a good player for the money no matter where you buy it.

[Gavino]

fnac currently has a factory reconditioned BD350 on offer at 59 euros (normal price listed at 159(!) euros).
They also have the BD550 (with Internet connectivity) at 99 euros.

Also, Amazon UK have the BD550 at 75.10 pounds (about 89 euros), with free delivery to Portugal, Spain and many other European countries.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-Electronics-BD550-Blu-Ray-Player/dp/B0048WQ38E

[JGDragov]

Not sure where you are located but in New Jersey, we have a supermarket chain called ShopRite that sells some electronics. That is where I picked up a Hiteker(never heard of them either) TLBD-02 Blu Ray player because it was on sale for $69.99 and the box said it played VCDs. Got it home and was very happy to find out it played VCDs and SVCDs. I was elated however to find out that it was a region free DVD player right out of the box. I played my Region 2 copies of "Dune" and "Tommy" no probelm. I have a UK Blu Ray of "The Fog" that it played as well but this disc also played on my non region free Pannasonic DMP-BD10(which plays (S)VCDs by the way) so I'm not sure if it is Blu Ray zone free.

I'm posting because right now the same player is on sale for the same low price(it is suppose to be $90 off). The only caveat I can give this player is that it had overheated while in my video cabinet after running a while. Probably best in a well ventilated area as it doesn't have it's own fan like my Panansonic. Since this has happened, I have just ordered a Region Free Sherwood BDP-5004 Blu Ray player from Buy.com which is suppose to be able to play (S)VCDs as well as many other media. It was only $109 with Free Shipping. If you decide to take that plunge, there is a $10 coupon for first time customers which makes it less than $100. I can't give you my user experience yet as it won't be here until Tuesday.

When the Sherwood gets here I will post my experience. Form what I've read, it is suppose to be a Momitsu BD-899 clone. We shall see.

[SingSing]

My Sony bluRay wi-fi player does not zoom, only play region 1, and can't skip on disc commercial, and does not play most avi files on the usb port and @!$$# etc.

The only things going are great sound ( it will play sacd, audio dvd, ) and sharp pictures.

[fooledagain]

I saw the LG BD530 2 days ago at a Ralph's grocery store for $79.99. Based on my experience so far I still think it is the best pick of the poor man's BR options.

[jagabo]

I need Netflix so the BD550 is a better choice for me. US$92.11 at Amazon now, free shipping. It doesn't seem to support network shares though. Need the BD570 for that (US$174 at Amazon, free shipping). Too big a price jump.

[edDV]

I'm mostly happy with my Black Friday Sony BDP-BX37 ($94 Costco). Works great on CAT6 for Netflix and the others.

It doesn't like mkv containers but plays most other formats from disc or DLNA. No need to make an "AVCHD" disc but it plays those too.

The most unexpected playbacks were those WMV-HD demo files (video only). It wouldn't play commercial IMAX WMV-HD discs because of DRM.

[SingSing]

I'm mostly happy with my Black Friday Sony BDP-BX37 ($94 Costco). Works great on CAT6 for Netflix and the others.

It doesn't like mkv containers but plays most other formats from disc or DLNA. No need to make an "AVCHD" disc but it plays those too.

The most unexpected playbacks were those WMV-HD demo files (video only). It wouldn't play commercial IMAX WMV-HD discs because of DRM.

What exactly are the video files can a Sony BD player play ? Nearly all the files that I feed to Sony failed to play, but nearly all of them play on a $50 Philips !

Did Sony learn to be kinder and less DRM centric ( or acid ) to their customers yet ?

[edDV]

I'm mostly happy with my Black Friday Sony BDP-BX37 ($94 Costco). Works great on CAT6 for Netflix and the others.

It doesn't like mkv containers but plays most other formats from disc or DLNA. No need to make an "AVCHD" disc but it plays those too.

The most unexpected playbacks were those WMV-HD demo files (video only). It wouldn't play commercial IMAX WMV-HD discs because of DRM.

What exactly are the video files can a Sony BD player play ? Nearly all the files that I feed to Sony failed to play, but nearly all of them play on a $50 Philips !

Did Sony learn to be kinder and less DRM centric ( or acid ) to their customers yet ?

Not with DRM as far as I can tell.

So far these have played directly

All TV tuner SD and HD MPeg2 transport streams (mts, ts, or mpg extensions)*
HDV camcorder m2t
AVCHD camcorder mts and m2ts
Blu-Ray MPeg2
Blu-Ray h.264
SD MPeg2
Most SD divx/xvid
wmv
wmv-hd (video only)

I've had spotty luck with AVC in mkv wrapper. dvr-ms and wtv won't play. There seems to be less flexibility on disc formats compared to USB and network.

Here is what the manual says should play.


* Including IEEE-1394 MPeg2-TS streams from my Comcast HD cable box.

[MJA]

I need Netflix so the BD550 is a better choice for me. US$92.11 at Amazon now, free shipping. It doesn't seem to support network shares though. Need the BD570 for that (US$174 at Amazon, free shipping). Too big a price jump.

newegg sold the 570 in December for $127,and amazon for $149

looks like the prices gone up after the xmas

[edDV]

Here is the current Sony Blu-Ray USA lineup.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10151&langI...yers#/googletv

The Sony BDP-BX37 is the Costco/Sams version of of the BDP-S370.

The S470 adds 3D, the S570* adds 3D and internal WiFi. It appears they are all equal for codec support.

I think the S550 is last years model, so may have different online and codec support.


* after looking closer, the S570 also adds additional memory and noise reduction for IP content. The Costco/Sams version is the BDP-BX57 and sells currently for $159.

[jagabo]

It doesn't matter how good Sony support of alternative file formats is. I won't buy Sony products and I don't recommend them to anyone.

[edDV]

I only have this one data point. Don't know if the Samsung, LG or others do better.

But this one has been a handy player. Above expectations.

Netflix playback is better than PC.

[Fortnight]

I grabbed one of those LG bd530 models. . .I couldn't watch any movie in widescreen mode. It kept squishing the picture side to side. My philips player can do this and the fix was changing the aspect ratio settings in the players options but alas,....it was greyed out...the 16:9 function was chooseable but the 4:3 option was greyed out. . .

To access / unlock the 4:3 aspect ratio options on the LG BD530 when using a CRT television, you need to change the Resolution setting from "Auto" to "480i" or "480p". Then presto, both 4:3 options (Letter Box and Pan & Scan) are no longer greyed out, & no more squish.

[MJA]

my LG 530 doesn't read DVD's anymore .just BD movies and files from the USB .I can't send it to LG because the warranty cover parts but 90 days on labor only.1st and last time I will ever buy an LG