Buying a new BD/DVD player - What should I buy?

[BobLoblaw]

Hey guys,

My Philips 5982 is about to be retired, once and for all, because I need a blu-ray player. I liked the Philips, as far as it being able to play almost anything I threw at it. What I didn't like was: short file names, not USB 2.0, slow on/off, horrible remote control. Ideally, I would get a BD player that fixed all these problems while maintaining playability of many file types.

I have heard that Pioneer is a great brand for this. I've been looking at the Pioneer BDP-430
( http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/pioneer-pioneer-3d-blu-ray-player-bdp-430-bdp-4...54fe8ba2d5en02 ).

It appears to be pretty heavy duty and even has a fan in the back (which scares me to some degree cuz I hate the fan noise in my PS3 already). I don't really want to spend more than $150 on this, and would really prefer to be closer to the $100 range. I saw a few different Sony players, but many have told me not to trust Sony. Is this true?


Bottom line: What should I buy?


Note: I would be willing to buy it online if it was available. Futureshop is just the store that's closest to me.


Thanks in advance

[wulf109]

If DIVX playback is important to you don't buy a Sony otherwise buy a Sony. If Pal playback and DVD upconversion are important then look at the LG BD630.

[BobLoblaw]

Divx is more important to me than PAL. A usb 2.0 port is very important however, which that LG model lacks. What brands cannot display the entire filename (like my old Philips)?

[Ai Haibara]

Side note: There was, apparently, a custom firmware available for the 5982 that allowed longer filenames. I've no idea whether or not it works (and how well), though. (I only have the 5990 and an old DVP-642.)
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/287512-%5BRelease%5D-Philips-5982-Modded-Firmware-v0-4

[jman98]

Do you care about region free playback, even if just for DVD? That will influence the answer you get.

You'd have to give it to me for free at a minimum and maybe pay me before I would ever use a Sony or Samsung BluRay player. If you buy Sony, all you'll do is complain about what it won't do rather than be happy with what it will do.

Philips BDP3406 supposedly can be made region free for DVD playback, but as I do not own one I cannot personally confirm that the code listed on this website works.

[jman98]

With regard to fans I wanted to point out that manufacturers leave out fans because it makes the devices thinner and consumers like that. Also it shortens the lifespan of the device due to heat damage, which pleases manufacturers because many people will have to replace their players sooner than they realize. Fans in players are pretty small and they're not noisy, at least not from what I"ve seen in the past.

[BobLoblaw]

Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Great divx, .mkv playback (from disk and USB 2.0)
2. Complete file name display
3. Wifi

Everything else is nice, but not a must. thanks jman. The shortened DVD player life thing I'm not so sure about. I have had several different DVD players, none of which have ever died completely. Over time, fans get louder too. My PS3 sounds like a bloody jumbo jet after a few hours lol. Drives me nuts!!

Should I start giving media devices/HTPC like the Boxee a chance? To be honest, I won't even be playing many blu-ray disks! I just thought that if I was going to buy a new machine, might as well be a BD player.

[wulf109]

The LG BD630 does indeed have a USB 2.0 port. It even supports NTFS file system. I plug a USB external HD in it to play files,mp4,mkv,divx,xvid. It also supports full file names. Don't know about WiFi.