Blu-Ray recommendations

Speedster

Speedster

Honorary Master
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
32,030
Reaction score
21,384
Location
Hatfield
My Samsung DVD player (about 2 years old, bottom of the range) is dying a not-so-slow death. A whole bunch of DVDs it simply refuses to read and with some other DVDs it just makes a horrible scratchy spin noise.

Anyway, I need to replace it and thought I might as well go for a decent Blu-ray player. I don't need a whole HT system as I have a good quality Yamaha HTR (analogue). The HTR has component inputs which I can use for HD until I upgrade the HTR to a digital one (and the TV too - I'm still on my good old LG Flatron CRT :cry:). I've also ordered a Raspberry Pi to setup as a HTPC once it arrives.

Any suggestions for something I should look at, or be aware of, ito a Blu-ray player?
 
It seems only the Sony's have anything other than an HDMI output (kind of a necessecity given my current setup) so I'm considering the BDP-S490 from Dion Wired.

Anybody have any experience with that model?
 
I think everyone here has migrated to the cloud already, in that physical discs are a concept that's difficult to grasp ;)
 
I believe some of the older Samsung players still have analog outputs, the D-series. The E's (2012 range) don't, however. Only S/PDIF coaxial and optical if you're lucky, but usually just HDMI.
 
To be honest stick with a DVD player if you running a CRT you wont get any benefits from bluray at all
 
TJ99 said:
I believe some of the older Samsung players still have analog outputs, the D-series. The E's (2012 range) don't, however. Only S/PDIF coaxial and optical if you're lucky, but usually just HDMI.
Click to expand...

Yep think the D seires has S/Pdif and optical outputs.

Also what ever you do dont update the firmware stupid cinvia protection ruins everything
 
isie said:
Yep think the D seires has S/Pdif and optical outputs.

Also what ever you do dont update the firmware stupid cinvia protection ruins everything
Click to expand...

S/PDIF = Sony/Phillips Digital Interconnect Format. Some of the E-series has those (my E5900 has the coaxial version). OP is looking for analog outputs, I'm assuming that means each audio channel independently, and composite or component video. That you will only find on the older players, if at all.
 
Lupus said:
To be honest stick with a DVD player if you running a CRT you wont get any benefits from bluray at all
Click to expand...

Except that if I buy an HDTV early next year I'll have to get another Bluray player too...
 
That Sony looks great, 3D player with all the features AND analog outputs, for that price? :wtf: I say go for it.
 
Speedster said:
Except that if I buy an HDTV early next year I'll have to get another Bluray player too...
Click to expand...

True, but then you get a cheap R200 DVD player for now, and next year look for a decent bluray player that will suit your new TV.
 
Lupus said:
True, but then you get a cheap R200 DVD player for now, and next year look for a decent bluray player that will suit your new TV.
Click to expand...

That's a waste of a perfectly good R200.
 
TJ99 said:
That Sony looks great, 3D player with all the features AND analog outputs, for that price? :wtf: I say go for it.
Click to expand...

True that - although the Sony website is wrong, it's WiFi ready not WiFi integrated. But still a very good deal at that price. The Sammy E5500 for R1000 from Makro is also an excellent buy.

At the moment I'm trying to find a way to hook myself up with a Panasonic BDT220.
 
Speedster said:
True that - although the Sony website is wrong, it's WiFi ready not WiFi integrated. But still a very good deal at that price. The Sammy E5500 for R1000 from Makro is also an excellent buy.

At the moment I'm trying to find a way to hook myself up with a Panasonic BDT220.
Click to expand...

Wireless on a blu-ray player is not really a big deal, I never use mine anyways. For a fast, reliable connection, plain old gigabit ethernet is still the best. That way you know your connection will never drop when playing an HD movie from your media server/pc.

The Samsung E5500 has only HDMI and S/PDIF coax, no analog outputs whatsoever. But even if it wasn't for that, the D-series is still a better buy. The E's use a newer, higher resolution menu system which looks better but is slow and unresponsive on all except the very expensive units with dual-core CPU's. Also STILL no official Plex support, I'm running the beta. With the D-series, Plex is fully supported and available from the Samsung Smart App store for free download.
 
TJ99 said:
Wireless on a blu-ray player is not really a big deal, I never use mine anyways. For a fast, reliable connection, plain old gigabit ethernet is still the best. That way you know your connection will never drop when playing an HD movie from your media server/pc.

The Samsung E5500 has only HDMI and S/PDIF coax, no analog outputs whatsoever. But even if it wasn't for that, the D-series is still a better buy. The E's use a newer, higher resolution menu system which looks better but is slow and unresponsive on all except the very expensive units with dual-core CPU's. Also STILL no official Plex support, I'm running the beta. With the D-series, Plex is fully supported and available from the Samsung Smart App store for free download.
Click to expand...

I am aware of the lack of analogue, that's why I haven't bought one yet :p From the reviews I read the Sony has quite a slow initial read time.
 
At this price range, they all do unfortunately. Blu-ray movies are basically Java apps, they require a lot more processing power than a simple DVD playback does.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X