# Upgrade of BluRay player worth it?



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi, After searching around its really not very clear what if any benefit upgrading to the latest BluRay players will really give me. 
I currently have a Samsung BDP1400 and as I dont care for BD Live I wonder if going with a Samsung BDP1600 or any other player in that price range would give any benefit. 
What do you guys think?


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Hi, After searching around its really not very clear what if any benefit upgrading to the latest BluRay players will really give me.
> I currently have a Samsung BDP1400 and as I dont care for BD Live I wonder if going with a Samsung BDP1600 or any other player in that price range would give any benefit.
> What do you guys think?


Blu-ray prices are going down fast and the players will only get better. I suggest you wait.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Right now the 1600 is $149 Canadian and so is the comparable Sony and I bet after Christmas sales "Boxing day" they may go lower.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Right now the 1600 is $149 Canadian and so is the comparable Sony and I bet after Christmas sales "Boxing day" they may go lower.


Yeah most certainly. But there are going to be much better players in a couple years especially with the economy coming back.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The reason for my initial thoughts on upgrading is I hate how long it takes to load after the BluRay disc is inserted and when watching a movie if I pause it for longer than 5min it shuts off (or should I say stops) and I have to restart the movie from the beginning and search for the chapter I last was at. Its really a pain when you have a family of 6 woman two of whom are under 5 years old and sometimes need attending to during a movie and that usually takes more than 5 min.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> The reason for my initial thoughts on upgrading is I hate how long it takes to load after the BluRay disc is inserted and when watching a movie if I pause it for longer than 5min it shuts off (or should I say stops) and I have to restart the movie from the beginning and search for the chapter I last was at. Its really a pain when you have a family of 6 woman two of whom are under 5 years old and sometimes need attending to during a movie and that usually takes more than 5 min.


NM get a new one straight away. 

LG tends to be really fast loading.

My Panasonic BDP-60 isn't too bad either and I can pause it without it turning off.


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## dyohn (Apr 17, 2008)

I also have no interest in BD Live but I will probably upgrade my machine next year to get one with more memory and faster load times. To me, that's the main reason for an upgrade.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

DVD players just stopped but if you pushed play again it would just start at the spot it was last at, is that the "Norm" with BluRay as well?


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## dyohn (Apr 17, 2008)

tonyvdb said:


> DVD players just stopped but if you pushed play again it would just start at the spot it was last at, is that the "Norm" with BluRay as well?


It depends. Since Blu Ray is software that gets loaded into the computer processor in the player, the stop-resume function is embedded in the software. If the disc allows it, yes it will work. If not, it won't. Many people blame this on the players when in fact it's a function of the discs.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

dyohn said:


> It depends. Since Blu Ray is software that gets loaded into the computer processor in the player, the stop-resume function is embedded in the software. If the disc allows it, yes it will work. If not, it won't. Many people blame this on the players when in fact it's a function of the discs.


Oh really! Thats good to know. Very dumb on the movie studios part if they miss that step:coocoo:


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Oh really! Thats good to know. Very dumb on the movie studios part if they miss that step:coocoo:


Yeah that's crazy.


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## chas (Jan 28, 2007)

Oppo is supposed to be coming out with a blu ray version of the now-discontinued DV-980H. They tell me we should expect to hear something around CES.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

For BD playback 1080p24 nearly all players perform very similar, if you require other qualities like decent DVD playback or multichannel or good stereo playback then there other better players to consider, load times may also be improved upon with newer generation units...

horses for courses as they say, for me there is only 1 real player that I feel is worth every penny and that is the Oppo BDP83.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

recruit said:


> for me there is only 1 real player that I feel is worth every penny and that is the Oppo BDP83.


Sadly not all of us can plop down $500 on a BluRay player. Even if I saved up that much over a year there simply would be other more important things for than kind of cash.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
John nailed it. The general consensus being that 1080p/24 playback is pretty much indistinguishable from player to player. With HDMI 1.4 forthcoming, I do not see much of an advantage to getting a new player.

Via my PS3, I have BD Live and have never once accessed it. As long as your Samsung plays all BD's, I would stick with it.
Cheers,
JJ


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Sadly not all of us can plop down $500 on a BluRay player. Even if I saved up that much over a year there simply would be other more important things for than kind of cash.


The newer Sony's are supposed to be pretty good and excellent VFM, the 560 includes WIFI connection and the current bargain 360 has been getting very good press also.


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

Consider the next generation of 3D BD players. You might want to wait right now. Do your research into 3D to see if it's a feature you want (I personally would want it), and note that a number of companies will be offering backward compatible, 3D players real soon. In terms of quality versus cost, Sony and Panasonic are good choices but there are others. Sony and Panasonic both have 3D machines ready to market. Just a thought.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
3D compatibility is definitely coming. Personally, I am not going to be interested until 3D Glasses are not necessary. I really think 3D is most impressive on IMAX or Movie Theater sized Screens.

On a 40-50" Display, I really do not think the effect is immersive. A big push behind the implementation is the file size of 3D Movies. This makes it much more difficult for Movies to be ripped and stored on Hard Drives.
Cheers,
JJ


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## RBTO (Jan 27, 2010)

JJ,
You're quite correct that larger screen sizes are better for 3D. It turns out the depth of a 3D image is somewhat proportional to the screen size, and smaller screen may not show the effect to its best. I have a projection system myself, with a large screen, and that is why I'm interested in 3D.
I beg to differ on your reasoning about the advent of 3D. The main thing driving it right now is marketing and potentially increased revenues for 3D productions. The files that will be used for home 3D still fit on a regular dual layer BluRay disk and will provide "full HD 3D" which is 1080p60 for each eye. Granted, these files will take up more space than a regular feature, but 3D has nothing to do with copy prevention. Non-3D will still be available on BD for less expense. 3D disks will bring a BD premium somewhat similar to what BD has over DVD.
If you choose to wait for high quality (sci-fi holographic) 3D without glasses, it'll be a looooooooong wait. There is no practical way to achieve high quality 3D without glasses for a spaced audience. The only methods that are available (that don't use glasses) require specific viewing positions and are inferior to what you get at a present day 3D theater (or are incapable of motion video). I don't see a high quality glassless 3D system in my lifetime and probably well beyond that.
Of course, your decision to go with 3D or not is a personal choice. The reason I brought it up is for those individuals that are about to make a BD player purchase right now, and the fact that it might be in their interest to wait if 3D holds something for them so they might choose a 3D capable player.


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