Blu-Ray player

[Warhawk]

I have a couple Best Buy gift cards and think I am going to use them to get a Blu-Ray player.

Been looking at this one:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/home-cinema/review/2009/03/12/Panasonic-DMP-BD60-Blu-ray-Player/p1

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9260685&type=product&id=1218070353057

Anyone have one? Any other "budget" Blu-Ray player have such highly-rated picture quality? I was looking at the Samsung 1600 and LG 370 as well but the flip-down fronts on both are not something I care for when adding memory (the Panasonic uses a SD card instead of USB drive - nice!); the top-mounted buttons on the Samsung really won't work for my setup and the LG seems to have worse picture quality on upscaling regular DVDs.

Thanks!

 

[Mike0476]

That Blu-Ray player looks to be a pretty good deal. You might want to jump on it but also see if they have it hooked up to a TV at Best Buy.

I thought about going the same route you are in terms of purchasing a Blu-Ray player, but after doing some homework I decided to take the plunge and purchased the 160 GB Sony Play Station 3.

I love how it will download any updates, if needed. The resolution/picture is awesome once you purchase a Monster Cable - Ultra Series 1000 8' HDMI Cable (or something similar). Don't bother using the cable the PS3 came with. It is standard and not worth using. Plus Best Buy recommended it and again I did some research on the Monster cable.

Those two items do not come cheap though. The PS3 was $500 and the cable was $150. But I have a Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV. I figured I might as well make the most of it and I don't regret it either. Even my dad and friends were impressed with the picture of watching the news, shows, movies and sports in HD.

 

[Mad D]

PS3 would be a waste to Warhawk, he does his gaming on the PC.

 

[venom_7]

Honestly, check out the Insignia brand that Best Buy offers. They actually make a pretty good product.

 

[Warhawk]

The resolution/picture is awesome once you purchase a Monster Cable - Ultra Series 1000 8' HDMI Cable (or something similar). Don't bother using the cable the PS3 came with. It is standard and not worth using. Plus Best Buy recommended it and again I did some research on the Monster cable.

Those two items do not come cheap though. The PS3 was $500 and the cable was $150. But I have a Samsung - 52" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LCD HDTV. I figured I might as well make the most of it and I don't regret it either. Even my dad and friends were impressed with the picture of watching the news, shows, movies and sports in HD.

You are crazy to spend that much on a cable!

There is no difference in picture quality for short (<25 feet) cable runs between Monster (or whatever overpriced brand you insert) vs. the ones available at places like Monoprice.com (maybe $10-15 or so depending on length) or Blue Jeans Cable. For example (and I use all Monoprice cables in my HT setup with no problems at all):

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10243

Want some info on this?

Look here (under false advertising):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Cable

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/monster-hdmi-difference-scam-still-kickin-in-frys-electronic/

Look here for info on the Gizmodo comparison studies:

http://gizmodo.com/tag/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/

 

[Warhawk]

PS3 would be a waste to Warhawk, he does his gaming on the PC.

Yep. And I have a Wii already - not the same, I know, but with a 6-year old that is all the console gaming we will be doing for quite a while.

As far as the Insignia model - the reviews on that one are not very good. I did get the Insignia 20" LCD TV with built-in DVD player for the computer room and have been pretty happy with that - just wish now I would have bought a larger one instead, but that is my fault!

 

[Warhawk]

So I picked up the Panasonic today - quick firmware update and I am rolling with Iron Man right now. Looks and sounds fantastic!

Best Buy has them on special where you get one free BR with the player purchase - basically 10% off. Also, the same player is in Costco for cheaper, but it is called the 605 instead of the 60, and comes with an HDMI cable. I went with BB because I had enough gift cards there to basically cover the entire cost.