Blu-Ray Player Advice?
Well, believe it or not I do not have a blu-ray player yet. I actually still have an HD-DVD player and about 6 movie but I rarely use it. I put The Big Lebowski and Into the Wind in every once in a great while. With the work I am doing on the theater room and my projector picked out blu-ray is going to be a must.
Last time I looked at a blu-ray player nothing was under $300. Very happy to see that prices are way down now. Some with decent reviews are below $100. I have looked at a few players on the web but I don’t want to spend $300 on one. I would rather spend half that at most. I don’t need any of the NetFlix or media streaming features. I have my mac-mini and Plex for that. So I am just looking for a blu-ray player that is pretty bare bone but with fast loading. The speed to load the disc seems to be what a lot of people complain about on cheap players. I have not read much about the firmware on the players but is it safe to assume that all players can update their firmware?
So any advice on a blu-ray player? I know Herman is a big blu-ray guy but not sure about the rest of you. We are a xBox shop at the House of Husar so I am not sure about getting a Playstation for blu-ray playback.
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About Husar
Blogging geek Dad that loves to do long runs, ride his bikes, partake in frosty beverages, listen to live music, watch movies, hike high into the mountains, and hang out with his family doing any of the above. Oh, and write code late into the wee hours of the morning. 
There are a few decent BR players that are less than $200 now. I like the Samsung line, the Toshiba’s are not a bad bang for the buck, but the Sony’s I will not sell due to service issues.
Never been a big Sony fan. Their memory sticks have always bugged me.
My house is an Xbox shop as well, but a PS3 is on my radar. I want it for the BR and to play the handful of good exclusive PS3 titles (Drakes Fortune 1 & 2, Heavy Rain, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet &clank, etc.) I think they are like $299 now, which for me is still too much for a dust collector, so I wait.
As for the BR playback, meh, I’d rather have my HD content in streaming or downloadable form. The only way to force the studios into giving me my content in the way I want it is to not buy the garbage they give us until then. PirateBay until I get my way.
Unfortunately I can’t do the PBay rout any more. It is a story I have left off the blog intentionally. I will shot you an email about it.
I’m rockin’ the PS3 over here. Great system to watch blu-ray on. Big plus is the “always on” wireless that allows for not only system updates, but for getting online and streaming music through your theater system.
Music comes in through my media center Plex for streaming so I don’t think the PS3 would get much music love. I found a Samsung BD-C5500 that has an interesting freature. Wireless stream of content from a PC to the player. Here is what it says….
When you use the PC Streaming function, content stored on a PC can be directly streamed to the Blu-Ray player (wirelessly or via ethernet connection), allowing you to enjoy your favorite media files in a home cinema setting.
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/tv-video/blu-ray/blu-ray-players/BD-C5500/XAA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail
With multiple macs in the house that might be a nice feature to have.
For what it is worth, I’m going with the Oppo BDP-83.