Need help choosing Blu-Ray player?

Question

My Samsung HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player just broke and I'm thinking of just buying a Blu-Ray player now. I'm looking for:

-Full 1080p

-I prefer a non-Sony Blu-Ray player (Panasonic or Samsung would be the best)

-PiP enabling player (not sure if Blu-Ray has this feature yet)

Otherwise, just looking for the best player out there right now under $1000.

Answer 1

pioneer and denon both have great units out right now, but at that $1000 price point.

I'm not sure why you prefer a non-sony, but just a heads up, sony will be releasing it's two new models by the end of this month, the 350 and 550 to replace the 300 and 500, respectively.

Answer 2

Why don't you want Sony? Without Sony, Blu Ray wouldn't even exist. The PS3 is the best and cheapest  blu-ray player out. It has HDMI 1.3 and supports Blu Ray 2.0 which is the next-gen blu ray technology. And you will continue to receive firmware updates with the PS3 to improve the experience, and not many stand-alone players do. You can pick up a PS3 for $399 now. Just go with the PS3, it can do so much more for so much less.

Answer 3

Sucks that the Samsung broke, but if you're still within the limited warranty you may be able to get it repaired at no charge rather than fronting the cost of another unit.

Any blu-ray player should be full 1080p output capable as long as you're using the HDMI connection.  If you're willing to wait for it's release, the Panasonic DMPBD50 profile 2.0 player will be released soon.

IRT canderto...

Not sure if blu-ray wouldn't exist without Sony - maybe in another form.  Sony was one of the first to put the technology to use with UDO and DVR blue, but they did not invent the technology and many companies are members of the BDA - I'm sure someone else would have come up with an alternative.

The PS3 is not the cheapest standalone blu-ray player.  There is a Samsung that is more than $100 cheaper.  Also, as far as I know the latest firmware updates the PS3 to profile 1.1.  Obviously it's fully capable of being a 2.0 profile player, but according to the notes w/ the firmware update it updates it to 1.1.

Answer 4

The new Bluray players, the ones that aren't quite available yet, will be interactive. You might want to wait.

Have you considered repairing your Samsung as a temporary solution? It might be inexpensive.

Why not Sony?

Between the two you like, I'd pick Panasonic for, you guessed it, reliability reasons.