Let's Discuss HD Combo Players!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 11:18

Brad i'm sorry but this combo of yours sounds like unreliable shit

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Jan 2008, 19:07

Yes and No. To put it in context:

* ALL BD Players are having problems (aside of the PS3, which I'd never).
* The list totals 18 titles and only 5 seem to cause problems for more than 1 user, then of those 5 only 2 are titles which will not play period (Pan's Labyrinth HD-DVD and the Pixar Shorts), most are of minor navigational issues. As many people can get Die Hard 4 to work perfectly as cannot.
* That's not many compared with how many discs are out there.
* The Samsung Combo has only had a VERY limited release as yet, even in America. It's official launch still hasn't happened.
* It's expected European models will be getting newer firmware.

It's not ideal but not "quite" as bad as it seems when you consider the above facts.

Over at AVS a poll is running asking how many people are keeping their Players. 76 are keeping it, 19 are returning it and 35 aren't sure. Personally I also weigh into this the "geek" factor. People are moaning about some geek audio thing called Motor Boarding. Here's the poll:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=962140

p.s - You also have to remember it's not as if anyone else is running a in-depth thread on Bullets about any other BD Players to compare it to.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 19:26

so out of 130 people who voted 54 aren't happy

Superb machine,i'll buy 2

it's absolutely incredible to me that a fucking games console which plays blu-ray movies as an afterthought is more robust,reliable than standalone player.this combo does play profile 1.1 without any firmware update doesn't it?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Jan 2008, 19:48

saltysam wrote:so out of 130 people who voted 54 aren't happy Superb machine,i'll buy 2

It is an AV Forum so they're bound to be ultra picky. Things like motorboarding I doubt I'd remotely notice. But point taken. It's not like I can buy one to find out

saltysam wrote:it's absolutely incredible to me that a fucking games console which plays blu-ray movies as an afterthought is more robust.

I doubt it was an afterthought. It does make sense when the PS3 has much better hardware to all BD Players.

saltysam wrote:reliable than standalone player.this combo does play profile 1.1 without any firmware update doesn't it?

No

Profile 1.1 hardware is onboard (as is DTS-HD) but a Firmware upgrade needs to come. LG and Samsung have both confirmed several times it's coming early this year. Samsung are being tight lipped about European launch but it's looking likely it will be Feb-March. Which is roughly what they always said.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 19:56

bradavon wrote:
It is an AV Forum so they're bound to be ultra picky.

That's true but still it's not great is it,54 people less than pleased.

bradavon wrote: I doubt it was an afterthought. It does make sense when the PS3 has much better hardware to all BD Players.

a £300 console has better hardware than a $1000 (at launch) Standalone? something's not right.

bradavon wrote:Profile 1.1 hardware is onboard (as is DTS-HD) but a Firmware upgrade needs to come.

it shouldn't need a firmware update.this machine's been coming for ages,it should come with 1.1 fully working.

bradavon wrote:Samsung are being tight lipped about European launch

the european launch is of no interest to you though is it

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Jan 2008, 20:21

a £300 console has better hardware than a $1000 (at launch) Standalone? something's not right.

True. As per cost you need to remember it's two players in one. A PS3 and HD-DVD Player costs about the same.

it shouldn't need a firmware update.this machine's been coming for ages,it should come with 1.1 fully working.

You'll get no complaints from me. I'm more pissed about the lack of TrueHD 5.1 support though.

Samsung have said Profile 1.1, DTS-HD and TrueHD 5.1 will be added with firmware later. I'm confident this player will be solid a wee bit later down the line. I believe that's what happened with Samsung's prior BD Player.

the european launch is of no interest to you though is it.

It interests me as far as the player being released properly and more need for better firmware but no I won't be buying one.

FYI the LG BH200 seems to have no problems playing discs back BUT so few have actually bought one I don't consider it reliable info. It was supposed to support 24fps but despite the BH100 supporting it it's mysteriously been dropped. Nothing official except it doesn't work and nothing is no date on when it will.

I'm discounting the BH200 though as they stupidly dropped Analogue outputs.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 20:36

bradavon wrote:
True. As per cost you need to remember it's two players in one. A PS3 and HD-DVD Player costs about the same.

i was referring to standalones when they first come out.but to be pedantic i could get a usa ps3 for about £270 from VGPlus and a Toshiba with free discs for about £180=£450

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 05 Jan 2008, 21:38

Blu-ray definitely wasn't an afterthought with the PS3. The reason it is so cheap, is because they get their money back through the games you purchase for it. Sony make a loss with every PS3 and PSP they sell, did you know that? It's why games are so expensive, it's how they make their profits!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 22:07

gasteropod wrote:Blu-ray definitely wasn't an afterthought with the PS3. The reason it is so cheap, is because they get their money back through the games you purchase for it. Sony make a loss with every PS3 and PSP they sell, did you know that? It's why games are so expensive, it's how they make their profits!

just as well i don't buy games then. my son does for his uk machine.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Jan 2008, 22:32

saltysam wrote:i was referring to standalones when they first come out.but to be pedantic i could get a usa ps3 for about £270 from VGPlus and a Toshiba with free discs for about £180=£450

That's roughly how much Amazon, DABS and the like are charging to pre-order the Sammy

Not that you can remotely bloody get one though of course

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 05 Jan 2008, 23:09

Build a HTPC! Its the best way to go - I know I've had a bit of a hiccup getting mine working but now that it does I'd never go back to a standalone player. My HTPC does BD / HD DVD / DVD (all multi-region), browses the Internet, can record 2 Freeview channels at the same time (while I watch 1 on my TV), upscales DVDs, could play games if I wanted it to, is easily upgradable, etc. The list goes on & on.

I'm pretty sure I won't have any problems with upcoming BD specifications or BD discs not playing either - firmware & software updates are really easy. Its definitely the best way to go, & much cheaper than separate units...

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Jan 2008, 23:41

i won't be upgrading any time soon barring any mishaps to my machines

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 06 Jan 2008, 13:38

The PS3 almost makes me wish I liked playing videogames.

If I'm gonna buy a standalone it has to be at least as good as the PS3 and at least as cheap (preferably cheaper, even).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Jan 2008, 16:45

Markgway wrote:The PS3 almost makes me wish I liked playing videogames.

Me too

Markgway wrote:If I'm gonna buy a standalone it has to be at least as good as the PS3 and at least as cheap (preferably cheaper, even).

You forget Sony sell all PS3's at a loss because they make it up on the ridiculously expensive games. Would you spend £40 for a movie? Nope, never.

Selling HD Players at a loss will never happen.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 06 Jan 2008, 19:08

HD-DVD is now on borrowed time, if i were you Brad i'd seriously consider hanging on until a reliable blu-ray standalone come to market !

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 06 Jan 2008, 19:56

I keep hearing that the Panasonic BD30 is extremely reliable.
Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 06 Jan 2008, 20:08

tom2681 wrote:I keep hearing that the Panasonic BD30 is extremely reliable.

how much is it?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Jan 2008, 23:31

Is it Profile 1.1? What about firmware for DTS-HD? How does it handle Fox BDs?

saltysam wrote:HD-DVD is now on borrowed time, if i were you Brad i'd seriously consider hanging on until a reliable blu-ray standalone come to market !

I've though about doing that but there are so many HD-DVDs already out there. It will take months and months to re-release them, I already own a few and there is nothing on Universal dropping HD-DVD.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Jan 2008, 13:50

@Salty & Brad:

The Panny BD30 is $440 at Amazon.com
It is 1.1 and decodes DTS-HD MA.

From what I've heard, it's supposed to be the most reliable Blu-ray player released so far.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 07 Jan 2008, 16:42

cheers Tom. @ Brad eventually everything on hd-dvd will appear on BD.i'm sure there is nothing out on hd-dvd that you must have right now

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Jan 2008, 22:30

To be fair, there are some good HD-DVD exclusive titles out there.
Serenity, Waterworld, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Grand Prix, Children of Men...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Jan 2008, 23:58

tom2681 wrote:The Panny BD30 is $440 at Amazon.com
It is 1.1 and decodes DTS-HD MA.

DTS-HD MA WOW! It even has Analogue outputs too (a must for me):

http://www.big-screen.de/deutsch/image/ ... _bd30k.jpg

saltysam wrote:@ Brad eventually everything on hd-dvd will appear on BD.i'm sure there is nothing out on hd-dvd that you must have right now

I still think I'll go Combo but the odds are stacked in BDs favour so much now it is a hard one. It's good in a way I cannot buy a Samsung Combo has it gives me time to think about it.

I am fed up of waiting though and HD-DVD will be with us at least for another year. We know this as Paramount's contract has 12 months left on it.

As to must have titles:

* Batman Begins - Close to a must have. No doubt Warner will now release this on BD though.
* Dreamgirls - Full-rate DD Plus on HD-DVD, although I could live with the half-rate found on BD.
* A Mighty Heart - Outstanding film but one I could wait for.
* Brokeback Mountain - Not a must have but excellent. There's no way I'm going anywhere near the UK RB EIV disc.
* Mulholland Drive - Also outstanding.
* Terminator 2 - German or UK HD-DVDs. Now this is a must have!

I do have other HD-DVDs I'd like too. Waterworld, Children of Men and Brothehood of the Wolf are nowhere near my must haves. I've not seen the other two.

Hold up I thought you disliked Children of Men Tom? I remember you're agreeing with me about it.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 08 Jan 2008, 01:02

bradavon wrote:* Batman Begins - Close to a must have. No doubt Warner will now release this on BD though.

Always was coming to Blu-ray, they were waiting for the BD Java to be sorted or something. I can't wait for this one in HD

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 08 Jan 2008, 01:28

@Brad:
You're right, I don't like Children of Men.
I will admit it's a good film, though.

Personal taste and actual quality are two different things.

That's why I'm not afraid to say I like bad films.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 Jan 2008, 02:27

tom2681 wrote:@Brad:
You're right, I don't like Children of Men.
I will admit it's a good film, though.

I think I understand what you mean and kind of agree with you. I still thought it overall failed though.

gasteropod wrote:Always was coming to Blu-ray, they were waiting for the BD Java to be sorted or something. I can't wait for this one in HD

I thought that's why they delayed Terminator 3 only to not bother with Profile 1.1 and encode a second HD transfer.

I'm pretty sure there are Warner HD-DVDs out there with PIP but the BD doesn't.