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Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 29 Jul 2009, 20:39
by bradavon
That's load for what is 32".

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 29 Jul 2009, 20:46
by grim_tales
Yeah, they do make good TV's though.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 29 Jul 2009, 21:31
by bradavon
Of course but then so do other, cheaper makes.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 29 Jul 2009, 21:32
by saltysam
Best thing you can do Grim is start by setting yourself a budget and making sure you get the best you can within that budget.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 29 Jul 2009, 21:54
by bradavon
He already has one, wait for it . . .

£19,000

No, seriously, well almost ;).

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 08:49
by grim_tales
I'm not going to spend all that on a TV, theres a BD player/chair and PC as well :P
Do Sony make good TV's? They seem good but expensive.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 11:22
by Markgway
saltysam wrote:
bradavon wrote:
saltysam wrote:Not a chance at that price,it'll be dvd only.PC World are selling off the Sony BD i got for £99, it's a fantastic machine and at least it can be made MR for dvd.
No longer available:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/418077
there's still plenty in-store at various locations.
Not in my shithole town. :twisted:

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 13:06
by bradavon
Of course Sony make good TVs. What's a Blu-ray Chair? ;).

IMO you should be considering a Freeview+ PVR and/or Freeview HDD/DVD Recorder too.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 17:31
by grim_tales
:D
I meant a BD player and a chair :D

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 17:37
by grim_tales

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 30 Jul 2009, 19:07
by bradavon
Pretty much. I have the Humax 9200 and it's excellent, only scart though. The EPG on Freeview+ PVRs tends to be much better than HDD/DVD Recorders and has proper Pause Live TV/Rewind Live TV (as it's constantly buffering).

The 9200 is discontinued but the 9150 is a cut down version of it, it has 160GB HDD (like the 9200 did) but loses audio outputs (red/white phono or optical). Meaning audio only comes out of scart, so no chance of connecting it to an Amp etc... It looks like they released the 9150 to compete with the 9300. Which is now the top of the range model. It's hard disk bumps to 320Gb (which is flipping loads), adds back the audio outputs and has HDMI too. Here it is, for only a little more:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humax-PVR9300T- ... 688&sr=1-1

That's a fantastic price. I paid that for the 9200 about 18 months ago and like I said that is 160Gb HD/Scart only/Audio outputs. I think the 9300 has a new EPG design too, which looked really good. The one on my 9200 is already very good, including things like search by name. So say enter "top" and it will find any program with the word top in it. This cannot be done on the Sony/Pioneer/Panasonic HDD/DVD Recorder and cannot even be done on Sky+.

Humax (and Topfield which cost about £250) make the best Freeview+ PVRs on the market. Seriously avoid all other makes, there are some right duds out there. The Humax is my third, the other two were rubbish. A disaster!

As you're buying a new TV, you sure as hell don't want to use crud VHS. VHS's 200 line resolution (remember SD PAL is about 600 lines) will look awful on a HD TV.

Remember if you want to archive to DVD you'll need some form of DVD Recorder or forget these Freeview+ PVRs and get a Sony/Pioneer/Panasonic HDD/DVD Recorder which combines a Freeview+ PVR and DVD Recorder, pretty much. But these don't buffer constantly so the Pause/Rewind Live TV doesn't work as well and the EPG isn't as good. For me I find my Freeview+ PVR much more useful/efficient and only rarely use my HDD/DVD Recorder nowadays/when I want to archive. The Sony HDD/DVD Recorder is £200.

Personally I'd imagine you'll be fine with a Freeview+ PVR (get the Humax 9300, no contest) and BD Player!

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 09:21
by grim_tales
Are Sharp TV's any good? Some on Imports Forum say they are good.

http://www.johnlewis.com/230557865/Product.aspx

The picture says "HD Ready" but the listing says Full HD 1080p. It's confusing.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 10:56
by bradavon
I told you. HD Ready could mean HD Ready 1080p remember. Yes it is confusing, so as I said go by the resolution!

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 11:27
by grim_tales
It's definitely 1080p, looking at the resolution. Looking at reviews in What Hi Fi, Which etc :)

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 12:47
by bradavon
Well, there we are then. The HD tagging has become too confusing to take seriously.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 17:01
by saltysam
My Sharp tv has been excellent,far better than the Samsung i had previously.i thnk Pannys are probably the best though.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 18:12
by grim_tales
I heard Panasonics are good but they seem expensive. Sam what exact TV do you have?

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 31 Jul 2009, 23:45
by bradavon
Panasonics are expensive, you cannot have the best without paying a premium. Personally I think they've overpriced.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 15:56
by grim_tales
Maybe, it's damn hard to find a full HD, 100Hz TV thats the right size and decent/good.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 16:15
by bradavon
It shouldn't be.

I forgot to mention Freeview+ PVRs have two digital tuners, whereas HDD/DVD Recorders only ever have one digital tuner.

With two tuners you can record two things off Freeview at the same time or record one and watch something else. With the Humax you can even record two things and watch a third live broadcasting, if the third program is on the same MUX as one of the other two channels. A MUX being the signal number if you will the channel transmits on. Channels share muxes.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 18:06
by grim_tales
If I find a 100Hz one it turns out its not 1080p, grrr :(

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 18:27
by saltysam
grim_tales wrote:If I find a 100Hz one it turns out its not 1080p, grrr :(
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE37B65 ... t_edpp_url

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 18:33
by grim_tales
I stand corrected - thank you :D I still think 1080p is important even if I'll be at a distance with a (reasonably) small set.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 18:45
by saltysam
You'll be hard pushed to see any difference between 1080i and 1080p. However i imagine all of the latest generation of LCD's would be 1080p as standard anyway.

Re: Is this a good BD player?

Posted: 01 Aug 2009, 18:48
by grim_tales
I'm looking into the Panasonic TX-L37S10 - not the cheapest but its got good reviews (5* in What Hi Fi). Its not £850 now, £649 from Hi-Spek.