Reviews for new blu ray players

[Mark Fuller]

I recently purchased 3 new blu ray players. The first two were both LGs, a wired BP 175 and then a BP 350 wireless device. Both of them out of the box refused to work except for standard dvds. I was not able to successfully set up the devices from what they call a setup menu. I contacted tech support via chat and telephone and all I got for about 3 hours of torture was the overall fact according to the various agents was that the device was not compatible to the dvds because of a dvd region issue. I took them both back and then purchased a Sony UBP-X700 which is a masterpiece of a device compared to the LGs at least as far as initial setup and operation is concerned. I worked from the start with standard and blu ray dvds and is nothing to set up with wireless devices at all. I worked well with my android TCL smartphone and my HP Envy x360. The thing is just fantastic when hardwired to any device via hdmi, providing almost perfect sound and video reproduction, and it works extremely well with a usb flash drive. I notice that above all there is a lead lag issue with wireless and reproduction is not as true as with a wire, but as they told me when I worked in wireless tech support, nothing is as fast and reliable as a wire.

 

[bazz2004]

The first thing to check when buying a blu ray/DVD player is that you are getting a multi region version able to play disks from all round the world. That costs a little extra. The Sony UBP-X700 can be bought as a multi region player.

 

[Mark Fuller]

The tech's explanation of the dvd region problem was completely unacceptable to my understanding. I realize that blu-ray's have an entirely different codex from standard dvd regions. What don't understand is why a device bought in the US won't play a Blu-ray dvd that was purchased along with it. Do they not know the location in which they are selling these devices? The Sony UBP-X700 had no problems playing the same disk right out of the box by the way. The only thing I can figure is either that the Blu-rays I tried either came from a different region or the device was configured to play in another region outside the US. One of the blu-rays was a Beatles anthology and the other was a action movie with Bruce Willis called Fortress: Sniper's Eye.

 

[Mark Fuller]

Another thing, in past times when I used blu-ray players that had a region compatibility problem, the player responded with and OSD that gave an explanation of the fact that the dvd was from the wrong region. The LGs did none of that, it just sat there with a picture of a dvd spinning in the upper left hand corner of the screen and finally just said check disk.

 

[bazz2004]

I have the Sony BDP-S6700 blu ray player - region free version. It's unlikely that I'll ever buy a blu ray disk but it plays all DVDs without problems. The demand has shifted to devices able to stream video rather than play disks.

There were recurring issues with connecting to the internet and error messages when starting its youtube app. This was down to the inadequate external Sony power supply. I substituted a different power supply and it's been OK since. It remains pretty slow to respond and needs clear line of sight for the remote.

 

[Mark Fuller]

The only problems with streaming are the facts of RF interference and slow buffer times, sometimes having to wait for the signal to load is unacceptable. DVDs remain an alternative to having interference and waiting for the signal to load and there is still trillions of media available for use. Also, downloading files to the HDD is an option.