Friday, 4 February 2011

Upconverting Dvd Players - blu-ray, panasonic


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I have been waiting for this Blu-ray player since it was announced in January, bought this to use with my Panasonic VIERA TV set. VIERA link is the main reason I bought this -- it's for our exercise room, and my wife hates all the remotes. Great as a basic DVD/blu-ray player. Pop in a DVD, TV turns on, and sets the correct input. Also, one button selection of Netflix works great, and the new Netflix interface includes search. On screen interface is also very nice and easy to use. As will all new players, only has HDMI and composite video connectors, but single HDMI for video and audio is nice and is required for VIERA link.



Only reason for the 4 stars is DLNA (which in not just an issue with this device). Writing this in the hopes of saving at least one person the hours I spent setting this up. First, with my Windows 7 PC, the device was able to see and play the Windows Media Center .wtv files (I have a TV tuner card in my PC), so you can record shows on your PC and watch them on this player in another room. Compatibility with .wtv files was not mentioned in the manual, nor by Panasonic online support. Panasonic support also said that .mkv files would only play via a disk or the usb, but some of my .mkv files on my PC did play using DLNA (for some reason, only the files with an aspect ratio of 1024X576 or higher will play). Decided I needed a media server.



After trying Tversity, Playon, and Serviio, none of which would work with the DMP-BD75, I installed Mezzmo on my PC. Worked like a champ! The player sees all the files on my PC and they play flawlessly over my home network.



Remote will only control TV volume, power, and input, so if you switch to TV, you have to switch remotes. Don't know why in TV mode the number keys couldn't function to enter a channel number. Still, the remote will control all disc functions, Netflix, and all my video files via DLNA. One thing with the remote and VIERA link, the large power button turns on the player and will also turn on the TV at the same time. However, when you power down, using the large power button only turns off the player (which does make sense, you may want to leave the TV on). There is a second power button for the TV. If you turn off that button, both with shut down.



Overall, for just under $100 you can't go wrong. And if you aren't interested in DLNA or 3D, then this would be a 5 star player. Panasonic DMP-BD75 Ultra-Fast Booting Blu-ray Disc Player

I've had this Bd75 for about a month now. When I first received it , I had problems. I mainly got this unit so I could stream Netflix movies, and wanted to have a Blu-ray player to connect to my Panasonic TC-L42U22 1080p LCD TV.

When the player chose to work, I was overwhelmed by the fantastic picture quality of this TV/Blu-ray combo. But, the Bd75 had bugs, and if you're like me, if something doesn't work as it should right out of the box, chances are things are only going to get worse.

I decided that the Bd75 was so good at streaming Netflix movies that I would keep it, bugs and all.

Now for the really good news. I turned the unit on a few days ago, and had a on-screen message that there was a firmware update available. Version 1.19 I let it download. It restarts itself after the download, and since then, NO bugs, freeze-ups, or any other problems.

If this firmware update does its job, then this Bd75 player will be a steal at the $99.00 it sells for.

Panasonic says this player won't support Amazon Video on Demand as it does not have VIERA Cast capability. There is currently no firmware update and they told me they don't expect to add this feature in the future either. It does support Netflix streaming.



I have since returned the DMP-BD75 and purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD65 with VIERA Cast. The DMP-BD65 works great and streams Amazon Video on Demand.

I'm not sure that a device that did not work out of the box deserves 4 stars but since it is 2011 and manufacturers can fairly rely on consumers having access to a hard-wired internet connection (ethernet cable, not wireless), I guess having to download the most current software is not reason enough to fail this device. When I first hooked up this Panasonic BlueRay with an HDMI cable, there was a crazy loud clicking noise instead of the expected audio. A quick read of the manual had me hooking this up to my Cisco Router and getting the most current download. Then it was smooth sailing and everything worked seamlessly. So, if you have some competence with your network then you should be fine - otherwise you might want to skip this item.

I've had this blu-ray player for a couple weeks now. Setup was quick and easy. Haven't tried DLNA yet, but Cinemanow, Vudu all work great. Streamed a hi-def episode of Stargate Atlantis from Netflix - AWESOME!! Another 5 Star product from Panasonic.

Firstly, I should state that I have extensive experience in AV as well as computer networking so this is not an issue of me not knowing what I am doing.



I purchased this unit after having excellent experiences with previous Panasonic BDP's. I've used many from the DMP-BD30 through to the BD100's and they've mostly been solid products. Unfortunately Panasonic seems to have let this one out of the gates too soon. The unit is nice and small, boots quickly but unfortunately has major issues with its network card and Internet connectivity in general. I have tried two different units and unfortunately both suffered from the same issue. The "easy network setup" says everything is working properly then I can only connect to netflix through this device about half the time (Netflix works fine when connecting through my Samsung TV). When trying to perform a firmware update, it will not connect at all. Panasonic support in Canada is atrocious and I cannot seem to find out for the life of me what the latest firmware version is (the players were both running v1.09). A search of their site shows that there are no downloads for the unit. I have ruled out it being an issue with my network as everything else works fine on it (including my Samsung player), I have completed extensive network tests and I have also tried this unit at a friends house with the same results. Hopefully this is a bug in the firmware and Panasonic is able to remedy this quickly. Until then, make sure you are able to easily return it if an issue arises! - Blu-ray - Panasonic - Netflix - 1080p
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