BIG BDP news guys

[Mr Peabody]

Here is the appetizer. As you may hav noticed I've been researching on a possible Blu-ray player purchase, I have pretty much made up my mind to go with a Panasonic dmp-bd10ak, but there are NONE to be found anywhere. Panasonic Direct has taken the "add to cart" link off because they are taking no orders. I called them this morning and a sales rep told me that he couldn't even take my order, they are filling back orders and then maybe. He suggested calling back around first of August. He also said that Panasonic is coming out with a new model BDP. He didn't know price range or if Panasonic would still offer free movies.

Here's the Main course. I was talking to a Denon dealer today and he had a pre-CEDIA meeting with his Denon sales rep. Tah dah! Denon is coming out with 2 new Blu-ray disc players. One around $1k and the other around $2k. They will have 7.1 processing and analog outs. He said they probably won't be on the floor until around November. He didn't give a full run down of features but seemed to be pretty excited about them. He did say they would have some type of internet connection.

So you guys check your sources too and see what we can put together. What does this say about Blu-ray, I think it says they have gained some more significant ground on the battle field.

[O'Shag]

Cool! I like Denons products. The Sony BDP-1 is a very nice player and I've got my eye on it to purchase when I've got some spare cash - but I need another preamp first.

[elapsed]

In other news, Circuit City has the Toshiba HD-A2 going for US$272.88, and this includes 5 HD-DVD's. Amazing price, this is only $45 more than an Oppo 981 (in fact cheaper if you include the free HD-DVD's).

I'm not picking sides here, just stating the numbers.

[Luvin Da Blues]

In other news, Circuit City has the Toshiba HD-A2 going for US$272.88, and this includes 5 HD-DVD's. Amazing price, this is only $45 more than an Oppo 981 (in fact cheaper if you include the free HD-DVD's).

I'm not picking sides here, just stating the numbers.

but it doesn't look like it does SACD tho....the 981 does

[elapsed]

but it doesn't look like the 981 does HD DVD tho... the HD-A2 does

all depends on your needs, I rarely meet anyone with an SACD collection as it is, but I have plenty of friends who are contemplating purchasing an HD Player (especially when prices eventually drop below $250).

[Luvin Da Blues]

but it doesn't look like the 981 does HD DVD tho... the HD-A2 does

all depends on your needs, I rarely meet anyone with an SACD collection as it is, but I have plenty of friends who are contemplating purchasing an HD Player (especially when prices eventually drop below $250).

Touche.

[L.J.]

In still on the fence with HD-DVD, but the way things are going, I should be able to pick up a player for 39.99 by the end of the year

[Mr Peabody]

O'Shag, take a look at the Sony s300, it's cheaper than the SD1 and seems to have better features. I read somewhere the s300 does have 5.1 analog out.

IF, the HD-DVD had good upconvertsion and I could rent new titles, I'd be very tempted.

Blu-ray with SACD, and still the benchmark, is..... the PS3. Everyone compares the player they review to the PS3 and unfortunately, the PS3 hasn't been topped yet. Especially in speed and function.

[musicman1999]

I saw the s300 today and i can confirm it has 5.1 analog outs,but does not play sacd.The problem with the ps3 is that there are no 5.1 analog outs

bill

[nightflier]

I saw the s300 today and i can confirm it has 5.1 analog outs,but does not play sacd.The problem with the ps3 is that there are no 5.1 analog outs
bill

So what's the point? Does Sony really think that people are going to use Analog outs to watch movies only to have the receiver muck with the digital conversion? Or did they expect to put SACD in at one point and then they value-engineered it out?

If you ask me, Sony is again failing on its commitment to SACD.

[musicman1999]

The point would be that if you use the 5.1 analog outs then the player decodes the sound and the reciever has very little to do,no conversion to muck with and you can use your current gear to get full use of the new sound formats.

bill

[nightflier]

Well, I'm just guessing that most people will opt for a single cable for sound instead of 6 between their DVD and receivers, especially the type of consumer who would purchase the least expensive BR player.

Being that the player is from Sony, I'm disappointed that it does not support SACD. I think people would be better off waiting to see what Denon universal player is going to look like.

[Woochifer]

Well, I'm just guessing that most people will opt for a single cable for sound instead of 6 between their DVD and receivers, especially the type of consumer who would purchase the least expensive BR player.

Being that the player is from Sony, I'm disappointed that it does not support SACD. I think people would be better off waiting to see what Denon universal player is going to look like.

SACD though is part of the HDMI 1.2 spec. No need to include an analog SACD output anymore given that SACD now has support for digital connections. However, this is all contingent on whether these Blu-ray players can output the SACD signal through the digital outputs to begin with, and if HDMI 1.2 components generally require transcoding the 1-bit DSD stream into PCM.