mentasm
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Im looking to update my ageing Sony BDP-S550 player as its started to exhibit a few problems. Last night I put a disc in while I went to do something and it started playing a film, so I hit the menu button to return to the main menu and it promptly began skipping. I stopped and started again, but it then refused to even load. I went as far as clearing the players cache and unplugging it for a bit, but still no joy. This morning it worked
Its obviously becoming unreliable and its also painfully slow by todays standards; the £50 Toshiba BDX1200 in the bedroom is nippy as hell and happily jumps over minor disc defects that cause the Sony to lock up.
Anyway, Ive read a few reviews (including some on here) and Ive narrowed it down to three or four models. It looks like prices (and build quality) have dropped dramatically since I bought my main deck, so I should be able to pick up mid-range deck with superior performance, wireless and various media features for less than I paid for the S550. Although the Toshiba in the bedroom is very quick, it often emits a very loud whine during playback (although its been okay for the last couple of weeks, touch wood) and the menus are very basic, so Ive discounted their latest model. That leaves:
Panasonic BDT220
Panasonic BDT320
LG BP620
Sony BDP-S590
Both Panasonics received positive ratings in the reviews on here. The specific LG model Im looking at wasnt reviewed, but the model without wireless was and received highly recommended (in spite of scoring worse than the Pannys). The story is the same for the non-wireless Sony reviewed here, which received a best buy award. I appreciate that different people reviewed them, which could account for the supposedly superior BDT220 only receiving a recommended award, but if owners of these models could offer opinions it would be appreciated.
I really want to hear opinions on build quality, operational noise, speed/playback reliability with slight disc defects (important areas these), media streaming, online services etc. I believe the BDT320 might offer slightly better build quality than the 220, but that the remote is terrible. If the 220's build quality isnt significantly worse and it's not hugely noisy Im happy to discount the 320, but Ive left it in for now just in case. At the moment I am leaning towards the 220 because of Panasonics track record, but the AVF review was a bit lukewarm compared to many of the other reviews Ive read, which is what lead me to the LG and Sony. After reading reviews of those two models I'm torn as to whether the Pannys are worth the extra money!
I'm looking to order in the next couple of days if possible.
Thanks!
Anyway, Ive read a few reviews (including some on here) and Ive narrowed it down to three or four models. It looks like prices (and build quality) have dropped dramatically since I bought my main deck, so I should be able to pick up mid-range deck with superior performance, wireless and various media features for less than I paid for the S550. Although the Toshiba in the bedroom is very quick, it often emits a very loud whine during playback (although its been okay for the last couple of weeks, touch wood) and the menus are very basic, so Ive discounted their latest model. That leaves:
Panasonic BDT220
Panasonic BDT320
LG BP620
Sony BDP-S590
Both Panasonics received positive ratings in the reviews on here. The specific LG model Im looking at wasnt reviewed, but the model without wireless was and received highly recommended (in spite of scoring worse than the Pannys). The story is the same for the non-wireless Sony reviewed here, which received a best buy award. I appreciate that different people reviewed them, which could account for the supposedly superior BDT220 only receiving a recommended award, but if owners of these models could offer opinions it would be appreciated.
I really want to hear opinions on build quality, operational noise, speed/playback reliability with slight disc defects (important areas these), media streaming, online services etc. I believe the BDT320 might offer slightly better build quality than the 220, but that the remote is terrible. If the 220's build quality isnt significantly worse and it's not hugely noisy Im happy to discount the 320, but Ive left it in for now just in case. At the moment I am leaning towards the 220 because of Panasonics track record, but the AVF review was a bit lukewarm compared to many of the other reviews Ive read, which is what lead me to the LG and Sony. After reading reviews of those two models I'm torn as to whether the Pannys are worth the extra money!
I'm looking to order in the next couple of days if possible.
Thanks!