I do not know how many of my fellow Outlaws have jumped into the blu-ray pool but I myself had been waiting until the format war is over.
Now that it is I have been considering a Sony with the Profile 2.0 as a standalone player. Recently read on this forum that Sony might not be a good match with the 990.
Since that reading it has been suggested that the Panasonic is a better candidate for the 990.
I read an article in the Jult edition of Home Theater Mag by Joshua Zyber that claims even the new DMP-BD 50 from Panasonic is still not perfect. The UniPhier processing chip that is in the DMP-BD30 is being implemented in the BD-50 and has problematic standard-definition deinterlacing and upscaling.
You would think that with the format war at an end consumers would have and easy choice. Not only that but a standalone player that gives a high quality picture and sound without scrathing your head as to figuring out how to hookup the thing.
Zyber...and I quote "if someone were to ask me today to name the best Blu-ray player for thier needs, I wouldn't be able to recommend one without listing off a host of caveats for any potential purchase, and that just seems unacceptable at this stage of the game".

In reading this article I agree with Zyber whole heartedly since I cannot figure out what Blu-ray player to buy to match my system.

The BD50 is a pretty decent candidate. The only observations that I can offer are that (1) the UniPhier chip (which is also used in my BD30) is not the greatest for handling standard DVD playback and (2) the multichannel analog output is apparently 5.1 only, so if you have a 7.1 setup there are a few choices to be made there. Personally, I have found the BD30 to be a very strong player (excellent BD picture quality, quick disc load times and player start-up times compared to the rest of the stand-alone players on the market), and the BD50 takes that platform and adds onboard decoding of all the new audio formats and Profile 2.0 support. I don't think the BD50 presents a "host of caveats" - certainly a few, but you can find a few caveats for any piece of consumer electronics, especially this early in the life cycle of a new format. Josh is a bit harder on the BD30 than I am, so it's not surprising to see his feelings carry over to the BD50. I agree with him that the standard DVD performance is merely fair, but I'm also comparing it to some of the better standard DVD players around (including OPPO's 983H). The BD30 would do as well as or better than any of my non-OPPO players.

Get the sony PS3!

Gonk or anyone,
I was considering the pioneer DV 410V-K 1080p Upconvert dvd player. This player is on sale this week at Best Buys' for $99.00 with no tax.
Compared to Oppos' product which I respect what is your opinion between the two.

I want to replace my faithful Toshiba a standard 5disc player with a player that can upconvert to 1080p.
However I do intend buy a Blu-Ray player which I know can handle the job of upconverting standard dvd's. I also have a Sony 777 disc player that I intend to hold on to.
Is it a waste of money for an upconvert player since I eventually intend to buy a blu-ray player? Should I just keep the Toshiba...I was going to give it to my daugther.
My Toshiba is six maybe eight years old. I bought it for $99.00 at Costco. Well worth the money and it doesn't owe me a penny.
My interest still lies with the Panasonic BD50 but I do not know if I will jump right in until I see what Sony intends to do. What is your opinon of Sony's upcoming next generation blu-ray players?

Thanks for a reality check when it comes to electronics and the caveats that automaticlly come with them.

Lizard King...PS3 does not work for me because I am not into gaming. I know that may sound crazy because there are some really great and entertaining games on the market but for now I am a big time MOVIE buff as well as MUSIC addict.

Thanks

The MSRP for the 410V is listed as $99 at Pioneer's site (see this link , so the sale price isn't terribly "sale" like (although the no sales tax is nice). Since everybody seems to have it at $99 too, though, I think you may have found the best place to get it.

A player upgrade will only benefit you if it offers better scaling and deinterlacing than your Infocus and better MPEG decoding than your current player. There's no mention of the scaling solution being used by the Pioneer. There's a fair chance that it's a Mediatek chip (Pioneer's used them before and Mediatek supports USB), but that's not guaranteed. The fact that they don't specify the scaler/deinterlacer does mean that it's almost certainly a single chip similar to the Mediatek that's handling everything (MPEG decoding, audio decoding, deinterlacing, and scaling). The player is new enough to market that I can't find much on its performance - it appears to be hitting stores just this month.

Compared to your Toshiba (which is probably comparable to the SD1600 that we used in the bedroom until earlier this year), the Pioneer would almost certainly be an upgrade for you even without knowing how good the deinterlacing and scaling performance is. If you do want to try a player upgrade while waiting for the Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players to mature, this seems like a pretty decent choice.

Thanks Gonk!

I listen to you more than I do the sales-people.

Glad to help...

Here's the link to the updated CNet review of the Panasonic BD-50:
CNet Panasonic DP-BD50 Review

I was really looking forward to this player as I could connect it to the 5.1 inputs on my 1070 but I really have to wonder if it's worth the $700 asking price. With no SACD or DVD-A support I'd have to sacrifice that current use of my 1070 (I was hoping for at least one of the formats to be supported). I also wonder how long it will be before I have another HDMI device streaming one of the HD formats MPCM / DTS HD MA / DD+ . Surely, the HD satellite boxes will eventualy support one of these not to mention PC audio/video cards. At that point there'll be no choice but to upgrade to an HDMI-capable receiver/processor.

Outside of the 5.1 analog HD audio support I don't see much going for the BD50 (for my personal use). And I've talked myself into that being a short-term benefit as well.

Hmmm...suddenly the PS3 is looking more and more attractive as an option. I could live with the DTS core until my next receiver upgrade...it would be nice to get a list of some of the features for the upcoming 1070/970 replacement so I don't get too anxious and jump ship

-John

It is because of my existing DVD-Audio and SACD use that I was willing to settle for the HD-A2 last summer and the BD30 last fall: the fact that neither can decode the new formats and output multichannel analog didn't matter, since I didn't plan to surrender the multichannel analog input to them anyway. Of course, I also made do with stereo analog output from DVD for the better part of two years before getting a receiver that gave me access to Dolby Digital and DTS. I chose the BD30 over the PS3 because it gave me an IR remote and a traditional standalone player (both of which are more wife friendly than a game console with a Bluetooth remote) without sacrificing performance (Blu-ray disc load times are very comparable between the two). At some point (probably close to spring 2009, although that's just my personal SWAG) I think there's some hope that we'll see one or two Blu-ray players that offer support for DVD-A and SACD.

I don't know that we'll see cable and satellite using DD+, TrueHD, or DTS-HD in the foreseeable future. DD+ is a "maybe" in my mind, as it may be able to compress a bit more efficiently, but both cable and satellite have bandwidth concerns that will make the bulk of a lossless multichannel format undesirable.

Thanks John for the site.
What I have read from CNet just makes me want to wait even more.
I am not a gamer so I am not considering the PS3.

When is a good up to date reasonable Blu-Ray Player going to hit the market.
Sony was so intent on the demise of Toshiba's HD format and Sony has done nothing to satisfy the consumer.
It is a disgrace.

BRING BACK TOSHIBA!!!!!!!!!!