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In Reply to: RE: Paging Jack G posted by racerguy on December 16, 2007 at 19:32:48
I still like the Sharp. I've had no problems with it. The sound via analogs is pretty good. It decodes True HD, but not DTS-MA (What does?). Its a good BD player, and a very good DVD player-its what I use now for DVDs. I use the instant on feature, so it boots up instantly, but is still somewhat slow to load discs.
Gripes? No ethernet port. Upgrades have to be downloaded to a USB stick, which goes in the back of the machine. I haven't upgraded my FW and may not in the future either. It supposedly has problems playing 28 Weeks Later, and there is an update for that.
All in all, I'm quite happy with it, I just wished there were more BD titles I wanted.
JackEDIT: It does have one quirk. After turning it on, it goes to a set-up screen. The instant on feature bypasses this.
Edits: 12/17/07Follow Ups:
I found a local store that had one in stock, for the lowest price I've seen, so I just picked it up. Coincidentally, I got back from the store with it to find an email from the Sony repair center. It seems that there are so many problems with the Sony model I have that parts are on indefinite backorder. My choice is to wait 2-3 months (yes, months) for the part to come in, or accept a refurb as an exchange.
Thanks for letting me know about the quirk.
> > I just wished there were more BD titles I wanted. < <
Me too. This is one of several reasons why I don't want to spend a whole bunch of money on a Blu-ray player right now. I look at my Netflix queue, and there are very few Blu-ray discs in it. It's not for lack of looking on my part; but unlike some people I'm not going to watch a movie that doesn't interest me just because it's on Blu-ray.
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Very reliable. Profile 1.1 and bitstreams the audio to a HDMI 1.3 AVR for DTS HD MA and Dolby True HD.
It doesn't have multi-channel analog outputs. That makes it useless for me.
I bought an AVR with HDMI 1.3. It was only $400 and works fine for my needs. I now have DTS HD MA and Dolby True HD through bitstream.
There isn't an AVR on the planet that matches up to my gear, not even the $5000 Denon. Yes, I would gain the ability to bitstream advanced codecs from my HDM players, but the benefit I would gain from that is totally overshadowed by the sacrifices I would have to make.
BTW, Is Lexicon and/or their design teams still intact or has the expertise been spread to the winds in corporate restructuring ?
The price is a bit steep but I expect I'll get better results with the Denon and my current MC preamp than a $400 Samsung and $2000 HDMI 1.3-compliant AVR. Of course, there are other benefits as well (better upscaling, DACs etc), I doubt there are enough DTS HD MA movie releases to justify the expense just for the advanced decoding. I can already play TrueHD and PCM through the existing player's analog outputs.
Of course, CES 2008 might reveal tastier options to consider.
I'm supposed to replace a $3K amp with a $400 receiver just because some studio wants to use DTS MA the NO PLAYER actually decodes? I don't think so.
Jack
nt
Granted, the audio portion of my HT isn't up to my music system's standards (Its made from my stereo's discards), but I don't see the point of buying a receiver just because players don't decode DTS MA. That's just silly.
I'm not sure I see your point.
Jack
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Funny how few, if any, BD players do everything. How's the Sharp player?
Jack
they can't play Blu-ray discs. ;> )
Eventually some company will come up with a relatively uncompromised dual-format player that works well, and most of my aggravation will be over. It would be nice if that company used a quality HD DVD player as a base, instead of using a crappy Blu-ray player as a base, such as LG and Samsung have done.
It's a definite improvement over the Sony (which cost me more), even when the Sony was brand-new and working OK. It makes a bit more mechanical noise when it's operating than the Sony did, but I can live with that.The only thing I've found so far that is irritating is the player update process. It's a PITA to get at the USB port in the back, and the load time for updates is interminable. Oh well - can't have everything, especially in a Blu-ray player! It truly is amazing how feature-poor and limited these players are for the price tag compared to their HD DVD counterparts. I hope that changes quickly.
I did warn you about the updating. I haven't done it yet, and since I don't own the (single?) problem disc, I may not bother. Oddly, the Sharp is one of the better featured BD players. Pity its 1.0.
Jack
Yes, you did warn me, so I was reasonably prepared. Doesn't seem like updates are as frequent as with some other players, so it's not a huge issue.The funny part is that I took a look around, and this player has not been seriously reviewed by anyone. The craptacular Samsungs and Sonys have lots of reviews, but no one talks about the Sharp. It's a better player IMO. Thanks for mentioning it.
It is a pity it's only 1.0, but 1.1 players are still basically vaporware and/or way too expensive at this point. The churn in Blu is such that spending more than a few hundred dollars on a player right now is a not-smart move.
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I'd take a hard look at Meridian (or other high end) Blu-ray player but it doesn't exist yet.
If history is a good reference, then the best time to buy the "ultimate" player is about a year after the early adopters have declared the format dead. :-)
Sony BDP-S300.
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