ejeffrie's Full Review: Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player
WHY YOU SHOULD BUY BLU-RAY PLAYER NOT DVD UPCONVERTER
Before I talk about the Panasonic DMP BD60K Blu-Ray player, I would like to tell you a little bit history on why we ended up buying the Panasonic DMP BD60K Blu-Ray player and why you should not buy a DVD player with 1080p upconverter even though it is cheaper than a Blu-Ray player!
After we bought our Panasonic 1080p Plasma HDTV, we didn't really want to spend more money to buy a Blue-Ray player. I wanted something cheap, so I went to Best Buy and bought a Sony DVP-NS700H DVD player with 1080p upconverter for $89 and the result was very disapointing. The quality of Sony DVD player with upconverter was TERRIBLE!
Some of you who are into photography and video editing probably already know that when we try enlarge 72 DPI image into 300 DPI image, the image becomes VERY pixelated. The DVD player with upconverter will try to upcovert 480p DVD resolution to 1080p resolution and the result of the upconversion is HORRIBLE.
I learned that those DVD upconverter players are piece of junk. I ended up returning the Sony DVP-NS700H upconverter back to Best Buy.
For those of you are not thinking about buying DVD player with 1080p upconverter, I suggest that you wait and save some money, so you can buy a REAL 1080p Blu-Ray player. Let me make it simple for you why you should not buy DVD upconverter, DVD UPCONVERTER PLAYERS IMAGE QUALITY CAN NOT MATCH THE BLU-RAY IMAGE QUALITY ON YOUR 1080p HDTV IF SOMEONE TRIES TO TELL YOU THAT UPCONVERTER CAN MATCH BLU-RAY QUALITY, THAT PERSON DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE/SHE IS TALKING ABOUT. UPCONVERTER CAN NOT PLAY BLU-RAY MOVIES, BUT BLU-RAY PLAYERS CAN UPCONVERT REGULAR DVD. Are you with me so far?
Let's continue, I decided to go back to the Costco where I bought my Panasonic Plasma 1080p HDTV and I saw that the price of Panasonic DMP BD60K Blu-Ray player had dropped $100 from $299 to $199. So I decided to buy one.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE PANASONIC DMP BD60K BLU-RAY PLAYER:
- THE IMAGE AND SOUND QUALITY ARE SUPERB
The image quality is EXTREMELY good. When I use the HDMI output from the Blue-Ray player to my HDTV to play Blu-Ray movies, I am extremely impressed with the image quality. It is so clear!
This Blu-Ray player comes with built-in surround sound quality, the digital quality sound that comes through the HDMI output is amazing!
- EASY INSTALLATION
This player is very easy to setup and install. The installation takes about less than 10 minutes, just connect the HDMI cable from the player to the HDTV, plug the power cable and it is done.
If you want to upgrade the firmware of the Blu-Ray player, there is Network Cable CAT 5 connector in back of the Blu-Ray player. You can connect the Blu-Ray player to your router and update the firmware through the internet. OK, I was hoping that there is a WIFI feature built-in on the Panasonic Blu-Ray player like NETFLIX Roku player, but there isn't! You have to use NETWORK CAT 5 cable to connect the Blue-Ray player to the Internet.
- IT IS EASY TO USE
If you have ever owned and operate da regular DVD player, you won't have any problems operating this player. The cool thing that I love about Blu-Ray DVD player is, you can go to the movie setup screen while the movie is still playing. You can turn the CAPTION on/off while the movie is still playing.
- BUILT-IN UPCONVERTER
Again, the upconversion quality of regular DVD 480p resolution to 1080p resolution is not great compared to the real Blu-Ray movies, but at least it comes with built-in upconverter, so I can watch my old DVD at 1080p resolution.
- BUILT-IN SD CARD READER
This feature is really handy, especially when I want to do a photo slide show but tt is like a redundant feature if you have Panasonic Plasma HDTV because my Panasonic 1080p Plasma HDTV has a built-in SD card reader also.
- THE REMOTE IS EASY TO USE
One thing that I love the most about the Panasonic DMP BD60K Blu-Ray remote control is the fact that it can also control my Panasonic Plasma HDTV volume too, so I don't have to use my HDTV remote if I want to turn the volume up or down.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THIS PLAYER
These the the most serious problems with this Blue-Ray player:
- IF FREEZES
It FREEZES occasionally and I had to unplug the power cord to reset the player and get the Blu-Ray movie out of the tray! I hate it when I can't open the movie tray when the player freezes!
The only way to get the movie out of the tray is to totally unplug the power to reset the player and turn the Blu-ray back on and then the eject button will work.
- SOME MOVIES REQUIRES YOU TO BE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET
Sometimes it requires the player to be connected to the Internet in order to play Blue-Ray movies. Haunting in Connecticut movie for example, the movie couldn't be loaded and it freezed the player when the player is not connected to the Internet! It is weird, I had to connect the player to the Internet and the movie finally worked!
- LOADING TIME IS SLOW
Loading time sometimes is slow. I still don't understand some Blu-Ray movies will load fast and some will load very slowly! It gets to my nerve when it does load very slow.
- WHEN THE STOP BUTTON ACCIDENTALLY PRESSED, IT WILL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE MAIN MENU
I am not sure whether it is the Blu-Ray movie problem or the player problem, but when I pressed stop accidentally, it will take me back to the MAIN MENU instead of the last movie part where I accidentally stop. I have to play the movie all over again from the beginning and press the advance button to move it forward to where the last scene is.
- IT DOESN'T COME WITH AN HDMI CABLE
I was quite disapointed when I saw that the Panasonic Blu-Ray player didn't come with an HDMI player. On the other hand the Sony DVP-NS700H DVD upconverter player comes with an HDMI cable. For $199 Blu-Ray player, at least Panasonic should throw a free HDMI cable for it. I had to buy the HDMI cables from Newegg.com for $8.99 each.
- THERE IS NO WIFI WIRELESS CONNECTION
I was hoping that this player has a built-in WIFI wireless internet connection like ROKU NETFLIX player. You need to use a Network CAT 5 cable to connect the Panasonic Blu-Ray player to the Internet to upgrade the firmware. The firmware update takes forever, so update the firmware when you are not planning to watch any movies.
WILL I RECOMMEND THIS PLAYER?
For the price, I will recommend this player to anyone, especially if you own Panasonic HDTV. You can connect the Blu-Ray player and the Panasonic HDTV through Vierra connection. Just beware of the problems, I listed above. I haven't heard Blu-Ray player that is problem free, even the Sony player.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Panasonic DMP BD60K Blu-Ray player is a great and affordable player for the quality. It is a great companion for your 1080p HDTV.
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