Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray Player

I'm with you, Pbryanw. Sadly, the guts of many of these players are essentially Linux-based mini PCs (I believe) and thus are subject to boot times. I find it REALLY annoying.

Plus, not only is Average Joe buying DVD players for cheap (like the Toshiba (!) Divx-enabled DVD player I saw in Tesco the other day for £27!!) but frankly, he's also used to paying under £10 for his DVDs; Play has decent flicks down to like £2.99 ffs

So just how motivated am I to go and spend £17.99 on a Blu-ray? I tell ya - I'd go to, say, £12.99 if it had decent extras and DTS HD Master Audio. Too many of these Blu-rays just feature the regular DD5.1 as the DVD :(

All valid comments, which is why I said that you're going to have to be serious about your AV kit to consider this player. That said, if you're planning on investing in a Kuro or similarly high-end screen, the superiority of the DMP-BD50 will make itself evident.

You're right, I forgot to mention operation times, but luckily I can confirm that this is the fastest stand alone HD player of any format that I have used. The menues are well laid out and presented too. I don't think it's quite as speedy as a PS3, but it's not alarmingly slower either.

The lack of Region Free content is anoying, especially since HD DVD discs were all region free.

If your first DVD player cost you £300, you must have bought into the format quite late. First generation players cost around £1,500 and were useless, while the second generation players were around the £800 mark and generally very good.

I think the last DVD player I bought was my Pioneer DV-737, which cost me around £700 back in 1999. It was the first UK player to support component video with a progressive output - I've still got it now and have yet to find a modern player that comes close to it in terms of build quality.

And Mr Pope - shame on you Geoff. For someone who was so obsessive about the superior quality of DTS over AC3, you should be first in line to extol the virtues of a high definition format. Also, which Blu-ray discs are you referring to that only have 5.1-channel AC3 soundtracks? Even relatively early discs like Casino Royale feature uncompressed 5.1-channel PCM, so there's no need to employ a lossless codec of any kind.

Actually, thinking about it, I bought my first DVD player in 2001. It was a Samsung - a great, big thing it was too. I was in my first job earning a minimum wage and I spent three weeks of my earnings on that. I probably wasn't among the very earliest adopters but I do remember that my local Choices (now out of business) had just started selling DVD's so it felt like I was one of the first. It was still early enough that VHS tapes took up most of the rental space in Choices.

Taxi Driver was my very first DVD and I was astounded at how good the picture was. In 2006, I sold that DVD payer for 1p, and I had a lot of memories wrapped up in that thing - it had accompanied me to University and back. Anyway, sorry for going off-topic but thinking about it just triggered a bout of nostalgia off in me.

Riyad, you can't really be serious to suggest that HD DVD was better than Blu-ray *just* because HD DVD had internet connection from day one? The picture in picture feature has been incorporated into Blu-ray Discs and works successfully without a Profile 1.1 player! With 50GB to play with, the studios have a lot more flexibility with the Blu-ray system!

If so, you're on pretty thin ground! At best, internet interactivity is a gimmick, a sideshow from the real important issues of picture and sound quality. I wouldn't suggest all Blu-ray discs so far have been excellent quality, far from it, but I have seen many HD DVD discs that we nothing more than upscaled DVDs. Thankfully, the main culprit, Universal appears to *respect* Blu-ray better and is making a fine job in it's Blu-ray productions. Long may it continue.

All the Blu-ray players from approx late 2007, when prices also came down, have been excellent machines in terms of image and sound quality, although start up times have been an issue.

Both the DMP-BD30 and DMP-BD50 Blu-ray players have redefined the market. As their availability increases their prices will come down further. Sony is also releasing it's direct competition, so the market is hotting up!

On the issue over internet interactivity, I think as well as a gimmick, it's actually a bad thing on a number of counts.

Firstly, it won't be too long, when the studios realise that they can charge for the *extra* content. How long will it be before extras that we take for granted (on our special or standard editions) start to be available through download only? For a fee obviously!

Secondly, there is the issue over the studios prying eyes on our viewing habits! Frankly, I view that as an invasion of privacy - just like spyware on our PCs!

There is also the issue over security. Blu-ray (and HD DVD) players probably have no security. It is possible that players connected to home networks could pick up viruses which by-pass security systems!

As you can gather, my family and I will not be connecting any Blu-ray player to the 'net for the above reasons (and more - I've said enough already)!!