 Great Bang for your buck |
| Review Date: March 5, 2010 |
| Reviewer: A.M.Boughey, Rochester, MN |
UPDATE - July 2010
New features added to Network
Tageschau - Daily News feed in German
Pandora - Internet Radio
Fox Sports - Coming Soon
Twitter - Coming Soon
5 Stars sounds really generous, but for the money this is a GREAT Network ready BDP.
This is the third network BDP I have set up and used, I recently reviewed the Samsung BD-P1590 - Blu-Ray disc player - upscaling - Netflix, Pandora against which (for similar money) this is a far superior machine. I also think the picture quality and upscaling for SD DVD's in much better than the similar priced LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player
Running several Blu-Ray movies for testing, including BD live enabled content, boot times were very fast. The quick set up guide asks you about this and explains that it uses more power in standby mode, but it's worth it for very quick loading.
Blu Ray looks SUPERB - Panasonic web site says (PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus is a high quality image-processing technology developed to precisely process each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the vertical direction) Sounds geeky, but the picture is great at both 1080i and 1080p. By default the 24fps is set to off, but if you have a home set up that supports it, it's easy to switch back.
SD Card slot, and USB interface great for home pictures, movies and photo's, very easy to use. Nicely tucked away under a discreet panel in the front so no fiddling among the back wires.
Out of the box set up for networking took me about 15 minutes.
Very easy on screen instruction, easy to use remote, and set up can be either set to easy mode, or you can revisit the main menu at any time for finer adjustments on audio, video output, resolution and aspect ratio etc.
The more involved set up options are however a little limited if you are used to close to pro tweaking on high end visual and audio equipment. But then again, this is an entry level kind of priced machine.
What do you get for network? The VIERA system is a breeze, nice graphics, menu screen and options.
I hard wired mine to the back Ethernet port with a Cat6 cable - Cat5 works without a problem, but for streaming (especially HD content) the Cat6 made the Netflix signal bar light up to HD most of the time.
It is wireless ready. You can use a USB dongle (takes some tweaking) or better still a Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gaming and Video Adapter. What's nice is that(unlike Samsung) you don't have to buy a special adapter.
My preference would always be to hard line, but if that's not an option, and you must have wireless (assuming you have boat loads of bandwidth) you can buy an adapter, or pay $80 more and buy it's big brother the Panasonic DMP-BD85 WiFi Enabled Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
Whats on the Network?
1)Netflix - unlimited free streaming movies (a lot in HD if your connection is good enough) documentaries, and TV shows from their "Watch Instantly" library, if you are a current subscriber of at least their $8.99 plan - free trial available.
2)Amazon on Demand - Bags of movies and content to rent, buy, or even view free webisodes, trailers, documentaries and so on. Not a huge thing for me personally as I like Netflix, but very nice to have. Simply activate online at Amazon and you're there - very easy on screen user friendly menus.
3)Blomberg - Sort of on screen RSS feed with stocks, bonds and news headlines. Nice to have but not essential.
4) Weather forecast, enter your zip code and set to default, or store multiple sites across the US for up to date weather news and information. Again, not something I need but nice to have.
5)Picasa Web albums - share pictures with friends and family, look at your own, and other albums on your TV. Nice feature.
6)You Tube - browse, or log into your account online
7)Coming Soon?? - Your guess is as good as mine, could be for VUDU or something else, at least they are thinking ahead, and have the settings already started.
What you don't get.....
1)Pandora - a quirky to use online streaming internet radio site that's free with a lot of music. Doesn't float my boat either, I don't like radio sites that choose my music based on a song, or an artist - there are over 30,000 online internet radio stations that are free, Pandora doesn't let you search any particular station in any part of the World, just their selections on what they think you like.
2) Blockbuster Online - unless you have an account and use the in store returns on DVD and Blu stick with Netflix, their watch instantly movies are free with membership.
3)VUDU - next generation 1080p streaming to rent and buy, this would have been nice to have, but I can live without it for now. Amazon more than makes up for it as far as I'm concerned.
4) Any others I may have forgotten about (I'm sure there are more out there)
Sum up
PROS
Excellent value for money
Looks sleek, discreet and runs quickly AND quietly (unlike some BDP's)
Very easy to Set Up - VIERA interface for online content is great.
Superior BD playback picture and sound quality - just when you thought it couldn't get better
Great upscaling, best I've seen on a machine of this price or on any machine without a REON chipset.
USB, SD slots on front convenient and discreet
Optional "wireless ready"
Nice Remote
CONS
No 3D - even if the content isn't there yet on BD live, you know it's coming. Only the Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray Disc Player in this price range is equipped. This would have been nice
No onboard memory - BD live requires a USB or SD, but that's the same for most machines
No VUDU on networking - not a deal breaker, but may be for some.
Bottom line.................Great machine if you want to get into network and streaming movies. Quality and everything else for the price is unbeatable. |
Outstanding Player in all Respects
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| Review Date: March 13, 2010 |
| Reviewer: The Great Oz, Atlanta, GA USA |
I purchased this player primarily to have access to Netflix streaming video. The Netflix playback quality is outstanding, surpassing that of standard DVD. I must note, however, that I have a 12000 baud Internet connection from AT&T U-Verse. Lesser connection speeds will naturally mean a lesser quality picture.
Setup was very easy and the remote is simple to navigate.
Contrary to another reviewer who gave the unit only one star because of an alleged failure to remember playback position when the STOP button is depressed, pressing the stop button does memorize the stopped position allowing resumption of playback at the point where the disc was stopped (see user manual page 16), except for BD-J discs. The reviewer may have pressed the STOP button more than once which clears the memory.
With the addition of Netflix streaming, Panasonic is the clear leader in Blu-ray players, dollar for dollar. |
BD65 is a nice balance of value and features for a networked BluRay Player
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| Review Date: June 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: bsg2004, |
The Panasonic BD-65 is is a great bang-for-the-buck networked BluRay player, balancing features and price quite nicely. Let me start with a couple of related-hacks that may help you make the most out of it, and new features added on June 7, 2010...
Hacks
=====
You can have two new playback features by picking up a remote control from other Panasonic DVD players that have CM SKIP (jumps forward one-minute with each press) and QUICK REPLAY (jumps back 10 seconds with each press). I am doing this with the remote control of the Panasonic DVD-S29 DVD player, and I am guessing it should work with a lot of other Panasonic models.
The remote hack also solves a usability issue with the remote control of the BD65 - the arrow buttons are surrounded by the TOPMENU, POP UP MENU and FUNCTION MENU buttons. It's so easy to press those instead of the arrows when you are not looking at the remote and you may find yourself jumping through menus and getting irritated. The remote of the S29 DVD player has a nice four-arrow design, so I am often using that for arrow presses. A lot of the other remote functions/signals are interoperable.
If you try other Panasonic remotes, keep in mind that Panasonic has three different remote codes which you can change on the devices and the remote itself, and both have to be using the same code (1,2 or 3) in order to communicate.
New features added on June 7, 2010
==================================
Panasonic updated the VieraCast service on June 7 and they added two new services, Pandora and German-language news channel Tagesschau. They also added "Coming Soon" boxes for Twitter and Fox Sports, and have three pages of boxes, half of them with empty with Coming-Soon.
The Settings have now moved to the third screen and they have added an option to Customize the HomeScreen, and move the different services around - for example, put the ones you use the most on the first page. The customize HomeScreen is surprisingly nicely done.
I was prompted to update to firmware 1.23 on a couple of days earlier in order to get these features. I have not tested them with older firmware versions.
Unboxing
========
The BD65 box includes the BD65 itself, the remote control, two Panasonic brand alkaline AA batteries, the AC cable and yellow-red-white RCA cables for people with older TVs. Also included is a 44-page Operating Instructions guide. PDF version on the Panasonic website.
Set Up
======
Set up was easy. I connected an HDMI cable to the TV and I am using wired internet, connecting it just like a laptop. It easily and quickly found the internets and got setup without issues.
Firmware update
===============
One of the first thing the device wanted to do was to check for firmware updates. It comes with version 1.0.4 out of the box. After it connected to the internets, it picked up and installed version 1.23. The download part includes a progress part, but the installation part is like an appliance - it shows a "do not turn off" screen while the firmware update is in progress. It doesn't take long to finish.
I haven't used this with the out-of-the-box firmware, so I can't really compare them.
Disc playback
=============
It plays Avatar BluRay without problems. BluRay has more data than standard DVD, so loading takes time as annoying as that may be from a consumer perspective, since we expect newer technologies to be faster. I haven't measured loading times and such. Standard DVDs load right away as expected. I also played back DVD-RAM (VR), and finalized DVD-R. As expected it does not play unfinalized DVD-R (just as the user manual states).
The BD-65 can multitask, for example you can load/unload discs while in Viera Cast without any interruptions.
Network Services - with Internet connection
===========================================
One quick tip before you dive in the menus - you may want to turn off the Navigation Beeps through the Settings. They are extremely irritating! As of June 7, 2010 it has the following networked services up and running:
1. Netflix - it picks up movies from your Instant Queue, and if you add movies to your Queue with your computer while browsing Viera Cast, the updates show up almost right away. If watching an episode in a TV series, it remembers where you left off, even in-between sessions. Setup of Netflix is easy - assuming you already have a Netflix account - you initiate it on the BD-65, it gives you an activation code, you go to the website shown on your computer and enter the activation code and they get linked. I haven't done detailed quality tests. I am getting all minus three bars in the Netflix connection quality bar. This requires a Netflix account.
2. Amazon Video On Demand - You initiate Setup on the BD-65, you are given a code, then go to the Amazon site on your computer, enter the magic code and set things up. You can also create a PIN, so you can order new movies from the BD-65 itself, so you don't have to go to a computer. The Amazon Video On Demand Beta lets you search the Amazon listings and also view your View Library. It may sound strange to say this, but the navigation through the BD-65 is better than the Amazon Video Library navigation on an actual computer! Even if you don't want to buy anything, you still get free trailers and Amazon usually has a few free videos or sample TV episodes available if you check their Video On Demand page.
3. YouTube - you can view featured and popular videos, in a side-box or full-screen, or you can search for videos with keywords using the on-screen keyboard. It's slow to type that way, but it's not that bad if you are not looking for a specific video with a long name. You can also login to your YouTube/Google account and see your Favorites, Subscriptions, Playlists and MyVideos.
4. Picasa - you can view featured photos, search with the on-screen keyboard, or login to your account.
5. Bloomberg - shows stock updates from various markets around the world, such as the Most Active stocks and Movers, the ten latest market headlines with a summary (no detailed articles). You can also look up stock prices using the on-screen keyboard but the prices are 15-minute delayed. No registration or setup.
6. Pandora - it requires a free Pandora account. You initiate the activation on the BD-65, then go on a computer and link it through the internets just like Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. You can link up to seven Pandora accounts and pick which one to play. When you go into Pandora playback, you have the Quick Mix option and also favorite-bands radio. You can also create a station through the BD-65 (red button in bottom row of remote) and enter the name with the on-screen keyboard.
7. Weather Reports - you can pick various favorite cities around the world, or you can search by zipcode. It remembers your favorite, and you can decide which one is shown as the default. Very handy. No registration or setup.
8. Tagesschau - German-speaking news channel. You pick which video clips you want to watch, similar to YouTube. Great if you speak German or you are trying to learn German.
SD memory card slot
===================
You can put the SD memory card in the slot and close the compartment, so it doesn't collect dust! The front display reminds you have a card in as the "SD" light turns on. |
Panasonic + Netflix = 100% superb
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| Review Date: April 5, 2010 |
| Reviewer: S. Smith, West Chester, Pa United States |
This unit has exceeded all expectations. I bought this unit to view content from Netflix. The BluRay, DVD, Cd player aspect was the secondary purpose. Thus, my review is weighted 65% to Netflix performance and 35% the other features.
[Netflix] Only one word covers this: superb! Continuous HD quality. Resolution, colors, textures, movement, audio, etc... all are 100% superb and perfect. The controls are extremely responsive, which is a real treat after dealing with cable on demand the past few years. During playback, pause and play are instantaneous; like lightening.
[Streaming FF and Reverse] Time lapse is displayed in minutes, which is refreshing. After FF/Rev, you may have to pause for 2 seconds for content delivery to continue. So, if you hunt and peck for a spot more than 3 times, that will be frustrating. But, it is very responsive overall with very cool display features while you are using the FF and Reverse.
The onscreen Netflix Queue ops were also superb. You will still need your computer to manage your Queue but with this player you can rate, delete, and view your INSTANT entries. You also get a graphic of the dvd cover and a summary of the movie while you are scrolling through your queue. One feature I really liked is how TV series are handled; ei: one queue entry represents and gives drill down into say all 14 episodes of a TV series: very efficient and smart.
[Remote Control] It seems allot of thought went into the remote control. It will take a few times of use to become accustomed to it as some buttons stand out more than others. It is small, well balanced, and no thrills but effective. Also, while using Netflix, become accustomed to using the back or return button. Upon initially going to Netflix, there is a pause for the queue to load into memory. I have over 450 movies in my instant queue and the queue load time is about 5 seconds. So, if you go too far, you wait 5 seconds, then another 5 seconds, etc... I learned to use the back button after a few 5 second pauses ;-) Also, a nice feature, when you press stop and then resume a film later, playback resumes where you left off. This works even after shutting the unit off.
[BluRay/DVD/Cd] DVD/BluRay performance was excellent and boot up time was the fastest I've ever seen. The colors are rich as you would expect from a well built player. The 5.1 etc audio is identical to every other DVD player I've ever owned. One note, you cannot play a data/non video DVDs containing VOB, Avi, Divx, etc... type files. I was disappointed in this aspect but it wasn't a deal breaker for me.
[Network] Network setup was a breeze. I have a complex firewall finally tuned for high security. I was expecting a real wrestling match here. But, this device auto configured in no time. From the time I plugged it in to the time I was watching Netflix was literally under 5 minutes without reading the manual. I use a DHCP server on the firewall which made the auto configuration a breeze. My Network is setup to perfection. I use Fast Ethernet (10/100) devices with cat 6 wiring. To date, Netflix streams 100% HD!!!!!
Side note: this will not work out of the box as a wifi device. But, this is the main reason I choose this unit: I do not use nor do I want wifi in my house. If you want wifi, there is a separate accessory you have to buy. Also, there is a higher end model with wifi built in.
[Other features] Make sure to set your city as your default for the weather channel. I didn't think I would use the weather, but it is very useful. To me, youtube and Picasso almost put me to sleep. The additional features (usb/sd) were tested and work as expected. Also, the stock market screen is pretty cool too.
[Other Streaming: Amazon] I love Amazon. However, at $2.99 to watch 1 episode of a tv show, I will not be giving them much business... They have a great selection though, and the service works great through this unit.
[Other Streaming: network] This is a sore point for me: you cannot stream dvd content from a usb drive nor a network server... Research reveals these features are available in non US markets on this identical unit.
[Bottom line] I would highly recommend this unit if you desire Netflix streaming with a superb BluRay/DVD player attached. |
Solid performance at a reasonable price
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| Review Date: March 31, 2010 |
| Reviewer: E. Jorgensen, UT United States |
This is a good piece of gear, all in all, and i have very few complaints about it.
All current blu-ray players have about the same picture quality when playing blu-ray content. The quality of a blu-ray player thus comes down to how well it plays DVDs, how easy it is to actually own and use, and how well the other features built into the player actually work.
I used to have a blu-ray player that was designed to win design awards and to replace a home theater PC. That much more expensive device failed on both points, and wasn't very good at playing DVD content.
The DVD playback on the DMP-BD65 is among the best I've seen.
Aside from that, it's a simple no-nonsense device. It's small and light with a power button on one end and an eject button on the other, and a little door opens to reveal a USB port and SD card slot.
The remote control is above average. The buttons that are used the most are the largest, which is to say that the navigation cluster is easy to use. It can also control power and volume for both a TV and a home theater receiver.
The netflix client is almost as good as you'd find on the Roku N1000. The picture quality for netflix streams is very good, and that application as a whole seems stable and reliable - and unfortunately not all blu-ray players with netflix streaming clients can make that claim.
There are just a few quibbles.
1: If you need it to connect to a wireless network, at this time it appears (and panasonic is claiming) that you can only use Panasonic's usb wireless adapter - which doesn't come with it, and may be hard to find. This is better than nothing, but if you need wifi, plan for this and include it in your cost considerations - it may turn out that you'd be better off buying the DMP-BD85 if you need wifi connectivity. This didn't bother me - I have ethernet wired to the AV rack.
2: It is very easy to accidentally exit the top level menu. When you've done this, you end up looking at a pretty blue logo screen until you find the right button on the remote to return to the top level menu, getting scolded every time you guess wrong. This serves no purpose and i view it as a stupid programming oversight. It simply shouldn't be possible to go from the main menu to a screen that does nothing.
3: It turns out that the same button used to free you from the logo screen can be substituted for the 'stop' button while playing blu-ray content - and it's right next to the navigation cluster on the remote. Since most blu-ray titles these days are BD-J and thus can't be resumed unless you have used the pop-up menu to set a bookmark, it can't resume playback at the point where you left. Pressing the 'stop' button does the same thing, but that's what 'stop' is supposed to do.
And for that matter, pressing 'stop' while watching BD-J titles should probably pause the video and display a dialog asking the user to confirm that they want to stop, and probably mention that they should use the pop-up menu to set a bookmark if they will want to resume. This is a complaint i have about BD-J in general, not any particular device.
All in all, I think Panasonic set acheivable goals for this player, and succeeded in delivering on them. |
Great Blu-ray player that exceeds my old one
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| Review Date: July 29, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Rodriguez, Austin, TX USA |
This is my second blu-ray player. My Sony S350 died after only 21 months of use and about 50+ blu-rays and 100+ dvd's. I was pretty disappointed with that track record, so I opted for a Panasonic this time.
On setup, it loaded MUCH faster than my Sony did. Power on was a matter of seconds. Setup took about 30 seconds at most.
There is a quicker boot time option, but it uses up more energy.
The remote is much smaller, which is preferred to the rather large remote Sony had. The menu is really easy to navigate for me. I can automatically choose from disc, sd, usb, or Internet apps right at startup.
Setup is much easier to navigate than the Sony.
I put in a DVD to begin with and I was less than impressed by it's up-conversion. After looking at the manual, I was able to use USER settings to alter the settings a bit and back to SETUP to set the resolution to the highest ( 1080P/1080i/720P depending on your set ). Huge improvement after that.
It upconverts better than my Sony did. After an hour of use I had a weird cut out on the HDMI signal. Resumed in 2 seconds, though. May be my TV.
Next, I put in a Blu-Ray. Looked the exact same as the Sony. Perhaps a little bit sharper, but mostly the same. I was testing it with Shutter Island. Then I put in Monsters vs. Aliens and amped up the user settings and activated 24p. NOW, it looks better. I'd say a noticeable improvement over the old Sony.
Tried the SD card, and was able to load pictures rather quick. Unable to play video, though. Have not tried the USB connection yet.
Internet setup I used a wired connection over At&T Uverse. Connected in seconds. Netflix picture is not quite as good as my Roku, but barely noticable in picture quality. Roku is still better and completely wireless. I'll rarely use the Net on the blu-ray unless my Roku dies. Youtube is sort of fun.
The audio is vastly improved over my Sony. There is a dialogue enhancer and a night surround which even with headphones make s difference. We have little kids, so it's important to have good sound without a large system.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed. It's an upgrade from my Sony and loads pretty much any discs I throw at
it: BD, DVD, CD, DV-R, DV-RW, SD.
It's also much quieter than my old Sony S350. Less heat too. Sony lost me, I'm sticking with Panasonic from now on.
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Best Bang For The Buck
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| Review Date: March 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Scott, Orlando, FL USA |
| Netflix HD, Amazon Video On Demand in HD. This is the first player I've seen that has BOTH of these great services! The bluray performance is top notch and FAST! I put Gladiator in and it looked just as good if not better than my old dvd player did, the dvd upconversion worked excellent! The 24p mode works great as there was no artifacts or interlaced frames sneaking their way on screen. My one complaint is Panasonic only included a set of composite cables (red, white, yellow), for a bluray player meant to view high definition why couldn't they include a HDMI cable? This player is worth five stars....but the packaging from Electronics Expo deserves 1 star. All they did was slap a ups label on the box from panasonic. Which when delivered the box had dents surrounding it and a hole in the box, almost like the ups guys took turns kicking it! Luckily the player was undamaged. Electronics Expo should package their products before they ship with either styrofoam or air cushion inserts. |
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