LG BD300 Network Blu ray Disc Player

Introducing the world’s first Network Blu-ray Disc Player that streams from Neflix instantly. Enjoy Blu-ray Discs in Full HD, watch standard DVDs in near-HD up-scaled to 1080p, gain access to over 12,000 select Netflix movies and TV episodes in standard definitions and take advantage of interactive experiences, exclusive downloads and tons of extra features with BD Live. That’s innovation. That’s LG.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Works great with Netflix!
I got this for Christmas 2008. Almost returned it until I read further along in these reviews. I could NOT get it to update and that is MANDATORY before it will go online to Netflix. I downloaded them manually and did the upgrade by USB flash drive thinking that would fix the network problem. It didn’t. So I read in here that the box has problems with DIR-655 router and the latest firmware on it. So the solution is to manually set a static IP on your network and assign a DNS server that is outside the router like the ISP’s. Once I did that Netflix came right up. Tried an HD stream and it was gorgeous. I could almost think it was OTA HD broadcast quality. Now I have to admit that when there is a lot of movement in the picture I can detect a slight lagging of frames. I’d rather it not be there but still it isn’t so bad as to make it a problem for me. The convenience of Netflix on demand is so nice as to make me think if the streaming version is available I wouldn’t bother to even rent the DVD version. I wish all titles were available. Even so, there is a tremendous amount available now.

As to Bluray playback I’ve only tried two titles so far. As expected they are incredible and almost 3D. Having less than perfect eyesight though it isn’t as big a “wow” factor as instant Netflix streaming.

Final verdict: Highly recommended.

4 Stars Great for Blu-Ray but missing WiFi and Netflix is not great
The quality of the Blu-Ray disks are great when played back and have played regular DVD’s and they are much improved over our older player. As with most any Blu-Ray, you will notice not only the improvement in video but was not expecting such a dramtic increase in sound.

I wish we could be more flexible in placement of the unit, but are stuck getting it close to the router as it needs an ethernet connection.

Also the Netflix movies that stream are very poor in quality, they tend to stop and buffer and are not much better than analog TV. I would expect that this is all based on internet connection speed, but since there is no buffering and just live streaming slow downs are very annoying.

5 Stars USB Functionality?
I would be interested to hear from any BD300 owners regarding the functionality of the USB port and Media files.

Some of the LG press releases I’ve seen clearly state that media files (d-pix, MP3/music, and VIDEO) can be played from an attached USB drive… though they state FLASH/thumb-drives.

I’d be interested in knowing if the VIDEO part is true, and (if anyone’s willing to experiment) what common CODEC’s and file types are supported… such as DVD “ISO” files, MPG2 video, VOB, DivX or XviD, MKV, etc.

I’d like to think the Engineers (or more likely, Marketing guys who drive the Engineering departments) were thinking at least a LITTLE bit when it was being designed. I have hoped to find a BD player that can play full resolution “rips” of my BD and DVD discs. I would use an external multi-TB USB drive array, sitting near the player. This way I can leave the original disc nearly “untouched” in my library (already have over 250 DVD’s), needed only if/when the USB drive dies or if I want to use the movie off-site.

Comments?

4 Stars Good Player, But Need More Netflix Programming
I had been tempted to order this player for quite a while, but the price and the limited availability of Netflix titles kept holding me back. Just in time for my birthday, however, the price dropped so I received the BD300 as a gift.

Overall, I like the simplicity of the unit. Pop in a DVD or CD and you are automatically taken to those features. If there’s no disc in the player, the easy on-screen menu lands on the Netflix streaming option. Click on it and you are presented with a list of the Netflix programs that you dropped in your queue (through a web browser on your computer). Just click on one to start the program.

The blu-ray playback is very good, but I wanted this unit for the Netflix streaming. Quality on that feature is good, about what you’d get with a VHS tape. I see a lot of promise with this feature but am absolutely frustrated with the limited number of streaming programs available. For instance, I’m watching the first season of MacGyver through streaming, but as I write this, the other seasons are not available through the streaming option. I have to order the DVDs.

In fact, very little of the Netflix library is available for instant play. I’m guessing maybe about 1% is. Most annoying. And, I would hope in future versions (if there are any) that there is some feature that allows browsing available programs from the unit. Currently, you have to go to the Netflix web site on your computer to select programs.

So, it’s a good blu-ray player for the money, but be prepared to be disappointed with Netflix as far as program availability for the streaming feature.

3 Stars “loading, please wait”
The good: network connection, solid audio (w/ fiber audio output), good video output w/ Blu-ray movies. Network connection makes firmware/software upgrades easy! USB port, I believe to add storage space (and to use for playing music/video via USB).

The bad: Netflix didn’t stream very well. Blu-ray Live did not work.

I had high hopes for this unit. My first dip into Blu-ray – I was lured in by the promise of playing Netflix on the thing. “Loading, Please Wait” and “retrieving” are the two most common things shown when trying to stream Netflix. I have this directly connected to my router with an Ethernet cable and my Internet connection is ~10Mbps.

What’s RIDICULOUSLY annoying is the length of time it takes to actually begin playing something from Netflix. It’ll start retrieving video at one quality and then start again when it detects the Internet speed has changed. Ultimately, you can wait up to 3 minutes before you get to see something. What’s just as annoying is when it continuously readjusts the quality in the middle of a movie or episode. Also, I’ve played about 5-6 things from Netflix so far and one episode’s audio was totally out of sync (about a 2-second lag).

If you’re purchasing this item and plan on using the Netflix streaming capabilities, you’ll need to be extremely patient! If it hones in on a mid-range video quality, the streaming appears to do well (at VHS quality levels).

Also, the Blu-ray Live didn’t work on the one disc that I tried (not enough disk space error).

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Samsung BD P2500 1080p Blu ray Disc Player

The ultimate interactive experience is here. The Samsung BD-P2500 is BD-Live 2.0 Ready so you can enjoy special interactive features, download extra content from the internet and more. You’ll also enjoy bold color and crisp details with full 1080p resolution. Movie night just got even more exciting with the highest-quality audio and an incredible picture.Get ready for the ultimate interactive film experience. The Samsung BD-P2500 lets you take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie.You’re in full command with the BD-P2500. Anynet+ delivers streamlined, one-touch control over all your Anynet+ compatible devices such as the TV, AV receiver, and home theater. You can operate all of them with a single remote control. A true “plug and play” product, it comes with a Consumer Electronics Control feature that lets you operate Samsung HDMI products with one remote control.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent player for the money
I’ll keep this brief as there’s plenty of detail in others’ posts. Bought this player about a month ago and so far I’ve been more than satisfied.

As mentioned by a lot of people, the video quality for BR discs as well as standard DVDs (upscaling) is exceptional. I use it on a fairly old Sony Grand Vega 42″ LCD HDTV with no HDMI capability – so I’m limited to 1080i (with component video) – but it still blows me away, especially older DVDs. For instance, I’ve compared the standard “Planet Earth” DVDs that I have with someone else’s Blu-Ray version (using HDMI etc…) and can barely see any difference.

Haven’t used the Netflix feature or gone online yet but very happy so far. I haven’t seen any slow load times so far either.

4 Stars Yes, I bought this one.
I bought this player for the bedroom and it’s fine. I have this as the only stand alone and a Playstation 3 (better value, but a pain) as the player in the home theater. I like this player and give it 4 stars. Only 4 because of the trouble with the 2 year old Philips plasma and HDMI issue. I’m pretty happy with the quality of the Netflix download service on a 42″ screen. Falls apart in dark and high motion like most MPEG downloads.

While I’ve got your attention, let’s get a few things straight:

1. Blu Ray is slow.

2. Blu Ray is very sensitive to dust,scratches, and fingerprints.

3. Your BluRay player may not play all BluRay discs. Sorry if you opened it before figuring this out.

4. If you have a TV that suuports HDMI but not BluRay, you may have to use Component cables. You did know that HDMI was cooked up for digital rights management, not quality, right? Apple had to have something to do with it . . .

5. The online update works fine on mine but takes forever. By forever I mean 10-15 minutes. This is on a internet connection that’s fast enough to not buffer video.

6. You can’t tell it’s in High Def on anything less than 50″.

7. They haven’t found a good use for BDLive(The internet tie in).

5 Stars Great Picture, Best Choice for Netflix Subscibers
This is a great machine at a great price for those looking to update to Blu-Ray and have Netflix. You need an USB wifi adapter or ethernet cable to update the firmware and use the Netflix features. Yes, it’s a pain to hook up initially (my firmware update took over an hour to download and install), but I couldn’t be happier now. Just be patient.

1) Blu-Ray discs look amazing – as they probably do with all players

2) DVD’s look unbelievable. Great upscaling!

3) Sound quality on movies is great , but you can’t expect everything from one machine. Audio CD’s and Audio DVD’s are pretty bad. I have a NAD cd-player also hooked up into my Denon receiver and the sound quality is not close to the sound on the Samsung. Music is important to me and this machine is NOT GOOD FOR AUDIO.

*AUDIO SIDE NOTE – If you like listening to music, spend $150-$300 and get yourself a Denon DCN-370 (5-disc changer, about $275) or any of the NAD CD Players (T-215BEE’s can be had for $150-$200).

4) NETFLIX is really, really fun. Much better quality video than on my laptop hooked up to the same internet connection. HD movies are DVD quality, normal movies are a little worse than DVD. It was easier to set-up and use than described by a lot of people and had a one-time set-up with the netflix website. The future of TV is right in front of our eyes.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

4 Stars Definitely worth the money if you have a Netflix subscription…
Although this is is my first Blu-ray player, the main reason why I purchased this was for Netflix streaming, which already being an avid Netflix lover, makes me love it even more. Being a huge film buff, always searching for new films/TV, this player is great because you can never run out of things to watch!

Although a lot of people have commented on the lengthy load time, it doesn’t seem to bother me, nor does the fact you have to add Netflix selections to your add instantly queue from your computer. I also think that the quality of regular DVDs is enhanced a bit on this player and I like the feature of it shutting off automatically after standing idol for a while because I’ve heard of these blu-ray/netflix players burning out (more specifically in the LG version, not the Samsung). Also, the pause/rewind/fastforward/resumeplay is a great feature on the watch instantly selections. Having all these films/TV shows at your fingertips is like owning them, at least for the period that they’re offered as watch instantly, plus Netflix is ALWAYS adding more stuff to watch, so it’s very difficult to run out of watching something new everyday.

The reasons why I rated this 4 stars and not 5 are:

- On some of the Netflix options, the syncing doesn’t match up. It may not bother some people, but I can’t watch something when the sound is a few seconds behind the picture.

- The first time I installed the firmware, it took over an hour, which was very discouraging seeing how excited I was to see how the player worked. It turns out that the system froze and being the first time it was ever used, made me a little weary, but it worked after rebooting and I haven’t had a firmware problem since.

- On certain Blu-rays, the sound is a little off. For instance, on Wall-e, the music was really loud compared to everything else and you couldn’t hear anything that Wall-e was saying. I messed with the sound options on the player and nothing seemed to work. I don’t think this problem, however, is the player’s fault seeing that I don’t have and HD tv nor do I have surround sound. I think this problem could be easily fixed with these things, which I am planning to get in the near future, but am pleased the Netflix and regular DVD player worked, for the most part, without them.

Overall, I’m so pleased with this player, and although it’s a little more pricey, it’s refreshing being able to watch something new everyday with Netflix streaming, play your DVDs, your Blu-rays (and more!) for just the price of this player and a Netflix subscription. Highly recommended!!

4 Stars Good Unit
I would recommend the BDP2500 because of the netflix compatability. The feature which allows you to instantly stream to your tv from netflix through the BD player is fantastic. And I haven’t compared first hand to other players, but the picture quality of BD’s and regular dvd’s(upconverted) seems to be very good.

Buy/More Info

TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder

TiVo HD is a smart addition to any high-definition TV, combining the clarity of high definition with the smart, easy-to-use TiVo Service. It works with any cable set-up. It connects to any home network, so you get access to the best of both broadcast and broadband content. It downloads the latest movies straight from the Internet to your living room. It can pause, rewind, and slow-motion your favorite moments with razor-sharp HD clarity. Plus, TiVo HD connects to virtually any cable service via CableCARDs1, so it replaces your existing cable box.

TiVo HD Features
Search for HD movies and sports: With our intelligent search features, you can easily find a specific director, actor, player, or team among the world of both broadcast and broadband content. Prefer to see a movie in high definition? Do a WishListTM search and the TiVo service will automatically record the HD version and place it in your Now Playing List.

Record movies in HD: When recording with TiVo HD, you have the option of capturing shows in standard or high definition. Plus, when you play them back, you can easily pause or rewind HD instant replays without ever sacrificing their original razor-sharp HD resolution.

Download movies from the Internet: Don’t see any great movies in your cable program guide? You can easily select a classic or new release from the world’s largest movie library, order them with a click of your remote control, and have them downloaded directly to your TiVo box.

Access your music library with the remote: When you connect your TiVo DVR to your home network, your HDTV can connect right to millions of songs and playlists available over the Internet. You can now enjoy digital music on the best sound system in the house.

Schedule an HD premiere: With TiVo, you can do your TV scheduling from any computer when you are away from home. Log onto TiVo.com, click on a show, and you’re done.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good integration of home network, internet, and TV
I bought a refurb unit direct from Tivo with a one year subscription and the HDMI cable. It works great with my antenna only connection to my HDTV and a Cat5 wire from my router which I recommend for a fast internet connection.

The advantages over my old vcr are amazing since I could not find reliable TV guides on the web. The Tivo’s subcription price is well worth the advantage of the accurate schedule guide information for TV and internet video’s. I am finding more free antenna programming that I knew existed. The ease of recording one or a “season’s” supply of a program is such a joy.

Then I downloaded the Tivo “Desktop” (free) software which allows you to put nearly any photo and music files from your computer on your TV screen. This works so well that I later purchased the “Desktop Plus” version that adds video transfer. However I had to find a conversion program to mp4 for video files that are jpeg from my Cannon camera. With my wireless wifi laptop connection in my home it is so nice to throw any picture or video from my computer on the TV screen for the family to watch.

I must admit that I initially had problems getting the Tivo “Desktop” software to connect until I reset my Linksys WRT54G wireless router back to the original firmware. Then it connected via plug ‘n play with no special settings.

Tivo does connect direct to photo sharing web sites from Picasa and Photobucket. If others send you pictures on these photo services then you can view them easily on your TV. But if they use other photo services, most of them don’t allow batch downloading to photo files; I haven’t found a way to get their pictures on the TV via Tivo. I hope Tivo can add many more photo services soon.

The next big advantage is the Tivo internet connection to Netflix and Amazon Unbox for movies. I’ve used both and the picture quality and sound is as good as the average rental DVD. I tend to use my $8.95/mo Netflix subscription the most since I can download an unlimited number of movies (at no additional charge) for “instant watch” via the Tivo. With Netflix I select many more movies even if I’m unsure that I saw it before, or I can take more chances on unknown films since I can delete and move on to the next movie in a minute.

Also there are a bunch of internet video programs that Tivo can connect to for special interests and you can schedule them for download just like TV programs. I expect this will expand greatly in the future.

The “365″ web radio programs was a disappointment since I like talk shows and none of my favorite national talk shows are available. I was hoping to listen to past shows on demand.

5 Stars Tivo- best DVR on the market… by far!
Tivo is leagues above your cable provider’s DVR box. It is really the little things that make Tivo better, a lot of little things. First off you have the great looking interface and audio feedback. The menu system is a pleasure to navigate compared to your cable provider’s DVR box. The TV Guide in Tivo is a great design providing the next 2 weeks of shows, updated nightly, to your screen. You can hook up your home computer to Tivo and have it play your home videos, pictures and music library and play them on your home theater system. Once you connect Tivo to the web, you get many more goodies such as Netflix “Instant Watch” movie downloads (if you are a Netflix member), you can browse for movie show times in your local area and buy movie tickets through Fandango. You can browse YouTube and watch the videos right on your TV. You can even order pizza off of your Tivo Series III. Another great feature is when you are going to record a live sporting event, Tivo will ask you if you want to add extra time to the recording so that you won’t miss the very end and you can record an unexpected overtime. Tivo has an 8 second jump back feature that works instantly without hesitation even when pressed multiple times. It has a jump forward 30 seconds feature to help skip annoying commercials. You can record non-copyrighted TV and movies and have them transferred to your home computer and converted then put on your iPod with Tivo To Go. You can also increase the hard drive size by connecting an eSATA external hard drive so you can store more gigabytes of HD movies and HD TV. You can’t go wrong with a Tivo Series III.

5 Stars TiVo Review
The TiVo was very difficult to set up. Took several hours and 2 trips to the store to pick up cables that didn’t come with the order… also, it should have come with at least 1 yr free service!

3 Stars Good for Tivo, but the OLD Tivo OS is frustrating
This is a good Tivo, but it is frustrating that Tivo preistalles ancient versions of their OS on these systems. I had to go through TWO upgrades over slow dial up lines before I could get the wireless option to show up. This is just silly. But once it is installed and running, this is a nice system.

5 Stars and now it works with Netflix? w00t!
Now TIVO can tie into your Netflix instant queue and stream movies directly to your TV!!!

I sent my Moxi DIVO (Dumb-TIVO) right back to the cable company in trade for a multi-stream cable card and never looked back.

Pros:

Tivo tapes things while I sleep!

Picture quality is great

records two channels at once

Works with Amazon UnBox and now Netflix!

Why would anyone watch live TV anymore?

Cons:

One drawback is that cable on-demand and pay-per-view won’t work with a cable card.

Your cable company will blame TIVO for any problems with your service.

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