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).
