New Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player will cost $699

Just wanted to come with some additional information.

The unit will not ship with the required 1GB of ram in the machine to fully comply with the BD Live standard. You will have to buy a SD memory card for the unit for the full BD Live experience.

the raping of joe public continues.....

This kind of crap makes me want to really go on a swearing rampage(and I'm not that kind of person). Why do companies keep doing this kind of crap. If they want me to ever buy a blu ray player they gotta get in touch with the public. If this kind of strategy keeps up BD is heading nowhere. I guess they couldn't afford to put the 5 dollar 1gb flash chip on the board, lmao.

That price is nuts but I'm sure you will be able to get it cheaper online when it comes out. Give it a few months and the price will drop.

Man oh man, what is going on here? So this is like a "BD Live CAPABLE" player or something? Is that like an HDTV Monitor that doesn't come with a tuner?

So...................lame..................I really can't believe this. Do they actually enjoy scaring customers away/towards the PS3? It is a good thing HD-DVD had internet feature support 9 months ago. But, I guess Sony bought themselves out of that one. This is just..........I am really at a loss as to this article. Amazing.

EPIC FAIL

Its a shame the BDA wouldn't allow those Chinese manufacturers to make Blu-ray players. The Chinese players would have forced the Big Manufacturers to drop prices. I guess Sony and the other companies are still bitter about losing to Apex.

I think the price is what you can expect for a top-quality machine, and in today's US dollar value (worth less every month ). Back in 1985, I paid $799.95 for a Pioneer LD700 LaserDisc player (Analog Stereo ONLY), and that was mid-80s dollar value.

And remember how expensive DVD players were the first couple of years in the late '90s? And all you got for the high price was a max of 480i (non-progressive) resolution, and S-Video output (no component yet, and DVI/HDMI were years away).

Blu-ray has been available for less than 2 years (July 2006 debut of the original Samsung player), so don't expect top name-brand players to be available at 'bargain' discounted prices...yet. Soon however, there will be players at $399 and under, with one Funai model expected soon for $300 MSRP (or less).



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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Don't get me wrong here. I always buy name brand products like Samsung and Panasonic. I won't buy some Apex/Funai garbage that was made in sweatshops. $799 is a bit much to ask for and its pretty obvious why Laserdisc never took off. $600 for PS3 was a scam. It's like sony once said (and I quote them seriously) "we expect people to work over time to buy a PS3" (hmm now why did that fail???).

There is one big difference here Love.

DVD was not in a similar market. The only competition came from Laserdisc (expensive and geeky for many) and VHS which it had beaten by many lengths in term of ease of use and features.

This is not the case with Blu-ray. It fights DVD which has about the same features and cost a fraction of the price. Yes, Blu has the quality advantage but for many not the night and day difference DVD had over VHS.

It also fights against downloads which can deliver "better than DVD" quality and a connivence factor (rent/download from your favorite chair and instant gratification) that appeal to many movie viewers that are not collectors.

Blu-ray needs to get prices down to the $199 area for a good brand Profile 1.1 player and $299 for a Profile 2.0 player to really take off. Also, movies costing $39.99 or even $44 in SRP is just too much.

Lets hope it happens in the late 2008 and early 2009 timeframe.

[Post edited by Henning on May 6, 2008]

Rangooth, eventually you were able to get some very good quality LaserDisc players for under $500, but not during the mid-1980s when the format was starting to grow a little as home video sales began (VHS/Beta/LDs under $40) - most people had only been renting...

And that Funai player most likely will be well made, according to another report I posted several months back...

> FUNAI '$300' Blu-ray player by Q2 - "The optical head for the unit will be provided by Sony and the core system will be the Matsushita / Panasonic UniPhier chipset."

Also... > OPPO DIGITAL to produce Blu-ray players.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on May 6, 2008]

Thanks Henning... EXCELLENT comments above^

And I hope most of us want to collect the BEST quality - 1080p/24 Hi-Def with superior audio codecs - neither of which is currently capable with downloads, and because of bandwidth limitations (here in the USA) may never be realized. It's here with Blu-ray, and discounts on discs are seen regularly. Plus you can rent them too.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Henning,
Agree.

Henrix,
The general public only cares about convienence. As witnessed by the death of cd.

[Post edited by bladerunner1 on May 6, 2008]

I agree Love H.

My projector demands 1080/24p and my Receiver can't eat anything less than DTS-HD Master audio.

Good quality really gets to be a habit quick.

I would pay $700 for an oppo player right now. Hell I would pay $700 for an oppo CD player.

I have to say it is a bit irritating sometimes to see "elitists" talk about how we should only buy superior quality equipment and use nothing less. That being said, if you have the money, go for it! I however do not, and most likely never will be able to buy the absolute top of the line stuff. I would love to have this BD player, as I am an HD-DVD casualty, but I had to pinch some serious pennies for my a3 and LG LCD 37" set, then went ahead and bit another bullet to get a 40gig PS3 as that was the most affordable and "future-proof" BD player on market, even with the well documented issues with fast movement. Now that I have both formats, I still buy HD-DVD movies at discount and have not found a single BD movie that I would pay full retail for. I would have to agree with those who say that BD is making it difficult for the common man to convert too. Thank God for Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, or I'd have a really expensive and clunky TV web-browser and not much else.

I swear I WANT to love BD, but.....

Quote:
Thank God for Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, or I'd have a really expensive and clunky TV web-browser and not much else.

I'm confused. You bought a PS3 as a Blu-ray player, and don't play Blu-ray movies on it? Because... why again?

Quote:
Henrix,
The general public only cares about convienence. As witnessed by the death of cd.

Sure, it was partially convenience, but the initial tide was turned by Napster and being able to get your music illegally for free. The same will happen if movie downloads that are equal in quality and interactivity happen, which is why studios will ensure that does not happen any time soon.

[Post edited by interplanetaryspy on May 6, 2008]

To SkyHawk,
Because I am simply not paying 40 bucks for a movie on any format. I got my hands on Terminator 1&2 and Predator for around 1/2 price, but was unimpressed with any of the 3. I understand that age, etc. has a lot to do with how a transfer comes out, but still, unimpressed. Most of the movies I want, were actually out on HD-DVD, titles like Transformers, The Thing, Dune, Serenity, and many others that I won't list unless requested. My A3 has given me a better upscaled picture than my PS3, and both Pred and T1 have had noticeable frame rate slowdown/chop in several areas of fast motion (thanks you Sony). I have not watched T2 yet so I can't comment on that one.
Now when The Mist is eventually released on BD, and Iron Man comes out, along with the LoTR trilogy and Narnia and so forth, I'll be first in line to buy on BD. All I am saying is that so far, I have found very few movies that entice me to use my PS3 as a BD player. Oh, and NetFlix can kiss my a$$ if they want me to pay more for BD rentals. Same for BB or any other retailer. In the end it's a friggin movie and it won't matter what format we've watched it in when we're dead :-) Toodles!

loverboy is counting these again:

posters5 doing his best "chodespeak" again... (image^ above)

Oh hey Eddie... still watching your discs on that 2004 Sharp 30-inch 720p LCD TV??

Hmmm... that model is absolutely not capable of viewing 1080p/24 from HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs. Please refrain from trying to comment about Panasonic, 1080p/24, new Blu-ray players, etc, as it reflects poorly on your intellect, when not already on display (like above).

Oh I know, you'll 'sit out' Blu-ray for now, but one day will come around... but we will all have to suffer your anti Blu-ray dribble for quite some time (unfortunately).

I will at least congratulate your buddy Tim on that recent LG dual-format player (HD-DVD/Blu-ray). It's a versatile machine receiving many positive comments, and should provide much HD entertainment on his new Panasonic plasma (another smart purchase). Have you done any upgrading lately Eddie? Or will you just treat us to even more anti-Blu-ray whining?

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

loverboy,

just because i don't own a tv capable of reproducing 1080p/24fps doesn't mean that i'm not aware of what it is and what it looks like. how many of us here own ferraris? probably in the single digits (if any). yet, we all know that a ferrari will win a race against our cars.

again, common sense seems to elude you. it's not "he who spends the most money, wins"--it's "he who doesn't spew salads, wins".

eddie

Ok, so no upgrade yet for you.

And the only "spew" on display here, Eddie, is once again, you enter into 'chode mode' and dump a thread's subject in the trash. The topic is the new Panasonic Blu-ray player (probably the best yet developed), and not images of 'counting your chickens before they hatch'. Man you are becoming so lame... this from the redundant 'master of the obvious' poster!

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

loverboy,

henning helpfully provided information about the bd-50, but then you derailed the thread by writing about how great the machine is--SIGHT UNSEEN. no one here has the bloody product yet, but you immediately decided to champion it as the second coming of blu-ray. therefore, "counting eggs" is an apt way to describe your drooling fanboyism.

eddie

p.s. you know the format's in trouble when the best blu-ray player is still the

[Post edited by posters5 on May 6, 2008]

MegatronLives, you seriously have to expand your horizons. There are officially more Blu-ray disks than HD DVD disks that make me go "WOW" now... mainly because Blu-ray has more movies out now. Funny thing is, I own all the HD DVDs you mentioned and most are pretty darn good.

But watch something like "I Robot" on your PS3 on Blu-ray, and you'll nearly wet your pants. There is some very nice stuff you're missing. Just rent it if you are really anti-Blu-ray.

Eddie the deceiver yet again -

Quote:
"but then you derailed the thread by writing about how great the machine is--SIGHT UNSEEN. no one here has the bloody product yet, but you immediately decided to champion it as the second coming of blu-ray."

Before you started choding again on this thread, please quote from my posts on Pages 1 & 2 where I ever made any reference to the new Panasonic player... "how great the machine is--SIGHT UNSEEN", or more chodespeak here "decided to champion it as the second coming of Blu-ray".

Go ahead and waste your time 'chode posterboy'!

No, you'll find me commenting about the price, about forthcoming cheaper players (Funai), and LaserDisc player prices of the past, about 1080p/24, etc... but NOTHING concerning your 'chode dribble' on display again. Only when your soap opera began (yet again) did I make a comment that it's probably the best developed Blu-ray player yet... WoW - did this set you 'off'?

I really probably should stop wasting my time with you, apparently you're incapable of learning anything regarding BD Hi-Def, and only wish to antagonize - because of long-standing anti-Blu-ray bitterness and conceit.

Forget you being lame - try PATHETIC.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

loverboy,

unless you develop and manufacture blu-ray players, there is no way for you, personally, to know if the bd-50 is indeed the best blu-ray player yet. come on, even you know this, yet you couldn't resist getting on the soap box about something of which you have no knowledge.

eddie

Wow, now you're going around in circles, actually believing your own chode dribble - based on your own chode overreaction - because of your pathetic obsessive nature against those who obviously (hehe) know more advanced data about the player than you do. But that's beside the point, considering your mental behavior on display here... you know, the anti-Blu-ray soap opera you keep ongoing!

So, I think this image (below) is really for you Eddie, ironic huh?


Save more of your 'chodespeak' - it's completely unimpressive.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Now back to the thread's topic...

> More Info & Pics of the new Panasonic BD50 Blu-ray player - from Gizmodo's website



_____________
-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

I cannot believe that so much energy goes into arguing about nothing and getting upset over nothing...

Reminds me of when I was a kid and my brother would start crying because he didn't get any of the imaginary cookie

Yes, agreed. I just finished reading, it was quite entertaining for a morning dump...

Anywho, the 50 looks good. I want read a few reviews, and take it home for a trial run before I decide to buy it. If I like it after my trial, I'll wait for the prices to fall. I'm in no rush to spend $700 on another BR machine. Last time I spent $1000 on a useless POS.

I also like this player, but I find its price is too high. Again, this is the side effect of no direct competition. It is now up to us to either take the higher price or wait until they lower the retail price of the Blue ray players.

Quote:
Last time I spent $1000 on a useless POS.

Yea, ReggieP but it turned out to be a great upconverter.

$700 dollars is too much for this player especially when you can get a PS3 for $400. As much as it pains me to say this but if players stay at these prices, Blu-ray will not catch on more than it already has. It's a shame. Being a long time supporter of the format I think since HDDVD went under Blu-ray got complacent. The BDA a should be happy that the PS3 is here and downloads are a couple of years away because at these prices even I (a long time Blu-ray supporter) would have never gotten into Blu-ray

i say 700 is too much, but then when it comes out.. ill probably get it. if the bd30 comes down once that one is in stores ill get that.

ahh why not.

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on another note.

poster and loverboy sittin' on a tree.................................... .................

Quote:
poster and loverboy sittin' on a tree

LOL

Why bother with this Panny player? The PS3, with its continuous updatability is future-proof and considerably less. The lack of WiFi in the new Panny is the deal-killer for me. I can just hear the "stand alone" supporters now. Begin the flaming, but I'll stick with the George Foreman lean and mean, grillin' machine!

Well, for some the following makes a difference.

- Lack of HD Audio Bitstream output.
- Lack of 5.1/7.1 Analog Audio Out.
- Lack of 100% IR remote support.
- Huge power consumption.
- Form factor.

But all in all it is a great player.

[Post edited by Henning on May 7, 2008]

Oh that's right, Henning...

You're the one who said/posted that the PS3 wasn't the best BD player out there, huh?

Your points are taken.

For the most part, I like Panny products. I guess for me the biggest killer isn't the price (I don't mind spending coin) it's the lack of WiFi.

[Post edited by wolfen on May 7, 2008]

I like Panasonic products also but apparently they can't grill a mean steak like the PS3's do!

I have a big dislike for Sony but I'll be getting the PS3 soon enough and yes it will be for bluray. I'll be getting Socom 4 and Star Wars: Force Unleashed also

[Post edited by Falcon01 on May 7, 2008]

Quote:
You're the one who said/posted that the PS3 wasn't the best BD player out there, huh?

Yes, but not the best doesn't mean bad. Far from it.

I really hope they will include HD Bitstream output in a future upgrade. It has HDMI 1.3A so it should be possible.