Hands-on with LG's BD300 Netflix Blu-ray player

The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Player will be released in the fall.

(Credit: LG)

When it's released in the fall, the LG BD300 will be the first Blu-ray player that will also have access to Netflix's online Watch Now library of streaming movies. But thanks to LG's sneak preview of the product (at its Manhattan press event last night), we have a pretty good idea of what we'll be getting when it hits stores in a few months.

Netflix functionality on the BD300 is identical to that of the Roku Player.

(Credit: LG)

The Netflix functionality is, not surprisingly, effectively identical to that of the standalone Roku Netflix Player: load up the "Instant" queue on your Netflix account, pair the LG player to your account, and begin watching any of those movies or TV shows over your home's broadband Internet connection. Any Netflix subscribers with the $8.99 per month plan (one disc at a time) or better is eligible for unlimited streaming. The online library of 12,000 or so titles--while far expanded from the original offerings--is still dwarfed by the overall Netflix library of more than 100,000 titles. That said, the beauty of the Netflix system is that you can always have a stack of DVDs--or Blu-rays--checked out as well.

The BD300's home screen lets you access Netflix movies, DVD/Blu-ray discs, and digital music and photos.

(Credit: LG)

The Netflix function is just one feature accessed by hitting the "home" button on the remote. Other network-friendly features include music and photo streaming--presumably from networked PCs or flash drives plugged into the front-panel USB port. On the Blu-ray front, the BD300 will be fully Profile 2.0 compliant, so it will be able to access the online and interactive BD-Live features that will be becoming more prevalent in Blu-ray discs. Bonus View (picture-in-picture commentaries and special features) will also be supported. Beyond a mention of "Dolby TrueHD support" on LG's spec sheet, audio details weren't specified, so we don't know how--or whether--the BD300 will handle DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.

The BD300 will be LG's first Blu-ray player since the BH200, a combo player whose arrival on the market was essentially negated by HD DVD's death spiral. Still, if LG has managed to fix the few annoyances that hampered that model's Blu-ray playback, the BD300 could have some real potential. That said, the "under $500" price will need to get closer to $400. Even with the added niceties of Netflix and media streaming, the LG player will need to beat the combined $500 price tag of a PS3 (with Blu-ray, media streaming, and games) and the aforementioned Roku Netflix box. Likewise, both the PS3 and Roku box offer Wi-Fi connectivity, while the LG BD300 is Ethernet only.

CNET will have a full review of the LG BD300 as soon as it becomes available.

[lawgone]

Why are electronics makers SO completely clueless? This would be a great product except for the Ethernet only. What are they thinking? How many people have an Ethernet jack in the wall where their primary TV is? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[gbelk08]

I could not agree more. When I first heard of the concept, it seemed like the best of both worlds. Not to mention with LG quality. But no wifi just killed the deal.

You're right: "WHAT ARE THEY THINKING??"

[powellph]

Seems to me that LG is relying on the vast majority of users who have a router installed within reach of the home theater environment (I know I do), which is a reasonable assumption, inasmuch as they'll almost certainly have a couple free Ethernet ports available on the router.

I don't imagine they expect ANYONE to run Ethernet from a wall jack (present hardware solutions excepted)!

[nwavguy]

Netflix is claiming "near DVD quality" for the 12,000 movies they're offering. Many home WiFi set-ups have serious issues dealing with that kind of bandwidth and large quantities of data. I suspect LG didn't want the support nightmare of people trying to use the player over WiFi and having a lousy WiFi signal, security issues (WEP/WPA/etc.), interference, etc. Yeah it can work, but the average joe is likely to have problems.

[kb8622]

the 40gb PS3 is $400, which is still one of the cheapest Blu-ray players out there and is future-proof. i still think Downloadable movies and games will not become mainstream until all major ISP get rid of their download limit and charges for going over that limit. my ISP just started charging people for going over their limit in June, thankfully my limit is 95GB a month, but I'm also paying more then i would like to. It would be enough for downloading 720P movies a few times a month, but downloading 1080P movies, and games is never going to happen 'till the limit is gone, as one PS3 game could use up 1/8 to 1/2 of my monthly limit

[powellph]

The new 80Gb PS3 makes it an even greater value, features notwithstanding, for the same $399 price as the current 40Gb version!

I'm sitting on the fence until the reviews for the LG start appearing before I make a decision. It's too bad that the new 80Gb PS3 doesn't support PS2 games like the previous 80Gb version does. Since I don't expect to use it much for PS3 games (maybe for the online stuff), support for PS2 games would have been an important value-added feature. As it is I'll be comparing Blu-Ray performance, distinguishing hardware features, if any (excluding BD-Live and BonusView, both of which each provides), firmware update convenience (I already know how seamless the PS3 makes this by instant updates through the Internet!).

Let's hope the next generations of Streaming Netflix hardware gets the WiFi dilemma resolved!

[kiegokong]

You could always move somewhere that has no limits on theres. I can download as much as I want and they don't charge me a penny. I don't think I've ever managed to pass more than 200gigs in a month though. Do you really like where you live that much? Rental stores have started going out of business lately because business keeps shrinking.

[powellph]

Seems to me that LG is relying on the vast majority of users who have a router installed within the home theater area (I know I do), which is a reasonable assumption, inasmuch as they'll almost certainly have a couple free Ethernet ports available on the router. I don't imagine they expect ANYONE to run Ethernet from a wall jack!

[powellph]

Let me apologize for the appearance of this post in at least two forms in three places herein. I could not find a way to at least remove this version, why was meant to be a reply - not a new comment. Where it appears elsewhere is how it was meant to apper. Again, my apologies!

[powellph]

Seems to me that LG is relying on the vast majority of users who have a router installed within the home theater area (I know I do), which is a reasonable assumption, inasmuch as they'll almost certainly have a couple free Ethernet ports available on the router. I don't imagine they expect ANYONE to run Ethernet from a wall jack!

And how exactly are PS3 and XBox users who are NOT connecting to the Internet through WiFi doing it? Not to mention Netflix users who are already streaming the admittedly anemic library of videos available through their routers (I again include myself).

[ev61]

well, with something like Sling Media's Slinglink Turbo, you can create your own wired ethernet port wherever you have a standard wall electrical plug. Connect one to your router with an ethernet cable, plug it into the wall, then plug the other in near your tv and run an ethernet cable into the LG BD300 and you are set with a wired connection!

[powellph]

This can be a elegant solution for short(ER) Ethernet cable runs, but it still relies on the router. If the cable has to be run between the router and the LG BD300 anyway, why not do a straight cable run between the two, without the addad expense, or am I missing something obvious here??

[mhuleatte]

I got a lot of grief from"others" when I insisted on ethernet wiring throughout my new house, including the walls where there might be a tv. I feel pretty smart now!

[bpaskin]

For those complaining about not having an ethernet switch in the home theater area, buy a switch and an ethernet bridge or access point. I have all my electronics hooked up to the switch, which was $10, and the switch is hooked up to the ethernet bridge. The bridge then streams wirelessly to the router. The same can be done by having an access point and change the mode to bridge mode.

[dragonj74]

amen to that, netgear makes a fool proof bridge that plugs into the router. piece o cake.

[tbl1800]

The wife wondered why we spent money on it, but we have an ethernet jack in our family room where our main TV is. When the house was built I planned ahead and had one installed there, in the game room, the office, and all the bedrooms. I wanted to be able to network without needing a wireless router and to be able to accomodate any future media-related products that would require internet connectivity and tie into the TVs. Looks like we planned correctly.

[Huge28]

More details about LG's BD300 Netflix Blu-ray Disk player can be found here: http://www.lgusa.com/bluray

[techfan_08]

**Super doooper cool!

[sbartelski]

I am soooo glad that I had ethernet run to my media room (and all other rooms) when my house was built. So no whining about WiFi, this looks my Christmas present to myself.

[AllennellA]

Got one... LOVE IT! The load times are much faster -- hardly notice the load time (blu-rays take time to load) -- and the image quality (for standard DVDs) was far superior than the Sharp (close out model) I returned to get this one. You can get a wireless thing for $100(?) I moved my router -- something I'd planned to do anyway. Another 'gotcha' To use BD-Live (DVD internet stuff) you will need to plug in a thumb drive so it has memory to work with. It has a USB port in the front to make it easy to look at vacation pics. I haven't seen any BD-Live content worth looking at... yet! I'm hoping they will start using it for movie previews and other short-format stuff. Typical content now is an un-fun trivia game.

[deansquishman]

Anybody out there know how well this might work with a DSL versus a Roadrunner modem---I' hoping that this blu ray is of such a quality that it would make any connection type (except dial up of course) look great on my tv

[LGbd300sux]

I got my first BD300 on November 17. The BluRay DVDs play beautifully, but I bought it specifically for the Netflix streaming video. I wasted my entire Thanksgiving holiday trying to get it to recognize it was plugged into the network. Of course, this included massive doses of Tech Support HELL!

Nobody at LG - whenever they got around to responding - could figure out the problem so they decided it must be defective. I replaced it AND the router. Same problem.

LG's Tech Support response is the WORST I have EVER experienced - and much of it occurred before the Mumbai terror attack, so they can't blame it on that.

Has anybody else had this problem?

[ron773]

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.

Thoughts?

[aleocara]

Can Play MKV Video??