(Credit:
Panasonic)
Over the past several weeks, we've noticed that our favorite standalone Blu-ray player to date, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, seems almost impossible to find. The player is either out of stock at nearly every retailer, or priced at excessive premiums ($700 at Amazon Marketplace--more than double its $299 MSRP).
Indeed, a Panasonic rep we contacted confirmed that the DMP-BD35 has been discontinued. (The same is presumably true for its big brother, the DMP-BD55.) The good news is that it will soon be replaced by the Panasonic DMP-BD60, which offers a nearly identical spec sheet plus the addition of Viera Cast (support for online media services such as YouTube and Amazon Video On Demand). The bad news? The BD60 isn't due until April. That means prospective Panasonic fans either have to wait, or scour eBay for deals on the hard-to-find BD35.
If neither of those are appealing to you, there are plenty of recommendable alternatives from Sony, Samsung, and LG.
We've been hard on standalone Blu-ray players from the start. At first, they were astronomically priced, while HD DVD was able to deliver much of the same performance for less. Then HD DVD dropped out, but the PlayStation 3 was able to offer great Blu-ray playback, plus media streaming and high-def gaming for the same price or less than standalones. And lately we've seen some standalone Blu-ray players priced significantly less than the PS3, like the Insignia NS-BRDVD and Philips BD7200, but their image quality performance isn't quite as good as we'd like.
The Panasonic DMP-BD35 finally escapes the conventional wisdom against standalones. We put it head-to-head with the PS3 in image-quality tests, and it performed nearly identically, which is to say Blu-ray, movies looked fantastic. The DMP-BD35 also has all the key features we look for, including Profile 2.0 support and onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. To wrap it all up, it carries a list price of $300, which is $100 less than the PS3. All this adds up to the best value in standalone Blu-ray players today, and that's why the DMP-BD35 receives our Editors' Choice award--the first we've given to a Blu-ray player.
Panasonic's DMP-BD35 Blu-ray player: is $400 low enough?
(Credit: Panasonic)When Panasonic announced its two new Blu-ray players in early September--the DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55--the press release was long on features but mum on pricing. Now Video Business (via The Digital Bits) is reporting that the BD35 will retail for $400 and the step-up BD55 will cost $500. (Except for the latter model's analog 7.1-channel audio outputs, the players--both of which will boast cutting-edge Profile 2.0/BD-Live capability--are largely the same.)
By comparison, the older Panasonic DMP-BD50 retails for around $600. The new models are said to deliver improved video quality, faster disc-loading times, and lower power consumption, but otherwise they'll be very similar to the previous models. Considering that the BD50 is currently the top-rated standalone (that is, non-PlayStation) Blu-ray player on CNET, that's hardly a bad thing.
When we contacted Panasonic for confirmation of the Video Business story, the company representative stated that "the price has not been set yet," and that it won't be confirmed until October (which is when the players are scheduled to hit stores). A quick Google search indicates that they don't yet appear available for pre-order, either. Assuming the leaked prices are correct, though, we'd say they're still about $100 too high. With the PS3 still looming large over the Blu-ray market--and the whipsawing economic landscape encouraging belt-tightening all around--standalone players need to be heading far south of the PS3's $400 price tag in order to effectively compete with Sony's do-it-all game console, which is still a great deal. With older and no-name players already retailing below the $250 mark, we're guessing Panasonic will get there sooner or later. In the meantime, we'll let you know when the company officially prices these models.
Rumors of new Panasonic Blu-ray players have been kicking around for weeks, but now it's official. Panasonic has announced two new Blu-ray players at CEDIA, the DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55, which look to be mostly a refinement of the cutting-edge DMP-BD50 that was released this spring. There is no pricing or release dates yet, but let's take a look at the major features of these new players.
Panasonic DMP-BD35
Key features of the Panasonic DMP-BD35:
- Blu-ray Profile 2.0
- Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as bitstream output
- Blu-ray and DVD playback at 24 frames per second
- Ethernet port for firmware and content
- Deep Color and x.v.Color support
- SDHC card slot
Panasonic DMP-BD55
Key step-up features of the Panasonic DMP-BD55:
- 7.1 multichannel analog outputs
- High-end internal audio components
The DMP-BD35 looks to have a pretty solid feature set. Profile 2.0 support means you'll be able to take advantage of BD-Live features available on some newer Blu-ray discs, and onboard decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio means you'll be able to take advantage of both high resolution soundtrack formats with any HDMI-capable receiver. This model seems to be pretty close to the DMP-BD50 in terms of features, but we're hoping it sports a price tag under $400.
While the step-up features on the DMP-BD55 look pretty minor, we're happy to see this kind of product differentiation on Blu-ray players. The majority of home theater fans don't need 7.1 analog outputs--and can opt for the cheaper DMP-BD35--while the few people that do need it can opt for the more expensive DMP-BD55. Of course, we'll also be interested to see if there are any performance differences between these two players, and we're hoping for improved DVD performance from players, as the DMP-BD50's DVD playback had room for improvement.
On Sale Now: $135.95 - $247.71
View the latest prices for Panasonic DMP-BD35
On Sale Now: $799.99
View the latest prices for Panasonic DMP-BD55
Will the DMP-BD50 be replaced at Cedia?
Cedia is still a couple of weeks away, but a few rumors are starting to trickle out about what will be announced at the show.
According to Blu-ray.com (which is not the official Blu-ray site), both Yamaha and Panasonic will be announcing new Blu-ray players. Yamaha will reportedly be rolling out the S2900, which will be a Profile 1.1 player and looks to only support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in bitstream format. There's no price yet, but we have to imagine it will be relatively affordable given the spec sheet.
For Panasonic, the rumor is that the company will be releasing two new Blu-ray players, the DMP-BD35 and the DMP-BD55. Both of these players will be Profile 2.0-compatible, and the DMP-BD55 is adding 7.1 analog outputs and vibration-reducing isolation feet to its feature set. With that information, we imagine Panasonic will position the DMP-BD35 as the "everyman's Blu-ray player," while the DMP-BD55 will be targeted to home theater enthusiasts willing to pay extra for some additional bells and whistles.
While we're not surprised that Yamaha is looking to get into the Blu-ray game, it is surprising that Panasonic would be rolling out two new players shortly after the release of the Panasonic DMP-BD50. The DMP-BD50 always seems to be in short supply at online retailers, so perhaps these new models will have expanded distribution to ramp up for the holiday season.
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