Panasonic Blu-ray Player DMP-BD30K

Pros: I purchased this as a gift and after seeing it in action i will purchase another for myself. Plug it in and it just works like things are suppost to.

Cons: none

Pros: Following up my otherwise-disgruntled review......

I decided to promptly follow up on this folly with Newegg customer service and (legitimately) put them to the test. They must be tasked terribly, as I had to wait 10-15 min to reach a rep. Immediately, they sought to correct the problem by RMA'ing for an immediate exchange, which was profound.

Skipping a great amount of detail;

Agreeing with my assertion regarding this lapse in otherwise stellar service, Newegg went ABOVE AND BEYOND to retain my loyalty as a longtime Newegg customer! Love you Newegg! Customer service like this is how we stay in business!!! Happy Holidays!!!

Cons: see my previous review

Other Thoughts: Now when all of this is over, I will give a technical review that will be "useful". Thanks.

Pros: Great image, great sound, intuitive remote and nice looking machine.

Cons: None really. I haven't had a chance to use a PS3 and when I bought this unit it was about double the price it is now and obviously doesn't play games.

Pros: Excellent picture and sound! Looks fantastic on my new HDTV.

Cons: None

Pros: Has all the modern capabilities including java enabled discs. Picture to a Panasonic 50" 1080p display is pure perfection! Easy to update firmware for new capabilities... just download on PC, burn to CD, and put the CD in the player.

Cons: Audio on some Blu-Ray discs, particularly Disney movies like "Cars", is screwy... as in all center channel and background music is very faint. It could be the codec used by Disney rather than the player, however.

Other Thoughts: Overall it has been a great experience other than the audio not being quite right on some movies. I just wish more movies would become available on Blu-Ray!

Pros: Great! Works perfect, looks fantastic, load times are negligable! Blu Ray rocks

Cons: takes a little while to power up...I dont know if its clearing memory or what, but thats about the only fault, and really its nothing to worry about, maybe a minute from when you press the power button till its ready to play

Pros: plays blu-ray movies for a decent overall price. load times are fairly fast. blu-ray takes longer to read than dvd, so the times are going to be somewhat longer, but still not too bad all-in-all. turning on the player will typically turn on my s@ms*ng receiver and tv after about 8 seconds which is actually pretty nice as well.

Cons: had some video issues at first with the picture basically turning red, it would be like the red was ramped up big time. all i'd have to do would be to turn the player off then back on and it was fixed. didn't update the firmware, but i haven't had the problem for a while now. also, i feel like my 360's hd-dvd drive up-converts better, but seeing i got the rrod the day before i got this, i can't completely compare. there are gray side-bars for 4:3 aspect ratio videos, which i don't like, wish i could change them to black.

Other Thoughts: all in all, i'm very happy with this player and would recommend it to anyone. 1080p is amazing. also has a nifty menu for viewing pics on an sd card. as of right now, the only thing i wished it did was up-convert a big better, but hey, i can live with it, plus i think i'm spoiled with 1080p. cars looks flatout amazing! 4 stars cause of the gray sides in 4:3 and the up-convert. but don't hold back if you want a blu-ray player, this is a good one!

Pros: An excellent player. looks as good or better than any BD player, and technical tests prove it. Upconverted DVD is very good. Loads faster than any player out there that I tried, even if it takes 20 seconds to start, much better than 2 minutes or more on other players. For those concerned with firmware updates, take 5 minutes to go on Panasonic's website that contains excellent instructions even for a novice, check your rev level, and burn a 5 cent CD with the latest firmware. Drop the cd in the player, follow the directions, and the upgrade is done in a minute or 2. I prefer this over an ethernet setup that some newer players have because I don't have to bring the player to a cable, or run a cable to the player. Controls are great!!

Cons: The $500 I paid for it, and you can get it now from Newegg for $340!! Oh yeah, and include a nice HDMI cable!!

Pros: Much quicker to boot up and quicker to actually get a Blu-Ray disc playing than the other Blu-Ray player I own, a Sony BDP-S300. The Sony takes 45 seconds from the time you push the eject button (with power off) until the disc tray door opens. The DMP-BD30 does it in 20 seconds. To actually get "National Treasure 2" to read the disc and get to the first menu took the Sony an incredible two minutes and seven seconds... the Panasonic did it in 34 seconds.

Cons: Ten years from now we will laugh at the idea of paying this much for a Blu-Ray player, and also at the idea of waiting 20 seconds from the time you push eject until the machine boots up and opens up the disc tray.

Other Thoughts: The Panasonic is very responsive when you push buttons on the remote control. Again, using "National Treasure" as an example, if you are accessing the disc menu and you simply push the up arrow on the Sony BDP-S300, you will see the menu selection move up on your screen a second or two after pushing the button. On the Panasonic, it is instantaneous.

Pros: As stated in my first review, it is the best bang for the bucks.

The firmware issue was corrected once I got a good Technician to finally send the DVD.

Cons: Updated: None

Other Thoughts: It could be a little faster loading, but when it comes to patience to watch a quality movie via Blu-Ray... it's worth the wait. Go grab a beer and enjoy the ride.