Video Player ReviewsVideo Player Reviews
Sony BDP-S570 Universal Blu-ray Player
- Written by Gabe Lowe and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 20 September 2010
After seeing the debut of the new Sony Blu-ray player lineup at CES this year, I was excited to get a chance to try one out. Taking its place at the top of the non-ES single-disc Blu-ray player lineup, the BDP-S570, boasts WiFi, Netflix, Pandora, and can even be controlled with an iPhone app!
Cambridge Azur 650BD Universal Blu-ray Player
- Written by Chris Eberle and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 26 July 2010
Cambridge Audio is a long-time bearer of high standards in British-made audio and now video products. They have been turning out quality components since 1968. While they are best known for fine yet value-conscious audio offerings, they have recently introduced a new receiver, the Azur 650R and the subject of this review, the Azur 650BD Universal Blu-ray Player.
Yamaha BD-S1065 Blu-ray Player
- Written by Tyler Stripko and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 04 March 2010
The BD-S1065 is one of Yamaha’s most recent Blu-ray models (the other being the BD-S1900), and is also the least expensive model in their lineup. It is not a universal player, instead focusing simply on Blu-ray. Let's see how it performed.
Sony BDP-CX7000ES Blu-ray Player (Mega Changer)
- Written by Chris Eberle and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 24 June 2010
I have always been attracted to the idea of a movie server. The ability to call up a title from an on-screen menu rather that looking through my large bookcase used to be the stuff of science fiction. Of course, so did the idea of putting an entire movie on something the size of a coaster. Fiction is now reality thanks to products like the Sony BDP-CX7000ES.
Marantz UD9004 Universal Blu-ray Player
- Written by Robert Kozel and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 08 February 2010
When I hear the name Marantz, the first thing that comes to mind for me is music. From the 1950’s when Saul Marantz introduced the company’s first preamplifier, Marantz has been creating products which help people enjoy music in their lives. Today they create some of the best high performance audio products available as well as products which are accessible to the average home theater enthusiast. The Marantz UD9004 is their flagship universal disc player and is designed to let you enjoy every conceivable disc in your collection.
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray Player
- Written by Robert Kozel and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 03 May 2010
The BDP-23FD is the least expensive model in Pioneer Elite’s Blu-ray player line-up. The BDP-23FD is not a universal player and puts its primary focus on Blu-ray.
Denon DVD-A1UDCI Universal Blu-ray Player
- Written by Chris Heinonen and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 04 February 2010
My wife often enjoyed making fun of how many optical disc players I had in my AV setup. When it was the most out of control, I had an HD-DVD player, a PS3 for Blu-ray movies, an Oppo Universal DVD player, and a Sony SACD changer for music. While DVD-A and SACD didn't catch on with lots of the public, some of us built up a collection of the titles that we want to be able to listen to, and we would like to avoid having an AV rack full of extra players like I do. Denon's new DVD-A1UDCI Universal Blu-ray player handles every format out there, including Blu-ray, SACD, and DVD-A, outputting the signals digitally through its HDMI port.
Sony BDP-N460 Networked Blu-ray Player
- Written by Kieran Coghlan and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 22 April 2010
“Convergence†is a buzz-word in the consumer electronics industry that we have heard a lot about over the last two years. The idea is that eventually, all our media and information needs will be handled by just one super-appliance in the home. Sony's PS3 was possibly the first significant step toward an off-the-shelf convergence device. Home Theater Personal Computers (HTPCs) are custom built boxes that also approach the convergence ideal.
Panasonic BD-60 Blu-ray Player
- Written by Chris Heinonen and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 26 January 2010
Panasonic has a long tradition of producing well regarded, competitively priced disc players. Many of their DVD players were among the best at producing a 480p image, and at a very reasonable cost. Panasonic was at it again with Blu-ray, being one of the main companies out there with a large line of affordable players for consumers, with some extra features that other companies don't include.
Denon DBP-4010UDCI Universal Blu-ray player
- Written by Robert Kozel and Adrian Wittenberg
- Published on 08 March 2010
Denon has long been a well-respected leader in the disc player market, producing some excellent universal disc players over the years. Just a few years ago, a universal disc player needed to tackle CD, SACD, DVD-Video and DVD-Audio. Today’s disc player must now add Blu-ray to the list in order to claim the title of universal disc player. Such is the case for Denon's new BDP-4010UDCI. Read our review to see how it performs.
OPPO BDP-83SE (Special Edition) and NuForce Edition Universal Blu-ray Players
- Written by John E. Johnson, Jr.
- Published on 25 January 2010
OPPO's BDP-83 Universal Blu-ray Player has been very successful, as it is one of only a few players that will ouput all codecs (CD, DVD-A, SACD, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio) in digital format through an HDMI connection. Now, with the Special Edition of this player, called the BDP-83SE, along with a tweaked version of the SE, called the BDP-83SE NuForce Edition, analog audio performance is improved significantly, and in fact, both players perform like units costing much, much more.
