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Jonah
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 Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:47 pm |
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Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:51 pm
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I thinking of getting a Blue-Ray player. What should I be looking for? What connections should I be looking for? And what the hell do the all do?
I've got an LG 37" HD 1080p TV, a Virgin Media V+HD Box, DVD player (which will be replaced by the Blu-Ray player) and a Panasonic video recorder which I want to keep.
Budget £150-£170 maximum but being a tight-wad I'd prefer to spend less.
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MacOS10
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:55 pm |
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Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:24 pm
Posts: 2189
Location: Manchester
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Can't really advise on the blueray player itself, but...
Do you have a spare HDMI port on the back of the TV? If so, then that's probably all you need, a good quality HDMI cable - don't let Curry's/Comet convince you to buy an £80 cable, you can get a decent quality one for much less than £20 if you shop around.
Are you planning on connecting up a sound system to the Blueray player, or are the TV's built-in speakers good enough?
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Jonah
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:57 pm |
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Yeah there are two HDMI ports on the TV. Not even given a thought to a sound system so that's a "no" at the moment.
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Future-Echoes
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 11:44 pm |
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Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:50 pm
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Location: Essex, UK
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Any Blu-ray player will do. They'll all have an HDMI port which is all you need.
Check this out. I've got a similar model and I've not had any problems.
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andymac
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Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 11:20 am |
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:26 pm
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Location: Deeside, Scotland
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This is the Sony player that I mentioned in another post - can be fully controlled from your iPhone & iPad. Also has BBC iPlayer built in & a pretty quick start up time for BluRay discs (believe me, this makes a difference !).
You can pick this player up quite cheap at the likes of Richer Sounds etc (£120).
Andy
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mooblie
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Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:23 pm |
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Location: The Scottish Highlands
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Jonah
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Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:28 pm |
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I started a new thread because I wanted to know what all the connections are for. I asked the question in my original post so I can understand better and make a more educated choice.
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Juz
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:31 pm |
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:14 pm
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Location: Suffolk
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Does your Dvd player record? If it does is it a function you will need? I realise you have the V+HD for recording but you might use a DVD recorder for sharing/archiving content? There are Blueray recorders but they're quite expensive so bear your needs in mind. You have a 1080P TV so make sure any Blueray player can upscale standard DVD's to that level. As I mentioned on the other post the Blueray standard is continuously evolving so the players need to be capable of being upgraded/updated to get the full benefit of the extras available on the latest discs. Any Blueray player will come with an HDMI output which you should use to connect to your TV. Not sure what your plans/feelings concerning surround sound are but things to consider :- Audio outputs on a player will often include standard stereo phono ( normally red & white plugs/sockets), Digital optical (for surround) and Digital coaxial (again for surround). Where surround is concerned coaxial will give better quality. Both will convey any surround source (5.1, 7.1 etc) to a receiver/amp. If you have a 7.1 disc playing in 7.1 capable player which is only connected to a 5.1 capable receiver/amp don't worry as the receiver/amp should be able to down mix the signal to 5.1 IMHO for a highish average budget I would be looking at Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba. In that order. There are always plenty of reviews on tinternet. Samsung reviews can be quite mixed by model whereas Sony and Pani are generally good whatever the model. I hope I haven't gone OTT Chris, or that I'm teaching you to suck eggs  . Over the years I've researched loads of this crap had there's plenty more where that lot came from if you need more. I'm only too happy to help if you need more info/help with specifics. 
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Jonah
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:46 pm |
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My DVD player is just that, it only plays as its probably about 8 years old.
At the moment I'm not too bothered about any sound system but would like the opportunity to connect one if I changed my mind. So I take it that it would be best to get a BR player with the audio outputs on it then?
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Juz
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:01 pm |
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:14 pm
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Location: Suffolk
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