Blu Ray Players

Gray

FH is my second home
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I've been in the market for a few weeks looking at Blu Ray players, i'm aware that they have the wireless and also the basic ones, so i figured that i should really look into getting a wi-fi enabled Blu Ray Player should one arise.

Initially i had my eye on the LG BD570 Blu Ray Player but it was a little bit more expensive than i really wanted to shell out. Today however on the Amazon Black Friday promotions, i seen what seemed to be an excellent Blu Ray player, turned out that came in at the same price as the one above, except seemed much better. Sony BDP-S570B 3D Blu Ray Player but since i didn't get it, i cared not for it.

While searching some more, i seen another LG model, however this one didn't have WiFi built in, instead you needed to purchase the WiFi Dongle as an additional extra for it to become activated. The LG BD650 Blu Ray Player was cheap, and almost perfect, except then i seen you needed the dongle for it, which therefor would have made it on-par with the BD570, so there was no point.

I will likely end up choosing the BD650 because its cheap, and it's also in my local Asda store. But the question i need answering before i do this is, i won't be using the WiFi dongle for it, therefor wireless is out of the question.

I thought the only way i could stream movies from my internet to the blu ray player would alternatively have to be done through an ethernet cable. A very large ethernet cable. Again, this was ruled out because it wasn't practical - It swayed me back in the direction of getting a WiFi enabled blu ray player.

But no, i was told that with the new technology, it's perfectly acceptable to use HDMI cabling from your TV to your blu ray player - and it would work.

Colour me confused - But how is this possible? Is it lies? Or will the blu ray player merely "piggy back" on the connection of my Virgin Media V+ box, meaning it can stream movies through that instead?
 

Zenith.UK

Part of the furniture
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No. Each HD device has it's own HDMI lead. Your TV should have a number of HDMI sockets, and there should be an option through your remote to switch video sources. My personal example:
HDMI1 = Sky HD box
HDMI2 = PS3
HDMI3 = laptop
HDMI4 = (spare)

The alternative is to use an AV receiver to receive all the multiple HD sources, and output through one HDMI cable to the TV. I'm looking at this option because the receiver is usually a multi-speaker sound system as well.
 

Gray

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Yeah my TV has 3 HDMI sockets, one taken up by the Virgin Media V+ box, the second and third are empty at the moment - But one will have the blu ray player eventually.

But basically then, internet access cannot be fed through to the blu ray player in this manner, it would have to be ethernet or wifi?
 

Gray

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I see how they mean it works now, so i set my hopes on getting the LG BD570, but hit another spanner in the works - LG Blu Ray can't stream LoveFilm, because LG have their own Netcast service, and LoveFilm use Sony Blu Rays... Which are even more expensive if you want built in WiFi.

How disappointing overall.
 

Gray

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Well i hear the XBox dashboard will be updated in a few days to allow LoveFilm, but the Xbox won't be going downstairs. Plus i've never really had any interest in Playstations, would be wasted buying one purely for the Blu Ray.

Probably think about it tomorrow, but i guess the only option would be to perhaps buy one of the WiFi ready Sony's and then buy the dongle, but £60-70 is just... Outlandish.
 

ECA

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120gb PS3 is like £190, ( hell 320gb is 200 on offers atm ) it has love film, iplayer, 4od, skyplayer, etc, as well as streaming capability +wifi +ethernet.

Why would it be a waste for that?
 

Ch3tan

I aer teh win!!
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ECA is right. The ps3 fits the price and capability requirements (it beats them in fact).
 

old.user4556

Has a sexy sister. I am also a Bodhi wannabee.
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I would be looking at a PS3 if wireless / steaming / on-demand / BD player were your requirements.

For what it's worth, Lovefilm on the PS3 is utterly fucking AIDS with CJD on it. The interface is awful, the bitrate and quality is unbearable and the selection is pretty wank.
 

Zenith.UK

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Sorry to jump on the bandwagon, but a PS3 is a good overall media choice.
My main uses, in order, are:
1) Streaming videos from my PC
2) Bluray movies
3) Online streaming (iplayer, ITVplayer etc)
4) Games

If your phone is up to it, you can grab iMediaShare from the Android market and stream direct from your phone over wifi.
I use PS3 Media Server on the PC to transcode and stream video and music on the fly.
 

Ch3tan

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Also there are some massively impressive bundles around now. £200 quid for a 320gb ps3 plus two games and a bluray.
 

Gray

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Was bored in work so was looking at some possibilities, one mention from yesterday was using powerline adapters which create a network through house.

Amazed at how technology has progressed.

But because of this, wireless isn't priority. The main reason i didn't want non-WiFi was because i didnt want to trail the ethernet cable through the house, but it seems that these power adapters work like a charm.

It means i can pretty much go for a lower end Sony Blu Ray Player and then spend the extra £30 on the plugs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-BDPS18...VJKS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322330211&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322330241&sr=1-1

All in all just short of £100 then.
 

DaGaffer

Down With That Sorta Thing
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Don't buy any hardware in the UK on the basis of LoveFilm, or any other PC VOD service. They're all shite. They'll probably get better over time, but at the moment the rights landscape in the UK is a joke (Sky have a lock on the whole first run movie market). As for best BluRay player, another vote for PS3 here.
 

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