Panasonic DMP-BD30K 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player by Panasonic
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Digital camera reviews of Panasonic DMP-BD30K 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
Digital camera Review: A Credit to Camp Blue
Summary: 4 Stars
Being a relative novice to hi-def video, as well as format neutral, it's hard to review this type of product without dragging compared products in, but I'll try. I can say right off that Panasonic has taken the sting out of the higher price of Blu-Ray players with a good offering of features you won't find in the, um, more reasonably priced choice. Not the least of which is performance. After a bit of research, I went with Panasonic due to positive reviews and how I feel about the Panasonic name, which has been associated largely with video, unlike other manufacturers who try to spread themselves across a wider variety of products. It was a good call on my part, as things turned out. Startup is quick, around 15 seconds, and disc loading is snappy as well. Setup is quick and easy, and you have a choice for audio output of either optical or coaxial.
Other nice features of this player include variety of media: You can play not only standard music CDs (a given) but also MP3 discs. That's a lot of continuous music if you have your files burned to DVD. You can also view JPG digital photos from both disc and SD cards ... one almost frivolous feature allows you to run a slide show with music using both SD and CD functions. You can also view full resolution home HD video saved to SD; I don't have that type of camcorder yet, but it does take home video viewing to a whole new level.
One drawback that keeps this unit from being perfect, though not a biggie for me at this early stage, is no ethernet connectability for firmware upgrading. This means you have to download and burn upgrades to disc, and it's set up exclusively for Windows; being a Mac user, this kind of leaves me out in the cold. I did not encounter this problem with the other player. Though I have to say, this machine performs so smoothly right out of the box, the adage "if it works, don't fix it" is appropriate. Remember, high definition video players are more like computers, and if you insert a data file, especially one that's supposed to upgrade the machine, and it wasn't formatted properly to the disc, it could mean a trip to the service center.
For many of us with a large library of accumulated titles, upconversion is the bottom line/dealmaker. Some (not all) HD televisions have a built-in Zoom setting; my lower echelon model doesn't. Fortunately, the BD30K has its own zoom setting, which does a great job with letterboxed widescreen titles, filling the whole screen as opposed to merely stretching it horizontally, a weakness of earlier players.
Note: When I first wrote this review, the format wars were still raging away, and there was more comparison to HD-DVD players, which is now no longer relevant. I've revised the review accordingly, gotten a lot of use out of the unit since, and can honestly say I am still very satisfied with this purchase and the flexibility it offers, as well something should for the price I originally paid (about $500 retail), which has come down since. Panasonic does offer firmware upgrades you can download from their site, to stay updated with newer features available on some Blu-Ray titles. The link to updates is:
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/support/Video/Blu-ray-Disc-Players/model.DMP-BD30K#
Digital camera Review: A Good Entry Level Blu-Ray Player
Summary: 4 Stars
Purchased this unit in January '08 when the writing was on the wall for the blu-ray / HD war. I've been wanting a high def player for some time to complement the technology of 57" 1080P DLP Mitsubishi set. The prices finally dropped. Spent $400 shipped for this unit through an Amazon affiliate.
The firmware needed updating out of the box, but it was not a big deal to burn the disc, which uploaded properly into the player. The player is 1.1 compliant and upgradable through cd-rom, but it does not have an ethernet port, which I'm told will somewhat limit it's upgradability.
The load and play time on this dvd player is much better than what has been reported on first generation blu-ray players, but expect it to be slower than traditional dvd players. In short, it's bearable.
Picture and sound quality are excellent. There have been some tech threads discussing a loss of a couple decibels of sound via HDMI, but my sound currently runs through a digital optical cable without issue. Upconverting of non-HD films is better than the panasonic model that this player replaced. It's my opinion that the quality of the film itself really makes a big difference in how well the movie upconverts.
If you are looking for so called true HD sound, which is only available on some dvd's, be forwarned that this player does not decode it, it merely sends it on to the receiver for decoding. In other words, you'll need a receiver that can decode this high level audio format if you want the very best audio. This will probably be my next investment.
Overall, I'm pleased with the player. I'm sure prices will continue to drop and next generation players will offer improved performance and enhanced features, but I expect there will be some good values on this player as it is phased out. User reviews of this model are generally favorable.
Digital camera Review: A point of contention
Summary: 2 Stars
I think its fair to offer my experience with the 30K. I bought my 30K in Nov 07 when it first was released directly from Panasonic Direct. The player started having serious problems playing BR disks by the second disk. I called Pan's support and they tried to get me upgrade the firmware. Well I did that and it didn't help at all so they had me send it an authorized repair shop half way across the country.
(I was already a little annoyed since effectively they send me a defective unit, they should have ship me a new one and had me ship mine back to them and taken the repair on their shoulders.)
Then I had to jump through hoops to prove that this was all authorized within the first 30 days of owning it as they didn't want to repair it on their own dime. I had called support to log the issue in the first 5 days! I had the RMA within 15 days and the rest was shipping related delays due to the holidays. Eventually they owned up and fixed the unit.
The repair slip said that the transport was bad and was replaced. Fine, but again I was annoyed that I had to spend nearly 3 months without a player when it was clear defective from the get go.
Now, I have had the unit a year and a half, less with it actually working. Its kaput! It won't recognize any disk, be it blu-ray or DVD. Just before this it had given us grief for about a month talking directly to a Pan plasma bought at the same time, both are HDMI-CEC. It would occasionally show only a red picture and after shutting down and restarting a few times it would finally work. The cable was ruled out, as I tested a few and also tested on another player.
Panasonic support hasn't even replied to my email send over a week ago.
Caveat Emptor! I am going to get an Oppo Blu-ray when it is released. Their support is good and their DVD player I own is excellent.
Digital camera Review: AWESOME!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I finally took a chance on choosing a format and went with Blu-ray. Thank goodness it looks like Blu-ray format seems to edging out the HD format. At least from what I'm reading and hearing. Anyway, when deciding on a blu-ray player I read a ton of customer reviews on various models from Amazon, Best Buy, Cicuit City, etc. I was a little leary after reading up on the Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, Sharp, and Phillips models. Problems with these models reported by customers included slow load times, freeze ups, firmware update glitches, and just not working right out of the box. The Panasonic DMPBD-30 consistantly received high marks from customers and various consumer report sites I visited. So I decided to go with this unit, and I could not be happier!!!!
I have my Pani blu-ray player hooked up to a 40" full 1080p t.v. via an HDMI cable and the picture/sound is absolutely awesome!!! A tip for newbies to hi-def, like me, use an HDMI cable if you have the ports on your t.v. It really is true, cables make a huge differance in picture/sound quality. I tried the component cables first, then the HDMI. Trust me, HDMI cables blow away the component cable hookup.
I do not have high speed internet hookup, so not having the port to download the latest version of the firmware did not bother me. I called Panasonic and had them mail me the disc the same day I ordered the player. The firmware disc arrived the day after my blu-ray player was delivered. I plopped in the disc, it took less than 5 minutes to upgrade the player and I was good to go. I also downloaded the operating manual from the Panasonic website the day I ordered my player. After reading it thoroughly I had a pretty good idea how to set up and operate the player before it even arrived.
The first blu-ray movie I played was Apacalypto. I was absolutely blown away by the picture and sound. It was like I could reach in and touch the jungle, beautiful!!!!!
On the downside, slightly, when playing standard dvd's I've noticed some intermittent horizontal white lines with a static crackle sound. Not bad, and very infrequent, but enough to be annoying. This player does do a nice job of upgrading standard dvd's though, so I feel it outweighs the white line problem. I called Panasonic and they are aware of this problem and told me they are working on correcting it. Overall though, I have been extremely happy with this player!!!!!!
Digital camera Review: BD is Great
Summary: 4 Stars
Moved up to a full HD system recently including the purchase of this BD player. It is amazing how nice the picture is coming from a BD player. Can't really compare the unit to anything other than a DVD on an old tube TV; so, I don't have a lot to go on other than the picture looks incredible. The Planet Earth series has been amazing. The unit has easy connection to my Panasonic HDTV and seems to communicate with the TV, e.g. when I start playing a disk, it automatically switches the TV input to the player - nice feature. Remote seems descent enough. Construction quality seems good so far.