Pioneer BDP 320 or Panasonic BD 60 thoughts

[GibsonEX]

Hey guys,

I'm not familiar with Pioneer BR players, but i know that Pioneer products are top notch. This new upcoming BDP 320 - how it looks next to Panny BD 60, is Blu Ray PQ and SD upconverting noticeable better, or it's not worth 130+ bucks difference? I wonder, because if it is noticeably better, I'll send my BD 60 back and upgrade to Pio when it's out in a couple of days.

[BBE]

I snagged a 320 off ebay last night. Hopefully I'll get it next week. Personally that's the player I've been waiting for over the panny.

[Arkadin]

I would stick with the Panny.
Pioneer is basically moving out of bd players in a way as they are merging their operations with Sharp I believe.
Pioneer is just not the same now with the death of Kuro, and the multiple changes going on.
Pioneer was always behind the curve regarding bd players imo--
and over priced for what you got.
Panny has been consistently excellent.

[jsmiddleton4]

Hard to tell until enough 320's get out there to create a solid user base. However at this point to decide today, I'd say the Panasonic.

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by GibsonEX

Hey guys,

I'm not familiar with Pioneer BR players, but i know that Pioneer products are top notch. This new upcoming BDP 320 - how it looks next to Panny BD 60, is Blu Ray PQ and SD upconverting noticeable better, or it's not worth 130+ bucks difference? I wonder, because if it is noticeably better, I'll send my BD 60 back and upgrade to Pio when it's out in a couple of days.

Any interest in the 51FD? I'm trying it out and I prefer it to the Panny BD30 I have, especially for upconversion of SD DVD. No hassle return policy at Best Buy so no risk.

[chris gerhard]

I believe Pioneer Blu-ray players have been excellent as far as video and audio performance. The price to features ratio has not been competitive with Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Sony. If you find a Pioneer Blu-ray player with the features you want and you are willing to pay the price, I would say buy it with confidence. I have never owned one.

Chris

[GibsonEX]

@Robert

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not interested in that model, newer Pio models can decode DTS MA and HD internally, and who knows when will promised firmware for 51FD be here.

BD 60 has excellent Blu Ray PQ and SD upscaling is fairly good too, and the closest Pio model that has Bd 60 specs and price is 320. Don't get me wrong BD 60 is great freaking player, and i have dozens and dozens of DVD concerts i like to watch, so SD upscaling was my main concern. I have a Panny Viera display, that's why i went with BD 60 at this time, but if 320 was improvement over it, I'd be interested in it, not that I'm not happy with what i got

[BBE]

Originally Posted by GibsonEX

@Robert

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not interested in that model, newer Pio models can decode DTS MA and HD internally, and who knows when will promised firmware for 51FD be here.

BD 60 has excellent Blu Ray PQ and SD upscaling is fairly good too, and the closest Pio model that has Bd 60 specs and price is 320. Don't get me wrong BD 60 is great freaking player, and i have dozens and dozens of DVD concerts i like to watch, so SD upscaling was my main concern. I have a Panny Viera display, that's why i went with BD 60 at this time, but if 320 was improvement over it, I'd be interested in it, not that I'm not happy with what i got

The 320 should handily beat out any of panny's players in SD upscaling. That was also a primary reason why I went with pio as well. Though not for concerts, I have a lot of older tv series i like to watch. Like the x files, buffy and and angel, stargate SG-1...

[jsmiddleton4]

"The 320 should handily beat out any of panny's players in SD upscaling."

Sorry but disagree with you on "handily". Also given the way Pioneer players have been introduced before, lots of hype, drooling, and then reality hits and they aren't so great, I'd wait before making too many definitive statements about the 320.

Panasonic 30's and 50's had average to mediocre sd-dvd upscaling. 35/55's improved. 60/80's a little bit better than the 35/55's. Not ever was it "bad". Went from average to pretty good.

I'd be very hesitant about a Pioneer product until enough get out there to have broad use and end-user evaluations.

[jsmiddleton4]

On my BD55, The Rifleman, Outer Limits and NCIS, The X-Files TV shows look great.

[thebatman355]

I recently bought the panasonic 60. I must say that I am very impressed. I had the panasonic 30 before.. never seen the pioneer in action. I cann't compare.
I would certainly recommend the panasonic 60 to anyone that is interested in a player.

Jacob

[Blacklac]

Those Pioneer players were in the works long before the announcement of them getting out of BD.

[iontyre]

Checked out the new panny's yesterday at BB. I was shocked at the flimsy build quality. The flip down door for the sd and usb slots was horrible!!

[vinnie97]

You want build quality, you stick with Pioneer, period.

[BBE]

Agreed. I don't think you can argue with the quality of pioneer's products. They flat out make high quality products, it's just whether you have or are willing to spend the amount of money to buy their products when something else is comparable and a little cheaper. I have a kuro plasma as well, the kuro link mode was also another factor that helped me decide on the 320.