Need a new bluray player

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Well it seems like my Samsung BDP-1500 is dead since it won't play blurays anymore & updating the firmware didn't fix anything. I'm never going to buy another Samsung electronic device again, I was having trouble with my 32" Samsung LCD and I'd barely had that for 2 years - once again, the exact same thing happened with this & in the exact timeframe, its almost too much of a coincidence that Samsung is putting death warrants on these things to make people buy more of their products *groans*

To let everyone know whats currently happening with my bluray player it either makes loading noises continuously to the point where you have to force it to power down so you can get the disc out. Other times it'll say "this disc is not supported" even though its Region B :( Think I'll get a Sony player this time or maybe Pioneer if they make them, never had any trouble with them

I'm not looking for much in the way of specs aside from Region free blurays if possible or DIVX playback

edit: I should probably just buy a bloody Slim PS3 to go with my Region A PS3...it'd have more use then

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Never mind, I'll just answer my own question shall I? :p

Looking at a Sony BDP-S370 for $200, its this year's model & by reports its a hell of a lot better. Plus I get to save $250 by not getting another PS3

[Starscream]

Just make sure it's modded to play all regions for DVDs. Bring some import DVDs when you test it JB.

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I can't find any region free information on the internet on this model, this is slightly annoying & if I do bring in an import DVD it'll just be one, not 5 or 6 & annoy the crap out of the staff members (ala you :p). My last Sony player was region free out of the box so you'd THINK it'd follow the same principle but of course you can never trust them. Weird how it doesn't seem to have DIVX though yet has other crappy online features

[borgster101]

$200 is pretty cheap, is that the standard price for decent standalone BluRay players these days? I haven't been keeping up to date with prices.

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Nah, $200 actually tends to be older models but I guess this is more of a budget model. Prices still rotate around $400 & really generic no-namer ones can be found for $100-200

[Starscream]

I had to make sure subtitles in various languages showed up that's why I brought several DVDs. You'd think this year's model would support DiVX.

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I had to make sure subtitles in various languages showed up that's why I brought several DVDs. You'd think this year's model would support DiVX.
Is there any player out there that doesn't have working subtitles? :p Maybe in the late 1990s. Seems a bit silly to check for stuff like that since all players would support it I assume

[Starscream]

Is there any player out there that doesn't have working subtitles? :p Maybe in the late 1990s. Seems a bit silly to check for stuff like that since all players would support it I assume
Yes. Uncle recently got Panasonic, (can't rember what language and if was a BR or DVD player) wasn't able to display korean and hindu subtitles.

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No korean or hindu subtitles?! Oh no! :p Do you actually need them or are you one of those people that like to make sure every single thing works even if you'll never use it?

[REQUIEM]

: I should probably just buy a bloody Slim PS3 to go with my Region A PS3...it'd have more use then

Thats all you need for the next 4 or 5 years till 3D blu ray players are the norm.

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Think I'd still rather have a standalone player though especially since I need it for imported DVDs. I'll get a new PS3 if the other one dies

[StorminNorman]

Yes. Uncle recently got Panasonic, (can't rember what language and if was a BR or DVD player) wasn't able to display korean and hindu subtitles.

But, but... subtitles are just pictures! They're not text! If it can render subtitles in one language, it can render them in all languages!

In related news, I hate VOBSUB and wish it to die.

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In related news, I hate VOBSUB and wish it to die.
I wish DIVX & Region free was mainstream by now :( Would be nice if you could somehow put AnyDVD onto USB thumb & run it from that rather than having to mod it

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Went to JB today and they didn't have any Sony BDP-370s, apparently its so new that no JB has it yet so its classed as 'On Order'. Obviously I'm too early but they told me their normal price will be $221 which is pretty good, should be able to slug it down to $200.

Heard that Sony is now putting DRM on their players now which is meant to stop people copying blurays but at the same time stops peoples discs from actually working even though they purchased it & put the disc in their players & aren't trying to do anything illegal with it - yes, its the stupidest system ever!

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ETA is 1st June, that's pretty far off :( Guess I'll be sticking to watching blurays on my pc for now

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Apparently the Soniq QPB300B is Region free for both DVDs & blurays with no modification required, you just have to input a code each time you want to change the region. Slightly annoying but still quite tempting. The price hasn't shifted though, came out in late 2008 & its still $270 :(

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I skipped out on the Sony brand & opted for this instead since its got some awesome reviews

http://www.kogan.com.au/media/products/2009/12/KoganBluray.jpg

Kogan BLU-RAY PLAYER BD 2.0 FULL HD 1080P - $210 incl p&h from their official website

Multi-region for DVDs AND blurays AND it'll play AVIs! :D Although you do have to put in a 2 digit code each time you change region. However its still a heck of a lot better & cheaper than any other traditional method