My neighbor's thinking of getting a blu-ray player & asked me to look into it for him, but I haven't read very much about them lately. I'm thinking that these days it's six of one & a half-dozen of the other.
I guess the big factor would be ease of use. I'd be reprogramming his Harmony 650, so I don't think there'd be problem with that. What about speed though? I'm pretty sure he'd get frustrated with slow disc loading speeds.
He doesn't have internet. Would this be a problem with the player having to update it's firmware to play certain movies, or is no longer necessary?

I would recommend a Sony or LG player both of which have Power ON and Off IR commands, although with the Harmony's self help this may not be required.

There are still fixes/additions to codecs on discs so staying up to date on firmware doesn't hurt. Firmware can usually be downloaded from the manufactures website and loaded using a USB key for players that don't have an internet connection. You would want to ensure that at the time of installation that you have the current firmware loaded onto the player.

Okay, thanks. I was thinking of both of those.
I suppose I could do periodic firmware updates for him.

1.Oppo

2. Sony

3. LG

If your friend wants to step it up a notch, the Oppo BDP-103 (our goto Blu-ray player) is fantastic for the money and loads quickly.

I'll look into Oppo's, but I'm not sure they're available in Canada. I'll have to look around. May be out of his price range though.

Oppo is available in Canada. Can also be purchased via Amazon.ca Prime.

[Link: amazon.ca]

+1

I'll let him know about the Oppo, but I'm pretty sure he won't want to spend the money. The Sony's look pretty good & are low priced. I'll recommend one of those.