i would just get the cheapest one but these 3 are all priced the same right now...

Samsung BD-P1400
[Link: futureshop.ca]

Sharp BD-HP20U
[Link: futureshop.ca]

Sony BDPS300
[Link: futureshop.ca]

thanks, any and ALL help is greatly appreciated.

First I would like to state that I currently have an HD DVD Player and do not have a BD Player. Having stated this I am going to go neutral and am trying to decide which player to purchase myself. The following is based on my research on several forums.

There are a lot of complaints regarding the BDP-1400 and I would personally not recommend it. I have read of many reports of users returning these.
With regards to the Sony a number of users have been having issues with the player locking up.
Out of the three you mentioned I would recommend the Sharp BD-HP20U.

Personally I am leaning towards a PS3 or the new Panasonic.

Many state that the PS3 is one of the best, if not the best, BD Players currently on the market. Sony recently released a 40 GB version for $399 USD. One of the negatives is that it cannot play PS2 games; not really a downside if you don't intend to play PS2 games however. The other negative is that it uses a blue tooth remote; no IR. On a positive note it is believed that this player will be updated to Profile 1.1 through a firmware upgrade.

If you want a stand alone player I would recommend waiting for the Panasonic DMP-BD30. This is the first profile 1.1 player to be released.

You may want to check on blu-ray.com for more information.

I just recently bought the Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray, it's an excellent player and right now a very good deal at CC $479 and a special order online and use store pickup deal gives you another 10% off to make it only $431. This is the same hardware that first sold for $1,399 around a year ago and now has improved firmware (also the firmware is update-able) I have owned it about 3 weeks and I am very happy with this model. It also plays std DVD's very well and plays CD's with better sound than any player I've owned.

It also has 5 free Blu-ray movies in the box and another 5 free movies by mail.

holy freemoviemolie, you americans and your free movies!!! (edit-i didnt mention i picked up the Toshiba A3 hd-dvd player while in Vegas for $199 with 10 free movies!) the future shop doesnt even have any panasonic models, i suspect it isnt available in canada, but will be doing some howewrok tonite to make sure. i was just down in Vegas though, wish i had known this 2days ago!! oh well, maybe i'll have to take a drive to buffalo. plus i think one DVD player under my arm as a carry on was more than enough. lol

thanks alot for the input gents, much appreciated!

it seems i'm now leaning toward the PS3... besides the lack of compatability with PS2 games (non issue for me) and the Bluetooth remote issue (i can live with it), and other down sides i should be concerned with? ie:when you state it isnt 1.1 yet, does that mean it wont process the new HD Audio? and if/when it does (via update) will it process the codecs on board and send them to my reciever via hdmi, or does my reciever have to have the new codecs built in?

thanks.

We have put in several Pioneer Elite's, ever so so slow. But an amazing image.

The main requirements of profile 1.1 are PiP decoding, secondary audio decoding and 256 MB of persistent memory capability. Most believe that the PS3 will be updated to profile 1.1 via a firmware update. It is my understanding that the stand alones that are profile 1.0 cannot be updated to profile 1.1. I don't believe there are currently any movies available that utilize profile 1.1 requirements but this should change soon.

The PS3 has the decoders necessary to send Multi-channel PCM via HDMI to the receiver. MTS-HD Master Audio is an exception. I believe that an HDMI 1.3 Receiver with the MTS-HD MA decoder is required for this codec.

great info, thanks sunstar!

If you decide on the PS3 let us know how you like it. I am seriously considering the 60 GB unit since it has full bc for playing PS2 games.

The one flaw with the original PS3 is that its particular HDMI chipset *cannot* passthrough the HD codecs (Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD MA) to an HDMI 1.3 receiver for external decoding. So unless they implement a software DTS MA decoder for LPCM output, all you'll ever be able to get is the "core" track.

The newer redesigned 40gb PS3 might use a newer HDMI chipset, which *could* enable passthrough, but I don't think anyone's checked yet (and the software doesn't currently support it regardless).

well then lets hope they update the software, as my reciever wont process the new codecs, so it'll be as to wether the PS3 will pass via lpcm i suppose.

thanks for the info Dan.

so i picked up the PS3 last night, it came with Spiderman 3. plus they had some deal for 2 free disney movies when you buy the remote (which i was going to buy anyway), so i picked up the 2 latest Pirates of the Caribean, AND theres a 5 movie mail in rebate! from a selected list of titles of course... but still a pretty sweet deal in my books! maybe this whole war thing isnt so bad after all - i feel like one of those kids who's parents are getting a divorce so they both try to buy my love to get me on their side! LOL

i'll have it set up today and am looking forward to making some comparisons with movies and games... i'll let you know how i make out.

Stealth X,
Did you get the 40gb PS3 like Daniel mentioned?

yes i did. :-)

Good job. With 7 free movies it makes a good deal. Let us know how you like it.