Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
With the DMP-BD65 from Panasonic, the Full HD video and 7.1-channel studio-quality audio for which Blu-ray Disc is know is only the beginning. Use the ethernet port in conjunction with VIERA Cast and BD-Live and dive into online audio and video: stream Pandora radio or Netflix movies, tweet on Twitter, explore online bonus features or participate in online gaming, and more. On the audio side of things, Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD Master Audio, and advanced Panasonic technologies serve up an extraordinary 7.1-channel surround sound experience. Further, support for formats ranging from AVCHD to MP3 to JPEG allows for optimal versatility.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars OK, Netflix NOT great.
OK, so I realize I may be in the minority here, but I when I first purchased this player I assumed that “Wireless Ready” meant that it was actually ready to jump on a wireless network. However, that is NOT the case - you must pay an additional $99 for a LAN adapter so you can put it on wireless. Since my high speed internet is DSL (7Mbps), my only jacks are in the kitchen and the bedroom, so connecting it with a wire isn’t that feasible. Just for kicks, however, I connected it up running from my kitchen and watched a movie on Netflix. I picked one of the high def movies as well as tried out a few other HD ones. They looked pretty good - but definitely not high definition quality - maybe as good as low-end Hulu streaming. I assumed it must be that my 7Mbps DSL wasn’t fast enough to fully support HD, or that Netflix HD movies weren’t really HD. Nevertheless, I returned it because of the lack of built-in wireless and I picked up the Vizio VBR200W (Vizio with internet apps - which actually has wireless built into the machine without the necessity of an additional adapter). I set it up and noticed that the Vizio took a lot longer the load things up, but once I started a Netflix HD movie - wow - it was about a hundred times better. The picture from the Vizio was actually crystal clear HD - something that I didn’t think actually was possible after using the Panasonic. Needless to say, the Vizio, which is actually a little cheaper and actually has wireless BUILT-IN, has been the one I kept.
2 Stars only compatible with Panasonic USB wireless adapter/dongle
FYI…This player is only compatible with Panasonic USB wireless adapter/dongle which costs an extra $99. No comments on the player itself as I returned it right away, not worth the extra 100 bucks for the adapter.
2 Stars No 5.1 Digital sound from Amazon HS streaming
After weeks of working with Amazon to get the player to stream 5.1 digital sound when streaming HD video, they (Amazon) verified that this device will not stream 5.1 Digital sound when streaming HD from Amazon.com. And I found the same problem with Netflix HD streaming.
Normally, I would not make a big deal of this. But Amazon has not changed their HD information page to state this, and Panasonic customer support has not replied to 2 inquires in 4 weeks time about the issue. Something’s up…and nobody’s talking.
4 Stars Panasonic DMP-BD65 Review
Very good Blu-Ray, especially when you factor in the price. I have not hooked up the a CAT cable for the internet connection yet. The video and audio difference with a Blu-Ray is noticeably better.
5 Stars Early review…first blu-ray player
So far so good… received the player and had it set up in just a few minutes…after connecting it to my internet connection it automatically downloaded the most recent firmware update which installed without any problems. Picture quality is great on both Blu-Ray disks and DVD’s. quiet running and with the quick boot option on it starts up fairly quick. Still slower than a DVD player, but light years faster than a friends Sony that is a year or two old. Overall very pleased so far. Did watch a streamed movie on Netflix, worked fine although it was standard def, so picture quality wasnt nearly as good as when playing a disk. there are some HD titles available for streaming, but i havent tried any yet.
Filed under: Blu Ray Player Reviews