Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
December 26, 2011 by Cherry
Filed under Blu-ray Players
Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
- Ultra-fast 0.5 second startup
- VieraCast enabled including Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix streaming movies
- Wireless ready
- More compact Design
- More efficient energy consumption
Start watching your favorite high-definition movies almost instantly with the Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-ray Disc player, which features an ultra-fast 2-second boot time. You’ll also enjoy BD-Live and Panasonic’s VIERA Cast functionality for accessing Internet video content thanks to the Ethernet port and Wireless LAN capability (DY-WL10 wireless LAN adapter sold separately).Start watching your favorite high-definition movies almost instantly with the Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-ray Disc player, which features an ultra-fast 2-second boot time. You’ll also enjoy BD-Live and Panasonic’s VIERA Cast functionality for accessing Internet video content thanks to the Ethernet port and Wireless LAN capability (DY-WL10 wireless LAN adapter sold separately). I
List Price: $ 179.95
Price: $ 150.00
Great Bang for your buck,
UPDATE – July 2010
New features added to Network
Tageschau – Daily News feed in German
Pandora – Internet Radio
Fox Sports – Coming Soon
Twitter – Coming Soon
5 Stars sounds really generous, but for the money this is a GREAT Network ready BDP.
This is the third network BDP I have set up and used, I recently reviewed the Samsung BD-P1590 – Blu-Ray disc player – upscaling – Netflix, Pandora against which (for similar money) this is a far superior machine. I also think the picture quality and upscaling for SD DVD’s in much better than the similar priced LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player
Running several Blu-Ray movies for testing, including BD live enabled content, boot times were very fast. The quick set up guide asks you about this and explains that it uses more power in standby mode, but it’s worth it for very quick loading.
Blu Ray looks SUPERB – Panasonic web site says (PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus is a high quality image-processing technology developed to precisely process each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the vertical direction) Sounds geeky, but the picture is great at both 1080i and 1080p. By default the 24fps is set to off, but if you have a home set up that supports it, it’s easy to switch back.
SD Card slot, and USB interface great for home pictures, movies and photo’s, very easy to use. Nicely tucked away under a discreet panel in the front so no fiddling among the back wires.
Out of the box set up for networking took me about 15 minutes.
Very easy on screen instruction, easy to use remote, and set up can be either set to easy mode, or you can revisit the main menu at any time for finer adjustments on audio, video output, resolution and aspect ratio etc.
The more involved set up options are however a little limited if you are used to close to pro tweaking on high end visual and audio equipment. But then again, this is an entry level kind of priced machine.
What do you get for network? The VIERA system is a breeze, nice graphics, menu screen and options.
I hard wired mine to the back Ethernet port with a Cat6 cable – Cat5 works without a problem, but for streaming (especially HD content) the Cat6 made the Netflix signal bar light up to HD most of the time.
It is wireless ready. You can use a USB dongle (takes some tweaking) or better still a Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gaming and Video Adapter. What’s nice is that(unlike Samsung) you don’t have to buy a special adapter.
My preference would always be to hard line, but if that’s not an option, and you must have wireless (assuming you have boat loads of bandwidth) you can buy an adapter, or pay $80 more and buy it’s big brother the Panasonic DMP-BD85 WiFi Enabled Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)
Whats on the Network?
1)Netflix – unlimited free streaming movies (a lot in HD if your connection is good enough) documentaries, and TV shows from their “Watch Instantly” library, if you are a current subscriber of at least their $8.99 plan – free trial available.
2)Amazon on Demand – Bags of movies and content to rent, buy, or even view free webisodes, trailers, documentaries and so on. Not a huge thing for me personally as I like Netflix, but very nice to have. Simply activate online at Amazon and you’re there – very easy on screen user friendly menus.
3)Blomberg – Sort of on screen RSS feed with stocks, bonds and news headlines. Nice to have but not essential.
4) Weather forecast, enter your zip code and set to default, or store multiple sites across the US for up to date weather news and information. Again, not something I need but nice to have.
5)Picasa Web albums – share pictures with friends and family, look at your own, and other albums on your TV. Nice feature.
6)You Tube – browse, or log into your account online
7)Coming Soon?? – Your guess is as good as mine, could be for VUDU or something else, at least they are thinking ahead, and have the settings already started.
What you don’t get…..
1)Pandora – a quirky to use online streaming internet radio site that’s free with a lot of music. Doesn’t float my boat either, I don’t like radio sites that choose my music based on a song, or an artist – there are over 30,000 online internet radio stations that are free, Pandora doesn’t let you search any particular station in any part of the World, just their selections on what…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Netflix Streaming,
My sole purpose for investigating Blu-Ray devices was to determine of they were better than the single function Roku media player for accessing Netflix streaming video content. I started fooling around with Netflix streaming video on my PC over a fairly fast DSL connection several months ago. Over that period the quality of the Netflix streaming product has improved considerably. It reached the point where I was watching enough content on my PC that I felt justified in moving it to my entertainment center.
I first checked out the various Roku products and decided that their top of the line HD player was what I wanted (the price differential between their top and bottom models was only $50). I then took a look at the other devices that supported streaming content to TV on the Netflix site. Since I was not interested in gaming systems the Blu-Ray players seemed like a reasonable alternative because the newest models were only a few dollars more than the Roku player I was considering. I’ve have had several good experiences with Panasonic electronics, so I took a look at their Blu-Ray product line. The DMP-BD65 was one of several new Blu-Ray products they have introduced. I wanted to have the option of hard wire or wireless connectivity, but also keep the price close to what the Roku player.
Based upon several of the earlier reviews at Amazon and other reviews on the web, I decided that the DMP-BD65 met all my requirements. I purchased the product for about $30 more than the Roku player.
Since receiving the DMP-BD65 I have been very satisfied with my choice of product. I ended up running Cat 5 cable from my wireless router to the Blu-Ray player. The quality of Netflix streaming video varies to some degree depending on internet traffic conditions, but it is usually extremely good. I was surprised to find that it far surpassed the quality I got on my PC. It has enhanced significantly the utility of the streaming content included in my Netflix membership.
In addition to the access to streaming video, I have found that the Up-conversion feature improves the quality of my DVD images. Based upon an earlier comment to the contrary in an Amazon review of this product, your experience will probably depend on the quality of your DVD player.
In addition to supporting Netflix, the DMP-BD65 also provides access to Amazon Streaming rentals, YouTube content, weather information, and Picasa web photo albums. I plan to begin creating albums on Picasa in order to take advantage of that feature. The net based content menu also contains a prominent reference to future content, unfortunately nothing specific is listed at this time. While I hope that Panasonic offers more web resources in the future, anything beyond Netflix content is icing on the cake for me.
I would strongly recommend the DMP-BD65 to anyone who wants to get more out of their Netflix Unlimited rental plan.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Outstanding Player in all Respects,
I purchased this player primarily to have access to Netflix streaming video. The Netflix playback quality is outstanding, surpassing that of standard DVD. I must note, however, that I have a 12000 baud Internet connection from AT&T U-Verse. Lesser connection speeds will naturally mean a lesser quality picture.
Setup was very easy and the remote is simple to navigate.
Contrary to another reviewer who gave the unit only one star because of an alleged failure to remember playback position when the STOP button is depressed, pressing the stop button does memorize the stopped position allowing resumption of playback at the point where the disc was stopped (see user manual page 16), except for BD-J discs. The reviewer may have pressed the STOP button more than once which clears the memory.
With the addition of Netflix streaming, Panasonic is the clear leader in Blu-ray players, dollar for dollar.
Was this review helpful to you?
|