• Home
• 3D Blu-Ray Players
• BUY NOW
• Blu Ray Facts
• Blu Ray FAQ
• Firmware Updates
• Glossary
• Contact Us

• Where to Buy Blu-Ray Players?
• List of Top 5 Best Blu-Ray Players
• Cheap Blu-Ray Players
• Hot Deal Alerts
• Privacy Policy

awdawdawdawdawd

Review of Pioneer BDP 330 Blu Ray Player

Pioneer has always produced quality electronics in the past. Their audio product was second to none and their television sets were widely considered one of the best on the market. Like Philips, Pioneer has opted to outsource manufacturing of some of their electronics. Pioneer has ceased manufacturing their premium plasma high definition televisions. Now, they have decided to outsource manufacturing of some of their Blu ray players.

Features

The Pioneer BDP-330 is the non elite high end model in Pioneer’s Blu ray line up. Like other manufacturers, Pioneer carries three mainstream Blu ray disc players. The BDP-330 is supposed to pack most features at better performance. Pioneer BDP-330 is a profile 2.0 player with full complement of audio decoding options. The player is fully capable of playing any BD-LIVE content. The Pioneer BDP-330 can natively decode Dolby, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, and DTS HD MA. Pioneer’s Blu ray players always lacked large amount of internet streaming contents. This hold true for the BDP-330 as well. The BDP-330 only offers Netflix and YouTube along with RSS feeds. If you happen to purchase older version, you will need to update the firmware to have access to Netflix. The player lacks onboard WiFi or onboard storage.

Design

As with other Pioneer players, the BDP-330 is aesthetically pleasant looking player. The front face is divided into two portions. The top portion includes the disc tray and LCD. The middle divider holds the slim playback function buttons. The bottom portion also contains one of two USB port. The overall dimension and weight of the player is on the small side. The included universal remote control is easy to use. The buttons are in logical place and are on most part large enough for most people. The BDP-330 is compatible with iControlAV application. The app allows you to control BDP-330 with iPhone or iPod touch. The back contains USB, Ethernet, HDMI, Optical audio, RCA audio, and composite outputs. The extra USB is there for the optional WiFi adaptor.

Performance and Video

As mentioned earlier, the Pioneer BDP-330 is manufactured by different company. The BDP-330 is essentially a rebadged Sharp Blu ray player. The overall loading time is on par with the Sharp Blu ray disc player. The quick load feature doesn’t decrease the load time drastically. Instead, it is on par with any other comparable player. In fact, compared to the new Sony or Samsung players, it is noticeably slower.

Audio

As expected, the overall video processing is on par with Sharp Blu ray disc player. I spot tested two different Blu ray movie titles. On most parts, the Blu ray movie played without any video processing defects. However, few scenes represented some jaggieness and blur. While not really noticeable if you are not looking, it was present in several sequences. Other than that small portion of the movie, the overall movie presented no moiré or any other video processing defects. The DVD upscaling was adequate at best. The overall picture quality suffered the usual upscaling artifacts. The artifacts were very small and not a big distraction.

On the other hand, the audio playback was flawless. All the audio formats played without any problem. The two Blu ray movies presented no issues during the playback. The lack of multi channel analog output might be a problem for some consumers. Other than that, there really isn’t much to say about the audio performance.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the BDP-330 is very underwhelming Blu ray player. You would expect lot more from a company like Pioneer. Pioneer has built up a big reputation as the leader in high end electronics equipment. However, the BDP-330 does not live up to this expectation. Short of buying the elite line from Pioneer or the older models manufactured by Pioneer, I would avoid the rebadged versions. The lack of WiFi and even 3D capability makes this a poor choice for people looking to spend over $200.

Buy Pioneer BDP 330 Now!

Click here to find out how you can save up to 50% off on name brand Blu-Ray Players!

Pioneer BDP 120 Review

If you are an early adapter, Pioneer was one of the best and safest bet. Pioneer consistently produced high quality electronics. Their audio and visual equipments were constantly top notch even in the early stage of the new formats and technology. At 2009 CES, Pioneer introduced three new Blu ray disc players. Pioneer announced one player under the Elite label and two others at substantially lower price. As with other manufacturers, they introduced entry level model, mainstream model, and the high end model under the Elite label.

Features

The BDP 120 is the entry level model introduced at the 2009 CES. Released around March of 2009 the player debuted with the price tag of $249. While not too expensive, it was little more than the other comparable players. However, compared to other great players like LG BD370, the BDP 120 looked overpriced and overmatched. While you can claim Pioneer to be overpriced, most would never claim Pioneer to be overmatched in terms of performance. However, that seems to be the case with the BDP 120. Aside from the onboard decoding of TrueHD DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, the BDP 120 does not offer up too much features. The BDP 120 is fairly straight forward player. It is a Profile 2.0 player capable of playing all the BD-LIVE content. The player does come with a 1GB USB flash drive to be used with BD-LIVE content or other media. Unlike some other players, it lacks internet streaming, media streaming, and 5.1 channel analog audio output.

Design

The Pioneer BDP 120 is really nice looking player. Pioneer put some effort into making an aesthetically pleasing player. The face of the player is separated into top and bottom portion. The top portion contains the disc tray and the bottom portion contains the LCD. The middle section on the left contain the playback function. The back of the player is sparsely populated with the connections. HDMI, component video, composite video, 2-channel audio, optical digital output, USB port, and Ethernet port populate the back of the player. The overall dimension and weight of the player are 10.6 x 16.5 x 2.3 inches and 5.9 pounds respectively. The included remote is KURO link compatible. You can link other Pioneer product with one remote control. The remote’s layout is logical and well thought out. The buttons seemed little too small for my hand but all the buttons were labeled and placed in a logical spots. Navigating through menus shouldn’t be too much of hassle with this remote control.

Performance and Video

The performance is where you expect Pioneer to shine compared to other Blu ray players. This is not the case when it comes to booting and loading time. Depending on the disc, the total booting and loading time was somewhere between 1-2 minutes. That is not fast by today’s standard. Some players can boot and load in less than 30 seconds. The long time to boot and load has always been a problem for Blu ray players. Even so, 2 minutes is little too long to wait for a movie to start. On the image front, the BDP-120 handles all the Blu ray movies exceptionally well. The usual video defects were all absent during the playback. The picture was sharp and showed no discoloration. DVD upscaling was adequate at best. The upconverted DVD pictures didn’t look all that great. Other than that, overall picture quality was excellent.

Audio

The audio performed as it should. There were no discernible defects or oddities with the audio playback. All audio formats decoded without problem including the high definition audio formats. It would have been nice to see SACD and DVD Audio support since Pioneer is known for great audio quality. Otherwise, there are no complaints about the audio performance.

Overall Opinion

For little more, you can get the superior LG BD370 that has more features and exceptional performance. While Pioneer BDP 120 handles Blu ray discs without any problem, it lacks all the other features found on other players. Namely, the WI-FI, internet streaming, and media streaming are all missing from BDP-120. Also, the lack of front USB port might be frustrating for people who will not have access to the back once it is set up. Even back in 2009, I would have suggested BD370 or other players over the BDP 120. If all your home theater equipments are Pioneer, you might consider this for the KURO link. Otherwise, stick with other brands.

Buy Pioneer BDP 120 Now!

Video

Click here to find out how you can save up to 50% off on name brand Blu-Ray Players!

Review: Pioneer BDP-51 Blu Ray Player

Pioneer has consistently produced high quality audio and video equipments aimed at audiophiles and videophiles. Consequently, the consumer electronics they manufacture cost more than its competitor's products. The Pioneer BDP-51FD is aimed at higher end of the Blu-ray disc player market. The player supports most, if not every major audio formats. Also, the player incorporated Wolfson digital audio converter, which is stated as being professional grade audio component.

The BDP-51FD's design really stands out from other Blu-ray players. Primarily, it looks like an extra blu-ray player stacked on top of a blu=ray player. This effectively doubles the size of the player. Also, it is definitely heavier than most other Blu-ray player. The tray and LCD are loaced in the center of the player with basic play back function on the right side. The back of the player supports the HDMI, component and composite video, S-video, 2 channel and 7.1 channel output, and two digital outputs. It's nice to have out of the box support for 7.1 channel audio output. The player also links up with your Pioneer Kuro television set like Sony and Sharp. The combination of Kuro tv and this player gives you extra convenience and features. This seems to be the trend with big manufacturers, linking their television set with Blu-ray disc players.

I watched several blu-ray movies including Batman Begins, Ghost Rider, and Matrix. None of them showed any problems, which is on par with most other players from top manufacturers. No artifacts or jaggieness or motion blur. Also, the upconversion looked exceptional. Some players show definite signs of upconversion problems. Not this player. It upconverts with flawless accuracy.

The real selling point might be its prowess in audio front. It can bit stream all formats to receivers without many problem. Also, it has onboard decoding of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, and DTS HD Master AUdio. This will be helpful if you have older receiver not capable of decoding these audio formats. Now, I'm not expert audiophile, so I didn't notice any difference between this player's sound system compared to other comparable players. This does not mean that there are no discernible difference in sound quality. It just means most consumers might not notice any difference in audio quality.

This player debuted around June of 2008. This most likely attributed to the lack of Profile 2.0 support. This player only supports Profile 1.1 out of box. I'm not sure if there is planned upgrade via disc flashing. Even with dsic flashing, I don't see it supporting Profile 2.0 as it lacks ethernet connectivity. Ultimately, it's up to consumer to decide if inclusion of Wolfson DAC is worht the extra $100-150.

Rating:

 

Click here to buy Pioneer Blu-Ray Player and save up to 50% off NOW!

Hot Deal Alerts - Click Now!

Vote For 2011 Best Blu Ray Player!

Please click here to vote for The 2011 Top 5 Blu Ray Players!

Top 10 Best Selling Blu-Ray Players

• Playstation 3
• Oppo BD 93
• Panasonic DMP-BDT210
• LG BD630
• Sony BDP S580
• LG BD670
• Sony BDP S380
• LG BD640
• Panasonic DMP-BD75
• Panasonic DMP-BDT110
• Panasonic DMP-BDT310

Deals on Blu Ray Player at Amazon