Denon DVD-2500BTCI Blu-ray/DVD/CD Player

Here's where I started with Blu-Ray... The pathetic Sony Blu-Ray players (several models) that have the slowest of all Blu-Ray players with Made In China quality (or lack of). The Sony Blu-Ray players were the worst of any.

I graduated to the Panasonic's next. The BD30 and later the very popular BD35. Both were 'GOOD' players. On the other hand, if I tried to plug in a cable without the Panasonic MOUNTED to the concrete, their one-pound weight per deck caused it to fly off a shelve like a pice of Post-It note. Made In China quality and a Panasonic remote (not a positive).

I tried others. Low-end brands and so-called medium brands.

I finally buy Denon's DVD-2500BTCI. It's called a TRANSPORT unit because it is a pure 100% digital-only player. If you don't have HDMI to HDMI only, move-on...

Stunning color quality! Unlike anything I've ever seen. One more time: STUNNING PICTURE & COLOR quality.

Better yet, this thing weighs something!

Turn it on and it quickly responds (a major Blu-Ray issue is LAG). Yes, once you insert the BLU-RAY disc, it does take ime to load. That's normal but everything else makes the '2500' the fastest of Blu-Ray players ever that I have used/tested/played with.

I think the REMOTE is excellent! Others do not and Denon does have a reputation for lousy remotes. This one is an exception.

Well worth the money. Really!

I bought this DVD player to replace my Denon 3910. Now that the format wars appear over, I wanted to start my Blu-ray collection.

Unit performs well. For regular DVD's picture is about the same as the Denon 3910. Blu-ray disks are comperable to HD television. Uses the same remote codes as the older 3910, so I did not need to get my Pronto universal remote re-programmed -a real advantage. Also has some features I have not tried yet, such as markers.

Remote is OK, reasonably well laid out.

Negatives:

I have not found any negatives on the features I used, but here are a few to keep in mind. The only method of connecting the device is via the HDMI. This is fine for me, but not if you plan to hook this to an older AMP.

Playback will only play DVD-R not +R. I have not tested this.

In both cases, one would expect that a unit listing for $999.00 would have features sold by other for much less. As with most Denon products, they tend to be overpriced, and you must move up the the $1,999 Denon 3800 to get all the ports. Not a problem for most people, but keep this in mind should you plan to connect this to an older home theater system.

In all, I am happy with this product.

Buy Denon DVD-2500BTCI Blu-ray/DVD/CD Player Now

This is by far one of the best Blu ray players on the market. The picture is stunning and has a very cinematic, non-analytical image. This blows away the similar Sony 2000ES. As this is only a transport, it has no analog audio outputs, the sound is amazing when paired with a HD-format audio decoding receiver. This is definitely a great unit for the money. Get ready to be amazed.

Read Best Reviews of Denon DVD-2500BTCI Blu-ray/DVD/CD Player Here

When first introduced, MSRP for the DVD-2500BTCI was $1k. I liked it and would have paid that much for it eventually. But when it went on sale for $500, I just couldn't resist. Assuming Denon hasn't substituted cheaper parts somewhere along the way, the current sale prices of under $350 are almost like legalized shoplifting. This is my first Blu-Ray player so I don't have another to compare it to. But both picture and sound are outstanding. As long as you only need an HDMI output, and are patient at least in some regards, I can't recommend this unit enough. Observed Strengths & Weaknesses below.

STRENGTHS:

With just about every receiver, pre/pro, etc., out there already having an array of surround decoders, D/A converters, etc., I found it annoying that these were duplicated and charged for in just about all DVD/Blu-Ray players. Not so in the DVD-2500BTCI, which is why it is called a "transport" instead of a "player." You're only paying for what you need...no useless stuff that's duplicated elsewhere in a typical system.

Unit has a nice, high-end feel that rivals that of $2k pieces from anybody. Front panel buttons have a nice, positive feel, and the disc drawer is silken-smooth and nearly silent.

Detachable power cord

Can program it with a 2nd remote code so as not to interfere with other Denon units.

When you're at Chapter 10 or higher, there is now a space between the Chapter# and Time, instead of one big row of hard-to-read gobbledygook all run together, as on Denon's previous players.

Remote has a nice, quality feel in many ways.

WEAKNESSES

Response is sloooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww; Stop command during Blu-Ray disc playback sometimes took 30 seconds for player to acknowledge. This may be more a property of Blu-Ray players than of Denon specifically, but I am mentioning it anyway since responsiveness is at least to some degree important to me.

No Power Off, just Stand By.

Among the 3 brands of DVD transports/players I have used heavily, the transports on the Denons have consistently been the least precise. For example, if you are fast-forwarding and then press Play, playback sometimes doesn't resume even close to the point where you pressed the Play button. Other brands land close or dead on.

Remote buttons have to be pressed firmly to work.

I've bought (almost literally) a ton of Denon products over the years. Counting only the ones I bought new from authorized dealers, many have arrived defective, or had "issues" shortly after the warranty expired. The people that answer their Tech questions have actually been OK, but those in their repair center have been aloof, evasive, and sometimes questionably competent. Making things worse, repair/replacement parts have been discontinued insanely early on many of their most expensive pieces.

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For my new dedicated home theater, I purchased the Denon AVR-4308CI, which is awesome. At the same time I purchased the Sony BDP-S550 to save a few bucks. Big mistake. Once everthing was hooked up, the Sony was sooo slow loading movies and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the aggrevating BDlive menu every time I went to watch a movie. I realized I made a bad choice, it was taking away from the whole HT experience for me.

Well, Amazon offered the Denon DVD-2500BTCI FREE with purchase of Denon AV recievers shortly after I had ordered and recieved my AVR-4308CI . I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask them to consider my purchase for this offer. I didn't have my hopes too high, but Amazon has truly awesome customer support and they actually sent me this Denon Blu-Ray player for free. I gave the Sony to my son and hooked up the Denon, and WOW, what a difference! This thing loads very fast and the quality of the unit itself is great, not to mention it matches the look of my AV receiver perfectly. The quality of the audio and video even seem to be better than the Sony.

If you are looking at the Sony BDP-S550, and your gear is HDMI capable, do yourself a favor and spring for the extra bucks to get this Denon, you won't be sorry.