- 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
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 they think you like.
2) Blockbuster Online unless you have an account and use the in store returns on DVD and Blu stick with Netflix, their watch instantly movies are free with membership.
3)VUDU next generation 1080p streaming to rent and buy, this would have been nice to have, but I can live without it for now. Amazon more than makes up for it as far as I'm concerned.
4) Any others I may have forgotten about (I'm sure there are more out there)
Sum up
PROS
Excellent value for money
Looks sleek, discreet and runs quickly AND quietly (unlike some BDP's)
Very easy to Set Up VIERA interface for online content is great.
Superior BD playback picture and sound quality just when you thought it couldn't get better
Great upscaling, best I've seen on a machine of this price or on any machine without a REON chipset.
USB, SD slots on front convenient and discreet
Optional "wireless ready"
Nice Remote
CONS
No 3D even if the content isn't there yet on BD live, you know it's coming. Only the Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray Disc Player in this price range is equipped. This would have been nice
No onboard memory BD live requires a USB or SD, but that's the same for most machines
No VUDU on networking not a deal breaker, but may be for some.
Bottom line.................Great machine if you want to get into network and streaming movies. Quality and everything else for the price is unbeatable.
Buy Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black) Now
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.
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black) Here
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.
Want Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black) Discount?
The Panasonic BD-65 is is a great bang-for-the-buck networked BluRay player, balancing features and price quite nicely. Let me start with a couple of related-hacks that may help you make the most out of it, and new features added on June 7, 2010...Hacks
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You can have two new playback features by picking up a remote control from other Panasonic DVD players that have CM SKIP (jumps forward one-minute with each press) and QUICK REPLAY (jumps back 10 seconds with each press). I am doing this with the remote control of the Panasonic DVD-S29 DVD player, and I am guessing it should work with a lot of other Panasonic models.
The remote hack also solves a usability issue with the remote control of the BD65 the arrow buttons are surrounded by the TOPMENU, POP UP MENU and FUNCTION MENU buttons. It's so easy to press those instead of the arrows when you are not looking at the remote and you may find yourself jumping through menus and getting irritated. The remote of the S29 DVD player has a nice four-arrow design, so I am often using that for arrow presses. A lot of the other remote functions/signals are interoperable.
If you try other Panasonic remotes, keep in mind that Panasonic has three different remote codes which you can change on the devices and the remote itself, and both have to be using the same code (1,2 or 3) in order to communicate.
New features added on June 7, 2010
==================================
Panasonic updated the VieraCast service on June 7 and they added two new services, Pandora and German-language news channel Tagesschau. They also added "Coming Soon" boxes for Twitter and Fox Sports, and have three pages of boxes, half of them with empty with Coming-Soon.
The Settings have now moved to the third screen and they have added an option to Customize the HomeScreen, and move the different services around for example, put the ones you use the most on the first page. The customize HomeScreen is surprisingly nicely done.
I was prompted to update to firmware 1.23 on a couple of days earlier in order to get these features. I have not tested them with older firmware versions.
Unboxing
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The BD65 box includes the BD65 itself, the remote control, two Panasonic brand alkaline AA batteries, the AC cable and yellow-red-white RCA cables for people with older TVs. Also included is a 44-page Operating Instructions guide. PDF version on the Panasonic website.
Set Up
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Set up was easy. I connected an HDMI cable to the TV and I am using wired internet, connecting it just like a laptop. It easily and quickly found the internets and got setup without issues.
Firmware update
===============
One of the first thing the device wanted to do was to check for firmware updates. It comes with version 1.0.4 out of the box. After it connected to the internets, it picked up and installed version 1.23. The download part includes a progress part, but the installation part is like an appliance it shows a "do not turn off" screen while the firmware update is in progress. It doesn't take long to finish.
I haven't used this with the out-of-the-box firmware, so I can't really compare them.
Disc playback
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It plays Avatar BluRay without problems. BluRay has more data than standard DVD, so loading takes time as annoying as that may be from a consumer perspective, since we expect newer technologies to be faster. I haven't measured loading times and such. Standard DVDs load right away as expected. I also played back DVD-RAM (VR), and finalized DVD-R. As expected it does not play unfinalized DVD-R (just as the user manual states).
The BD-65 can multitask, for example you can load/unload discs while in Viera Cast without any interruptions.
Network Services with Internet connection
===========================================
One quick tip before you dive in the menus you may want to turn off the Navigation Beeps through the Settings. They are extremely irritating! As of June 7, 2010 it has the following networked services up and running:
1. Netflix it picks up movies from your Instant Queue, and if you add movies to your Queue with your computer while browsing Viera Cast, the updates show up almost right away. If watching an episode in a TV series, it remembers where you left off, even in-between sessions. Setup of Netflix is easy assuming you already have a Netflix account you initiate it on the BD-65, it gives you an activation code, you go to the website shown on your computer and enter the activation code and they get linked. I haven't done detailed quality tests. I am getting all minus three bars in the Netflix connection quality bar. This requires a Netflix account.
2. Amazon Video On Demand You initiate Setup on the BD-65, you are given a code, then go to the Amazon site on your computer, enter the magic code and set things up. You can also create a PIN, so you can order new movies from the BD-65 itself, so you don't have to go to a computer. The Amazon Video On Demand Beta lets you search the Amazon listings and also view your View Library. It may sound strange to say this, but the navigation through the BD-65 is better than the Amazon Video Library navigation on an actual computer! Even if you don't want to buy anything, you still get free trailers and Amazon usually has a few free videos or sample TV episodes available if you check their Video On Demand page.
3. YouTube you can view featured and popular videos, in a side-box or full-screen, or you can search for videos with keywords using the on-screen keyboard. It's slow to type that way, but it's not that bad if you are not looking for a specific video with a long name. You can also login to your YouTube/Google account and see your Favorites, Subscriptions, Playlists and MyVideos.
4. Picasa you can view featured photos, search with the on-screen keyboard, or login to your account.
5. Bloomberg shows stock updates from various markets around the world, such as the Most Active stocks and Movers, the ten latest market headlines with a summary (no detailed articles). You can also look up stock prices using the on-screen keyboard but the prices are 15-minute delayed. No registration or setup.
6. Pandora it requires a free Pandora account. You initiate the activation on the BD-65, then go on a computer and link it through the internets just like Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. You can link up to seven Pandora accounts and pick which one to play. When you go into Pandora playback, you have the Quick Mix option and also favorite-bands radio. You can also create a station through the BD-65 (red button in bottom row of remote) and enter the name with the on-screen keyboard.
7. Weather Reports you can pick various favorite cities around the world, or you can search by zipcode. It remembers your favorite, and you can decide which one is shown as the default. Very handy. No registration or setup.
8. Tagesschau German-speaking news channel. You pick which video clips you want to watch, similar to YouTube. Great if you speak German or you are trying to learn German.
SD memory card slot
===================
You can put the SD memory card in the slot and close the compartment, so it doesn't collect dust! The front display reminds you have a card in as the "SD" light turns on.
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