Q. Any idea when there is going to be a good Blu-ray player at a reasonable price? The industry should be ashamed if the PlayStation 3 is still the only player that makes any sense.
SCOTT MCCRACKEN
Moon
A: Things are definitely looking up on this front, and "when" is now. In the past I have given Best Buy's Insignia NS-B2111 speakers two thumbs up, and can now extend that endorsement to the Insignia Blu-ray player.
Manufactured by major Japanese manufacturer Funai, the underlying hardware works extremely well and is showing up in new players such as the Philips BDP7200 ($399) and Wal-Mart's Magnavox NB500MG9 ($298.) The Insignia NS-BRDVD ($299) is identical to the Magnavox but has a superior one-year parts and labor warranty, an extra digital output, and $100 worth of Blu-ray movie coupons in the box.
The Insignia is a well-made machine with solid, reliable performance. Picture quality is fantastic and the well-designed remote is responsive. An SD card slot allows you to show digital photographs directly from camera to television. The pictures are displayed perfectly and I encourage you to try this feature if you get the player.
Blu-ray movie startup times lag a bit behind the PlayStation 3 (PS3) but are far speedier than the stand-alone players of just a few months ago. Many of these primitive, slow and glitchy players are still on the shelves and are to be avoided! I cringe inside when I see the obsolete Sony BD-PS300 and Samsung BD-P1400 selling for $399 or even $299 next to the much better, much more capable Insignia.
The PS3 ($425 with Blu-ray remote control) is a more advanced machine. It is compatible with Blu-ray's Internet features and can play games and downloaded content, but there are scenarios where the Insignia or a comparable stand-alone would be a better choice. Besides the $125 savings, many consumers would not bother exploring all the PS3's capabilities if their sole purpose were Blu-ray movie watching. A stand-alone player is familiar and much simpler to set up, and the Insignia's infrared remote is easier to use than the PS3's Bluetooth remote.
If you want the best possible sound and have an HDMI receiver that can process Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, you may be better served with the Insignia. It can transfer Dolby and DTS high-definition audio directly to the receiver for processing, called bitstreaming. The PS3 cannot bitstream these audio formats and processes them internally, sending out a generic digital audio "PCM" signal over HDMI.
Theoretically there is not supposed to be an audible difference between bitstreaming and PS3-processed PCM, but many end users have reported getting better sound when their receivers process the audio. I've used both methods and prefer using the receiver to process the audio when possible. Just remember that when bitstreaming, you must change a menu setting to hear audio from "Bonus View" picture-in-picture features.
If multimedia capabilities, video games or using Blu-ray Web features is important to you, the PS3 is the machine to buy. If you just want to play high-def movies on your HDTV or have an HDMI receiver that can decode the new surround formats, the Insignia is a great choice. In my personal pecking order bitstreaming trumps Web features, so I would buy the Insignia.