(May 29, 2009)
Matthew Moskovciak
Now that HD DVD is dead, home theater fans have only one choice for high-def movie discs: Blu-ray. Blu-ray players can deliver outstanding image quality, with movies encoded in 1080p resolution and rich colors that put DVD to shame. This list consists of the best Blu-ray players on the market, including some older models that may now be discounted. In the past, Sony's PS3 offered the best value, but now the choice isn't so cut and dry. With high-end standalone players offering a wide variety of streaming media services--such as Netflix, Pandora and YouTube--and matching the PS3's Blu-ray playback performance, non-gamers have a variety of alternative players from which to choose.
LG BD390
The LG BD390's combination of excellent image quality, superfast loading times, and its currently unbeatable feature set make it our top choice among premium standalone Blu-ray players.
Price: $336.47 - $399.99 (check prices)
Review date: May 27, 2009
Excellent
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Sony PlayStation 3
Even though PS2 backward compatibility has been dropped from this version, the 80GB PS3 is still a superb Blu-ray player and high-definition game console.
Price: $359.00 - $399.99 (check prices)
Review date: Oct 8, 2008
Excellent
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Samsung BD-P3600
The Samsung BD-P3600 is a huge leap ahead for standalone Blu-ray players, with blazing-fast operational speed, tons of features, and excellent image quality.
Price: $315.00 - $399.99 (check prices)
Review date: Apr 2, 2009
Excellent
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Samsung BD-P4600
Samsung's BD-P4600 Blu-ray player is packed with features and its unique design makes it wall-mountable, but most buyers will be better off with the step-down BD-P3600.
Price: $427.00 - $499.99 (check prices)
Review date: May 4, 2009
Excellent
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Samsung BD-P1600
The Samsung BD-P1600 has a great mix of features and performance for a standalone Blu-ray player, with only its annoying design holding it back.
Price: $239.00 - $299.99 (check prices)
Review date: Mar 31, 2009
Very good
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Samsung BD-P2500
The Samsung BD-P2500 adds Netflix to an already well-featured and top-performing Blu-ray player, with only some minor disc compatibility issues giving us pause.
Price: $259.99 - $299.98 (check prices)
Review date: Nov 26, 2008
Very good
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LG BD370
LG's entry-level Blu-ray player packs Netflix and YouTube at a reasonable price, but the BD370's image quality is a step below the best.
Price: $219.00 - $299.99 (check prices)
Review date: Apr 8, 2009
Good
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Panasonic DMP-BD60K
The Panasonic DMP-BD60 offers excellent image quality and reliable Blu-ray playback, but it doesn't have as many features as the competition.
Price: $195.95 - $299.99 (check prices)
Review date: Mar 27, 2009
Good
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Sony BDP-S550
The Sony BDP-S550 offers excellent image quality and a solid feature set, but only consider it if you need the multichannel analog outputs.
Price: $309.99 - $499.95 (check prices)
Review date: Nov 17, 2008
Good
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Panasonic DMP-B15K
The Panasonic DMP-B15 is the world's first portable Blu-ray player and can function as a standalone player too, but ultimately it has too many caveats and costs too much.
Price: $799.00 (check prices)
Review date: Jun 22, 2009
Good
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