FIRST LOOK: New Panasonic Blu-Ray/DVD-Audio Player DMP-BD10A

[JonUrban]

This unit debuted on the market last year as the DMP-BD10 and listed for $1299. Aside from the fact that it played DVD-Audio discs, this seemed to be a bit steep for a leap into one of these new fledgling HD video formats.

Well, this week, Panasonic released an updated version of this player, hence the "A" designation. Along with adding two of the newer surround decoding formats (DTS-HD High Resolution and Dolby True-HD), and "throwing in" 5 Blu-Ray discs in the box with the player, they also lowered the price by SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!

Using a Best Buy 12% off coupon (NOTE: It expires on Sunday), I broke down and bought one of these today. The price was $527.99, and when you consider the 5 Blu-Ray discs having a value of around $25-$29 each, that's a pretty good price.

But is it worth it?

Stay tuned as I test this bugger out! Until then, here's a few peeks at the unit.

Picture 1 is the box showing the logos of the formats it plays
Picture 2 is what's in the box
Picture 3 is the rear connections (The HDMI connector is not in the picture)

 

[JonUrban]

A few closer looks....................

 

[elshagon]

Thanks for the "heads-up". I was hoping they'd begin selling HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players with DVD-A capabilities. Let us know how the player performs. Right now I own the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player and sure wished it had DVD-A and sacd so I didn't have to buy an analog switcher or switch analog cables between players for my music. There's one good thing coming from this new "format war", and that's a quick decline in player pricing.

 

[JonUrban]

I had an HDMI cable (one does not come with it).

I connected it to my DENON 4806 which outputs via HDMI to my monitor. I figured I would do a quick check of the video quality before I dragged out the 6 analog cables for DVD-Audio.

I fired up the Panny, did a quick setup, and was about to put in the first Pirates Blu-Ray disc, then I said "What the Hell". There was a DVD-Audio disc sitting right there so I threw it in to see what would happen with the DVD-Audio sound when there is only an HDMI connection.

Guess what - IT WORKED GREAT!! No analog cables for me!

Now, on to the video.........

 

[VACamper]

Adding DVD-Audio and dropping the price is certainly a step in the right direction, but it's not enough to get me to spring for a high-def DVD player. I need to see a true universal player (both HD disc formats, DVD-audio, and SACD) before I'll take the plunge. I already have four disc players in my system, and there's no room for another component unless I can replace one of these: (1) Denon "universal player" for DVD-A/SACD, (2) DVD recorder, (3) MaxPlay DVD player for playing movies for the kids with all the bad stuff filtered out using ClearPlay; and (4) 5-disc CD changer.

 

[bmoura]

Oh yeah, it does Blu-Ray too!

This unit debuted on the market last year as the DMP-BD10 and listed for $1299. Aside from the fact that it played DVD-Audio discs, this seemed to be a bit steep for a leap into one of these new fledgling HD video formats.

Well, this week, Panasonic released an updated version of this player, hence the "A" designation. Along with adding two of the newer surround decoding formats, and "throwing in" 5 Blu-Ray discs in the box with the player, they also lowered the price by SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!

Using a Best Buy 12% off coupon (NOTE: It expires on Sunday), I broke down and bought one of these today. The price was $527.99, and when you consider the 5 Blu-Ray discs having a value of around $25-$29 each, that's a pretty good price.

Which Best Buy coupon did you use?

Looking at the attached coupons from Best Buy, footnote "1" says Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are not eligible for the sale discount !

 

[JonUrban]

Which Best Buy coupon did you use?

Looking at the attached coupons from Best Buy, footnote "1" says Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are not eligible for the sale discount !

I just noticed that, but the coupon went through fine on the check-out. Go figure!

 

[JonUrban]

Here's a scan of my receipt. If anyone wants to try it this weekend, rest assured that it worked for me.

You can see from the receipt that the coupon bar code '6861407' is the same one from the link I provided, the second bar code from the bottom of the first coupon: 12% OFF REWARD ZONE PROGRAM CARD

 

[DaneelOlivaw]

Very cool that they're dropping the price so radically.

Jon: do you know if the manual says anything about the player's bass management & distance compensation for dvd-audio? Because it seems many manufacturers continue to introduce hi-res players with very inflexible and/or strangely designed b.m. systems for the hi-res formats (and sometimes don't include distance compensation at all).

 

[Bob Romano]

Wow... it plays MP3's... sweet!!!!

 

[bmoura]

Here's a scan of my receipt. If anyone wants to try it this weekend, rest assured that it worked for me.

You can see from the receipt that the coupon bar code '6861407' is the same one from the link I provided, the second bar code from the bottom of the first coupon: 12% OFF REWARD ZONE PROGRAM CARD

I guess the key here is to ask for the "Jon Urban Deal" !

 

[JonUrban]

I guess the key here is to ask for the "Jon Urban Deal" !

Not really. Others over at the AVS forum have gotten the same deal. That's where I heard about it - and got motivated.

Here's the thread over at AVS Forum about the player. It's pretty long, but if you read the last few pages you'll see everyone has gotten the 12% off without a hitch.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=847667&page=1&pp=30

 

[lolbroek]

Woohoo! That's a step in the right direction. Now for a full-on universal player (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray and SACD/DVD-A) and I'm game!

Thanks for the info! Be sure to post further findings.

 

[JonUrban]

Jon: do you know if the manual says anything about the player's bass management & distance compensation for dvd-audio?

I don't see anything about it. Here's the manual if you want to check for yourself.


http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DMPBD10A-MUL.PDF

 

[Old Quad Guy]

I think you got a great deal on this unit. If I had the money I'd be very tempted to buy. It seems to play all the Hi-Def music formats, except SACD. But because it won't play HD-DVD seems to be the deal breaker. Unfortunately, can't one record Hi-Def now and put it on a HD-DVD disc but you can't do that now with Blu-ray? Or can one record Hi-Def video and put it on Blu-ray Discs.

If I had this unit now I'd be having a blast watching "Pirates of the Caribbean"
in Hi-Def.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I think you got a great deal on this unit. If I had the money I'd be very tempted to buy. It seems to play all the Hi-Def music formats, except SACD. But because it won't play HD-DVD seems to be the deal breaker. Unfortunately, can't one record Hi-Def now and put it on a HD-DVD disc but you can't do that now with Blu-ray? Or can one record Hi-Def video and put it on Blu-ray Discs.

If I had this unit now I'd be having a blast watching "Pirates of the Caribbean"
in Hi-Def.

There are some Blu-ray recorders for the PC. Right now, I would say it is price prohibitive, both media and recorder, but that should improve soon if the format survives. We sure enjoy watching a Blu-ray disc when I can get one with something we want to see. It is clearly the best audio/video format I have ever owned in terms of quality. Software selection is hardly worth the effort, but announced titles for the second half of this year means things are looking up some.

Glad to see you have your player Jon and I hope it works well for you.

Chris

 

[Old Quad Guy]

There are some Blu-ray recorders for the PC. Right now, I would say it is price prohibitive, both media and recorder, but that should improve soon if the format survives.

Thanks Chris for the info. One factor that might shape the format war is which one can record HD onto Disc for personal use. Or playback an HD Disc one has created from HD video. As HD camcorders become the norm people will expect this feature. Which format can deliver might be the more widely used common product.

For the price and with the videos I don't think you can lose. Even when "all in one" players come out you can still use this player in another room.

Thanks Jon for turning us onto the sale price and showing us the specs.

 

[Rck60s]

So the DVD-Audio works thru the HDMI cable? This bypasses the protection so you can get the real DVD-A

 

[JonUrban]

So the DVD-Audio works thru the HDMI cable? This bypasses the protection so you can get the real DVD-A

I'm not sure it bypasses the protection. It may work with the protection. Actually, I am not sure. I was pretty surprised that it worked, as I thought it was only the iLink connections that did this. However, over at the AVS forum, they seemed to think this was "normal".

I must have been out of the loop on this one.

 

[JonUrban]

There are some Blu-ray recorders for the PC. Right now, I would say it is price prohibitive, both media and recorder, but that should improve soon if the format survives. We sure enjoy watching a Blu-ray disc when I can get one with something we want to see. It is clearly the best audio/video format I have ever owned in terms of quality. Software selection is hardly worth the effort, but announced titles for the second half of this year means things are looking up some.

Glad to see you have your player Jon and I hope it works well for you.

Chris

Watched the first BD movie tonight, the first Pirates movie. From the menu, the surround options in English were:

5.1 Surround
5.1 Uncompressed surround

I chose "uncompressed" and it sounded pretty good. Not sure exactly what I was listening to as far as the new format names go, but it was true discrete. There are sections in the movie with solid sound effects in the rears, although most of the soundtrack is in the fronts.

The picture on my plasma was perfect. (I only can do 1080i, not 1080p)