Playstation 3 has been the most popular buy for home theater enthusiasts over the past few years. It has been an obvious choice as Playstation 3 plays Blu-ray discs as any other player would. Playstation 3 features high definition gaming and it is for this reason, people having interest in gaming would especially go for this player. The player would stream digital media, rent movies over the Internet, and all these are available now at a price about the same as a stand-alone Blu-ray player.
It is all changed now with Panasonic DMP-BD35 coming into the market. The player has significantly changed the scenario, and introduces Profile 2 support, making it possible for users to access the Internet via the Ethernet port available in the player. It offers on-board decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.
As far as Blu-ray discs are concerned, the DMP-BD35 provides immaculate picture quality, and provides comparatively equally good image with standard DVDs as well. However, with all said and done, Playstation 3 players still remain the choice of those who are interested in games, stream media, and rent movies. As for home theater enthusiasts, who are into Blu-ray movies, Panasonic DMP-BD35 is the best choice. The player has been rated high by CNET and the users, and has received deserving awards for its performance and features.
Panasonic DMP-BD32 at a Glance
The Panasonic DMP-BD35 has received excellent ratings from CNET editor, who provides the player with a 4-star rating considering its functionality and performance based on the price that the player sells for. The average rating from users also reflects a 4-star remark. However, every player has its advantage and disadvantage.
Advantages
- The player has excellent image quality on Blu-ray discs.
- It is a Profile 2 compliant player, which allows you to access the Internet via its Ethernet port.
- The player has on-board decoding feature for all high resolution soundtrack formats.
- It has bit-steam output, which can be attached to your AV receiver for decoding.
- The player offers the best option in the price tag that it sells for, as a stand-alone Blu-ray player.
Dissadvantages
- Playstation 3 has more functions than Panasonic DMP-BD35, and it has faster navigation. However Playstation 3 costs more.
Design
Panasonic DMP-BD35 has a better exterior design than its previous models. Without the “vibration-reducing feet” of its step-up model DMP-BD55, the Panasonic DMP-BD35 looks slimmer, and is shorter compared to the Panasonic DMP-BD55. The large, chunky looks and the flip-down panel of DMP-BD50 have been replaced by “a DVD-like disc tray”, which is placed at the center of the front side of the player. The LCD screen is situated on the far left, and the light in this LCD panel can be dimmed but not turned off completely. You would also find a flip-down door to the right side of the unit, and “the SD-card slot and a few playback controls” are hidden underneath. The controls for chapter forward/backward skip are missing.
The remote unit has not changed in design, and remains the same as the last model. At the center of the remote control unit, you will find the big, blue playback buttons, and also the chapter skip and fast-forward/rewind. Just below this you will find the large directional pad, and as usually found, this directional pad is surrounded by other buttons, such as, disc menu, pop-up menu, and general display buttons. You can control your TV and AV receiver with the same unit. On the whole, the remote control unit has well laid-out controls which are easy to use.
Features
The first stand-alone Blu-ray player to introduce Profile 2 support was Panasonic’s DMP-BD50. Now the recent model, Panasonic DMP-BD35 is also a Profile 2 compliant player. This feature is often referred to as “BD-Live”, by which you can access the Internet via the player’s Ethernet port. The feature lets you access special features available on some movies, for example, Rambo and Walk Hard. The player needs to be connected to the Internet via its Ethernet port, and since it does not have any internal memory, the SD Card needs to be put in the front panel slot. The profile 2 feature in Panasonic DMP-BD35 is quite overpowering, and more improvement in the contents is in the offing. However, Playstation 3 has a faster response than this player as far as the inter-active features are concerned, and the hard drive in the Playstation 3 makes it more convenient.
The player handles magnifications of wide screen DVDs quite well, and it was found that the Panasonic DMP-BD35 also handled older versions of movies, detecting the aspect ratio correctly. There is no manual setting available for this. This aspect becomes an important feature when you want to play movies on some older HDTVs which do not have aspect-ratio control for HD sources.
Panasonic DMP-BD35 has solid soundtrack support. The on-board decoding in the player takes care of all the formats for the high-resolution soundtrack, which includes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. You would not need a new receiver for improved sound quality. The player provides you with the output of high resolution soundtracks in bit stream format so that your AV receiver could decode the signals by itself.