Josh Z

I read das Monkey's DVD review of Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Player at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=30001 and...

Great review, das.

That is indeed one horrible remote. I recommend a universal remote from Harmony. Their 880 model made my life immeasurably easier. Best home theater purchase I ever made.

das Monkey

Thank you, Josh. I really appreciate that.

I've never been able to pull the trigger on one of those fancy universal remotes, but one of these days, a Hot Deals post will coincide with a moment of weakness, and I'll end up with one. Don't they have an 890 now? I think you should get that. Hmm ... but then you'd have one too many remotes. Oh wait -- I have an idea.

das

Josh Z

Amazon sells the Harmony 880 for about 50% MSRP:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmo...dp/B00093IIRA/

Yeah, I know, you're still thinking "$130 for a remote?!". I was the same way, but I eventually got so fed up with all of my other remotes, and with my previous universal model (a One-For-All), that I bit the bullet. It changed my home theater life. I also had a very skeptical friend who I talked into buying one, and after about a week of use he literally thanked me every single day for a month for it.

The only feature difference between the 880 and 890 is that the 890 offers RF compatibility. Unfortunately, it is also reportedly very buggy, and the 880 is better overall.

The beauty of the Harmony remotes is that once you get one, it's never obsolete. You can download new codes from their database for even the latest equipment, and they're completely programmable down to every last key so you can customize it however you like.

You want to know how serious I am about this? Go to the "Zyberdiso" link in my sig and look at my equipment rack. This one little remote controls everything on that rack, and does it so fluidly that I never have to worry about switching inputs or changing settings. I just push "Watch HD DVD" or "Watch Blu-ray" or whatever and it knows what to do.

The only thing it won't do is control a PS3, but that's Sony's fault for insisting on using Bluetooth.

Supermallet

I'm with Josh. The Harmony 880 Remote is heaven. It takes a little while for you to set it all up, and you have to do a little tweaking to get it to do exactly what you want every time, but it works. As Josh said, pretty much every single button is repogrammable, and the Macros can be very, very detailed. It's very much worth it for a serious home theater enthusiast.

Edit: P.S. I second the great review, and will be highlighting it in the next HD Talk column.

John Sinnott

That's the Blu-ray player I have, and I'd enjoyed it from the week it was released without having any problems playing SD DVDs at all. As a matter of fact, I like the upconversion a bit more than my HD-A2 and use it as my primary DVD player. So was pretty surprised that das found discs it wouldn't read. I haven't come across a single one. Unfortunately I can corroborate that this deck won't read the Fellowship discs. I tried the first three and they were all no-gos.

As for the remote, bit the bullet and get a quality universal one. It makes life so easier. I spent $700 on my Pronto Pro and it was the worth every penny. I also have a Harmony 880, which is good too. The Harmony isn’t nearly as adaptable, and the hard buttons are a bit too small for my meaty fingers, but it’s worth the money. The setup is much easier than the Pronto, which is good for people who don't want to spend forever and a day tweaking a remote to perfection.

das Monkey

I'm not sure I want that level of responsibility. But I'll give it some serious thought.

das

Josh Z

I suppose I could cut you some slack on that.

Did I mention that the remote will also control any other appliance you may have in the room, like window fans or light dimmers?

das Monkey

Will it make me breakfast?

das

Josh Z

Only if you buy it drinks the night before.

Superman07

I also agree - very good review. I think you did an excellent job of outlining what some of the limitations and benfits of the player are. I think you especially did well with the audio section outlining the inability to play DTS-MA and how having the analog outputs is a good thing when a lot of people would figure they are useless since there is an HDMI connection.

chanster

I have the 880 as well, its simply fantastic. The software is a bit clunky, but once you figure it out, it moves pretty fast. I finally have been able to box up my old remotes.

Josh Z, can you tell me what buttons you have on your HD DVD player on the LCD screen for Watch HD DVD activity? Thanks,

Josh Z

Do you mean which buttons I assign to which functions in that activity? I'll have to check the list when I get home.

chanster

Thanks Josh, thats what I meant. The buttons that adjoin the LCD..I just got the HD A2 and would be interested to hear what buttons you have put on the first page of the LCD for "Watch HD DVD" Thanks.

Josh Z

I don't actually use the buttons next to the LCD for anything. I've programmed all of my commands into the physical buttons below.