Jason Reynolds

Anyone know what the differences are between the Panasonic S97 and the Panasonic S77?

I've heard good things about the S97 and planned to get one, but am having trouble locating it as they're in short supply. Ultimate Electronics only had the floor model left, and it was WAY overpriced IMO ($385) They also had the S77 for $239, and a side by side comparision didn't yield any noticable differences (and the saleman was no help.)

Anybody?

Thanks

-Jason

gabeon

The pricing on the s97 at Ultimate Electronics is a mistake. I can't remember which forum I saw the thread on it for, here or AVSforum, but I was able to get around $100 credited to my card after I spoke to a manager a couple of days after I purchased the player.

As far as the difference between the two, I have no idea.

Red Dog

I got the S97 from vanns.com back in February for $270. I do remember it being tough to find though. Once I decided on the S97, it took about a week before I saw that anyone had it in stock, and even then, Vanns was the only place that had it.

Jason Reynolds

The only difference I've found is the S97 has the direct navigator menu system and the S77 doesn't list it. Dunno.

I checked Vanns and right now the S97 a pre-order item at 279.99+shipping, no known ship date.

Found a few on Ebay, which might be my only choice.

-Jason

Richard Malloy

The main difference is that the S77 won't output PAL like the S97 does.

Also, it seems that the latest S97s have the same firmware as the new S77, and some are speculating that there are also hardware changes in the latest S97s to match those of the S77. In other words, if you buy any old S97 out there, and presume that the firmware can be updated to make it the same as the latest-build S97s, you may find that this isn't true. I believe it is the April-build S97s that incorporate all the latest changes.

Jason Reynolds

I was mainly after the HDMI and upconversion, so PAL output is no big deal for me. I have another player that can do that anyway. Thanks for the info.

I broke down and ordered the S77 from Amazon last night, so hopefully I have it next week sometime.

-Jason

ytrez

But the S97 isn't region free, right? From what I heard, it needs modification for this and can't be done through a remote code?

Also, on your second point, So I want the S77 firmware/hardware changes in the S97? If that's the case, it sounds like I should just go for an S77 since PAL output is useless to me.