General Zod

Finally my old DVD player died so I need to replace it and I figured I might as well buy a blue ray player since they are relatively cheap and have great features such as netflix/youtube streaming (and I can replace my Roku).

So I'm trying to decide between the LG BD 370 ($199) and the LG BD 390 ($299). The genius at Best Buy told me the difference between the 2 was $100 and because 390 is higher than 370 it "is newer. So it probably has faster load time". Hey thanks, Pal. Just saying "I have no idea. I just work here." would have been just as useful.

So after comparing the boxes the differences only seem to be that the 390 (Along with allowing a very additional formats like DivX) allows wireless streaming whereas the 370 requires you plug in a network cable.

So my question is.. Is wireless the best for this? I mean I am assuming I'm going to be streaming HD quality and I do have a good wireless network but it seems to me an actual wired connection would be better so I'd be better off going with the 370.

I'd appreciate any feedback or experience folks have had with this.

Thanks!

Tsar Chasm

While i don't have specific experience with wired v wireless on blueray, I do have equivalent experience with w vs w< TiVo, wired is definitely a better experience. I use my TiVo for netflix streaming and it was a horrible experience wireless. I think wireless is just a convenience feature.

TheKobra

If you can to wired go that way. I have the Samsung 3600 and wireless (N) will drop from time-to-time. When I go wired I have no issues at all.

VinceA

My general rule of thumb is: If the object isn't going to be moving on a regular basis, run an Ethernet cable to it.

Spiky

Wire.

General Zod

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and got the better unit that has wireless but ran a wire to it anyhow. I figure I'll be streaming HD contact from MediaShare to the TV so wired would be best all the way around. The unit does have wireless-N support which I thought was pretty cool.. but as has been said if I can run a cable - run a cable.

Played around with it all this weekend and it all works great. Thanks again!

General Zod

So it turns out my stereo that says "5.1!!!" all over it doesn't have any 5.1 inputs (or optical or digital).. Just RCA red/white that doesn't translate to 5.1 output so I don't get to enjoy the surround sound

I was told this is typical of "all in one" units like the one I have... they aren't intended for expandability. So, a friend at work gave me an sony receiver and it does have an optical input! So, my question is, would the optical output from the LG HD tv be 5.1? I've also got to do some wire splicing on the speakers because the speaker connections on my all in one unit were like made so you couldn't possible screw it up so it's got like a star, square, triangle I actually kind of like that but it doesn't work for a "real" receiver

Spiky

Yes, the optical output should be 5.1. But that would probably only be for its own tuner. If you are using cable/sat or the BDp, you'll want to run cables direct from those boxes to the receiver.