I just bought an HD-DVD player and I am now planning to go Blu-ray as well. I was thinking of holding off until this Sharp player comes out:

http://crunchgear.com/2007/07/06/sha...lu-ray-player/

I have never purchased or owned any Sharp products, so I was curious to get some of your trusted opinions on Sharp products (good/bad) and your thoughts of the this upcoming Sharp Blu-ray player? If you don't like it please post alternate players you would recommend instead.

Thanks..

Sharp makes great TVs, but I"m not so sure about their other components.

Unless you insist on getting a rectangular box that fits neatly in a cabinet and has IR, then I think everyone will recommend getting a PS3. It's by far the best bang for your buck.

I first saw some of the specs for the new Sharp last week on one of the German forums (I am providing the link below) but it seems like everyone is waiting for the press-conference they will have in Denver on September 4. Link:
http://www.blu-rayler.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=120

Perhaps you should be able to get more details then and specifically as to whether or not this player will be fully compliant with 1.1. This being said, SHARP are a very serious company with excellent reputation. For what its worth my first VCR ( ) was SHARP while my first tape deck was Siemens (the big square ones with the silver lid on the top).

http://www.sharp.ch/d/produkte_detail.asp?id=682

Pro-B

ps.

The new Loewe player looks fantastic but no one knows what the going price will be. They are a top-brand however so way above 700 Euro I would think:

I would wait to see what Panasonic has cooking for this fall before buying any BD player. I always seem to get a lot of value out of Panasonic products.

I never buy the new model of anything (cars, washers, recorders, etc). Usually there will be unforeseen problems with the first appearance of anything mechanical. I prefer technology which has already been fixed in later models. But who knows? Maybe Sharpe will "nail-it" the first time out!

Thanks guys. Please keep coming with your opinions. I guess the thing that impresses me the most is the Quick Start feature. I recently purchased a Toshiba HD-AX2 and it takes forever to power on and forever to load a disc. I am impressed with the quality of the player, but the technology is just not there with most HD/BR players concerning this matter. Just curious did SDVD players have this problem when they first came out? I wasn't and early adopter of SDVD so I don't remember.

Both SHARP and SONY's players announced yesterday will both be profile 1.0

Even the BDA insider at AVS stated it is unlikely that they will be upgradable to 1.1/2.0.

Loewe is a very boutique brand. I would expect this to be the most expensive player on either format, by far. It looks pretty slick, though.