It appears that I am too late for that one; I can't find the deal for the BD55 anymore. That's what I get for not checking for deals every day!

I'll keep an eye out for it to come back.

Thanks guys. If anyone else is interested the Panasonic is $197 at hhgregg.com and you get Nightmare before Christmas & Ratatouille by mail for free.

Two awesome movies are better than all five that I got with mine last year.

I finally picked up a Harmony 880 (for $70 as an Amazon DotD in October) and no longer have to worry about remotes. Very happy with it. Being able to turn on/off my entire HT system — including position memory for SD DVDs — with one button is nice, as is being able to program the buttons to put the features I use where I want them.

Does the 880 have backlit buttons?

The 880 does have a standard slate of backlighted buttons as well as a small color LCD screen with buttons next to a programmable list of functions. The screen/backlighting turn on when the remote is picked up (it has a tilt sensor). It sits in a charging cradle when not in use. The remote is programmed and updated using a computer and USB port and requires an internet connection to do this.

My only complaint is that some of the buttons next to the LCD screen are rather small. I know there are other fancier models out there but the 880 suffices for me.

Nifty device.

Ahh. Same one my dad has looking at pictures. Might have to grab this...didn't have good success with the last one though (the repackaged one for the Xbox 360)

You can program in custom pictures into the 880 as well. So you can set your favorite channels and have the station logo on the remote screen next to each of the 8 buttons, so no remembering channel numbers. You can also add up to 4 pages of functions so you could have 36 channels with icons saved in it.

You can go here and download 300 different channel icons and backgrounds in a zip file.

I read online that the SONY Model: BDP-BX1 is the same as the BDP-S350. The first one is at Sams Club. Can anyone confirm this?

Confirmed.

Thanks. Now it seems like I can get the the 350 cheaper at Best Buy or Circuit City. I just wonder if the price is going to get cheaper than 250 before Christmas.

OK final question. Can I use HDMI for video and a digital out for sound with the Sony 350.

^HDMI is digital. If you are referring to the optical S/PDIF port, the answer is yes. All players should be able to send video via HDMI to the display and audio via the optical S/PDIF port.

I assume that you are aware that you won't be able to get multi-channel lossless sound using this connection; the player will downconvert lossless audio codecs to regular DD or DTS. S/PDIF doesn't have the bandwidth for lossless.

I wasn't aware of that but I only get two channels of TV where I live, and generally only watch one. In February TV may disappear entirely in my area (I hooked up a converter box a couple of weeks ago and found no digital signals).

So TV channels and logos aren't an issue. But it might be nice to get some custom pictures for my various devices.

BDPX1 was $229 at my Costco yesterday, the Panasonic 35AK was $199

Wow, really?! Where do you live? I guess that would be the same for me, right now, if it wasn't for cable. I'm living in a college campus apartment (while my wife's in school) and it's nothing but concrete (like a dorm), and all the signals come from behind us (meaning there are, at least, two concrete walls in my way). I can't pick up anything, but at least they offer us cable for $8 a month. But, anyway, those stations you get should have a digital signal (unless they're lower power stations, in which case you wouldn't have to worry about it). But that doesn't mean you can easily pick them up. I guess if you're living in a place that only picks up 2 stations, then the digital signal just isn't getting to you. What a bummer.

^I live in a thinly populated (my entire county has a population of just 4300), mountainous, rural area where broadcasters use repeaters. Supposedly they are going to be switching them to digital but the problem is that digital signals don't seem to carry as far as analog and you either get them well or not at all, unlike analog. So, I am really pissed off about the much touted digital change-over.

I built a concrete house with a steel roof (for wildfire reasons) and have a large antenna in a piñon pine tree. If I could get even a hint of a signal from the station that I want (PBS) I'd buy a really high gain antenna, use higher gauge coax cable for my long run, and give it a try. Digital broadcast websites say I should be able to pick up a signal from a couple of digital licensed repeaters (but they may not have started actually broadcasting in digital yet).

I'm very reluctant to pay $500 a year for satellite "just to watch TV"; seems like an unconscionable waste of money to me, especially on my very tight budget. I'd rather spend money on BDs and TV-on-DVD sets than just throw away $500 a year, as most people do without a second thought.

Under the circumstances, you can see why "home theater" stuff is a really big deal for me!

Thanks I may have to visit Costco today.

Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s) : 1 (Rear)


This is the output I was talking about. I do not have an HDMI input on my receiver only on the TV. So it will work but I will not get the best sound available. Is that what you are saying?

Yes, exactly. To get lossless audio, you would need to upgrade your receiver or use the six (or eight) channel analog inputs (which most older HT receivers have).

In the latter case you would need a player that has multichannel analog outputs, such as the Sony S550 or the Panasonic BD55.

However, using the coax S/PDIF port for your audio should give sound as good as, or a bit better than, what you get from DVDs now. Many people, perhaps most, wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and lossless anyway, mythology about lossless notwithstanding. Depends on how high-end your audio equipment is, and your "ears".*


*

Thanks man.

A question for the Costco shoppers:
Regarding the Panasonic BD35 @ $199.

I've kinda reluctantly decided to go for this machine. I say "reluctantly" cos of two minuses: no DIVX and no region hack.
I do, however, like everything else about this machine, and to get one for $199 would definitely sell me.

So - I've been to every local (NJ) Costco looking for this machine for the past week or so. No dice. Some of the sales folks even told me Costco doesn't carry Panasonic products (okaaaay)...

Finally - today I spotted it in Clifton NJ. They had a ton of them...but at $279.00. Sales dude there knew nothing about it ever selling for $199.

My question - is this $199 price with a coupon?
If not, is there an ad showing the $199 price that anyone can post here?

Thanks in advance folks!

^

You're literally a day late and $80 short. The instant $80 savings promotion expired yesterday. Sorry.

The sale will be back, retailers are like drug addicts. No reason to worry or hurry, likely there will be even better deals to come.

So I said what the hell and picked up the Sony BDP-S350 and a Denon AVR-1909 quite the upgrade from my 8 year old Denon AVR-3801. The Dark Night looks and sounds amazing.

I so hope You're right. This was so frustrating. I'd swear they kept them all in the stock rooms until the day after the sale...