just ordered it. Its my first blu ray and it will hold me over until I want to drop the cash on a region free player.

...Which you could have done numerous times at Target for $99. There are a handful of players that can be made region free for about $100.

I haven't known about any other then the Curtis Mathes 130 which I can't find anywhere (except on amazon for $300).

If you know of any they have that can be made region free I'd love to know so I can cancel the order

Models and such being discussed here:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...p-899-a-9.html

I've seen the Curtis thing at Target in the past 2 weeks.

More player prices at Amazon:

LG BD 370 $147.06

LG BD 390 $259.95

Panasonic DMP-BD60 $129.36 from Electronics Express (Amazon no longer seems to have this player in stock. The BD60 and BD80 might be on their way out as a new players are introduced.)

Sony BDP-S360 $119.99 + $10.23 shipping from J&R (the shipping charge seems to be a bit less than ordering directly from J&R).

Thanks for that link. Those folks who are interested in region free can check out that thread.

Are you talking about the Curtis Mathes CMMBX130? Target's .com site has been out of that since it went $99.

The model they have out right now on their site the X72 hasn't been confirmed to be both Region Free for DVD's and Blu's.

A forum member mentioned there was a possibility of the X72 being "Region Free" but probably not more than that. Also hard to say cause the OP was a little confusing (as to what discs he used) and no one else on the forum has bought the player.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...egion-pal.html

It's now $118 and it's sold directly from Amazon(free shipping).

Price for the Curtis Mathes CMMBX130 at Target is now $76.

So what's better between the Panasonic DMP-BD60 and Sony BDP-S360? I don't care about vieracast or other online features, just Blu-ray quality and dvd upconversion. I can't tell how wide spread the freezing on the BD60 is, the Sony more reliable? Loading times are important too.

Amazon has lowered the Sony S360 to $109.99 now:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S360-...d_i=2236672011

This player is probably the best basic player available at present. But all of them, even the non-name brands, can be expected to do a good job.

Amazon had a lightning deal for a Sylvania player for $80 but it is sold out now. They also had a Harmony universal remote for $40, also sold out.

If you are concerned about the freezing problem the Sony would be a better buy. They have the same features. The Panny used to have an advantage in having slow motion/freeze frame, but Sony has added that function to the S360 by a firmware update. Most current players have pretty quick booting and disc loading times; they are nothing like the first generation players. Reports suggest that the LG players and the Sony PS3 have the fastest loading times, but I haven't made a study of it. To me it is a non-issue nowadays.

As for DVD upconversion, I believe that all of them do a pretty good job nowadays. You could try to research individual models at AVS forums, but that is pretty hard work to wade through those thousands of posts. You could try Cnet reviews. I've heard no complaints lately about upconversion of any of the players we mention here. Beyond that, I simply don't have any definitive answers.

All of the players do a fine job with Blu-ray Disc playback so far as I am aware. You can spit hairs about 1080p/24 and 72Hz, 120Hz outputs and the like but that has more to do with displays than players.

IMO, the Sony is a solid basic player and you probably wouldn't go wrong with it. And it is only $110, shipped, from Amazon.

(For the record, I have the Panasonic DMP-BD80 and have had four five second freezes in six months.)

I was concerned about the reports of the Panny occasionally freezing too so I got the Sony. Up until the BD60, the Panasonic players seem to have been rock solid from my reading. I'm used to the load speed of a PS3 and found the Sony load time to be good enough. Up loaded fast enough for me, although I don't have the player hooked up to an internet connection.

Toshiba BDX2000 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player - $80 @ Amazon

Price just went up to $140. I was able to get it for the $80 though...

This was the model that was $76 the last time I checked early yesteday.
http://www.target.com/Curtis-Mathes-.../dp/B001COGXMC

Ordered one when it first popped up on Amazon.com. Was able to get $10 off using my Discover Card. Final cost with free shipping $69.97.

I went ahead and got the Sony BDP-S560 with the built in wi-fi.

My only other player was last years Sony entry level model (for some reason it's now much more expensive that the model that replaced it) and it's been awesome.

Never a single problem with any disc and does job very well, which is my primary concern. When I get the new one, this will go into the bedroom and if I absolutely need an update, I'll have to use a CD-R, I guess.

I honestly didn't even bother with firmware updates for almost 8 months and after I did it and got them all updated, I didn't even notice a difference.

But with plans of upgrading to a new plasma in the living room and new receiver, I thought this would just make future firmware updates easier in case they become more important than they've been.

Does anyone else have this model? I wonder why firmware updates have supposedly been put on to put Netflix on the PS3, but no mention of it for other Sonys that didn't come with it as a feature. Wouldn't it be likely that if they could do that through a firmware update for one model, that they could do it for all of them?

Well, the PS3 isn't like a standalone player at all. It does things in software and is more versatile like a PC, as opposed to the specialized chips in standalones. It also has an advantage in processing power and RAM. Getting it on the standalones would be a very different process.

Plus, you have to figure it's much more of a priority for them to get NetFlix on the PS3, since there are many more of them than any one standalone player. And, of course they're competing with the 360.

Regarding the updates though, usually their purpose is to fix problems, not increase performance. If you didn't have any problems, you wouldn't notice a difference.

I went with the Sony, it was cheaper. Should arrive Tuesday.

The Sony N460 has Netflix (and other streaming options) but no WiFi...I would go with that one.

I bit on the Sony S360 at $120 on Amazon for my parents. It's backordered at the moment, and I'm hoping it stays that way in case there's a better deal to be had on Monday. I"ll probably stick with Sony though, since it sounds like they're more reliable/fast; aren't they putting like 12x readers in these things yet? Too bad they're not giving away a pile of movies with them like the HD-DVD players that other year. I could always use a few more movies. btw, are there any good players that read both HD-DVD and BD yet?

The S360 is a good choice for your parents. Sony's tend to be relatively trouble free and when they do have a compatibility problem they issue firmware upgrades quickly. Also, your parents can request update CDs from the Sony website if they're not comfortable burning a CD themselves or don't have it hooked up to a network. I got my parents an S350 last year and it has worked out well - good enough that I got an S360 for myself this week.

The early LG's were combo players but since Toshiba came to market and theirs doesn't play HD I doubt You'll see any more.

I just hope the firmware updates aren't 100+ megs like the goddamn PS3 ones.

The most recent is 48.1 MB.