What are some good blue ray players?

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James

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We are getting an hdtv for the first time... we have a cd player, which plays 480p max i believe, same as the tv. With the new hdtv it goes 1080p, what are some good blue ray players specially less than $100. Also another note do you recommend 5.1 surround system? I don't like the stereo speakers but i dont want to spend money on an 5.1 speakers and barely see a difference. Should i get 5.1 or 7.1?
 
Panasonic is the most reliable player in the market today. They always have a player being recommended each year by Home Theater Magazine. I still use my first generation player model BD-10 which is over 6 years old and played over 330 blu ray disc movies without one issue. As far a 5.1 or 7.1 you are not going to find any difference. There are only a handful of 7.1 audio in the blu ray movies. Stay away from those home theater in a box. They are not very good and reliable also the are not flexible for adding anything to them or up grading. Look at an Onkyo HT-S3500, it is a 5.1 receiver and a set of speakers. Demo the unit at any Fry's electronic and it retails for under $300. Hope this will help you out.
 
Some good BluRay Players:

Sony:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+3D+Wi-Fi+Built-In+Blu-ray+Player/4790311.p?id=1218531614411&skuId=4790311

Samsung:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Smart+Wi-Fi+Built-In+Blu-ray+Player/6653282.p?id=1218780246081&skuId=6653282

PlayStation 3:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PlayStation+3+-+Refurbished+PlayStation+3+Slim+(160GB)+Gaming+System/1903148.p?id=1218300459800&skuId=1903148

Don't worry if you buy a 3D BluRay player or not. 3D BluRay players play normal BluRay movies also. BluRay players also play normal DVD's and it even upgrades the quality of DVD's. You'll only need a BluRay player.

As for a sound system, if you're not too picky on sound and you don't want to pay for a full surround sound system, try a sound bar. They replace a full surround sound system and offer just as good sound with "simulated" surround sound.
Here is a list of a few:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=&id=pcat17071&type=page&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&st=sound+bar

If you don't need upgraded sound, I bet the build-in speakers should be just fine.
 
Question 1) What are good bluray players? I would look at panasonic You can get the BDT220 for around 100 http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMP-BDT220-Integrated-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B00752R4PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360720875&sr=8-1&keywords=panasonic+blu+ray+player This is one of the better players without spending a fortune.

Question 2) Yes a Surround sound system makes a huge difference compared to the TV speakers. Just stay away from the All in one systems. If you want to stay cheap you could look at the Onkyo HT-S3500 it is a receiver and separate speakers and is the only "system I will recommend. It sells for around $250 ON Amazon. Any other HTIB is junk and won't last and is not able to connect external devices. for around 500 you could make a nice starter system and would be the Ideal way to go. For receiver I would recommend the Pioneer 1022k it is $239.00 and is a 7,1 Not that you need 7.1 most Blurays still use 5.1, but you would be ready if you ever needed it.
As for speakers I would recommend Polk Audio http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Channel-Theater-Speaker/dp/B0002WTK4S/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360721311&sr=1-2&keywords=polk+audio+5.1 These are currently selling for $199.00

So for your 3rd question You don't really need 7.1 but the receiver I recommended is 7.1 and the speakers are 5.1 so if you went that route the receiver would downmix to 5.1 unless you bought 2 more speakers. But again you don't really need it.
 
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