Comments about Panasonic Panasonic 3D Black Blu-ray Disc Player:

Great picture, Fast start up time . Had trouble setting up the wireless network

Comments about Panasonic Panasonic 3D Black Blu-ray Disc Player:

YOU NEED TO DO A FIRMWARE UPDATE ASAP VIA THE WIRELESS DONGLE THAT IS INCLUDED.

Comments about Panasonic Panasonic 3D Black Blu-ray Disc Player:

I wasn't as interested in the 3D capabilities as I was the network (DLNA), MKV/Divx support, 7-channel audio output and DVD upscaling quality. The Blu-Ray playback and DVD upscaling is excellent and the audio output is sensational, but I was very disappointed by the dismal capability to play simple Divx videos over my wired home network. All the press releases indicated a strong capability to playback HD-Dvix and MKV files, but even though I could see my videos on the menu (after creating a DLNA server on my main computer and setting the appropriate file sharing), the player indicated that it could not play the titles. I burned several titles onto DVDs and BD-R, but the only things it would play were simple Divx titles that were under 2-gig in size. It would not play MKV files no matter what I tried, even renaming to AVI files. The USB ports would not accept NTFS-formatted sticks, so I was forced to only use FAT-32 formatted sticks, which might explain the sub-2 GB limitation I experienced. I have a 3D-ready DLP television but do not have the emitter/glasses to try the 3D demo disc included in the player, so I cannot comment on the 3D capabilities. I will probably buy another television in a year or two that has built-in emitter features that I can utilize my "future-proof" player with. One other quick note: I really like the ability to change subtitles on/off, but this player's remote did not have that ability as I hoped...you have to go through the popup menu or the main menu and dig your way to it.

A week later I purchased the Samsung BD-C5500 (for < 1/3 the price of the Panasonic) and the networking capabilities of that player is much better, except that you must use their proprietary software and it adds tiny picture files to my multimedia folders that it uses as icons on the television screen. It plays Divx, HD-Divx, xviD, and MKV files greater than 2 Gb (It would play some 12+ Gb MKV files easily) over the wired home network, Discs, and USB sticks without much problem. There is a way to jump to a specific time and also to fast-forward and reverse in 10-15 second intervals, but it is not documented in the manual. Another feature the Samsung had that the Panasonic did not was a subtitle button on the remote that quickly turned subtitles on and off.

I will keep the Panasonic DMPBDT350 for Blu-Ray playback, DVD-upscaling and future 3D titles, but the Samsung BD-C5500 will be used for the network/Divx/xviD/MKV/USB file playback. Hopefully Panasonic can update the firmware to support the features that they touted so proudly in their press releases for the unit.

Comments about Panasonic Panasonic 3D Black Blu-ray Disc Player:

Great with 3d Ready Projector