Panasonic DMP-BD 80 EG

...staunch support by Sony and Panasonic amongst others, and boasted about the later updates to its technology available via internet linking, which it claimed would help it stay ahead of the pack in the future. Blu-Ray whilst initially lagging behind, soon caught up due to it's profile 2.0 updates giving it previously missing features such as the picture in picture and more interactive extra features available vi BD-Live (requiring internet link as ...
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The Panasonic DMP-BD 80 EG is a little piece of magic
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Panasonic are thought of by many as the kings of Blu-Ray manufacturers. They produce high-quality, admittedly not always cheap Blu-Ray players with an emphasis on great picture and sound quality.
The 80 EG keeps with this tradition admirably. It's been out now for some months but is ... more

The backstory
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Up until around a year ago there was a so-called 'format war'. Two formats were slugging it out in an effort to become the undisputed high-definition format of choice.

HD-DVD was supported mainly by companies such as Toshiba and Microsoft - resulting in an optional HD-DVD add-on for the X-Box 360. Industry experts generally believed this to be the more impressive format, due to its extra range of features such as picture in picture (2 screens at once e.g. the movie and director interview) and the fact that it required less of an emphasis on upgrading and improving along the way.

Blu-Ray was given staunch support by Sony and Panasonic amongst others, and boasted about the later updates to its technology available via internet linking, which it claimed would help it stay ahead of the pack in the future. Blu-Ray whilst initially lagging behind, soon caught up due to it's profile 2.0 updates giving it previously missing features such as the picture in picture and more interactive extra features available vi BD-Live (requiring internet link as mentioned earlier).

It became apparent fairly early on that Blu-Ray had the edge in sales. It was helped massively by the Blu-Ray's inclusion in the Playstation 3 console which has continued to this day.
Whereas Microsoft's X-Box 360 required you to spend an additional £100-£120 to benefit from HD-DVD, your PS3 had high-definition disc playback already enclosed within it. It had been a similar story years earlier with the Sony Playstation 2 including a DVD player. DVD sales at the time increased by several hundred percent due to the PS2's phenomenal sales successes

Rather than force the consumers to keep on making a difficult choice and following several high profile pull-outs by supporting partner companies, Toshiba officially announced the disbanding of the HD-DVD format.
There was now only one choice - Blu-Ray. Great if you owned a Playstation 3. Sore news if you'd invested in a HD-DVD player - they were now dropping in price faster than you could blink, with Game and Gamestation flogging the X-Box 360 attachment for around £20-£30 a time.

The Panasonic DMP-BD 80 EG is a little piece of magic
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Panasonic are thought of by many as the kings of Blu-Ray manufacturers. They produce high-quality, admittedly not always cheap Blu-Ray players with an emphasis on great picture and sound quality.
The 80 EG keeps with this tradition admirably. It's been out now for some months but is still one of the newer players on the market, and one of the most reliable.

It is a mix of silver, dark grey and black, has a slimline but sturdy feel to it and also a stylish remote which fits neartly into your hand. You'll find a trendy digital display and blue light on it's front when in use, and a large group of friends sitting all around you insisting that you keep watching Blu-Ray rather than go out and see some of the world. LOL!
The loading drive is quick to respond to the button presses of the remote, and the discs themselves load very quickly, which helps to avoid frustration as with some earlier models by rival companies.

The appearance helps it look the part on any cabinet, under most TV's or on a shelf without looking odd or out of place. This is particularly important as most consumers nowadays have wildly differing set-ups in their rooms or lounges, depending on size, colour and brand of TV, internet connections and locations etc etc.

How well does the picture stand-up then eh? Is it worth bothering with?
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YES! It really is the simple answer. The picture is absolutely gorgeous and is definitely a contender for best image quality from a blu-ray player of any brand or price.
The colours literally leap out of the screen at you like a really good painting. They are so incredibly rich and deep that you'll find yourself appreciating the films in a whole new way. This is all due to the Chroma Processor Plus which is the horsepower behind this fantastic Blu-Ray player. It's a marvellous bit of technology, and for once you can actually see the difference unlike some of the techie features from the rivals manufacturers.

If you are wanting to play your older DVD's on this player then you're in for a treat! The 1080 HD upscaling is fab. You'll see a noticeable improvement in the quality of the image straight away. Not Blu-Ray quality admittedly, but a marked improvement over that which you'd be used to seeing from a standard DVD player.

Yeah it all sounds great so far, but how does the SOUND sound?
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Again, a simple answer would be - stunning!
There is what is known as a 'lossless 7.1 decode'. This means that very little possibly nothing is lost in the sound transfer from recording and production to your screen.
You are literally listening to EXACTLY what the director and producers wanted you to hear. This is great news for film lovers, especially fussy ones who want everything to be perfect - and there's nothing wrong with that.

Just try listening to a scene full of explosions, car chases or even the quieter dramatic moments with violin music playing in the background as characters speak. You'll be amazed at the quality of the sound. It brings the discs to life in a whole new way, and may well make you watch the older dvds again just out of curiosity.

Can the sound possibly make such a difference to a movie - yes it can!
That's one of the main reasons why the cinema still holds such an attraction for people old and young (and middle-aged lol) up and down the country, and all over the world.

OK, ok I get that the picture and sound are great but what of the extras?
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Yes you do get extras.
There's a USB port for transfarring of JPEG images, mp3 files from your flash drives etc or cameras for slideshows and so on.
It works extremely well and the photos look great even on a standard definition TV, so if you're lucky enough to have a full HD TV then you'll be salivating at the quality of the image.

You can update the firmware via an internet link - important for extras, and this also allows you access to BD Live which helps you make the most of the extras on a Blu-Ray disc such as documentaries, quizzes, trailers and games etc.

The picture-in-picture (PIP) feature is great as you'd expect. You could have the film play on the main screen, and have a smaller box pop up on the right with the director talking you through each scene - a must have for true film fanatics, and a neat way to get more from a film like Die Hard 4.0 where you need to know how each stunt was performed, and why certain actors were chosen.

You get something very innovative and impressive called 'Viera Cast'. This is effectively an internet facility that allows you to peruse youtube videos and news etc on your tv via your bluray player. It's excellent and is something that moving forwards, will become the norm in many tv's and bluray players.
If you're interested in a Panasonic TV, some of the newer ones are also supporting Viera Cast.

And the installation and manuals? How good and easy are they to follow?
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The installation is super-easy. Just plug it in to the right places and follow the on-screen prompts to set everything to your specifications.
The manual is helpful, although I doubt you'll need it unless it's just to double-check that you're using everything correctly which you most probably would be.

The remote is great too - the icons are easy to understand, and you'll find it's a nice size and compliments other remotes well like Sky or TV. The batteries seem to last ages in it, depending on what brand you use obviously.

So how much does this beauty cost me?
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Well as ever, that really depends.
Amazon have it listed at varying prices considering that it can be bought direct from them or marketplace sellers. The current price is £278.00 plus a delivery cost.
Play.com has it listed at a penny under £290 and various electronics retailers online have it available for between £230 and £300.

It really does pay to shop around, and also be very aware of your returns policy rights, not that you'll be wanting to return it unless it has an obvious fault.

Wont it be obselete very quickly?
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Yes it will, just like any car or PC.

Chances are that as soon as you get it into your living room, there's already something far better waiting in the wings. But then if we all thought like that, we'd never ever buy anything. Not even food, because it's sods law that the offers always start within days of you buying all your fruit and vegetables.

Buy it, be happy in the knowledge that you have a premium, high quality and very reputable brand device under your television. Invite your mates around to watch films on it and have a jolly fine time.
Then try reveiewing it on here yourself, and see if you disagree with what I've said. I'm thinking you probably wont.

Happy viewing! 

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