Blu-ray/DVD player with buttons on device

[93Flareside]

Hello again.

My dad has an older Pioneer Elite DVD player that has all the buttons you need to play/pause, navigate menus, call up the movie menu on the face of it. My parents for as long as I can remember have a habit of losing remotes very quickly. His current DVD player works fine except as I remembered last night, cannot display anything but a 4:3 480 signal with no upscaling even though it has the ability to set a 720i.p or 1080i/p signal, but it has HDMI and is connected to the newer LG smart TV they bought a couple of years ago. If you set the player to output 720p or i, it will play the video just fine but the audio drops out every 3-5 seconds, 1080 I didn't even try but remember as a teenager that it wasn't better, the video dropped out as well. Looking at the current crop of blu-ray/dvd players, they seem to have no buttons on the face besides disk eject, play and stop. Would anyone here know of a player that still has buttons? This is important for me. It also has to perform well, meaning navigating the menus and stuff isn't like using an older pc with 2 generation newer version of an operating system. When I press the button, I want it to respond now, not 2 seconds later. I have a panasonic blu-ray player like this and my current smart tv is even worse. I don't want that for my parents.

My dad currently has this.

Amazon.com

 

[GRtak]

What have you found out? I am looking for a Blu-ray player myself. I read a few reviews, was leaning towards a Sony player, but it seems to have issues despite being reviewed as a good player. I haven't continued much beyond that.

 

[Matt2000]

I had a look but drew a blank so didn't think it was worth mentioning. I initially looked at Sony as that's what I have and even 10 years ago they didn't have many buttons, neither did Pioneer or Panasonic.

I have a Sony UBP-X500, apparently I've had it for over 2 years now and it's great. It's a basic 4K UHD player with no smart features, that means you aren't paying for stuff you don't need. Ironically, I could do with those smart features now but never mind. It's just a really reliable player.

 

[93Flareside]

What have you found out? I am looking for a Blu-ray player myself. I read a few reviews, was leaning towards a Sony player, but it seems to have issues despite being reviewed as a good player. I haven't continued much beyond that.

I looked a little on Amazon and Best Buy's websites. I could only find largely the same designs, half width with play, stop, and eject buttons on the face. No ability to navigate the menus.

before you say "just get a universal remote!" they already have one and while that works for a few months with their tv, speaker bar, and cable tv box, it seems to have lost some functions since being set up. It still works but it falls out of sync sometimes with turning on the speaker bar with the tv...

 

[93Flareside]

 

[93Flareside]

I think I may have found one that will work.

Oppo (gangnam style) BDP-83.

Oppo BDP-83 Blu Ray, DVD, DVD-A, SACD Player w/ Remote | eBay

Original owners and includes the remote and power cord.

www.ebay.com

Only problem I see is, this hasn't been made for at least a decade so will this be able to do any sort of up-scaling? I doubt it as no reviews I've found mention it.

 

[Matt2000]

If you mean DVD upscaling then it has a label on the back for that:

It could be argued that a modern TV could probably do as good a job though, a new 4K TV would probably do a better job of upscaling Blu-ray to UHD better than the earliest UHD BD players too.

Looks like a nice device with the blue LCD and lighting but it seems a bit expensive considering its age, will be interesting to see what it goes for. Is this more than just a Blu-ray player? New models are cheaper than this.

 

[GRtak]

Before I would buy that old model player, I would try getting them a new universal remote. I think that the old remote is the real problem for dropping the settings.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[93Flareside]

Maybe, but that's not the whole issue. The issue is their current DVD player displays shit image. 4:3 only which makes all 16:9 movies even smaller.

 

[Matt2000]

It will definitely do what you want, still seems awfully steep for what it is but if it's the only one with physical buttons. Also if it's their money.

 

[GRtak]

, but that's not the whole issue. The issue is their current DVD player displays shit image. 4:3 only which makes all 16:9 movies even smaller.

Okay, I just locked on the remote issue.

 

[93Flareside]

It will definitely do what you want, still seems awfully steep for what it is but if it's the only one with physical buttons. Also if it's their money.

I'm not dead set on that specific blu-ray player.

 

[Matt2000]

I'm not dead set on that specific blu-ray player.

Fair enough, it went for over 200 American Rubles which seems a bit steep.

Thinking outside the box, an Xbox One plays everything, IR media remotes are available and will be much easier to find than the remote for a specific player. There's also the option to plug in a USB keyboard, a programmable board or one made from a cheap Arduino clone could provide the front media controls.

 

[93Flareside]

So, a weeked or so ago I watched Finding Nemo on blu-ray because that movie looks so good when you get that level of video quality.

I was reminded by how much I hate the performance of the Panasonic blu-ray player I bought a few years ago is. I turn it on, I wait a good 20-30 seconds before I see anything show up on the tv. We're not ready yet though! Press eject, some more waiting before the command is read and the tray ejects. Once the disc is in, it works fine. Once you're done though, getting back to the players home screen is another "hang on, lets warm up the boiler" type situation.

Are they all like this?

 

[NecroJoe]

My Samsung is, and I remember my Pioneer was like that, too...but these are all older machines...no 3D, no 4K, etc. basically first-gen Blu-Ray

 

[Matt2000]

This Sony 4K player takes about 11 seconds to get to the menu. I found out the other day that if you switch to that HDMI source it boots up automatically, too. I've only had it for years.

 

[NecroJoe]

This Sony 4K player takes about 11 seconds to get to the menu. I found out the other day that if you switch to that HDMI source it boots up automatically, too. I've only had it for years.

Mine goes the other way...when I turn on the player, the TV automatically changes the source to it.

 

[GRtak]

Mine goes the other way...when I turn on the player, the TV automatically changes the source to it.

ARC ports can do it both ways. Wait, what? lol

 

[Matt2000]

Yeah mine will do that if I turn it on, which is usually by mistake so that's a bit annoying. I can't actually remember how I bump it and turn it on.