Panasonic Multi Region DMP-BD45 DVD Player + Blu Ray Zone B with USB MP3 DivX HD JPEG You Tube Playback + Includes Bluetooth Headset with every purchase

This is my first Blu Ray player and I think it's brilliant, it looks nice and the pictures and sound are awesome. The unit does not have wi-fi, just an ethernet port, and does not stream video, but for the price, it does everything else, great value.

*** PLEASE BE CAREFUL.***

This review was originally posted when this sale item was a Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blue Ray Player.
It has now (temporarily ?) changed to the Panasonic DMP-BD45 Blue Ray Player !
I am not aware of the differences between the models, but it could be as important as the provision of a USB connection or SD card facility.
PLEASE CHECK as my review covers the DMP-BD60 specification !

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I bought this player (luckily with a manufacturer's multi-region DVD modification) already being the owner of another budget Blu-ray player, the renowned Philips BDP3000, so am in a position to not only say how it performs in it's own right but also in comparison to another budget contender so you can see how things can differ.....

Philips BDP3000 Blu-ray Player

Overall, the Panasonic essentially performs admirably with excellent picture and sound. My only observations being that :

1. It is a little noisy as the sound of the disc rotating is clearly audible and just about enough to occasionally be heard during quiet periods; I have a feeling this (in my opinion unforgivable) 'problem' could get to be quite irritating, but we'll see over time....
2. It can also be a little slow to access discs when first loading data and, for example, skipping chapters when playing (there is a definite 'pause' as it moves forwards/backwards).

For me, significant (some unusual) benefits it has are :

A DVD-RAM playback capability.
The remote is very well designed and specified. It allows you to setup the dedicated TV controls for your particular make of TV as well as having a dedicated 'Receiver' volume button, which like the TV controls can be setup for your particular make of amplifier. When watching a disc this is likely to be the only feature you would want to change on your amp, so it being on the Blu-ray remote is VERY handy.
Although I presently cannot take advantage, it has built-in audio decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.
The USB port is at the front, meaning it is readily accessible when connecting equipment to use with the built-in media player.
There is also a front-mounted SD card slot, which has the same benefit as the USB positioning but also means you can use it to give the player the required memory to support BD-Live and still have a separate connection for the media player.
The seemingly very capable Internet services 'VIERA CAST' facility (which looks interesting but yet to be explored !) - this could well be a 'killer' capability.
*** Lastly, the media player really comes to the fore if you own an HD Panasonic camera/camcorder since this player supports the AVCHD (including the 'lite' edition) file format; this means, for example, you can load the SD card from your camera and playback your photos/HD video. The process is seamless and collates video by date, allowing you to playback a days' video continuously with the ability to skip between each individual recording that day like you do with chapters on a DVD/Blu-ray; you can of course pause or FF/RW as well - great !

The attention to small, but often important, details is similarly demonstrated by the comprehensive 'audio options and results' explanation table in the user guide (Page 20); this leaves you in no doubt what can be achieved with particular settings, equipment and connections.

Aside from the 'noise' and slowness aspects mentioned earlier, the things I am not so keen on are :

The settings menus are rather complicated and not completely intuitive.
Firmware updates can only be performed via Internet or a 'burned CD-R, not via USB or SD card.
Whilst I got it for free, it is still pertinent to observe that the multi-region for DVD capability cannot be achieved by your own efforts and would usually need to be bought as an included upgrade when first purchasing the unit.

If you are comparing the Panasonic to, say, the aforementioned Philips BDP3000 which has a similar price you might want to know that :

The media players support differing file types.
The Panasonic has a digital optical out socket whereas the Philips has digital coaxial out socket.
The Philips cannot decode DTS-HD Master Audio.
The Philips can be easily modified to have a multi-region DVD capability by means of a remote 'hack'.

So, the Panasonic DMP-BD60 is a well-specified budget Blu-ray player with excellent video/audio performance and some highly unusual and often very useful features. However, it does have the (potentially massive) drawbacks of occasionally being a bit noisy and having a slow mechanical responsiveness; it is also not readily made multi-region for DVDs.

As with any purchase, you should really try and download the specification/user guide to check it has/does all you need; budget players often have some 'limitations' or reduced specification/choice. For example, I see a lot of reviewers state they bought such-and-such a player only to discover that the digital audio output was either only coaxial or optical, being the wrong type for their audio equipment; check before purchase, and such significant matters can be realised so you know what you getting what you need/want....

what i wanted was a blue ray player that would play div-x files and other file types.after first going for the Sony bd360(that went back)it wouldn't play most of my other files.i took the plunge with this and i'm soooooo glad i did.it plays absolutely anything i've chucked at it so far.the picture is perfect and sound as near perfect you get.the viera cast feature is great and easy to set up from your youtube account.the firmware update started as soon as i switched on and plugged in the ethernet cable(so easy)no messin'.at the front is a drop down flap which hides the usb and sd card slots from where you can play div-x movies and view your photo's
overall this is a play anything player and it does it all very well and easily.cannot fault it in any way.