LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player
by LG
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List Price: Our Price: $75.22 You Save: $174.73 (70%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player
Customer Review: Love the LG379 Blu-ray Disc Player
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the LG BD 370 on June 27th, 2009. Now that I have had more than a month to use it, I wanted to give my feedback on the player. The BD370 is my first Blu-ray player. I bought it because:
1) The Phillips DVD player that I had had for several years was struggling to read discs.
2) I had recently signed up for NetFlix and was eager to be able to stream content to my TV.
3) Since Bluray was the future, I was eager to try it out and start buying my favorite movies in that format.
Here is my assessment of the BD 370.
1) I love the Blu-ray format and have been very pleased with the quality of the loading time, image quality and sound quality. I note that some have complained about the quality of certain types of digital content. I am not an audiophile and am not qualified to judge the sound quality. The TV I watch this content on is 720P and is not yet connected to a home theater system, something I hope to remedy soon. I just love the features available on Blu-ray and think that this player accommodates these features very well.
2) Setting up the BD 370 was extremely easy. I am aware that there are newer players that will connect wirelessly to my network via 802.11. But this was a feature (not available in the BD 370) that did not interest me in the least. The quality of stream-able content is quite sensitive to download speeds and I was afraid that a wi-fi connection would compromise the quality of the picture. I had no problems pulling the wire and connecting the BD 370 to a port on my router. Content was immediately available and it automatically downloaded an update to the firmware which added CinemaNow to the menu of options.
3) The streaming content has wildly exceeded my expectations in both quantity and quality. One of my motivations to move to Netflix was my increasing dissatisfaction with quality and price of my[...] service. Until recently, I could rent a Blockbuster DVD via mail and return it to the local store and use it as a coupon for another rental at a reasonable cost. This was a great way for me to have access to non-new releases. Over the last year or so Blockbuster has been increasing the cost while decreasing the service. For example, the latest iteration of the program would not send me the next movie in my [...]queue until I had returned the DVD that I had rented from the store. Netflix streaming has effectively replaced the Blockbuster store. I now have over 60 titles in my instant streaming Netflix queue and am never wanting for something to watch. I haven't missed the Bricks and Mortar Blockbuster store at all. The picture quality of streaming movies is very, very good. I have watched only one movie (Uncle Buck) in which there was a noticeable degradation in picture quality compared to DVD. And even in that case, I suspect that the cause may have been related to other traffic on my home network hogging the bandwidth. I have also been pleasantly surprised at the quanitity of content that is available via streaming. Just this week, we watched Lars and the Real Girl on DVD and noted the previews for The Visitor and Henry Poole is Here. Both of the movies were available via streaming on Netflix. There is a surprising amount of HD content available via streaming, especially television programming.
I have two small quibbles with Netflix streaming movies: no subtitles (which my family uses more often than not, especially for English films), and fast forwarding and rewinding is slower and has to rebuffer with each use. On balance though, we have been extremely pleased with the streaming Netflix content on this player. Don't tell Netflix this, but the streaming content is so good, I would readily pay a monthly fee for the service on top of my DVD/meatware service.
In summary, I have been very pleased with the features and quality of the BD 370.
Customer Review: A Blu-Ray player that feels complete.
Summary: 5 Stars
There may be better Blu-Ray players out there, but the trick is finding the one with the features that you're looking for, at the price you want, and for me, the BD370 just couldn't be beat.
The player design, for the most part, is extremely sleek. The drive is hidden behind an automatic door, and several controls are hidden behind a flip-down panel on the right. The Open/Eject and Play controls are located on the corners of the center panel, which also includes the Power Button (I honestly didn't even notice the buttons in the middle at first aside from Power, and I was only using my remote to open/close the tray). The one potential downside is that they placed the USB port (required for BD-Live content), behind the flip-down panel. If you're like me, and you couldn't care less for BD-Live content, it's not a big deal. However, if you are interested, then having to keep that door down could be a tad annoying (and it does hurt the overall look).
The BD370 is Profile 2.0 compatible, and it has onboard decoding for the new audio formats, including Dolby Digital+, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD (should be noted that it supports DTS-HD Master Audio Essential so it doesn't decode several older DTS formats found on some DVDs). Set-up is a breeze, and the interface is simple and easy to use (did an on-line update within minutes). And not only is the player quick to start-up, but it is also extremely quiet.
Blu-Ray discs load within seconds, and they look and sound great. DVDs look great as well. I'm definitely not an extreme videophile, but as far as I'm concerned, there's not much to hate as far as video quality is concerned.
One of the main reasons I bought this player was for Netflix Instant streaming, and it definitely doesn't disappoint. I'm on a 3Mbps connection, and while the quality isn't quite up to DVD standard for the most part (my resolution is set at 1080i), it is close, and some movies actually do look as good as a DVD. Youtube works fine, and the quality is just ok, as you'd expect, but I didn't see an option to view videos in HD (some other minor options were missing as well). Hopefully it's something that could be fixed with a software update. CinemaNow access is supposed to be coming soon as well.
While there may be some quibbles with the BD370, I'd have to say that they are very, very minor. Unlike other Blu-Ray players I've tried, this one doesn't feel like a beta-product. It actually "feels" complete. I am extremely content with my purchase and I'd gladly recommend it to someone who wants a great Blu-Ray/Netflix player at a great price.
UPDATE: CinemaNow access was indeed added, however I haven't tried it myself. There have been several firmware updates since I received my player which addressed a couple of bugs, and as far as I can tell, it's pretty flawless now (no more bugs that I notice anyway). I also upgraded my DSL connection (7Mbps) and I can now view the HD content available on Netflix. HD content looks better than DVD quality, and is very clean, although there are only a few hundred titles currently available (both movies and tv shows). The one downside is that all content (SD/HD) currently offered by Netflix is presented in stereo. Not a huge drawback, but it is worth noting.
Also, as discussed below, the American version of this player doesn't support playback of video files via the USB port (audio and images only).
Customer Review: A great step up from the BD300, my favorite Blu Ray on the market right now.
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the new model year '2009' Blu Ray players, we own the LG BD370, Samsung BD-P1600, and a PS3. By far, the BD370 is the nicest for Blu Ray content. Loading is FAST and the drive is completely silent (this is not the case on the BD-P1600 by Samsung). Piano Black finish on the face is plastic, and looks good. We have found that it does not scratch easily too! The rest of the case is black-ish metal and sturdy.
One of the great things about the LG BD370 is you can customize the look of the interface on your TV. There are 4 themes and all are in high-definition. The remote on the BD370 changed from the BD300, and I feel it was a step down. It's got a faux-leather finish on it - why? No idea. The one improvement is buttons that don't get used much are hidden behind a panel on the remote.
Netflix 'Watch Instantly' is very cool and the setup is literally 30-40 seconds if you already have an account. Just after we got ours, it alerted us that a firmware update was available! It added CinemaNow - we hadn't used CinemaNow before, but a quick registration on their site and connecting was just as easy as Netflix. Rented a couple movies to try it out - VERY cool. YouTube is also available on the player and it's AWESOME. I'd easily compare it with an AppleTV, though believe it or not, the BD370 is a bit faster at searching and playing YouTube videos - it also does them in Full Screen, no problem.
One odd thing we've noticed... with Netflix and CinemaNow and YouTube we have only watched 3 or 4 movies on Blu Ray. So much other content available that this player is really a STEAL - it's a fantastic Blu Ray player (audio and video as good as you imagine it would be), but WOW is it awesome to have a player that does so much other stuff.
No wireless on this player, nor does it have built-in memory for using BD-Live. Neither of these items should be cause for concern - I haven't seen a BD-Live feature YET that has been worth while... all the good stuff is usually already on the Blu Ray disk itself.
The thing that makes it just a bit better than our Samsung BD-P1600 is the front display. The circular button assembly on the front glows a soft blue when playing Blu Ray, soft red when playing DVD, and purple on certain Netflix, YouTube, and CinemaNow video. The main display is also helpful, showing 'NETFLX', etc and most importantly, you can SEE the display (the Samsung player's display is so dim you wouldn't believe it).
For the price and feature set, I don't think there's another player I'd even consider after having used them all!
Customer Review: Great Blu-Ray Player for the Money!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this Blu-ray player about a month ago and have used it quite extensively over that period. I will first say that for the money, I am very happy with the product I purchased and the features that come with it. Before purchasing this player I spent a lot of time reading reviews like this one and determined that I really wanted to purchase one of the players that allowed me to stream Netflix and a player that had a relatively quick load time.
First, the load time on the BD370 is very good (I think). I have never owned another Blu-ray player and therefore cannot compare it to anything else. Yet, because I have no previous experience with Blu-ray, I also didn't have any previous expectation on how fast the discs should load; I just wanted a player that would load a disc in a reasonable amount of time that wouldn't seem "long". After watching 10+ movies, I can say that the load time is more than acceptable and should be for the average person who might be buying their first Blu-ray player (like myself).
Second, the Netflix streaming is awesome. The BD370 does not have wireless capabilities and therefore you have to connect it through the internet using an Ethernet cable. My router is on the other side of my apartment and therefore I connected the BD370 to the internet using an ethernet connection coming from my Apple AirPort Express (which is an awesome product in itself). At first, I was unsure whether or not that quality of the streaming video would be good because of the wireless connection through the AirPort Express. Yet, after watching a full season of Friday Night Lights, I was happy to see that most (all but 1 or 2) of the episodes were streaming in HD quality (so it says in the bottom of the picture) even if one of my three roommates was also doing something bandwidth heavy on the internet at the same time (Skyping, watching The Daily Show on Hulu, etc).
In the end, I would strongly recommend the BD370 and think its a great Blu-ray player for some one who may be buying their first player and wants a good player for a good price. The Netflix streaming is very nice (especially if you are interested in any of the TV shows that you can steam for free: The Office, Friday Night Lights, etc), the load time is more then sufficient, and the picture/audio quality is exactly what I was expecting from Blu-rays. My only regret now is that I had bought a nicer TV a year ago to now take full advantage of the video quality that the Blu-ray can output.
Customer Review: Excellent Blu Ray Player with Netflix Streaming
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the LG Blu Ray BD 370 player because it had Netflix streaming and wasn't as expensive as the alternatives. Overall, this is an excellent Blu Ray player.
This is my first Blu Ray player, so I can't really make any comparison with other players. However, I'm quite satisfied with the video quality, and there are some noticeable improvements over standard DVDs (although not a significant improvement - but this is not a player issue). The upscaling when playing standard DVDs works well and is comparable to the upscaling of my Sony DVD.
One of the reasons why Netflix streaming was important to me was because my kid could get to watch a variety of cartoons over and over. As his taste evolves fairly rapidly, I get to choose from a wide selection of children's programs available for streaming. Also, unlike OnDemand on Comcast, some of the children's programs on Netflix are over an hour long, so you don't have to keep on coming back every half and hour to change the program. Having the streaming feature on the Blu Ray player allows us to play the videos on our 46" LCD TV rather than on a 15" laptop screen.
I have also used the Netflix streaming feature to watch movies when we are in between the videos on our Netflix queue. The quality of the Netflix streaming is pretty good even on regular videos. The HD streaming is of even better quality, but your selection is much narrower. The quality may be a function of a wired ethernet connection, but this Blu Ray player doesn't support Wi-Fi (most players that do would cost a lot more).
This player also has You Tube streaming and after the software update you gain access to something called Cinema Now or something like that. The You Tube menus are not difficult to navigate and the quality of the videos is not too bad. I don't use this feature that often. Cinema Now allows you to purchase movies on-line and the movie will be streamed to your player. I haven't tried this just because I have Netflix streaming, so I can't really comment on this feature.