Excellent Pioneer BDP-05FD Blu-ray Player

by Pioneer

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 16.5 x 4.9 inches ; 12.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 50 pounds
• ASIN: B001EYYJ30
• Item model number: BDP-05FD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,104 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

Blu-ray Discs deliver incredible full-HD images, breathtaking sound and 5 times the data capacity of standard DVDs

True24FPS technology more closely approximates the original 24 fps frame rate of film than traditional video, providing a smooth, more realistic cinema experience in your home

Picture-in-picture function lets you watch Blu-ray Disc movies and bonus feature content at the same time thanks to the player's BonusView support

Progressive scan output eliminates blur and distortion of video for smooth, lifelike images

Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master decoding provide immersive, cinema-style surround sound

CD and DVD playback compatibility enables you to continue to enjoy your current media library

Advanced Unified GUI allows easy setup and operation of the Blu-ray Disc player as well as simplified operation between other Elite products

Picture control suite offers 13 adjustable settings, incl

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional player, November 16, 2008

By 

John (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excellent Pioneer BDP-05FD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

I have been holding out on purchasing a blue ray until after the format war was settled between blue ray and the Toshiba HD DVD. Now that I have it, I'm not sure what I did without one! This thing is awesome!

So you probably realize that the blue ray format is great before you read this... So, let me tell you why I picked this unit.

1. start up. This until starts up very quickly. In fact I couldn't believe how long it took other brands to boot. Boot time is not a problem with this one.

2. Upconverting. I took a regular Lord of the Rings DVD into the local retailer and tested the upconversions. It is my opinion that this Pioneer had the best upconversion in the store.

It's not a cheap player, but if you have a lot of regular DVD's, you'll appreciate paying the extra bucks to be able to watch instead of replacing your entire collection. What I found though is that newer DVD releases still convert and look better than older releases. I watched one of my oldest DVD's last night, Pulp Fiction, and I must admit that it didn't look as good on this setup as it did on my old set up.

For reference, I have this player hooked up to a Pioneer KURO PRO-111FD. It's a great combination.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I could give 6 stars i would, April 15, 2009

By 

Shmeg McGee (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Excellent Pioneer BDP-05FD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

AMAZING picture quality! fast load times and no lag. The MAIN reason I love this player is the firmware updates are MAC COMPATIBLE! I had to throw out my Sony because their firmware updates were only PC. That made it useless after about three months (wouldn't play ANY Blue Rays) Not to mention the fact that I could cook dinner before the damn thing powered up and started playing. The Pioneer is worth every penny. You will not regret this purchase.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best bluray player you can get for Video/Audio quality!, October 25, 2009

By 

Alex B (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excellent Pioneer BDP-05FD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

I posted this review for Oppo, which I repeat here as I first bought Oppo but then after these tests moved to this Elite and I can't be happier!

Ok, so I got carried away like all others with Oppo features, and fan-boy reviews... ordered one and started using it.

Since I am a bit of a Hifi guy, I asked my buddy to bring his blu-ray to do a back to back comparison to a Pioneer Elite BDP-05, connected to an Elite Plasma Kurp 9G, and here's what we found:

Speed: Oppo is fast! In most cases it was 25% or more faster than Pioneer. So, Oppo: +1
Blu-ray Video: Pioneer Bluray picture quality was MUCH BETTER with similar setting at 1080P! I was quite disappointed to see that! Pio +1
DVD: Oppo looked a bit better in DVD upscaling at 1080p, however the best upscaling was the Plasma TV at 480i! So, if you got a Pioneer Elite Plasma both are equal, if not Opp +2.
Audio: Pioneer analog out is just GREAT! Much more clarity and definition as it has great DAC. Pio: +2
Build Quality: Pioneer BY A MILE, I mean it looks, feels, and operates as a more expensive unit. Oppo just looks and feels cheap and doesn't look the price it costs! Pio +3
Remote/User Interface: Again Pioneer wins hands down! Pio +4

Total Score:
Pio +4 - Opp +2

So, overall, I was quite disappointed in Oppo (maybe expected too much) at $500, returned it and bought the BDP-05FD on sale for the same price. If you care ONLY for speed of disk loading and operation, and do not have a higher end LCD/Plasmas for upscaling get Oppo, if you care about bluray video quality/audio quality/build quality, then get the Pioneer.