Customer Reviews

LG BH200 Super Blu Blu-Ray HD DVD Combo Player

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The LG Super Blu combo player has made my life a lot easier. I jumped into high def this past summer with HD DVD and built up a library of 48 movies. Of course, as my luck would have it, the tides have turned considerably in blu ray's favor, so rather than give up on my HD DVD collection, and not wanting to take up extra space with a blu ray player, this LG is the ideal solution. It delivers impressive audio and video on both formats and upconverts standard dvds to near high def resolution. Set up was a snap and the player is very user friendly. I would highly recommend this unit to anyone who already started an HD DVD collection and is now ready to enter the "blu" world.

ADDENDUM: Written 8/31/08
I want to add to my original review posted above: I just purchased two more of these LG BH200 combo players at Best Buy, where they were just on sale for $339.99. At this incredibly low price, I could not resist getting two more, one for my second Toshiba 42 inch LCD 1080p television and the other for my Panasonic 32 inch LCD 720p televsion. All my hi-def tvs now have this magnificent LG multi format player connected to them via HDMI cables, allowing me complete flexibility to watch all of my HD DVDs, Blu Ray discs and standard dvds. I have not ceased to be extremely impressed with the amazing crystal clear video images on both hi def formats. The sound is equally impressive, and, as of yet, I do not have any HDMI receivers, so I am using 5.1 channel DD and DTS surround sound, which is clear and crisp. I can only imagine how awesome 7.1 channel hi def sound must be. The standard dvds I have are upscaled to near 1080p resolution, allowing me to enjoy my existing dvd collection with almot hi def images. On some dvds (Star Wars for instance), the images are so crystal clear, at first glance, you think you are watching a blu ray version of the movie. I have not had any compatability issues with this unit, and have been able to play recordable dvds and cds as well. It does everything, and does it amazingly well. My hat goes off to LG for making one of the finest, if not THE finest, hi def players out there. I e-mailed the company recently to ask if there was any truth to rumors that they were discontinuing this model anytime soon, and if so, if they were going to replace it with a new combo player. They wrote back and said they were not planning to discontinue the BH200 at this time, but would not be making any HD DVD players in the future. I am glad I was able to purchase two more of these babies before they become extinct. I also downloaded a firmware update onto a dvd, but have not yet installed it, as I am simply enjoying watching all my multi-format movies without any problems. I will install the update in the future, if needed. This player makes a great stand-alone blu ray player, even if you do not own any HD DVDs, and a great upconverting player as well. But if you, like me, have an HD DVD collection, this is a great way to be able to continue to enjoy the format without replacing them with blu ray versions. This will absolutely give you the best of both worlds!

I began my HiDef odyssey with HD DVD (about 80 discs) and want to have the ability to buy Blu-Ray if I find a title I feel I just have to have. The Toshiba players are terrific, but they're limited to HD DVD and great upconversion (could probably keep me happy for years, but I'm greedy: I want it all!). I got my BH200 through Amazon for $599, a little pricey, but I've got 2 formats in one. I was immediately disappointed because the picture and audio were not what I was hoping for. THEN I realized I was trusting LG's default factory settings. Once I got into the Setup menus and upped the brightness and adjusted the color, I had a crystal clear picture (on my LG LCD widescreen) and great audio through my Onkyo home theater system. Surprise, surprise! The upconversion is terrific! I have a hard time seeing the difference between many HD discs (both formats) and the SD version. This is going to save me a lot of money. Seriously, there are a few discs where HD makes a real difference--titles like "Planet Earth" and "Bladerunner", but I'm happy with the upconverted SD versions on most.

The unit operates flawlessly so far. There is a little pause while the unit figures out what kind of disc you've fed it, but it's nothing extraordinary. It fast forwards from scene to scene rather quickly. The remote is very easy to use, and hooking up the unit to just one HDMI (all you need for all three formats and one optical plug for sound for all including great-playing CD's) is simple as pie. I was up and running in 10 minutes.

This is a great product. I save space, need fewer HDMI and optical connections, and get great reproduction! For those like me with a significant library of HD DVD's and a desire to view Blu-Ray as well, this is a unit that I know will serve me and many others well.

I purchased this player a few days ago. I decided to purchase this player instead of the Samsung combo player. Both players have issues but the Samsung appeared to have the bulk of them.

I tried the Ratatoiulle BD and it worked great. I didn't have the annoying camera icon everyone was talking about. There have been no audio or video drop outs, at least that have been noticeable. Hd-dvd menus are a bit sluggish,about the same speed as my hd-a2, but slower than my hd-xa2 (which I returned after the WB announcement). I have the first Pirates movie on BD and it looks AMAZING on this player, much better than on my PS3. While it still looked good, t whe PS3 bd image was always a little grainy (though not as noticeable to my wife!. Hd-dvd's such as Bourne Ultimatum look incredible.

As far as upconversion, this player is just as good, if not better than my old hd-xa2. It uses QDEO processing, which is very similar to HQV processing. You have all the same settings plus a little more! I tried various dvds, everything from Frasier to Finding Nemo. This player is great at upconverting.

If you have at least $225 worth of hd-dvd's or just want the best of both worlds, this player is for you. So far it plays all my discs without hesitation.

I am a fan of HD-DVD I will not life to anyone about that fact. But since the announcement that Warner Bros. would be dropping HD-DVD and backing Blu-Ray Discs in the future. I had to make a practical move. I could throw a bunch of HD-DVD which included Smallville The Complete Fifth Season, Smallville The Complete Sixth Season, Superman The Movie. Superman II (The Richard Donner Cut, Peter Jackson's King Kong, and The Harry Potter (Years 1-5) on HD-DVD and replace them on Blu-Ray format or buy a LG BH-200 which would cost about the same price if I bought two seperate players. I just bought Hairspray on Blu-Ray Disc and I must say it transfers exactly the same as my HD-DVD and my DVD's did. The only thing I should warn consumers about is this product does not come with HDMI Cable so if you want the full 1080p experience you are going to have to buy the cable and the player as well. If you are still undecided on what format to choose buy this player. Or wait until the format war is over. The sound, the picture quality make HD-DVD's, Blu-Ray Discs, and even your standard DVD's look stunning. And it also plays your JPEG pics clearly and your WMA AND MP3 Audio files clear as a bell. I caution you though your Apple ipod or in this my Microsoft Zune did charge but did not play any of the files on my device so I might have to wait for a firmware update. But believe me it is worth the money.

Got on clearance at BB for $199.99. Upgraded the firmware and works great and even looks good. Better than my Samsung BD-P1200 and faster. Colors are deep and rich and sound is excellent. Looking forward to years of High Def viewing.

12-9-2009 Update. The unit stopped working 1 month out of warranty and I have to pay to send it to Alabama (shipping & insurance approx $25) and a flat fee of $69 just to look at it. It is unresponsive and from what I have read, these units require a new circuit board for about $350. LG knows about this issue with these units and yet still charges a flat fee to just look at it and then whatever other costs are incurred to repair it. I figure it will be about $425 to repair. Very disappointing.

As my title suggests, LG has the answer to the VHS vs Betamax, uh, Blu-Ray vs HD war. I own the BH-100 and it plays both formats execellent as well as upconverting your existing DVD collection to 1080p! This is the player to buy without question. I watched 10 Million Miles To Earth, which is 30 years old and the players ability to upconvert this old flick to a thing of beauity was simply amazing. It does favor Blu-Ray a bit, due to easy accesss to all of the whiz bang menu thingies. You can get them with HD disks, as well but it isn't as gee whiz. Personally, I'd rather watch the friggin' movie as opposed to tinkering with menus but hey, each to his own. Great picture, both High Def formats, firmware updates via LG's webpage, upconversion to 1080p of your old stock, the ability to enjoy the new formats without worring about the format wars, heck, what else do you need to know? Buy this and enjoy watching your flicks!

I didn't have a whole lot of HD titles (maybe 4 movies), but some of the best shows that I did have was only on HD (Battlestar Galactica). I own a HD DVD player for my XB0X 360 but since then HD took a beating. After doing a lot of research and a lot of waiting, I decided to jump into the game with this combo player. It was easy to set up and it plays all three formats (Standard, HD DVD, and Blu-Ray). I have been dying to see The Fifth Element in Blu-Ray and it was well worth it. I have this hooked up to my 50" plasma via the HDMI cable (the only way to go, by the way) and this player plays everything flawlessly. Sure, there is a bit of a pause when its trying to figure out what format you are playing in. Also there is not a last known play memory (or its simply I haven't figured it out yet). So when you turn it off, in the middle of the movie, you might have to jump to the chapter all over again. But, Like I said, it just may be me that hasn't figure how to turn that feature on. The only other thing that I can complain about is that there doesn't seem to be a screen saver for some movies, so if you pause the image, it will stay on that image (found this out with Casino Royal). But that may be the movie, I don't know because the HD aspect, the Screen Saver does come up (but its the universal studio one so it may be related to the movie). I still have more reading to do on it, although I have own the player now for 2 months. I figure out the feature later, but thats not important. What is important is that you get a great player that upconverts your standard dvds to as perfect as standard can get and its not bad at all (Lord of the Rings look fantasic as well as The Incredibles), but if you have a lot of HD DVDs, just buy this player. And if you don't, buy this player, then buy HD DVDs from amazon (they are going cheap now). I was lucky because I bought this player a 100 dollars cheaper here than what it is going now. You will NOT be disappointed.

I have been very impressed with this player...it plays everything....blu ray, HD, DVD, etc....It is an amazing player and it lives up to it's hype... For the extra bucks it is very worth it!!!

I've had this product for about a month now (I also have the BD-UP5000) and it's been great. Personally, I like this boxier design than the more round-edge Samsung player, and gotta love the buttons. The bottons do not stick out much and it's pretty much level with the front plate of the player so it functions almost like touch operated. The blue lights on the buttons are very modern too but it will not turn on while you watch the movie so it won't be a nuisance. Depending on the format you are watching, either the bluray or HD DVD logo will be on. If you are watching DVD, no logo will be available.

This player uses QDEO chip for upconversion. It's not as great as the REON chip but some say it's comparable. Personally, I found the upconverted material to be a bit softer at the edges compared to the REON so it may seem a little less sharp. And with the preset QDEO selected rather than using the user defined settings, it has a hint of bluish tint. Unless you compare the on and off side by side, you wouldn't notice when you first use it.

So far, I have had no problems playing any of the discs except for loading T2 Ultimate HD DVD import from germany. It doesn't recognize the interactive mode that uses Dynamic HDi. But all american movies, I've had no problems with. This player also plays PAL DVDs and can be made into region free for DVDs. It was mentioned in the manual that it has USB port for expandable memory, most likely in the event LG plans to upgrade it to profile 2.0 (not yet confirmed). It's currently profile 1.1 compliant (via firmware update) and bitstreams all audio.

There were reports of some audio dropouts and is limited to 2 analog channel output, but overall, the player's been great (I've been using HDMI only). LG did announce the discontinuation of this model starting in the 2nd half of this year, so if you want a DUO format player, it's recommended to pick one up soon before it's gone.

Although the LG also plays HD DVD, I got it primarily for Blu Ray and DVD.

- Very fast to load Blu Ray (much faster than my previous Sony and Samsung Blu Ray players).

- Excellent DVD upconversion (leaves the Sony BDP 300 and Samsung 1200 (the ones I owned) in the dust)

- Decodes all the HD audio formats (I make the player convert it to DTS and output to my receiver via optical - sounds great)

- Nice form factor and excellent build quality. Only the Pioneer Blu Ray player is in the same league when it comes to build quality.

- No 5.1 analog out (but not an issue for me since my receiver only accepts 5.1 via optical or coax).

- remote should have been backlit from this price point.

This is an excellent if somewhat under appreciated product. This is a great looking and performing product.