Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMP-BD85K WiFi Enabled Blu-Ray Disc Player (Black)

5 star:		(176)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

There is a lot to like about Panasonic's latest high-end Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD85: excellent video and audio performance, a rich assortment of streaming media options (Netflix, Amazon VOD, YouTube, Pandora Internet Radio and now VUDU via a recent firmware upgrade), and a highly customizable assortment of tweakable parameters for audio and video hobbyists. Also, with built in Wi-Fi via the included USB adapter, it's easier than it used to be to reap the benefits of an internet-enabled player. However, the bland text-based menus and operational idiosyncrasies of the player make it feel a little bit behind the times.

DVD upconversion is very good to excellent, with some enhancements to Panasonic's Uniphier video processor that are only available in the BD85 and in the new Blu-ray 3D players, the DMP-BDT300 and DMP-BDT350. The entry-level BD45 and BD65 players include a slightly lesser quality version of the Uniphier processor, equivalent to Panasonic's 2009 players. Diagonal lines are clean and free from jaggies, 2:3 film cadence is easily detected by the player, preventing the tell-tale moire distortion that can occur on lesser players, and edge detail is smooth and fairly free of aliasing and any combing or tearing artifacts.

Turning to high def Blu-ray Disc playback, advances to the player's chroma (color) upconversion processor enable outstanding color reproduction and color detail from 1080p Blu-ray Disc, superior to Blu-ray playback on some other more expensive players. To be honest, these improvements are only really visible on larger screen sizes (e.g., large screen projection systems) but home theater hobbyists and videophiles will appreciate the exceptional Blu-ray playback quality of the BD85.

Audio quality is also excellent, with some innovative enhancements to the way digital audio is handled that can improve the sound quality, even over HDMI PCM and bitstream connections (specifically the "Jitter Purifier" and "High Clarity Audio" features). By providing more accurate data for the audio clock, the BD85 minimizes jitter that can detract from the sound quality, even when your receiver or preamp does the audio decoding. For those who have older non-HDMI receivers, the BD85's multi-channel analog outputs and on-board decoding for DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD can provide outstanding lossless audio from Blu-ray Disc (just be prepared to spend some time tweaking the player's speaker settings and your receiver to get the sound dialed in just right).

In our testing, the included 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi adapter worked well. Also with the WiFi adapter is a 3-foot USB extension cable which allows you to place the wireless antenna module outside the audio cabinet where it can get better WiFi reception. We were easily able to stream Netflix in HD using the WiFi adapter one floor away from our 802.11g Linksys wireless router. Access to Netflix, Amazon and YouTube was pretty reliable (though we tested YouTube and Netflix much more heavily than Amazon VOD), and BD-Live features worked well on the player (as long as you give it a couple of minutes to fully connect to the network). Also, for those with the firmware 1.23 applied, as of June, 2010, Pandora is now available in the VIERA Cast screen on this player, and firmware 1.51 (11/2010) brought VUDU to this and other 2010 model year Panasonic players.

But Panasonic made some ergonomic choices here that are a bit questionable. They shortened the remote vs. last year's models by about an inch. And while this does make the basic functions like transport and menu navigation a little easier to operate (at least to my thumbs), the smaller size meant removing the "Set-up" button entirely, and making the frequently used "Display" button much smaller and easy to miss. And although there is a VIERA Cast button the remote, which allows access to all the IPTV streaming goodies, the player lacks an integrated splash screen (as seen on recent LG and Samsung players) which would give you the option to select between disc-based, USB-based on web-based content in an integrated and logical way.

Also, within the "Functions" menu, there is an option called "Network" which actually launches the VIERA Cast screen (why not call it "VIERA Cast" to be consistent?). Perhaps most frustrating to those who watch a lot of foreign films (or non-native English speakers), there is no subtitle button on the remote. Instead subtitle controls are buried deep within the "Display" menu, where you'll also find the nifty 24p mode switch for DVD playback. This is nothing new in the BD85, but it is a questionable choice for a fairly commonly used function.

In the area of loading speed, the BD85 carries on the tradition of earlier Panasonic players being a fairly sluggish disc loader. Sure, there is a "fast boot" option (Quick Start), which can take you from powered off to the basic splash screen and "no disc" message in under 2 seconds. But after that initial boot, you'll still be waiting a while to view your discs - we clocked the disc loading times at about 20 seconds to load a standard DVD, 36 seconds to load a Blu-ray and 39 seconds to load a BD-Java Blu-ray (the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie). A BD-Live heavy title ("Inglourious Basterds") can take over two minutes to get to a visible screen, though we did find that using an SDHC card instead of a standard SD card, did speed up this load time significantly, exposing more of the BD-Live content that we did not see when we used the standard 1GB SD card. And that's one more knock - why does Panasonic still require customers to buy and insert an SD card in order to use BD-Live? Why not load the unit with at least 1 GB of on-board memory so that customers are not disappointed to find they need an additional purchase just to use BD-Live?

In terms of disc compatibility and reliable operations, we were only able to find a single disc that was problematic on the player - the first disc in the "Alien Quadrilogy" boxed DVD set. The default Dolby Digital track plays fine but the DTS track on the extended cut of the film emits nothing but silence. Apparently this is an improvement over earlier Panasonic players, some of which were not able to play this disc at all. We also saw the machine shut itself down a couple of times when playing Xvid-encoded AVI files from a connected USB drive. But thanks to some follow-up testing from Panasonic, confirmed by us, this turned out to be media-specific: in other words, if you use a decent quality name brand USB flash drive (instead of the cheap promo USB drive we initially used), the player plays these AVI files fine.

All told, the operational idiosyncrasies of the player are easy enough to get used to, and will be more annoying to hobbyists who like to get into the set-up menus to test various options and settings and perhaps less annoying to the average consumer. It's the performance that matters, and at the moment, this is one of the top performers available for under $300. So if you don't mind a few less-than-sexy menus and operational quirks, then the BD85 will make an excellent choice for a high performance, affordable Blu-ray Disc player.

Our detailed review is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).

BluRay quality is outstanding. I use HDMI with 1080P/24 active. The 24 is OFF by default. DVD upscaling is very good. AVCHD and DIVX playback is very good. The interface for the networked features is somewhat clunky but usable. NETFLIX, DIVX VOD and Amazon video services work the way they should. YouTube integration works just great. I had previously purchased (and returned) a Sony BDP-N460 because it was unstable, required reboots and YouTube personal playlists were limited to 6 videos per playlist. I'm happy to say that the Panasonic is stable (heavy duty Elmo rotation) and the YouTube playlists are not limited like on the Sony. Wired networking is straight forward. I used a wired drop, so I have not used the wireless connection yet. The one thing I'm disappointed about is that DLNA features are NOT present on this unit and there is no music services included. There is a "coming soon" block on the NET screens, so maybe its coming in the future. I'm very happy with quality of the unit and its output.

I have had this player for about a week now to get familiar with all of its features and capabilities. The picture quality of BD video is simply stunning, even with my Panasonic 720p projector (which is soon to be upgraded to 1080p). I can only imagine how good the picture will be with 1080p projector! Since all my connections are via HDMI, the sound quality is also outstanding. However, unlike the Oppo and few other bluray players, this one is not SACD and DVD-Audio capable (not a big deal with me). I watched Star Trek twice and this regular DVD seemed to have acquired a new life with the terrific upscaling by this player. Colors and the picture look a lot like in movie theatres, thanks to Panasonic's proprietary video processors developed in collaboration with Hollywood studios. Wi-Fi is not exacly built-in, but with a supplied dongle which is connected to a USB port in the back. USB extention cable is also provided for optimal placement of the dongle and better signal strength. Wi-fi set up was fairly easy, although I wish the instructions in the user's mannual were a bit more clear. Once connected to the internet, currently active services include Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, You Tube, Picasa, local weather, and Bloomberg stock ticker. Navigating via on-screen menus is a breeze with a decent remote (wish it was back-lit). Movies streamed from Netflix worked flawlessly and the picture quality was surprisingly good! More video and music sites are likely to be added as there is a "Coming Soon" area, which is currently blank. I also don't understand why DLNA feature is not available on this North American model, but is reported to be available on the European model. Hope DLNA will be made available via future firmware updates. Boot times and disc-loading times are pretty quick, on par with non-bluray players. Thus, one of the long standing negatives of bluray players no longer seems to be an issue.
All in all, a great player. Too bad Panasonic was a late-comer to a player with these feature sets (wi-fi, internet video streaming etc.), but I am glad that they did finally. In fact, by adding these features to their previous flagship model BD80, Panasonic has indeed delivered a potential benchmark in this price/feature class. I would have given it five stars, but am giving it only four because of the lack of DLNA and limited number of currently availabile video/audio sites (compared to other manufacturers). If Panasonic addresses these issues with future firmware updates, this is clearly a five-star player. Panasonic, hope you are listening!

The positives have been extolled by others already: great picture and sound quality, wifi works great, netflix works great, youtube is good, etc.

BUT, and this is a big user experience BUT, the user interface and remote control have been designed by engineers who have no concept of usability. This is extremely frustrating in an era when Apple (and others) manage to figure out HOW people WANT to use devices and program them accordingly.

Example #1 - when watching a DVD, it's almost impossible to get back to the main menu, and if you do, it tends to reboot the DVD (i.e. go through the initial DVD loading process again) which is completely unnecessary.

Example #2 - the navigation around the different internet sources is really clunky. You can't easily return to the main internet menu from the netflix screen. Searching for a video in youtube is very frustrating. And for some reason you can't just type in the url of the video.

Example #3 - if you want to change the video source from your dvd player back to cable, the DVD remote only lets you cycle through the different video sources in one direction, so you have to click eight times to get back to cable.

Again, none of these things are big deals individually, but in the aggregate they add up and make a very frustrating user experience.

Given the choice again, I'd probably just get a basic DVD player and a separate Internet box for my TV that has a better UI.

This is my first blu-ray player. I bought it a few days ago because it offers 7.1 analog out. I didn't really need the wireless capability but since it came with everything it needs for wireless, I was able to take the player out of the box, connect it to my TV and stereo, create a Netflix account on the fly, setup the wireless connection with my home router and begin to watch a movie in about 20 minutes ! This has been the best experience. I never used an online streaming service and never had a Netflix account. Setting up wireless and Netflix was a breeze. I have not used the 7.1 analog yet since I am waiting to connect to my 7.1 amp but even the stereo sound for movies is excellent. The picture quality for both Netflix instant and DVD's are fantastic. I couldn't be happier. A very friendly player. You can also view other online content such as Youtube, Picasa web albums, weather etc.

Bought this to replace a broken PS3 and am very happy with it. Picture quality is great, but it's the sound I'm most impressed with. Using a non-HDMI reciever, I can still get TrueHD sound using the six channel analogue option. Something I couldn't get using the PS3's digital optical option. I've watched about 10 flicks and all load times were around a minute. Streaming Netflix wirelessly works great and I can get to it with one button. Also, one button on the unit turns it on, turns on my tv and automaticly selects the correct port. Then, by turning off my tv the player shuts down too. I really like all the one button functions.

I purchased this the BD85 a few months ago. Initially it seemed to work fine - meaning it played whatever DVD I put in there, including Blu-ray disks. It also was very easy to set up Wi-fi and watch instant Netflix movies.

However, in the past month I have tried playing 3 different Blu-ray disks including "The Road" , "It's Complicated" and none are playable despite having the most up to date firmware. These disks play PERFECTLY WELL on my PS3.

I contacted manufacturer by email - they replied I needed to put in a SD card as "minimum 1 GB SD card as some Blu-ray disks require additional memory". I added a 2 GB SD card and had the player format it. The disks still do not work!!!

Pasasonic's response "the bluray player is very sensitive, as a result if the discs that you rented from Netflix contain fingerprints, dirt, or any foreign particles, it will not play in the unit. We apologize for the inconvenience."

My asnwer: the disks don't look bad at all (minor scratches), and they play on my PS3 - they SHOULD play on the Panasonic too. What a piece of junk!

Next time, I'm just going to purchase another PS3 to use as a Blu-ray player as I've never had any problems with that device (and it's much faster at loading disks than the BD85).

I am 59 years old andI have owned Panasonic products for many years. Mainly because they last a long time, are trouble free, and the the quality of the picture or sound is pretty good; not the very best, but above average. I recently turned off my Panasonic CT-32SF35W CRT television and bought a new Panasonic 42" Plasma HDTV TC-P42S2. I also upgraded my Pioneer DVD player to the Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player DMP-BD85. I understand that every once in a while a product is faulty; the Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player DMP-BD85 stopped working after a few months of light use. I can deal with that, these things happen, and in most cases the manufacturer promptly takes care of their customers. But when customer support is faulty, and they do not follow through, they do not return phone calls, they make false promises, and 6 weeks passes without any resolution... Well what good is it to buy from a company that you can't trust will correct a faulty product within a reasonable amount of time. What happens if the replacement stops working. I'll have to go through all their delay tactics again? And it's not just me, I did a google search on complaints against Panasonic customer support and I am not alone in how they poorly respond to covering their own warranty.

So if they won't provide adequate support for their customers, why should we support them?

When Sony won the HD contest with Toshiba I instantly bought a Sony BD player, no WiFi at that time. After a year and a half it quit. I didn't want to have it repaired. I then bought a Samsung BD-C6500 as it had builtin WiFi. This feature failed to remember the router code meaning that I had to reprogram it every time I wanted to watch a Netflix movie. It also would not resume playing a DVD if it were shut off part way through the movie. After 2 1/2 months of frustration I contacted Amazon and they were more than understanding. They allowed me to either replace it or return it for a refund. I opted for the return of nearly 100%.
As a replacement, I bought a Panasonic DMP-BD85 that does it all perfectly. After the first simple setup the WiFi streaming works flawlessly, every time. And, if I press Stop part way through the movie and then turn it Off, the next time I turn it ON I get the message asking if I want to resume the movie where I left it. Clicking Yes instantly begins the movie where I left it.

Fan Effing Tastic! Panasonic has it all.

Carl from Alameda, CA

I bought this unit for $220 from AMAZON including shipping to replace a sad-sack Sony 550s blu ray that stopped working after 14 months of quirky performance.

Sony is having many problems with their 550s models based on all the other reports I find - Worse, Sony is refusing to admit the widespread problem and is only offering to sell the customer a replacement unit at $180, I call that adding insult to injury. Basically, I figure I rented that sorry piece of Sony junk for $35 a month based on cost of equipment and total useful life span of the device. Thanks for nothing Sony

OK, I'll quit crying now. Back to the PANASONIC DMP-BD85 review!

PRO's:

Anyway, buying this new BD85 Panasonic was a no brainer. This model is the Wi-Fi enhanced model of the very highly rated Panasonic DMP-BD80 (see [...] for full review).

This DMP-BD85 has many audio-video options that more discerning users will embrace. For me the excellent HDMI and optical digital audio were a big plus. In just two connections I was plugged in to the HDMI port on my 6 year old Samsung DLP TV and to the digital optical port on my 5 year old Pioneer AV Receiver. For me, it all looks and sounds great in action. The picture is the sharpest, most detailed and color balanced I have ever gotten and the sound is at least at par with anything I've used before.

The reason I got the BD85 rather than the BD80 was the added Wi-Fi feature which is included with the unit via a simple dongle and interface for set up (all in the box, no extra cost). With this added feature I got access via VIERA Cast 2010 (included with the units firmware already) to NETFLIX, AMAZON VOD, YOUTUBE, BLOOMBERG TV and PICASSA.

I have seen some questions as to VIERA Cast version 2010 (which is what this unit sports) and if it has all of these access features; rest assured it does. I've enabled both Netflix and Amazon VOD on my unit with no problem using an old wireless a/b router. Now I want to replace my old router to match the "n" capacity that this BD85 has built in to it (gadget junkies are rarely satisfied once this all starts).

Other features: Panasonic has also announced a yet to be released feature-rich version of SKYPE access with optional accessories including high resolution camera and sound that will plug into the BD85 front USB port. I may have to buy a few of these Panasonic units and set it up so I can "tele-visit" with family.

CON's:

So why doesn't this unit get a 5 star rating? The remote control has the return button (which I frequently use) way down at the bottom of the control unit, making it PITA to use it. Oh well, there is always the Harmony Universal Remote to consider...