Am looking for a player that will show Blu Ray to its highest quality. Basically a top of the range model, but i dont want to spending ridculous money on a player if theres no need to?

Or are the more expensive ones actually worth the extra money?

I have a 42" Hitachi (Not sure about the model) (Full HD)

Am also looking for good a surround system.

Any recommendations guys am really sruck here i dont have a clue what am going to choose? :S

Thanks a bunch :)

For a sound system, I would recommend Denon.  They make some great systems at many price ranges.  My 7.1 system even came with a mic that you position in the room where you sit the most, and it runs an automatic configuration.

For a BluRay, there are some cheap ones on the market now for less than 100.  But I would consider one that can have its firmware upgraded.  This will help you as the BR standard changes, you will be able to take advantage of the new features as they get added.  And though I might get yelled at here for saying it, I would consider the PS3 for a good BR player that can have its firmware upgraded.

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When u were born, u cried and the world rejoiced. Live life so that when u die, the world cries and u rejoice - Cherokee

Definitely the OPPO BDP-83. For its performance it is a steal at $499.
http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/

 manc2k6 wrote:

Am looking for a player that will show Blu Ray to its highest quality. Basically a top of the range model, but i dont want to spending ridculous money on a player if theres no need to?

Or are the more expensive ones actually worth the extra money?

I have a 42" Hitachi (Not sure about the model) (Full HD)

Am also looking for good a surround system.

Any recommendations guys am really sruck here i dont have a clue what am going to choose? :S

Thanks a bunch :)

What Blu-ray player to choose depends completely on what your needs are.  The consensus of most industry experts is that there is negligible difference between BD players with BD playback. This is also my position as I have owned 3 different players and have not noticed any visual differences for Blu-ray movies. Therefore, if you will be using it solely for BD media, then you can safely purchase the most affordable player you can find.

Beyond that, the players out there offer a wealth features that you may consider necessary:

1) High-quality DVD upscaling
2) Analog multi-channel out
3) Network media support (Netflix, YouTube, VUDU, Cinemanow, Amazon VOD, etc.)
4) 1080p/24 output
5) High-resolution audio format support (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA)
6) AVR support

Also, all current players are required to provide a way to upgrade firmware, so the PS3 is no longer alone in this regard.

The Oppo is definitively the best at upscaling DVDs thanks to its Anchor Bay chipset, and also offers high quality 7.1 audio through analog out. However, it offers no streaming media support, unlike most every other player out there atm. That should get you started.

For sound I love Onkyo....  Good power and sound even on the lower models..

As far as bluray..  Honestly Ide say get a PS3...   The bluray is sweet and you get the bonus of playing the few games you cant get on the 360.. 

Get a PS3.  Great blu ray quality, and you can game as well as other stuff on it.  Ours is great!  Watched some great blu ray on it with our new 55" samsung LED.  Amazing

I would go with the Samsung BD-P3600 as a standalone Blu-ray player. It's fast, has tons of features like YouTube on it, and only costs about $300.

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My Setup

Being a big Xbox fan, I hate to say this, but honestly, the PS3 does a great job playing Blu-Ray discs. For the price, you get a really good BR player, and a PS3 game console.

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Squeeze it, dont jerk it.

 Falkon212 wrote:

I would go with the Samsung BD-P3600 as a standalone Blu-ray player. It's fast, has tons of features like YouTube on it, and only costs about $300.

I would also recommend the BD-P1600 which is basically the same player without the built-in WiFi. I had one in my bedroom for a while until I replaced it with another PS3 but the performance is great. Somewhat recently they added YouTube and Blockbuster to the player which already had Pandora and Netflix.

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Systems

Dude!!!!!   for 3 bills you can get a ps3....   Dont get me wrong I hate sony..   But lets face it they have the blu ray market locked..   You obvviously play games so why cheat yourself out of a good experience buy buying a $300 stand alone...