Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you are someone who needs a fifty inch screen to watch movies on, this machine is not for you. If you are someone with a Blu-Ray collection who travels and wants a way to watch them on the move, keep going. The DMP-B500 has a 10.1 inch screen that operates on a 1024x600 screen resolution. The DMP-B500 does NOT have a native 1080P screen. It is, however, an excellent screen for it's size. Colors are vivid and accurate, though if you're like me, you will have to turn down the color saturation. The default settings run a hair deeper to the red then they should, but it is easily fixed. There is no ghosting in the screen, nor are there artifacts or dark 'bricking'. While the screen is in operation there is no glare in a dark room, while still being easily visible in sunlight and room light.
The built in speakers won't drown out a room, but are easily heard with surprising depth and quality. You wont' be rewinding constantly to hear what someone said. The DMP-B500 only has one headphone jack, however, so if you have to share it in a car or on a plane you will have to buy a headphone splitter. The DMP-B500 will start a dvd instantly, though most Blu-Ray discs require five to fifteen seconds to go from main menu to movie. Native firmware will run every movie on the market at the moment, however there have been two firmware updates since I purchased my DMP-B500. Avatar and Alice in Wonderland both play flawlessly as does the rest of my collection. Of the fifty odd Blu-Ray I own, none have had any issues being played on the DMP-B500.
On a full battery charge you will get three hours from the DMP-B500, with headphones plugged in and the screen's brightness turned down, you can get four hours.
The DMP-B500 can connect to any HD television with an HDMI cable. While connected to the television, the DMP-B500 transmits at full 1080/24P with excellent video and sound quality.
The DMP-B500 can play Div-x .AVI files. However these files can NOT be placed on an SD card. Div-X files must be burned to disk or played off a standard usb thumb-drive. I have not yet convinced my DMP-B500 to read Div-x files from an external hard drive. The DMP-B500 can play MPeG2 files from the SD card. Fair warning, to activate the DMP-B500's Div-X capabilities you MUST burn the activation file to a cd or dvd. The activation file will not play via usb thumb drive, nor SD card.
.JPG files are supported, though the support if 'iffy'. Pictures taken from your camera in .JPG will show on your DMP-B500, but the machine 'sorts' the photos for you. A pictures of your nieces birthday party will find its way from the rest of the party photos and straight into those of your vacation. As of you, I don't know how the DMP-B500 sorts photos, as they aren't sorted alphabetically by name, nor by capture date.
MP3's play from burned disk, SD card, and USB drive. I have had no problems with any of my MP3's, those purchased from I-tunes and Amazon both worked fine.
Internet video is an interesting feature. You can watch Youtube, Amazon movies on demand, and Netflix via the built in Wifi adapter or the built in ethernet jack. So far all I have tried have played, but Youtube videos are not played in full screen. Instead they get roughly half the screen on the right side of the display. Picasso photo albums, Pandora internet radio, Fox Sports, and a weather network are additional internet features with more being added all the time. Firmware is updated either via cd or the built in ethernet connection. Updating the firmware takes around ten minutes.
The only true negatives about the DMP-B500 I can offer are the design and the price. The screen does not clam-shell, therefore it can't be tossed into a backpack as the screen is ALWAYS exposed. You need a dedicated carrying case to move the DMP-B500 around. Also, you must lift the screen to change discs. Neither are show stoppers, but both are annoyances. There is also the price to consider. The DMP-B500 is not a machine that's worth eight hundred dollars. Watch Amazon's daily price and wait for a good deal. Six hundred dollars for a machine of the DMP-B500's capabilities is a very good price, but not eight hundred.
Pro's: Display, sound, portability, multiple features, battery life, Disc read time.
Con's: SD Card not supporting DivX files, Screen always exposed, price, no included travel charger.
This machine is worth a purchase if you want to watch your Blu-ray's on the move. The DMP-B500 is vastly superior to the US release of the DMP-B100 in every way but price.
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Panasonic DMP-B500 WiFi Enabled 10.1-Inch Screen Portable Blu-ray Disc PlayerEnjoy your High-Definition video library on the go with the Panasonic DMP-B500 portable Blu-ray Disc player, which features a 10.1-inch screen, Wi-Fi connectivity with VIERA Cast functionality for accessing Internet video content, and Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot that can play back JPEG photo slideshows as well as High-Def AVCHD video. The DMP-B500 has a photo stand-like design that makes it easy to watch videos on your own as well as show off photos and video to others.
Other features include a USB port, HDMI audio/video output, Dolby Digital and DTS HD audio decoding, compatibility with a wide variety of disc and file formats, and up to 3.5 hours of battery life.
Despite its small, easily portable design, the DMP-B500 offers much of the same state-of-the-art technology found in Panasonic's stand alone Blu-ray Disc players, including the PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus technology--a proprietary image-processing technology that precisely processes each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc video signal in the vertical direction. It reproduces color data with twice the accuracy of conventional systems, resulting in faithful and sharp colors.
VIERA Cast Online Content Panasonic's VIERA Cast service allows you to stream movies, TV shows and music from a variety of sources without the need of either an external box or a PC. Powered up with Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, you can also access YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg, and other Internet sites from the special VIERA Cast screen. In addition, with the wireless LAN adaptor plugged into the USB terminal, VIERA Cast and other online content can be enjoyed wirelessly by accessing the wireless LAN router (an Ethernet port is also provided for wired networking). And as additional sites are added to the 2010 VIERA Cast service, they are added automatically.
Key Features
10.1-inch LCD screen lets you view movies with much higher image quality than standard definition portable DVD players.
SD memory card slot enables you to play your photos and movies taken with digital cameras and camcorders by just sliding in an SD memory card into the SD slot. You can enjoy the content easily during your trip with elimination of cables to connect to digital cameras and camcorders. You can also view a slide show along with a calendar and clock display.
Wi-Fi connectivity with wireless LAN adapter
VIERA Cast online content
Built-in speaker (2-channel)
Single headphone jack
VIERA Link utilizes HDMI to enable control all VIERA Link combatable products with one remote.
Up to 3.5 hour battery life
What's in the Box Portable BD player, remote control, AC adapter, rechargeable battery, wireless LAN adapter, operating instructions
Specifications
Resolution: 1024 x 600
Surround sound: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD
Picture adjustment: Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Color, Gamma Correction
Dialog enhancer: Yes
Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.9 x 2.2 inches
Weight: 3.9 pounds (with battery)
Warranty: 1 year parts, 90 days labor
Input/Output
One 3.5mm headphone jack
HDMI output
SD memory card slot
Ethernet (for BD-Live, VIERA Cast, Firmware update)
Disc/Media Compatibility
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