Panasonic DMP-BDT310 What Hi-Fi review - notice excessive noise levels from the player?

Hi Simon auditioned a new 310 in the shop and same story.. so got a refund. Not sure what to do now... obviously both players were probably from the same manufacturing batch...

well in the end I've ordered the Oppo BD93, Andrew can I ask a question in relation to reviews? If a product is given say 5 stars - is the award relative to the price of the product and other players in that price bracket? If say a product thats twice the price only gets 4 stars - would you say the cheaper product is superior based on the amount of stars awarded?

I suppose what I'm trying to figure out is if the Oppo BD93 would be regarded as inferior to the Pansonic BD310 which is a 5 star product?

Thanks,
Mick

It's pretty much certain that a 4 star rated product which is twice the price of a 5 star rated product would outperform it - if it didn't, the 4 star rating could not be justified. However, everyone's perception on value for money is different, so you'd need to see the two in action before you could say that was definitely true for yourself.

The only exception I can think is if the product was given 4 stars a while back and a new product came out later at half the price which outperformed it and was therefore awarded 5 stars. Were the original 4 star product re-reviewed, it would then most likely drop stars as a result of this new product. However, this isn't going to be true in your case.

I got my Oppo BD 93 yesterday, delighted so far, ok its 3 times the price of the BDT310 (almost when you take shipping into account) but its built like and looks like a tank compared to the 310.. very happy with the noise levels so far, and the ability to play mkvs properly from ntfs formatted drives is very handy.. delighted so far with picture and audio quality from blu-ray

Hi, I have recently upgraded to the 310 from a Sony . I sit next to my equipment rack whne watching a movie. So far I have not noticed any noise that i would describe as excessive. When its loading up a disc there are the usual 'whirring' noises but once playback begins , Nothing !  

Even the cheaper BDT110 is silent during films, although it whirrs a bit during the menu stuff.  What I did notice though is that what you place it on or under can have a huge effect on noise and a slight adjustment can make all the difference.

I found this thread Googling for this specific issue.

I just got my BDT310 in the January sales and the latest update is installed. At first I had 'quick start' on but the constant noise when I powered up, no matter what activity, was driving me nuts. Now I've disabled that it helps overall but it's still too noisy for my tastes during quiet scenes. I've noticed it's especially noisy at the start of the movie and gradually quietens - I assume the disc is having to spin faster for the inner/outer layers (whichever end players start from).

I completely agree that noise is very subjective and I'm somewhat sceptical this is sample specific. I have built a fanless custom PC because I simply don't tolerate noise. This is also one of the reasons I have a standalone BR player on my kit rack alongside my slim PS3, which I consider too noisy. The Sony BDPS350 I upgraded from had a lot of vibration but I put Acoustifeet on the bottom and that fixed it completely. There was still a disc whirring noise present but it was a lot less obtrusive than the Panasonic, which is of a much higher and irritating frequency. With the Panasonic vibration isn't an issue at all - I raised the player during playback so it was decoupled and it still has the exact same noise character. It's disc noise alone.

agreed - it was the disc spining - i just couldnt live with it - the Oppo is whisper quiet in comparison.. my son got a ps3 for christmas and its ok in terms of noise levels but i still dont think i could live with it as my main player..

Chalk me up for another one with noise issues - only seems to be on DVD playback.  I'd replaced a 110 with the 310 as I had issue with 24P playbacl on the 110 .  Would rather not have bought another Panasonic product as the technical support on the 110 was woeful, but the 310 was the only commercialy sensible option for multiregion bluray.

I've had it for a month or two, but haven't played many DVDs.  Horrible high pitched whir, that is audible above dialogue from 10 feet away.  Will have to call Richer Sounds tomorrow to complain and return it.  Suspect that this time it will be the last Panasonic product I buy.....

Hello, I have same problem as you have. When I play Blu Ray disc everything is ok, but when I play DVD terrible sound is coming from the player. Did you take it back to shop or you just going to live with it? I bought mine in Richard Sound shop. I thinking to take it back.