Sony S790 or Panasonic 500 for......

I thinks my player outputs as 'direct'....I'll check later ......

Hey Nick,

Was wondering if or what you bought ? And if you did buy are you happy ?

I haven't yet.....only due to time though....and I think the new range may be just around the corner.....and as prices on the Sony seem to stay pretty much the same, I may hold on...

not sure i care about the build quality as its lives in a cabinet so never see it, so not worth the extra for the 500 I don't think....

one thing to check is the noise it makes on operation.  My (older model) Sony 760 whirrs and coos like a pigeon, which is hugely annoying during quiet scenes.

Is noise related to build quality?

Not always, the drive can be noisey regardless of build quality.

Go for the BDT500 its a superior machine and the picture to me looked better.

I think I'll see what's reviewed in next months mag (April 5th) then choose.... Although more favour the 500....

I would use the Mag as a guidance. The top three machines will be as follows.

Pioneer 450

BDT500

S790

In no particular order.  If you want multi region, then go for the BDT500, if this is no concern, then consider the Pioneer 450 with the new Qdeo chip set similar to high end players.

Lip Sync issues may still be present with the pioneer, Not sure if the firmware has fixed this issue yet? But, I would image its a matter of time.