Harman Kardon BDP-1 High PerformanceBlu-ray Disc Player with BD-Live
- 10-bit video processing with 1080p/24 output delivers film-like picture quality
- Software uscales DVDs for 1080p “HD Quality” playback
- BD-Live capability provides game, subtitle and special feature updates from the internet
- Front-panel USB jack plays music and images from thumb drives
- Easy-to-use on-screen menu makes setup and operation simple
Product Description
The Harman Kardon BDP 1 is an exceptional Blu-ray Disc player that delivers today’s most exciting and most advanced entertainment experience available. It will not only deliver the crystal-clear sound quality and detail of Blu-ray, it will even take even your existing DVD library to the 1080p standard. The BDP 1 is also your ticket to a world of interactive content with BD-Live interactivity. BD-Live is an exciting new feature of next-generation Blu-ray Disc media. … More >>
Harman Kardon BDP-1 High PerformanceBlu-ray Disc Player with BD-Live
Well, let me disagree with previous reviewers, as it looks they are some HK bashers. My experience with it is of different sort. I own another Blu-Ray player, highly rated LG BD300, and while it is great machine, with plethora of connections and offers Netflix on-board, HK definitely has an edge when it comes to picture and sound quality.
If this thing is connected to Harman’s receiver (I have 3490) and great TV (I have 60pg60) the sound and picture will leave you breathless. The difference , as it is always with high quality equipment, is noticeable when all elements of signal chain is of decent quality. In this device all efforts are toward visual/audio experience. Blu-Ray of Celine’s show (which is superb both visually and sonically) was played and sounded and looked like never before!
I also can’t share other reviewers complains about “slowness” of the device. Again, I have LG bd300 which is highly rated for its rapid load, and so I expected (based on the reviews) some much slower timing from BDP-1. Well, if you would stay with stop-watch and time it, may be it is somewhat slower (I did not timed it), but for normal use, I can’t detect any appreciable difference. As I sit down to watch movie, would it load in 20 sec or in 24 makes no difference to me.
In short, if you have a decent tv and sound system, get it. The picture is worth a thousands words.
Rating: 5 / 5
First off, let me say that I really wanted this bluray player. I have an HK receiver, and I wanted a matching set. However, I went through two of them (bought at a different well-known online retailer for less than the amazon price) and both were defective. The first had problems with the illuminated display (there must have been a short somewhere because the power indicator light flashed on and off whenever you touched the player or just walked across the room), and the second had sound problems during CD playback (the sound would either cut out completely, or the player would skip to another track, or there would be a lot of distortion in the sound). I have to say that when the player worked, it was great. Sound and image quality were outstanding. But the problems I’ve had having to deal with the hassle of returning not just one but two in a row have convinced me to give up on this Harman Kardon bluray player. It’s just not worth the trouble. I’m really disappointed because I have a number of Harman products, and I’ve been a Harman customer for decades. But I have to question what’s going on with their quality control at this point. If you buy one, good luck to you! I hope you manage to get one that works because I sure couldn’t.
Rating: 1 / 5
As a fan of H/K products, I was very disappointed by the quality of this very expensive product. It is slow and sd upconverting that is about the same as my PS3. Without analog outputs, I am shocked that H/K thinks they can charge $400 for this player!
Rating: 1 / 5
I picked one up friday (7/10) from Frys. My first inpressions are the H/K offers a very classy design with medium build quality; it’s not as heavy and sturdy as my Pioneer 320, similar to an LG 390. The disc tray is noisy and has an uneven speed that worries me it might be problematic over time. It does not shut with the authority or quality of the onkyo dv bd606 or denon dvd 2500btci. The unit itself is medium sized and fits nicely in a rack – similar in footprint to the pioneer 320.
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The remote is awful (pictured) DSCN0925.jpg- it has a bulbous end and few of the most used buttons (pop-up menu/disc menu) are in a logical place. I spent five minutes studying the layout to find most buttons. From this perspective, I can say it’s not very intuitive or ergonomic. It does have a discrete on/off button.
The player is profile 2.0 with a LAN connection on the rear of the unit. The player can decode the lossless codecs, but lacks analogue outputs for older receivers. This is very disappointing for its price level – most $300 players have this ability.
Performance
Speed
The player is disappointing slow. It takes roughly 20 seconds to power on. Pressing eject when powered off takes a painful 19 seconds for the tray to open, venturing into Pioneer -slow territory. Menu response time is medium. I noticed in running it through synthetic tests it was on the slower side of players.
Disc load times were also on the slowish side. Casino Royale took 37 seconds, a second behind the Pioneer 320 and twice as slow as the JVC XV-BP1 or Oppo BDP83. Java discs like the Pirates of Carribbean were equally slow, reaching the disney splash screen in a minute flat (the $200 JVC can reach the same spot in 27 seconds).
BD Performance
BD at 1080P 24fps was excellent and on par with most other players.
SD DVD Performance
I had high hopes for the H/K in this segment and its results were a bit disappointing and very much mid-pack. It did well on synthetic tests with the usual film cadences, but struggled on video-based material, with noticeable jaggies in the speedometer test S&M offers. The video-based samples in the S&M test disc demonstrated its poor performance.
In real-world material, I would rate the performance mediocre. I prefer the Oppo, Pioneer 320, Denon 2500, and JVC to its image, but would say its overall sd dvd upscaling quality is adequate. That said, it is disappointing when you consider its $500 price tag.
Closing Thoughts
This player is priced about twice as much as its featureset and PQ offer. I cannot recommend this player at its current price point in an ever-completitive marketplace. The Pioneer 320 offers superior performance, analogue outputs, and better tweaking menus at $200 less. The JVC XV BP1 offers quicker performance, better sd dvd upconversion and is $300 less.
Rating: 1 / 5