[thepbsmith]

Hello everyone

Am toying with the idea of purchasing a panasonic dvd system to go with my panasonic HD plasma tv.

Sascommando has already recommended me the SC-HT990 as below

http://www.soundandvisiononline.co.u...oduct_id=10942

but this may be a little more than I am willing to spend.

Am currenty considering the following:-

the SC-HT855

http://www.soundandvisiononline.co.u...oduct_id=10941

and the SC-HT545W

http://www.soundandvisiononline.co.u...oduct_id=10878

The main differences (which appeal to me) between the two are that one has an HDMI connection and the other has wireless speakers.

My queries are -

HDMI Upscaling - has anyone got one of these DVD players and does it actually produce noticably different pictures? Not willing to pay for an HD-DVD/Blue Ray player yet until I'm sure which format will prevail.

Wireless speakers - speaker wires really p me off, so these seems an attractive option. Has anyone got anything like this and does it work well?

I look forward to reading your comments.

[smashed]

Wireless speakers? They may not have wires from the stereo to the speakers..but how do they obtain power? They will still need a power supply , so the lead will still be there no doubt.. just to a different place

[thepbsmith]

Not really sure how it works.

Even if you do have to connect them to a mains supply, at least I won't have speakers wires travelling from the back of the telly/system right around the whole of the room to the speakers. Would have to carefully position the rear speakers close the power point(s) on the back wall.

Maybe they are battery powered - though i suspect you'd probably need some powerful batteries!!

[smashed]

I dont think people have ever really been impressed with wireless speakers to be honest.
However, if its a big thing to you, then it should take precedence over loss of quality, extra power leads etc.

Make sure you pick 1 up that is multi region

[thepbsmith]

It's not that big a thing and anyway - from what you're saying it sounds a lot less impressive than I first thought.

Was leaning towards the HDMI model anyway. It's annoying that there isn't enough HD programming around at the moment to fully utilise my TV set - unless you've got Sky that is.

As I live in a flat I'm stuck with Telewest at the moment which pretty much only offers nature programmes (though they are quite good) and old episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives in HD. I want Sky Sports and Sky One in HD!!

Good point about the multi region factor - I'd hadn't thought about that. I think Panasonics are pretty difficult to unlock.

Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated also.

[sascommando]

I wouldn't go with wireless speakers, they sound good but when it comes down to it they don't sound as good as you think they might!

Panasonic players can't be hacked by the usual codes that you can do on your remote, I think this also applies to some Toshiba and Sony models too. However, when I bought mine I was very tempted to get mine chipped but actually came across a site which "loans" a DVD hack disc designed for your player. What it does I'm not sure but you put the disc in, do a bit of fiddling on your remote and the player becomes multi region, worked a treat for me!

For the life of me I can't remember the site I got it from but they were really good, wasn't sure whether to trust them or not but in the end everything worked perfectly. Will see if I can find it or something similar. You could probably find something on Ebay too.

[littlesheepy]

Personally i wouldn't go near wireless speakers despite the fact i love the idea because of the bad reviews i've heard about them and plus each speaker has to be plugged into mains supply anyway. If i was that bothered about wires i'd stretch my budget slightly and go for something like the Yamaha YSP100 sound projector which i've heard nothing but good things about and wish i'd heard of before i splashed out on a av receiver and speakers. I personally have Yamaha speakers and find them to be great. I also have the Panansonic DMR EZ25 DVD Recorder which has HDMI upscaling and have to say i'm mightly impressed with it and think it does make a difference to the picture as far as i'm concerned. Just my 2 cents worth, but hope it helps

[wilko]

I have wireless speakers with my Philips home cinema kit.

Wouldn't recommend them, to be perfectly honest. Every so often they go through a "crackle" phase where the signal from the transmitter drops off for some reason and you get a crackling and popping every few minutes. You then have to fiddle with the antenna on the transmitter/receiver to get a better signal. As far as sound quality goes, they sound fine.

The way mine work is that you have a transmitter that plugs into the back of your home cinema amplifier, and a receiver which plugs into the mains at the backof the room(or wherever). The "wireless" rear speakers plug into this using standard speaker cables.

[Reckless]

If you're *really* not able/keen to run speaker cables then consider virtual surround. I'd personnally go for that above wireless... With wireless, the first issue is that the frequency at which these operate doesn't really have the necessary bandwidth for good/accurate sound. Secondly, if they are powered then you need to run a mains cable which are more unsightly than a speaker cable and if they're battery powered these don't last long enough or provide adequate juice for good amplification.

If your house is dry-lined (plasterboard over blocks) then you should be able to run the speaker cables in the cavity without too much trouble. Although I didn't do that for my speakers, I ran 20m of ADSL cable across the house to where my PC is using this technique :) A had to dig out a couple of holes (where the feeder line snagged on some plasterboard adhesive for example).

As for upscaling.... I've no real world usage but I'd not even consider this a useful thing - it's a stop gap before you get a proper HD player. Of course if you need the best of what you can get then it may well be what you want. Personally I'd stick with what you have until such a time that HD players are cheap[er] ;)

[wilko]

Originally Posted by Reckless

If you're *really* not able/keen to run speaker cables then consider virtual surround. I'd personnally go for that above wireless

I don't agree at all. Virtual surround? Are you serious? It's appalling!

I have no problem with quality of the sound on my wireless rear speakers - its more that occasionally I get some popping and crackling which you can resolve by twiddling with the antenna. Other than that, the quality is just like what you would get from standard "wired" speakers.

And the "receiver" and wires are hidden behind my sofa, so not a problem for me.