I am very pleased with the Panasonic DMP-BDT220. It does fine playing Blu-ray disks (I rented one to double check) but the reason I bought it had nothing to do with Blu-ray. I was looking for a device that could function on either wired or wireless network, giving speedier access to Netflix. (We'd been using our Wii which is only wireless and also lesser resolution than what our 37" LG support.)
Panasonic DMP-BDT220 FeaturesNetflix on the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 using wired ethernet never gives us the Loading bar during a program. Sadly the Netflix "app" on the Panasonic box isn't nearly as nice as that of the Wii but we can live with it. (I'd subtract half a star for this but you can't rate in half stars and so far this is the unit's only shortcoming for us.)
- Smartphone Remote Control
- Wi-Fi Built-in
- 2D to 3D Conversion for VIERA Connect
I'd read complaints about the difficulty of configuring DLNA but it was very straightforward for us. We use TVMOBiLi (for free) on our PC's to serve our iTunes music (including playlists) to the Panansonic. This works flawlessly for us and is a nice extra.
There's a very good Pandora "app" that we've been enjoying. Our best audio connection is optical from the TV to the tuner/amplifier so that's the route we use, though you could run from the Panasonic straight to the tuner/amp with RCA plug cables.
We're still playing around with some of the other Panasonic networking apps. There's an app (Ustream, I think) that lets you watch a live cam of an eagle's nest and other live feeds of wildlife; very cool.
I had an extra $4 HDMI cable laying around which I used intially but it wasn't good enough for the Panasonic. (On Blu-ray playback I got a handful of white pixels randomly appearing on my LG.) For $7 plus S/H I got a cable described as "6ft 24AWG CL2 High Speed HDMI® Cable w/ Net Jacket - Black" that took care of this issue.
I tried the iPhone app that lets your phone act as a remote but I had to switch over to wireless to use it. (You can have wired or wireless active at any given time; not both.) The iPhone app functions okay but I wouldn't sacrifice the speed of the wired connection to gain more remotes. The supplied remote is plenty good enough. (I did not have any trouble configuring wifi though I've read that others have.)
I've found Panasonic DMP-BDT220 to be a good buy and would recommend it to a friend.
Read this DMP-BDT220 Review From CNET if you not sure of my review
The Bad: Viera Connect doesn't support any subscription music services (like MOG, Rdio, or Spotify) nor does it have Flixster for UltraViolet support. The DMP-BDT220 also doesn't play back DivX or Xvid files.
The Good: The Panasonic DMP-BDT220 has built-in Wi-Fi, 3D compatibility, and the Viera Connect suite of streaming-media services, which includes Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, Pandora, and Vudu. The user interface for the streaming-media apps is straightforward, plus you can jump right to Netflix with the dedicated Netflix button on the remote. There are a few other minor perks, including Skype compatibility, a front-panel SD card slot, and a superfast quick-start mode.
The Bottom line: The Panasonic DMP-BDT220 is the best Blu-ray value of 2012, with built-in Wi-Fi, tons of streaming-media apps, 3D compatibility, and a simple user interface.
Panasonic DMP-BDT220 Price: Check Panasonic DMP-BDT220 Price
