Panasonic BDT500 vs Samsung BD-F7500

[Naturelover]

Hi!
Looking for a 3D BDP to go with my old workhorse, the Yamaha RX-V650 connected in 7.1 configuration. I started off looking for a player with 7.1 analog out to get HD audio. These are apparently the only two apart from the expensive Oppos.
The Samsung is available here whereas the Panasonic can be obtained from the US when I visit there in Jan and will need a step-up.
The HDMI will be connected directly to the TV & PJ . Both players have twin HDMI out. Will change my PJ in near future.
This player will not be used for music as I have a separate hifi setup.
Which of these would be a better option?

And then I came across articles and some posts in this forum suggesting that HD audio is not so much different from DD or DTS.
Has any FM actually checked for this?

Suggestions and advice please!!

 

[bigron]

I am not too sure about the Panasonic but I have the samsung 7500. Its a great player with the usual samsung features thrown in. Load times are fast , the interface is snappy and clean and enough video options to play around with. The picture quality is sparkling .
Has some caveats like confusing smart features interface and web browsing is limited with the supplied remote. Overall I would recommend this purely on picture quality.

 

[harshakoratala]

I was loooking for a bd player too for quite sometime with good media player capabilities and after an lg bd325(no decoder for hd audio to 5.1 lpcm) and a sony bdp590(no flac)and after a lot of research a Pana bdt 500 was purchased for me by my friend in the US which had very good reviews.

i thought i'd selected the best bluray player for my setup--hdmi 1.1 receiver (which can accept lpcm only)and a 720p mitsubishi hc 3000u PJ. Luckily i happened to get from my friend (here) a panasonic bdt 220 which shared the media player capabilities of the bdt 500. I'm sorry to say it has the worst media player capabilities i had come across ever from a bluray player.
Going by the reviews its supposed to be a very good cd player as well as a bluray player( pls. check out hdfever.fr for the review-- it had the best dynamics-- better than oppo 93 and other players. i was lucky to have tested the bdt220( more than the bluray drive i needed better media player capability). The bdt 500 was sent back. Finally I made up my mind not to buy anything other than Oppo 93/103 for functionality sake.

Long story short-- if you need a bluray player for only playing bd/dvd/cd discs and for playing upto 24/196 flac then the Pana bdt500 is your best bet.