Consumer Reports HDTV/Blu-ray winners

Consumer Reports HDTV/Blu-ray winners

Panasonic and Samsung are the big winners of this month’s Consumer Reports ratings for Blu-ray players and plasma HDTVs, with Samsung also scoring strongly LCD TV and home theater system categories.

The magazine’s website also cautions against Black Friday and pre-Black Friday bargains, many of which are listed at the site, while noting that sometimes bundled products such as a TV and Blu-ray player sold together may be priced higher than you can but them individually.

Pansonic's 2nd ranked but least expensive top 5 Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD80
Pansonic's 2nd ranked but least expensive top 5 Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD80

CR ranks the Oppo BDP-83 as the top Blu-ray player at $500 and a rating of 93 out of 100.

Also scoring a 93 is the Panasonic DMP-BD80 at $275, surprising since it does not have the memory required to access BD Live features.

Those are followed by two players with a ranking of 91: the LG BD390 at $330 and Samsung’s BD-P4600 at $350.

Panasonic has three of the 11 top-rated models; Samsung has two. The least expensive model in the top 25 is the $130 Magnavox NB530MGX, ranked 12th with an 85.

Plasma TV

Panasonic's top-ranked plasma Viera TC-P42G15
Panasonic's top-ranked plasma Viera TC-P42G15

In the plasma TV category, Panasonic and Samsung are practically the competitors (LG and Insignia rank no higher than 6th in any category), with Panasonic’s Viera TC-P42GH15 ($1,300) and five other Viera models taking all six top spots in the 42-inch/46-inch category. Panasonic’s sixth-ranked display, the P42X1 (720p) is priced at $700. The least expensive on the list is Insignia’s NS-P42Q-10A (720p) at $550.

Samsung’s PN50B650 ($1,300) and PN58B650 ($2,400) take the top plasma spots among 50-inch and 54-inch & larger groups. Panasonic’s 4th & 5th-ranked Viera TC-P50X1 and 50C1 (both 720p) are priced at $900 each, while Insignia’s $800 NS-P501Q-10A (720p) is rated 8th.

Home-theater systems

Among home theater system offerings that include a Blu-ray player, Samsung’s HT-BD7200 ($800) is tops, though it only scores a 58 due to ppor sound quality, ease of use, and only 2.1 speakers included. LG’s LHB953 is second and least expensive at $490 and includes 5.1 speakers.

Sony offers a $310 system (HT-SS360) without a Blu-ray player that scores a 42, fifth in that category behind systems by Oknyo, Yamaha, and Samsung.

LCD TV

Every company seems to have a strong horse in the LCD race except Panasonic. Among the 1080p models tested by CR, LG (55LH90), Toshiba (Regza 55ZV650U), Samsung (LN52B750), and Sony (Bravia KDL-52XBR9) have the top four models of 52-inches and 55-inches at prices ranging from $2,000 – $2,500. Sharp has two $1,500 Aquos models (LC-C5277UN & 52E77UN) close behind in 5th & 6th spots.

Sony’s $3,000 Bravia KDL-46XBRB ranks highest among the 46/47-inch displays with a 77, followed by two Samsung models at $2,000 and $1,600, respectively (UN46B7000 & 6000), and the $1,130 JVC LT-46P300.

– Scott Hettrick