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Pioneer BDP-95FD: Review

Posted to Video Components 2009-05-03

The Pioneer BDP-95FD is a full-featured Blu-ray player that will take you to the next level of movie viewing. As a 1080p player, it will make movies look amazing on your HD television. Pioneer offers network connection as well as several input connections to allow you the best possible experience.

The Elite BDP-95FD has a really solid set of features. Most impressive is the device's ability to connect to a home network and stream video, music and pictures directly from a computer in another room. The Home Media Gallery is a great feature and Pioneer has added the ability of making the player compatible with most video file extensions out there. While Pioneer packed the 95FD full of nice features, there have been some reports of firmware bugs.

Rating:

3.4 out of 5

Quality

Where the Pioneer BDP-95FD has trouble is the firmware issues it has encountered. Many users have reported problems with the device including lack of sound and poor connections. Pioneer is offering regular firmware updates for the device but considering this is the 'Elite' level, Pioneer should not have these types of issues. While Pioneer managed a nice quality product in the Elite Pioneer BDP-95FD, some have also found this model's remote isn't great. Have you ever had a remote control that needed to be pointed in just the right way in order to work? Some complaints with the BDP-95FD is it has one of those remotes and you will spend a good amount of time trying to get a response from the unit.

Ergonomics

The Blu-ray player is about the same size as similar Blu-ray players on the market in terms of depth and width but the height of the Pioneer Blu-ray player is taller than many other Blu-ray players. You might have an issue if you were hoping to slip the player into a tight spot in an entertainment center. The little silver legs are not helping much with the height of the device. My big gripe about this player is the lack of controls on the actual Blu-ray player. There are very few chores you can execute from the player itself so don't even think about losing the remote. As for the remote, it is an absolute monster, but the bark is bigger than the bite. The control comes in at around 9 inches long and has tons of buttons that are pretty much unnecessary unless you love bulky remotes with lots of buttons. As mentioned, the control is sloppy and the odds of you getting the Blu-ray to play on the first press with the remote may be rare. If you are going to buy this Blu-ray player pick up a nice universal remote while you are at it.

Summary

I am disappointed to see that a company like Pioneer has released a product with bugs at a relatively high price. You could honestly go out and buy a Sony or Samsung Blu-ray for comparable or less money and get a more stable machine. Pioneer's BDP-95FD is just not stable enough to pick up without the firmware upgrade.

Pros

Networking allows you to watch files from your computer.
Plays a wide range of video files

Cons

Poor remote control is a negative
Firmware problems plague the player
A little tall for my taste.

Recommended accessory:

Monster Cable IDL100-4M : Interlink Datalink 100 Low-Loss S/PDIF Style Digital Coaxial Cable

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