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Six... budget Blu-ray Disc players
HD hardware at low prices
Philips BDP3100
One of the cheapest - but biggest - Blu-ray players here, the Philips is nonetheless no pared back budget model. There are two USB ports, one front, one rear, though no memory card slot, and the BDP3100 has a full array of video outputs - HDMI, component and composite - and both digital and analogue audio ports. It's networkable, but limited to BDLive - there's no iPlayer, YouTube or other service here. Like the others, you'll need to add storage for BDLive downloads. The UI is big and accessible, and actually explains what settings do - a big plus for those of us who don't care to RTFM. The picture is just fine. From standby to disc play, the Philips took 42, but it remembers where you left off playing a disc.
Reg Rating 80%
Price £90
More Info Philips
Samsung BD-C5500
Samsung says on the C5500's box that the player is "Wi-Fi Ready". Unfortunately, that means it can use a sold-separately adaptor, not hop onto your wireless network straight out of the box. But it does have an Ethernet port, so it's ready for BD Live and Samsung's internet connected "apps". These are limited to the likes of YouTube and Facebook, but Lovefilm is coming and there's been talk that BBC iPlayermay appear too. Until it does, the C5500 remains inferior to the Sony S370, though it too has USB and DLNA support for playing directly connected and remotely stored content. The remote is decent, the UI a little ugly, but serviceable, and the optical drive a bit on the noisy side. Picture quality is good and the standby-to-play time is short, faster - just - than the Sony.
Reg Rating 80%
Price £90-110
More Info Samsung