Philips BDP-7200 Blu-ray player pictures
My column regarding the Philips BDP-7200 Blu-ray player started hitting newspapers today. If it hasn’t hit your local paper yet you can read it on the Modesto Bee website. The Philips BDP-7200 is a Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) Blu-ray player with an MSRP of $399. Street prices are $369 at Circuit City and $348 at Sam’s Club. The BDP-7200 is a solid player, much better than the Profile 1.0 players out there and a good choice if you don’t want to get a PlayStation 3.
Player in the box. It came to me this way from the PR firm and was not double-boxed… the ones on the shelves should look a lot less beat-up than this.
Unboxed with accessories. You will need an HDMI cable… as always, I suggest www.monoprice.com where you can get a good-quality HDMI cable for under $5.00. Don’t get ripped off at big-box stores!
Front view of BDP-7200.
Close-up of disc door. It movies slowly and silently, which gives the player a quality feel.
Options on the front panel are limited. You will use the remote to access all but the most very basic functions.
The player supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, but only through bitstreaming. The BDP-7200 is a great match with receivers like the Onkyo TX-SR605 line (and models above it) as they can decode these advanced audio formats.
Left side view with ventilation vents. The player is very solidly constructed, much better than a typical DVD player… it does not feel cheap at all. (Granted, at $399 MSRP it ISN’T cheap, but it is one of the lowest priced a Blu-ray standalone players.)
Rear view with ventilation fan. I didn’t notice distracting fan noise when watching movies.
Video outputs.
Multichannel analog outputs do not support lossless formats, only uncompressed PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS. Coax and optical digital audio are also provided… a very comprehensive set of connections here.
Right side view.
Front 3/4 view with remote.
Remote close-up view. The piano black glossy finish on the back was a nice touch.
Magnavox version at Wal-mart for $298?
There is a very similar looking player being sold at Wal-mart under the Magnavox brand. Selling for $298, it appears nearly identical to the BDP-7200 but lacks the multichannel analog outputs. Erin Hill, my contact at Philips’ PR firm, confirmed that the Magnavox NB500MG9 does come from under the same Philips corporate umbrella.
It is somewhat ironic that the less expensive, lower-tier brand Magnavox version may make more sense to most buyers. The lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA audio is a big reason for buying Blu-ray, and it is only available from the HDMI output. This makes the multichannel analog outputs somewhat superfluous because they won’t give you the best audio available from a lot of the Blu-ray movies out there. I’m going to go buy one at Wal-Mart and test it out with a TrueHD/DTS-HD MA receiver, report my findings and post some pictures.
Axiom Loudpeakers
