LG BD370 BLU RAY PLAYER Review

Okay, here's the deal.  I've always been an early adapter of new technology.  The problem with that is, when you rush right out and get the newest thing, you often wind up with the tech problems that come with unproven stuff.  On the other hand, being the first to have something can be cool.  I've experienced both those things.  One of the prime examples, for me, was back in the early 1980s when VHS and Betamax video players came out.  This development was exciting because being able to watch theatrical release movies in your own home, at your convenience was unheard of.  HBO existed in those days, but, to watch a movie you had to be in front of the TV when when they were showing it.  I was in Germany at the time and I chose Betamax because the handful of friends I had at Zwiebrucken AB had already chosen that format.  Well, you know how THAT went.  Those people transferred back to the states and VHS overwhelmingly won the video battle.  It wasn't very long before I was a Betamax owner in search of a movie, ANY movie to buy or rent.

So, when HD and Blu-Ray came along I was cautious.  There was no way I was adapting one of those technologies until one of them won out.  Even after Blu-Ray won, I couldn't see a compelling reason to switch from my up-converting $79 Toshiba DVD player.  Blu-Ray players were, I thought, ridiculously expensive, especially for the improvement they gave over up-converted DVDs.  At least that was my rationale.  Not only that, but Blu-Ray movies cost about 10 bucks more than the SAME movie on DVD! For why????  Therefore, until 3 weeks ago, I was a proud DVD owner.  But, those little weasels ( and I mean "weasel" in the nicest most complimentary way!) at LG and a couple other manufacturers found a way to lure me in.  Oh, sure, they lowered their prices, but I was determined to not get a Blu-Ray player until they hit the sweet spot, price-wise.  For me that was around $150.00.   I didn't count on them becoming something more than just a box that looked similar to a DVD player but played Blu-Ray discs instead.  Hello, internet ready Blu-Ray players capable of streaming from the internet.  Damn.  They got me.

One of my daughters emailed me an Amazon.com gift card for Father's Day and I still hadn't decided what to use it for.  So, while scouring that website one day, I came across the LG BD370 Blue-Ray Player.  I noticed two things. (I've been researching the technology for as long as it has been available, so I knew all about Blu-Ray).  First thing was, they had dropped the price to $217.00.  I'd never seen a player that (not a quality one, anyway) priced that low.  But the word that really caught my eye was Netflix.

Son of a Diddly!  Here was a low priced Blu-Ray player made by a trusted brand and internet ready! To stream movies from my Netflix que!!  Suddenly my "price" sweet spot went up a few dollars.  With the gift card I could get this player for a mere $192.00!  Sold!  So, after a little research on this particular player, I plopped that little bugger in my cart and, after allowing my trigger finger to hover over the left button of my  Logitech mouse for a couple minutes, I made the purchase.  I'm glad I did.

The LG BD370 Blu-ray player is an amazing little contraption.  Took me about 10-15 minutes to get it out of the box, set up and ready to rock and/or roll.  I simply unhooked the HDMI cable from my DVD play and plugged it into the LG player. Then I plugged the player into my power strip.  I couldn't plug into the internet just yet because the ethernet cable I bought was to short, even at 25 ft.  So, that had to wait a couple of days because I had bought the longest one Wal Mart had.  Letting my fingers do the walking on the PC keyboard got me a 50 footer from NewEgg.com, though and I simply had to wait 2 days for it to show up at my doorstep.

The LG BD370 is a black, rectangular box that looks similar to any DVD player.  The disc tray and on the box controls are covered by plastic flip-down panels which serve to give the player a sleek looking design.  These two panels are separated by a large silver power button smack front center that would be hard to miss, even if  you were  Mr. Magoo.  When the button is on it glows with a bright red circle around it.  You definately can't miss it then.  There is also a USB port on the front for plugging in a flash drive to enable a feature called BD Live which is necessary to access some special features on some Blu-Ray discs.  I've not used that yet, so I won't address it here.

On the back of the box is an AC connector (for plugging it in),  Component Video Out (Y Pb Pr), Digital audio out (Coaxial), Video, and 2 channel Audio Out jacks.  It also has HDMI OUT (the preferred method for connecting the player to your  HD TV) and a Lan Port (for connecting to the internet via your router or modem)

As you can see, there are several ways you can connect you TV to your Blu-Ray player. If you don't have an HD TV of some kind, a Blu-ray player is a waste of your money.   The BEST way to connect your HD TV to the LG is easily the HDMI cable.  It gives the best picture and sound and all of that is in one cable.  You DON'T need a $90 cable from Best Buy.  On the other had, buying one for $5 from a guy how says, "Psssst! Over here!" to you from a van is probably not the best idea, either.  While talking about that, let me say this. Your BEST bet is getting all your cabling from a website like NewEgg.com  They give you two day service and you will often pay less than half what a brick and mortar store will charge you. They quality is just as good, as long as you stay with a good brand and pay attention to what you are buying.  My case is a good example.  I went out and bought as 25ft ethernet cable from Wal Mart and and paid $20.  50ft of the same cable from NewEgg.com?  $7.78.  Freaky, huh?

The difference between a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc on a HDTV is just phenomenal.  My TV is 720p resolution so the difference isn't as great as it would be if I owned a 1080p TV, but it is still a huge difference.  The LG actually plays Blu-ray on my set at 1080i (interlaced), but I won't getting to the technical mumbo jumbo here.  Let's just say the colors are vibrant and, while watching The Dark Knight, I could see every crease in Christian Bale's costume and every wrinkle on Gary Oldman's face.  I also noticed the LG gives me much better sound, even through the TV's speakers.  Blu-Ray is worth the upgrade.  The LG also does a pretty good job up-converting my DVDs, as well.  It's not perfect, with some of the colors being a little flat, but it does a better job than my DVD player.

Like I said, Blu-ray is not what really sold me on this player as much as the internet capability did.  Once I got the longer cable, it was simply a matter of running if from the LG to my Netgear router, plugging it in, setting up my Netflix account to recognize and use my player, then turning on the TV and player, select a movie from my que and start watching.  Ten minutes, tops.  It was that easy.  Now, the instruction manual warns that some internet providers (I use Comcast cable) and routers may be configured in a way that makes it a little more work and, in a few cases, may not work at all.  So, it might behoove you to check with your provider.   I know Comcast works right out of the box.

Also, instead of using an ethernet cable you can use and Ethernet Adapter, but this is not recommended as watching Netflix, YouTube and CinemaNow with a wireless network can cause poor playback.  The playback using all these services on mine with a wired connection has been, so far, flawless.  And the picture quality is excellent.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The LG BD 370 Blu-ray player is an amazing value.  LG also produces, for about $100 more the BD390, which is pretty much the same player with wireless internet capability and some internal memory that avoids the need for a flash drive with BD Live.  The Blu-Ray function is exactly the same.  I, obviously opted to pocket the $100.  The player will handle handle, in addition to Blu-ray discs,  DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW and audio CDs.  Obviously, sometimes you might have problems with a recorded disc depending on the manner in which your recorded it.  All pre-recorded discs should work fine.

As for resolution, the LG supports 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and full 1080p.   It also works with all surround sound and Dolby stereo.

It comes with component video and audio cable (I recommend HDMI, though), a remote that works well.  You also get built-in Roxio CinemaNow software for viewing streamed movies and, when you register your player with LG, you get 5 FREE movies (actually a $20.00 credit) with CinemaNow.  And, if you so desire, you can listen to music through your player and/or watch YouTube video streamed directly from that website.

The picture quality is awesome and the features pretty dang good for a low-priced Blu-ray player.  Up til now, low priced Blu-ray meant "bare bones".  LG is a brand I trust, and, so far, I've no reason not to.  The LG BD370 Blu-ray player is a great buy and, if you haven't made the switch to Blu-ray yet, I suggest you get to it! It will revolutionize your movie viewing.  Plus..you get to see Gary Oldman's crinkled brow! What more could you want? GRADE: A-