Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-ray player review

Pitch perfect pictures make this a Blu-ray player to savour

Panasonic DMP-BD65 Blu-ray player
The DMP-BD65 is the stripped down version of the DMP-BD85

TechRadar Verdict

A good Blu-ray player but the lack of features let it down slightly

Pros

  • +

    Picture

  • +

    Sound

  • +

    Easy to use

Cons

  • -

    Lacks built-in storage

  • -

    No Wi-Fi

  • -

    No DivX HD playback

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Panasonic was one of the first brands to build Blu-ray players, and it shows; this mid-range deck is one of the best around, and great value despite its above average price.

The Blu-ray player market has been awash with £99 products since the last festive season, but Panasonic has been trying up the ante for some time now – see its (still unique) Blu-ray recorders from 2009, a range that's about to be followed up by its DMR-BW780 and DMR-BW880 models.

Panasonic is all over Blu-ray. As well as some portable models, it's also about to unleash a 3D Blu-ray player, the £399 DMP-BDT300, though for now 2D fans are well catered for; its DMP-BD65 is sandwiched between the £169 DMP-BD45 and £299 DMP-BD85.

The former is a no frills deck and the latter a high-end player with built-in Wi-Fi and DLNA networking, but all include the hugely impressive PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus circuitry.

And that picture-boosting circuitry proves to be the DMP-BD65's biggest asset, despite it being loaded with extra features.

Viera Cast is the most obvious add-on; a bespoke platform for broadband TV and information services, though it's marred by a lack of content – YouTube just isn't enough any more.

Elsewhere is a USB slot (with dubious DivX HD compatibility – see below) and, of course, access to BD Live, though there's still no built-in storage for BD Live downloads. And, oddly, there's no DLNA networking on the DMP-BD65 despite it being able to plug in to a broadband home network.

Jamie Carter

Jamie is a freelance tech, travel and space journalist based in the UK. He’s been writing regularly for Techradar since it was launched in 2008 and also writes regularly for Forbes, The Telegraph, the South China Morning Post, Sky & Telescope and the Sky At Night magazine as well as other Future titles T3, Digital Camera World, All About Space and Space.com. He also edits two of his own websites, TravGear.com and WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com that reflect his obsession with travel gear and solar eclipse travel. He is the author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners (Springer, 2015),