Review: Harman Kardon BDP 1

Availability: Available Now
MSRP: $499

Most Blu-ray players can be purchased for around $200 now. However, at $499, is the Harman Kardon BDP 1 worth its price, still?

Portability

Obviously, this is a standalone Blu-ray player that offers other features. So, with dimensions of 2-5/8" x 17-5/16" x 13-7/8" (66mm x 440mm x 352mm) and a weight of 8.2lbs (3.7kg), this Blu-ray player is rather large. But, it is meant to be stationary anyways, so I cannot fairly judge this player in this category.

- N/A

Usability

Like other media players that you can purchase for your home entertainment setup, the BDP 1 is very intuitive. It will automatically up convert your DVDs to 1080p, if your TV supports it and if you are hooked up via HDMI. Harman Kardon has also equipped the BDP 1 with BD-Live interactive capabilities, so you can download games, ringtones, or other special content from the internet directly. However, at $499, this player can only access the internet via a hardwired RJ-45 cable. It doesn't offer wireless connectivity, at $499!

You can also play MP3, WMA and JPEG from a disc or from the front-panel USB jack. The BDP 1 also comes with a full-featured backlit remote control and an HDMI cable that offers 1.3a output with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. The Harman Kardon BDP 1 also features support for BD-R/RE, BD-Live and BonusView, DVD/DVD+RW/DVD-RW, CD/CD-RW and LPCM formats.

- 16/20

Durability

Because of the BDP 1's large design and weight, it is very durable. If you dropped it from a few feet, while it was not actually playing anything, it should be perfectly fine.

- 20/20

Reliability

I never once ran into an issue while using the BDP 1. However, while seeking or skipping a chapter, while watching a DVD or Blu-ray disc, I did notice some significant lag of about 2 ½ seconds. If you are not used to the slowness of this, it can become tedious trying to find a spot on the disc.

- 18/20

Overall Experience

Overall, the BDP 1 is an excellent Blu-ray player. It features support for many mainstream video and audio formats and it has the ability to access BD-Live features. The BDP 1 was designed well to withstand any accidental drops and it features an intuitive menu and remote control. However, you can find other Blu-ray players that do pretty much the same thing for under $499.

- 18/20

Conclusion

The Harman Kardon BDP 1 does exactly what it claims to do. From upconverting your DVDs to 1080p to having the ability to access BD-Live features, the BDP 1 is a great addition to your multi-media system, on paper. My main issue with this player is that it can only access the internet from a hardwired connection; no wireless. At $499, I feel Harman Kardon was just lazy in this aspect. Obviously, this player was designed for the living room. Who has their modem or router with an Ethernet cable lying around in their living room?

Furthermore, as a gamer there is no way I could recommend that anyone buy this when you can pick up a PS3 at $399 that HAS WIRELESS capabilities, BD-Live functionality, support for other audio and video formats, plays PS1 games, PS2 games (on older models), PS3 games and other downloadable content; plus, a few other features that I cannot think of at the moment.

The BDP 1 is nice, but at $499 and not coming equipped with wireless connectivity, I find it hard to recommend this product. But, it's ultimately up to you to decide what to buy, not me.

Final Score

- 72/80 = 90