Yes, sadly that is the way most of them do boot up.
(My Panasonic unit is slow also, btw.)
The latest ones, especially the Sony ones, are supposedly a bit faster.
The fastest was (is?) the PS3 game console, but you'll need to buy the optional remote control, as the game controller is not sufficient to control it, IMHO. (So that puts the price up to about $330, which is about double the price of a new BluRay player, although it would include a really good game machine, especially now that they finally have some decent games for the PS3.)
FYI, HD-DVD players are the same way too, unfortunately.