Best Blu Ray video and for 2 channel transport?

I don't think you'll improve on the Panny with the Sony 350, but I'm making that assumptions simply from the spotty real-world feedback. It's also an older machine in a technology that seems to change daily. Boy, as far as BD players, I'd stick with the Panny or wait for the Oppo myself. Your description of the differences of the pictures is spot-on: The Panny seemed more punchy and digital while the Oppo occurs more film-like. I did not try tweaking the Panny's video fine-tune controls and there may be some latitude there, but I could easily live with the imaging I saw both on DVD and BD. I really cannot explain the optical output and will look forward to yours and others feedback there. I think my Modwright Transporter DAC is capable of 96khz streaming, but even on PCM the sound of the Oppo seems better IMO. Then again, I am going from aural memory which is NOT always that reliable. I am just struck by the sound with the Oppo and was not either struck the same way, nor disappointed with the sound of the Panny. Anyway, I appreciate your input as well. I'll look forward to hearing what you end up deciding on. If I were really into the BD thing I would have kept the Panasonic. I think that's huge bang for the buck, especially in the video department.

Jax2 & Kennyt,

Okay it was nearly impossible to find a S350 from sony.. Target, walmart, best buy, circuit city, etc.. Were all sold out nation wide!!

That being said I found one new in the box stashed away in a back room that somebody missed at a Meijer store!

Anyway got it home hooked it up.

First off the sony interface is faster! It is a step above the Panasonics..

Now for the good stuff, Audio thru HDMI is not as good as it is on the Panasonics built in processor, however I don't care because I need the transport anyway.

So one up for the panasonic, however its all downhill from there!

Shockingly sony Invented this Technology and guess what? Their player is superior in function and video for blu ray, it is just MUCH more film like truly reminds me and is virtually identical performance to the smoother and less digitized presentation of the OPPOS.

And DVD upconversion on this sony player with some of my Standard DVD's against the oppo is ABSOLUTELY as good, and it loads faster than the Oppo!! Only in standard DVD it loads faster, however blu ray is a little lagging, but its Faster loading blue ray than the panasonic by about 15 seconds it seems!

And it is a sony transport mechanism which have been good to me in the past, thru Wadia players, Oppos, and Raysonic...

So for 100 less street price, the sony is definitely superior for the overall and actually is the most compact in size Blu ray player to date from what I see and read.

Its a killer unit... So in this round Kennyt wins :-) I might be the ONLY person to have seen both the panasonic and Sony in home side by side however, they are both backordered and difficult to get anywhere... Money wise the sony is the best buy at this point..

Now down to the final issue I don't understand that has been overlooked by all these manufactures it seems.. NO damn disc memory! Still you can shut off the sony and it will return to the spot on a blu ray or standard disc.. However as soon as you open the drawer its over.. .And I have a USB card that fits the sony off my laptop, it works, however it does not have anything to do with saving the spot on discs from what I can figure out so far..

Oh well... Anyway tomorrow I will be conducting now that the video is settled and Sony wins for price and features with the 2.0 profile etc... a full out transport sound test..
My friend has a samsung unit, a good DAC, and we will go head to head with the oppo... So sony vs. Oppo, vs samsung coming tomorrow feed from coax digital out thru a hi grade 2 channel DAC.

AS for now the pricing on the sony is right, and better than panasonic, and picture literally makes SDVD and BDVD nearly identical to the oppo... It was not really noticeable how digitally chopped or motion sick the panasonic was until I put the sony in and it looked as smooth and vivid as a IMAX theater!

In the end the one feature killing the total love on these machines is the fact it can't do the most simple function of saving the place on a DVD to return to it later!

So being we are on the same page Jax2 you might have missed out on the sony with the picture, you would love it with the oppo type presentation.. Just still the memory issue. And to be clear the sony is lightning fast, I mean in 3 seconds it loads a standard DVD, the oppo 980 is quite a bit slower!

"In the end the one feature killing the total love on these machines is the fact it can't do the most simple function of saving the place on a DVD to return to it later!"

Check out the Sony BDP-S550... problem solved!
A fantastic player otherwise too.

Couvajazz
Really? Do you know how many discs it will hold in memory? And will it do Blu ray and sDVD in memory?
Thanks!
Sucks you gotta pay 100 more for such a basic function though.
So I luckily just worked a deal on the S550 for 8 bucks less than the 350, saving some more cash! Thanks hope your right and it will save disc spots, hopefully on Blu ray and standard.

Wow, Undertow, sounds like you'll have the ultimate affordable BD shootout on your hands pretty soon. The Sony's sound like a good way to go, especially the s550, which seems to address my pet peeve (no memory). Thanks for all the feedback. I'll look forward to hearing how all the comparos go. I'm delighted with the Oppo, but it would be good to know possible directions to go if BluRay finally starts to draw interesting titles. I sure have no intention of paying more than $400 for a player and the S550 is currently running around $320 online (doesn't seem like the Amazon vendors are out of stock) so if it's as good as you think it might be, that'd be a winner in my estimation. I can see why some folks might prefer the punchier picture on the Panasonic - it's kind of like candy. Or in film terms (for those who actually remember what film is), it's like Velvia or Kodachrome vs. Provia, Ektachrome or Kodacolor (the later being a bit extreme). I was never a Velvia guy, and almost never set my digital camera to "Vivid" to mimic that kind of film. Personal taste. Good to hear that my suspicions of an odd digital artifact were not in my imagination on the Panny. I look forward to hearing more of your observations.