Product ReviewsPIONEER BDP-51FD Blu-Ray Disc DVD Player HD AUDIO OUTPUT, NO REMOTE (WORKS!)

Blu-Ray Player With Panache

First the good about the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray player: it is well-built and a real looker. The appearance oozes quality from all angles and it looks right at home with higher-end components. Video performance is top-notch and draws you into whatever movie or disc you're watching while its audio capabilities let each soundtrack sound as good or better than any movie theater. The rear panel offers plenty of connections, including multi-channel analog outputs, which I consider to be a big plus.

Now the bad: the player takes a long time to initialize Blu-Ray discs, usually around a minute or so. That may not sound bad, but it's like dead air on radio broadcasts. Also, the Resume Playback feature does not work if you remove the disc or power off the player.......which means you have to go through the tedious initialization process again. Other than that, this excellent player delivers performance that will satisfy almost any videophile / audiophile out there.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dartfever

Excellent Performance

This is an excellent unit. It does take a short moment to initialize and operate, not operating as fast as other units. Otherwise the picture is high quality and the features normal for a unit of this price range. Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: sovamind

good for the price

i purchased this unit used for eighty bucks. for the price i think its a great player. for those who say its worth 600 i would strongly disagree. i also have a cheap blue-ray player that was under 100 new and there is not much difference in the picture, the sound may be slightly better but not by a huge amount.i have listened to music and movies and the sound is great on both players. i would have been extremely disappointed if i would have paid list price after having a cheap player that seems to be equal in picture and sound plus has 3d. for what you can get these used for its a great player. i must also include that the build quality seems far greater than my cheap player, it has substantially more weight and size to it and is a much nicer looking unit. just feels like a quality unit but that doesn't necessarily mean it is. time will tell.Read full review...

Well worth the money i spent

For a old school product it does very well in the audio department with various connections. Picture quality is great and adjustable .The only two draw backs are you can't update the firmware anymore and is is a little slow opening up Blu-ray disc but once playing just pretty flawless . As long as it last it's a keeper for
me and I do own newer Blu-ray players but i don't like their audio options. If you like more audio options this is a great unitRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dwes9308

Love this player!

Beautiful player, arrived as described, and has performed quite well. It takes a couple of minutes from power on, to play, which is common for this unit. The picture is great whether blue ray, or DVD with great upscaling. Quite pleased!
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Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: simpaticosales

Absolutely Stunning!!!

I have owned numerous DVD players over the years and still have a Pioneer Elite DV-37 ($1000.00 in 2002) which works perfectly. I decided to buy the BDP-51fd based upon positive reviews in Stereophile and What Hi-Fi!. There have been reports of these units being a little "buggy" but I believe that most of those issues have been sorted out.

Now for my experience with this player. Unbelievable!!! The picture quality is just outstanding. Color rendition is the best that I have ever seen, so good in fact that it makes other blu-ray players I have auditioned seem unworthy to mention in the same breath. It has numerous sound and picture adjustments to allow for fine tuning to your preference. The menus are well layed out and they give you the feeling that you are dealing with a professional level product. The sound quality from the 2 channel analog outputs is amazing. The Wolfson D/A converters are the real deal. I dare say that unless you are the owner of a truly upper level CD player ($1000+) that this will be the best CD player that you have ever owned.

This unit rates as one of the finest bargains in the Audio/Video universe. That it can be had new for $300.00 borders on ludicrous. The only way that you will not be able to appreciate how good this is is if your supporting components are the weak link. I am using this as my CD player in a system consisting of a Krell HTS surround processor and Bryston ST series amplification pushing Dynaudio Contour speakers and though the Pioneer costs just a fraction of the price of my other equipment you would never guess it by its beautiful build quality, gorgeous picture and very refined sound.

The load time is slow. So what! No blu-ray live. So what! To get better sound and picture WILL cost you $1000.00-$1500.00 end of story. Made in Japan with high quality parts and worth every penny of its original $600.00 price tag.

Advice, buy one now! The replacement model for this is now out and as I knew would happen it is now been "upgraded" with BD live and faster load times. It is also made in Malyasia, been neutered of its Wolfson D/A converters, and has lost about 6 pounds of weight.

The old axiom of "you get what you pay for" is a good rule of thumb but in this case you get many times what you pay for. I will be buying a second one just to have as a back-up.Read full review...

BUY QUALITY

Between a friend and I we had purchased a total of 4, Panasonic Blu-Ray players of the same model. Of the 4, 2 stopped working entirely and a third stopped reading Blu_Ray discs. I decided to try something better but the cost of a new player was prohibitive so I bought a used Pioneer here a Ebay. You can really tell the difference. This thing is about 10 times heavier and about 4-5 times as large. Being an older model is doesn't have the online features but that is not at all important to me. It worked perfectly and because I liked it so much, I bought another one shortly thereafter. Very happy with both.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: hottshott

Beware - review from AMAZON SAYS POOR UNITS OUT THERE

two Fox titles. Neither would play. I got a red screen (now known as the Red Screen of Death) when I loaded the discs that said my firmware was not up to date. This was not true, as I had updated to the latest firmware. I wondered if I had defective discs or a defective player.

I called Pioneer, and they were familiar with the problem. They said I could either return the player or send it in to them to have its hardware adjusted. Even though they admit that the problem is theirs, they were adamant that THEY WOULD NOT PAY THE SHIPPING. So, I returned it. Apparently, there are quite a few of these units that will not play Fox titles. It has something to do with the BD+ copy protection on fox discs. Most, though not all of the players are made in Malaysia. I assume that the positive reviews are for older units from Japan.

--EDIT--Since writing this review, Pioneer has come out with a news announcement about the player. Anyone thinking of getting one should visit Pioneer's website. If your player is in a certain range of serial #s, it will be one of the ones affected. I went to a store with a printout of the serial #s, and found one that is free of the problem. So, now I can play all my discs, with awesome sound and video and with great SD DVD upscaling. I highly recommend this player, but beware of the potential problems with some units.

I was unable to change my 3-star review. I would now rate it 4, considering the hassle I went through to get a working player. A working unit is a 5-star product.

---Edit Again---

I ended up returning the second player. It had a problem playing rental discs. The Panasonic BD60 that I bought as a replacement was able to play those same discs with no problem. The video and audio of the Pioneer are stellar, but there are lots of poorly made versions out there of this player. As of now, I would not recommend it.Read full review...

Pioneer BDP 51 fd Blu-Ray Player

Recently won a Pioneer blu-ray player wanted it as an upgrade to one i had already from the moment i took it out of the box i knew i had something special i had gotten advice on which one to buy so choosing the one was not a problem..Went home and hooked it up awesome is the first word that comes to mind the piano black finish just blends with everything i had just a little problem but thats from my end had to take the legs off because i ran out of space so i'm looking to buy a rack and that problem will also be solved,but getting back to the internal decoding of this baby it has taken my home theatre to another level i have a denon 4306 that i was going to sell that would have been a major mistake it has now come to life... all i can say is life is beautiful my new Pioneer Bdp51 fd is one of my better investments since i was into home theatre about 10 years now great stuff guys for anyone who is thinking of a great blu-ray player make sure its the one made in japan...Read full review...

Excellent Unit

This is a high end Blu-Ray player. In great condition and many good features.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: katval9