Anyone who dreamed of owning a Panasonic Blu-ray deck but found their prices too prohibitive can now get themselves one, albeit a vanilla version. Thanks to Panasonic’s ever-reliable, PHL-developed processing, the DMP-BD45’s picture quality is exceptionally good for a sub- £200 model, and if crisp hi-def pictures is the only thing you want from your Blu-ray experience then the BD45 might be worth a punt.
However, the curious lack of BD Live functionality proves to be the BD45’s biggest obstacle. While we appreciate Panasonic’s attempts to cater for budget buyers, getting rid of BD Live altogether isn’t a wise move, even on an entry-level deck like this. Even if your feelings towards BD Live are ones of overwhelming indifference, buying a player without it is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Our advice? Save up an extra £30 and bag yourself the DMP-BD65…
The Panasonic DMP-BD45 is a basic Blu-ray player that concentrates on doing one thing well: playing Blu-ray movies. If you want to access BD-Live content and other online features, you will need to look elsewhere.
(Les notes de la presse sont données à titre indicatif et représentent une interprétation du test par Numerama)
