LG's WiFi-enabled, DivX-friendly BD390 Blu-ray player now shipping

LG continues to up its game in the Blu-ray department, first shipping the planet's first Netflix-enabled BD deck and now shipping the planet's first DivX HD 1080p certified player. Yep, the BD390 -- which was originally unveiled back at CES this year -- is now making its way out to eager consumers, boasting an 802.11n WiFi module and support for DivX streaming from a DLNA server. The pain? $399.95, but at least that includes BD-Live support, 7.1-channel audio output, 1GB of inbuilt memory and a USB 2.0 socket.

[TriXsteR @ May 19th 2009 11:00AM]

errrr PS3 ?

[mere @ May 19th 2009 11:04AM]

you have a point.
just keep it away from me [paws]

[Neil @ May 19th 2009 11:08AM]

Yeah the PS3 is still the way to go as far as value for money goes. If LG had added MKV, external usb HDD (formated NTFS) support then that would be a different story.

[The_Pope @ May 19th 2009 12:45PM]

Actually, it does have MKV - the BD370 does too. Works flawlessly so far

[The_Pope @ May 19th 2009 12:46PM]

Though true - it only support FAT32, so limited to 4GB per file.

For NTFS MKV you need a WDTV

[Daza @ May 20th 2009 5:52AM]

Just seconding The Pope's comments - the LG unit DOES play 1080p x.264 MKV - I tried it out with a simple thumbdrive and it worked fine. Admittedly I did not see if it would work with files greater than 4GB (only used a sample).

Still it's great these devices are getting better and better. Netflix, YouTube, H.264 (with MKV), streaming DivX/XviD.. quite impressive for a 'standalone' unit. It's like having the WDTV inbuilt into your Blu-ray player.

[Caveman @ May 19th 2009 11:00AM]

Oh, I do want this!!

[mere @ May 19th 2009 11:03AM]

father's day pls

[Peter @ May 19th 2009 11:06AM]

I rather get Playstaion 3. It seems like PS3 got almost same features plus it's a next gen game console.

[iamnotafish @ May 19th 2009 11:07AM]

This conversation occurs every time you see a Blu Ray player above the $200 price point. It just doesn't make sense when the PS3 does everything that this does, plus its futureproofed. How many people bought a blu ray player only to find out it wasn't Blu Ray Live! compatible?

[Eddie @ May 19th 2009 11:21AM]

I waited for a while until I could find a 2.0 deck at an affordable price, and honestly I'm not sure why. BD-Live has yet to produce anything that interests me.

[Maestro @ May 19th 2009 12:46PM]

It is about time to stop calling the PS3 a next gen gaming console. I am pretty sure it is a current gen game console.

[HEY!!!! @ May 19th 2009 11:09AM]

I've had this player for about 2 weeks it's awesome and the update a couple of days ago added cinema now support.

[TheLionOfAzzalle @ May 19th 2009 11:11AM]

WiFi enabled as in it doesn't require a dongle like the Samsung models right?

Pretty sweet. As for the ps3...please...

Anyways if it doesn't require a dongle then I'd actually go for this one over the Samsung 4600 model.

Loving LG right now.

[HEY @ May 19th 2009 11:20AM]

i can confirm on dongle

[el serpiente @ May 19th 2009 11:39AM]

"Pretty sweet. As for the ps3...please..."

Heh, still hating Sprinkles?

[Daza @ May 20th 2009 5:54AM]

Actually I believe it's integrated into the unit (citation required). Seriously though.

[nxp3 @ May 19th 2009 11:13AM]

And you wonder why bluray isn't doing too well. You got a higdef player with built in crappy streaming. streaming video in which people download movies for free or rent standard def from netflix. This just adds to the confusion what a bluray player is for consumers. Not to mention adds to the price. At that price range I'd get a ps3. They need to bring bluray to the 200 level and cut out all the other crap besides bd live.

[Brando @ May 19th 2009 12:37PM]

I rent hi-def from netflix o my BD player all the time. Lets see the PS3 stream from netflix.

[jntaylor @ May 19th 2009 11:17AM]

Neil,

If this player is really DivX HD 1080p, then it can play MKV. But, its DivX' flavored MKV. (H.264 with AAC audio)

Now, if it can play DivX HD off a BD-R or DVD-R I would buy. Trying to stream HD is not that great.

[Neil @ May 19th 2009 11:23AM]

Good point about divx/mkv support.

[RehabMan @ May 19th 2009 11:16AM]

The PDF spec sheet on LG's site shows support for MKV... along with a few others that sound useful, like AVCHD.

[Neil @ May 19th 2009 11:20AM]

Really? That's pretty nice, now tell me it has support for USB hard drives formatted NTFS (since Fat32 doesn't support files over 4GB).

[RehabMan @ May 19th 2009 12:06PM]

Spec sheet just mentions "USB 2.0 Media Plus: Music, photos and video from your digital library." Not sure if that would include USB hard disk access or not. I expect not...

But with DLNA support, you just hook the USB drive to your computer, point your favorite DLNA server at the files/folders, then access it over the network...

I must say they are getting pretty close with these products to entice me to buy, but not at $399. Still too "early adopter" to me (says "proud" owner of one of the first "reference" DVD players, a Sony DVP-S7000, purchased for more than $1000).

[Tom @ May 19th 2009 11:19AM]

MKV Player that's all we need.

[hexydes @ May 19th 2009 11:38AM]

Seriously, why are people stills screwing around with AVI's, DivX, XviD, etc? Just shove an H.264 video with AC3 audio into an MKV container, and call it good. Hell, add subtitles if you really want.

[THJ @ May 19th 2009 12:56PM]

Because a vast majority of the non-HD BT content is in AVI.

[hexydes @ May 19th 2009 1:42PM]

A vast majority? I don't think I've ever even run across one thing. Lots of Matroska, some MP4 containers, but I can't think of any HD AVI content, other than maybe early samples from 2-3 years ago.

[THJ @ May 19th 2009 3:05PM]

Yes, that's why I said 'non-HD content.'

Reading comprehension FTW.

[RyanTV @ May 19th 2009 11:20AM]

want one!

[HEY @ May 19th 2009 11:20AM]

oops, no dongle

[David S @ May 19th 2009 11:20AM]

Once Standalone Blu-Ray players bring all the capabilities of a Popcorn Hour and commercial content streaming partners (NetFlix, Amazon, Hulu), then I can see a Blu-Ray player being worth the same price as a PS3. Until then, the key advantage has to be price. I'm predicting CES 2010 for extensive codec support being added to devices like this.

[Randall Lind @ May 19th 2009 11:39AM]

about time someone had a brain to use WIFI cause running a cat5 cable may not always be idea.

[jptech @ May 19th 2009 11:55AM]

when someone starts making a wifi-enabled, matroska-friendly, blu-ray player, call me

until then, yawn. transcoding is for the birds!

[Anil @ May 19th 2009 12:09PM]

Is there a single device which would let me play my dvd/bluray , stream media from desktop(upnp) as well as let me stream netflix?

[RehabMan @ May 19th 2009 12:15PM]

This one does Netflix... so I think the answer to your question is "yes."

[Scuba Steve @ May 19th 2009 12:29PM]

400 beans? No thanks. I don't care what it does. I have a PC that can stream anything to my TV..including netflix. I have a Popcorn Hour media player that handles TVs that are not directly connected to a PC.

Silver disks are an endangered species...and I am not paying more than $100 for something that plays them. HD DVD and BluRay fought so long that they both lost. Streaming video is here and the quality of BluRay over upscaled DVD is not earth-shattering. More importantly, consumers just don't care.

Give me a standalone $100 BluRay player and I'll jump. The media streamer is a different beast and I do not want it integrated with a disk player...just like I didn't want a DVD/VCR combo.

$0.02

[THJ @ May 19th 2009 1:01PM]

I agree. In the 6 months since I upgraded to a HDTV, I haven't used a single optical disc. Everything is either Tivo or XBMC/Boxxee on the aTV. Additional plus: People freak out when I show them 100s of movies and 1000's of TV shows 'on demand' via UPnP.

[nossy @ May 19th 2009 12:57PM]

Unless you are using a TV under 60 inch, the difference between actual 1080p and upscaled DVD is huge. Even 720p is subpar compared to 1080p on a big screen. I can definetly see the difference on my 120 inch projected screen. And the audio? Unless you have a $2000 audio system, you probably won't hear the difference between DTS MA/TrueHD and everything below it.

In a nutshell? Stick with DVD unless you want to be serious and spend on a very large screen and a very good audio system (No Bose please!). Audyssey anyone?

[elmeng @ May 19th 2009 5:09PM]

Does anyone know what chip set this uses, i.e. Sigma Designs SMP8635, etc. How does this compare to the popcorn player as far as streaming networked files? If it can do what my popcorn players does plus Bluray, it's a no brainer.

Leslie

[deadstk @ May 19th 2009 5:48PM]

This thing has both NETFLEX and ROXIO CINEMA NOW streaming movies. Both services work great even over a wireless connection. Add DivX HD and it's pretty nice setup. Try all that on a PS3.

[Norm @ May 19th 2009 1:39PM]

Wow, makes my LG BD300 look pretty lame!

Ah well, I have a Popcorm Hour also :)

[slider16988 @ May 19th 2009 2:07PM]

$399!?!? why am i not buying the PS3 instead of a stand alone BD player? will considered if below $200

[william fernandez @ May 19th 2009 5:44PM]

PS3 doesnt support ntfs, this is why i returned mines, its always the same thing, we need a convenient way being able to play a 9-15gb mkv or h264 on one of these devices without hassle.

[chapoec @ May 20th 2009 1:19PM]

Hopefully this player has DIVX 7.0 that has mkv playback.

[Roberto @ May 20th 2009 12:33AM]

How come none of these BD players cost less than the BD-playing HTPC I built on January?

[jaysen @ May 20th 2009 7:00AM]

stoked about this. we should be getting them at work, and the BD370 has a ton of profit in it. i'd imagine the BD390 won't be any different, and that means i can probably pick it up for around 225 at cost.

[Myridom @ May 20th 2009 10:40AM]

I picked this up monday at Best Buy.. Love it! One thing though.. It comes with a lite version of Nero Home Media 4.. It's worth the upgrade to the full version for like $23, to add more file support and features.
One thing that has been mentioned is the MKV support.. If you do a simple share with windows, you can play a MKV file without any issues over the network (mine is wired), but if you use the Nero Home Media server, you loose this ability. It has been documented and requested in their forums to add this file type.