Panasonic DMP-BDT320

The Panasonic DMP-BDT320 builds on the superb performance of its lower-priced brother, the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 (*Est. $115), but adds a touchpad-style remote and a slot-loading optical drive. While the DMP-BDT320's pedigree means its general performance is excellent, it also suffers from the DMP-BDT220's streaming flaws.

Picture quality

Wonderful image quality. The Panasonic DMP-BDT320 doesn't cancel noise introduced during the conversion process, but critics nevertheless say its DVD upscaling shines. As we've come to expect with most Blu-ray players, Blu-ray image quality is nearly flawless.

Performance

You'll almost forget you're using a Blu-ray player. Blu-ray players are known for their pokey navigation speeds and boot times almost as much as for their superb picture and sound, but reviewers say the Panasonic DMP-BDT320 is one of the quickest around. A quick start feature makes startup times especially speedy.

Usability

A new type of UI and a new type of remote. The Panasonic DMP-BDT320 changes things up in a couple of ways. First is its unique interface, which has you pushing directional buttons rather than highlighting selections. Actually, it has you swiping images of directional icons rather than pushing physical buttons; the innovative controller eschews most hard buttons in exchange for a large touch screen, whose interface adapts and changes depending on the options available onscreen. Critics report it has a fairly steep learning curve that disappears over time -- "A couple of times … our fingers were tied up in knots," the editors of What Hi-Fi? write -- though every reviewer mentions that the errant clicks remain an occasional problem even after you've gotten the hang of things.

Features

The good, the bad and the ugly. The Panasonic DMP-BDT320 checks all the boxes, with 3D video playback, built-in Wi-Fi, a cornucopia of streaming apps, the aforementioned touchpad remote, and DLNA support for several different types of files. Furthermore, the Blu-ray player sports a unique Eco Sensor that drops the unit into low-power standby mode when nobody is in the room. It's all good, right? Not quite.

TrustedReviews.com reports that the DLNA streaming occasionally sputters when faced with high-definition .MKV and .AVI files, while dozens of Amazon.com users report running into terrible Wi-Fi woes and a Netflix app that simply doesn't work most of the time. The same problems plague the Panasonic DMP-BDT220. It's possible that these issues could be addressed in a future firmware update, but that's not the state of affairs at the time of this report.

Value

Do you need Wi-Fi, DLNA support or Netflix? If not, the $130 Panasonic DMP-BDT320 offers a lot of value for a fairly low price. On the flip side, if any of those features are critical components of your Blu-ray player wish list, there's a decent chance the Panasonic DMP-BDT320 could wind up disappointing you.

The Bottom Line

As with the Panasonic DMP-BDT220, the few features that are problematic according to user reviews could ruin your enjoyment of the Panasonic DMP-BDT320. If you plan on using your Blu-ray player for disc-based movie-watching alone, the Panasonic DMP-BDT320 is a tremendous choice and one of the best options available, but if you want to take advantage of any of the network connectivity options, a more reliable Blu-ray player like the LG BP620 (*Est. $120), the Sony BDP-S590 (*Est. $120) or even the Sony PlayStation 3 Slim (*Est. $250) would likely be a better choice.