Blu-ray Players

Panasonic’s hard disk/Blu-ray recorders hark back to the day when video recording meant people could lend VHS tapes to friends and family, who’d missed an episode of Twin Peaks or the Christmas day broadcast of Back To The Future on BBC1.

Philips has created a thing of beauty with its 7 Series 3D Blu-ray deck. Finished in a greyish-silver and sporting a sculpted lip with illuminated soft-touch buttons, it’s a real step up from the humdrum.

Pioneer’s BDP-160 Blu-ray player is unrepentantly old school. For starters, it looks like a Blu-ray deck should, rather than something impractical cobbled together for a Shoreditch design competition. And secondly, it even handles some of the more obscure discs you still own and would rather like to keep, such as those Destiny’s Child SACDs (but not, unfortunately, your DVD-Audio platters). But equally it’s no Luddite, offering network file playback and token online diversions, too.

Pioneer’s pricey player offers none of the niceties that brands use to lure us to the next price point. Instead of 3D, wi-fi, universal playback or even a set of multichannel outputs, this step-up player trades purely on performance. It’s a high-risk strategy, given the impressive quality of this year’s budget offerings. Lucky then, that the picture quality is spanking.

Much like Thor's Uru hammer, only the home cinema worthy will be able to lift Pioneer's mighty BDP-LX88 Blu-ray player. Tipping the scales at an enormous 13.4kg, it boasts more armour than Brad Pitt’s tank, and is heavier than many AV receivers.