LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi

You looking to find the "LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi" Good news! You can purchase LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: Too low to display    

Product Feature

• Easy access to thousands of movies, customizable apps and videos as well as browsing the web right at the click of a remote.
• Wirelessly send the audio from your TV to your smartphone so you can hear the TV without disturbing those around you.
• Perfect for playing all your 3D or 2D Blu-Ray and DVD movies.
• Integrated Wi-Fi connectivity allows you take advantage of Internet access from any available Wi-Fi connection in its range.
• Selecting features is as easy as the wave of your hand with the Magic Remote Control.

Product Description

The BP730 Bluray Disc player has it all. Smart TV with the Magic Remote with Voice Control, Private Sound Mode and 3D capability.

LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi Review

The BP730 is LG's latest high-end Blu-ray player, and at its current $200 price point, costs about a third more than the next tier down, the 530. What does that extra $70 get you? LG identifies six unique features. Two, the 2D to 3D conversion and the Miracast/NFC sharing, I can't comment on because I don't own the other electronic devices they require, though I will point out that both are available on cheaper players from other manufacturers. None of the other four exclusives impresses me much.

The 4K upscaling may be nice for video quality enthusiasts who have very large TVs, but most ordinary consumers won't see enough difference to warrant the added cost. The slot load design seems more like the opposite of a perk: even though there's a light to indicate where the disc goes in, lining it up is a pain, and the player takes longer to "grab" the disc than it should. It's sleek and all, but not practical.

I feel the same way about the "Magic Remote," which is magic in that it includes pointer functionality. Whether that really deserves the label "magic" in the year 2013 I don't know. The voice-control introduced on more recent models of the remote might be more deserving of the term, but despite a confusing product description, that feature is NOT included in the remote that accompanies this Blu-ray player; all you get is the pointer, which works adequately but may cause trouble for people whose fine motor control isn't great. Switching back and forth between the pointer and button-based controls can eat up time, and the arrow buttons on the remote feel a bit cheap and click-y; I imagine their function might become inconsistent over time. It's not a bad remote, but unless you prefer pointing and clicking through menus to having a full array of buttons, it's not going to wow you either. I gather it also works with LG TVs, so if you own one that's something to consider. Buyers who share my frustration with having only one button each for fast-forward and skip-to-next-chapter (and, by the same token, only one for rewind and skip-to-last-chapter) take heed: this is one of those remotes. You have to hold the buttons down to fast-forward or rewind.

Then there's the web browser. It loads reasonably quickly, but navigating the web through a pointer is inherently tricky, and even with the scroll bar included on the remote this just isn't a useful feature. Video and audio don't seem to work, which further hinders things. I suppose if you're watching a movie and want to check your email without turning on your laptop, opening your phone, or activating one of the other half-dozen Internet-friendly devices you have, the browser might come in handy, but like most of the other features it's hardly something that deserves to be treated as a worthy exclusive for a high-end model.

So this isn't a player that's likely to be worth the extra cost. But what if, for you, it is? Say you want 4K upscaling, which as of this writing is as cheap on this model as on any competitor's. How well does the machine work? Setup is easy enough, though irritatingly the quick start guide has no text, only images, which can be followed but aren't quite idiot-proof. There's no print manual, only an included CD-ROM that also features the software used to stream content from personal computers. (You can also get the PDF manual and software online.) I downloaded and installed the latest firmware with no trouble. As a player of BDs and DVDs the BP730 seems solid. Load times are ten seconds or less (sometimes almost immediate), as compared to twenty seconds or so on my older LG BD630. The time-elapsed display on the front of the machine has large white numerals and is very easy to read from a distance, a big improvement on the cramped yellow numerals from the 630. On my woefully-inadequate 26-inch TV the video and audio quality seem fine, with maybe a slight uptick from the 4K upscaling. The various internal menus are easy to navigate. It's with the online streaming video that you get problems.

As noted in other reviews, there's no Amazon Instant Video app yet, which is disappointing given the increasing prominence of Amazon's streaming service. The other biggies, Hulu Plus, Netflix, and YouTube, are present, but performance is a mixed bag. Netflix works fine, but YouTube needs to buffer an awful lot, and flashes up a very visible white "Loading" message every time it does; once the service cut out on me entirely. Hulu Plus is all over the place. Once it loaded almost immediately and played a range of videos with no trouble. Once it loaded, but playback was so jittery I had to shut it off after less than a minute. Every other time, it's hung up on the player's loading screen, and eventually the player popped up a message that the service wasn't working. At this point it's fair to say that unless my machine is somehow defective, Hulu Plus is broken on the BP730. I've used all these services on other devices in the same time-period, so there's no obvious connection problem on my end. Of the other video and social networking apps, the only one I've tried is Twitter, which works very well, but tweeting, like web browsing, just isn't much fun on a Blu-ray player. I did try streaming stuff from my computer's hard drive to the player, which didn't work well, but since my computer is old and erratic I can't be sure that's a problem with the player rather than the laptop. I should probably mention that during one of those attempts the player froze entirely, and had to forced off by holding down the remote's stop button for a few seconds.

Given the lack of impressive high-end features and the (at present) limited, poorly-functioning streaming service offerings, it's hard to recommend this player unless you're a fan of LG who wants 4K upscaling capability. As I continue to use the player, I'll update this review to note performance changes, new features, new issues, etc. If you have questions about any aspect of the player, feel free to ask, though without a 3D TV or a smartphone I can't comment on features that require those things.

Update: June 26, 2013

Since posting this review I've continued to use this as my main Blu-ray/DVD player, and it continues to handle discs perfectly. Otherwise, the outlook is still mixed-to-poor. Hulu Plus works slightly more often, but is still likely to hang while activating or stutter unbearably during playback. Still no Amazon Instant Video app in the most recent firmware, though at this point I doubt it would work if they ~did~ have one. Netflix remains fine. One new issue I've noticed has to do with USB device video playback. If you abruptly reach the end of a video, either by fast-forwarding or by skipping to the next video, there's a good chance the player will freeze, refusing to do anything until you turn it off and back on again via the power button. Another nuisance.

And speaking of nuisances, the "magic" remote I received is either defective or the biggest battery drainer I've ever owned. After a week it started bringing up a low battery message on the player, so I replaced the batteries with new ones, and started getting the same message after another few days. At that point, since the remote wasn't much fun for me anyway, I just ordered an extra traditional LG Blu-ray remote, like the one that came with my BD630. It works fine, and feels more natural to me than messing around with a pointer anyway. If I'd really cared, I'm sure I could have contacted customer service about the magic remote; I expect there's some issue with the battery cover, which is spring-loaded and doesn't slot back into place easily. This doesn't seem to be a common problem, though I did note one person with a similar complaint on another website, so don't weigh it too heavily in making purchasing decisions. I mention it mostly to underline how unimpressed I am with the magic remote as a perk. Overall, my judgment on this Blu-ray player is unchanged: it's not worth the money unless you're a big LG fan.

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from LG BP730 3D 4K Upscaling Smart Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi ...