LG Blu-Ray Player Review, LG BD570

By TRJ

The LGBD-570 is more than just your average Blu-Ray Player. The LG can stream content from your local server as well as from a select group of Apps like Netflix and Pandora.

When my bedroom PS3 finally went Yellow Light of Death I went searching for a temporary solution that could fill my media streaming needs in the bedroom and I landed on the LG Blu-Ray series. This little Blu-Ray players packs a mean punch and doesn’t make a huge dent in the pocket book.

The Mission

A second Playstation had carried the load for entertainment in our bedroom and once it went down I knew that finding an adequate replacement was going to be very difficult.  The Playstation 3 is a very powerful media extender and all of my content has been compressed with the Playstation in mind.  So while the PS3 was waiting for repairs, meaning I wouldn’t be able to attack that project for months, I needed something that could handle the workload.  After hours scouring the internet I landed on the LG Blu-Ray 500 Series.

“This little Blu-Ray players packs a mean punch and doesn’t make a huge dent in the pocket book.”

My Set-Up

There are two main TV viewing areas in my household, the bedroom and the family room.  All of my media, movies, pictures, and music is on a central server in my office.  A PS3 slim ran the family room operation and the original PS3 60GB ran the bedroom.  All of my Standard Definition content is DIVX, my High Definition content is MPEG-2 and MP4.   I needed a player could handle this content, but I was also becoming accustom to Hulu Plus and Netflix services that the PS3 provided.  The LG claimed in the spec sheet that it could handle the necessary files and it had Netflix, Hulu Plus was in the “coming soon” category, which was all I needed to hear.  Now it is time to put the device to the test.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Device
LG BD570 Device

The Streaming Test

After firing up the LG for the first time I noticed the first benefit of switching from the PS3 to the LG, silence.  The LG is ultra-quiet, which is a big hit with the better half.  A very quick boot up and you are at the home screen.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Home Link
LG BD570 Review Home Link

Five “ice-like” blocks make your selections very easy.  The Home Link ice-block is where you will find all of your shared network files.  I use the software TVersity to share my media around my house and the LG picks up that network without any problems.  Once you select the network you wish to use, you can begin surfing your content.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Movie Selection
LG BD570 Review Movie Selection

Your content is easily accessible and the menu system works very well.  I was able to navigate very easily to my Movie Categories.  Not only was the player able to find my content, but playing it proved to be no problem as well.  All of my Standard Definition and HD content played without a hitch.  I was even able to jump within a movie to a certain time, just like the PS3, using the search button on the remote control.

The App Test

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Apps
LG BD570 Apps

So I lost Hulu Plus, temporarily I hope, but I gained Youtube and Pandora.  You can access the Apps by clicking the Netcast ice-block.  There are many of your common web Apps available and LG promises more to come.  For this Booya we will take a look at the Youtube and Pandora Apps.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Youtube front
LG BD570 Review Youtube front

The layout for Youtube is very nice and easy to navigate.  The one downside is that there is no keypad if you chose to search for a video.  Overall the player has a tiny lag, which is not much of an issue until you need to type with the remote control, it is slow and painful, but I was able to do a search for Booya Gadget and our collection of videos came right up.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Youtube Playing
LG BD570 Review Youtube Playing

The video will start playing in this window layout, with the title and description.  You can easily click a button to make the video go to full screen.  The quality of the video is very good and worth watching on your television.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Apps
LG BD570 Review Apps

Pandora is a nice addition as I really wish that the PS3 would add this App to the XMB.  I really like the layout of the App and I was quickly streaming music in no time.

LG BD570 Review Booya Gadget Pandora
LG BD570 Review Pandora

Overall this player passed with flying colors.  It was able to step-in and fill the void left by my PS3.  It played every file I threw at it and it added some nice additional Apps.  I am still waiting on Hulu Plus to make this a completely successful transition, but in the meantime I am using Play On to stream Hulu to this device.  I know this isn’t a complete review of the LGBD 570, but for those of you looking for a complete spec sheet run-down you can head over to the LG site.