When Toshiba rolled out its first Blu-ray player, the
BDX2000, in late 2009, it seemed like a begrudging move by the
former backer of the HD DVD format, with the player lacking streaming and premium features that were then standard on other midrange players. When the BDX2700
was announced at CES 2010, it was obvious Toshiba was ready to take the former rival format seriously, with the newer player offering built-in Wi-Fi, 7.1 analog outputs and a suite of streaming features that includes Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, and Blockbuster. It's also currently selling for a couple of bucks cheaper ($180 street price) than the midrange players of many competitors, although not quite as cheap as
Vizio's VBR200W.
Though its spec sheet looked promising, the BDX2700 was a little disappointing once we got our hands on it. Its design is a far cry from the sleek and slender exteriors offered by Samsung and Sony, and it also wound up the slowest Blu-ray player we've tested this year. And though the BDX2700 has the main streaming features we consider important, most Blu-ray players offer more, including DLNA compliance. The BDX2700 isn't a bad Blu-ray player if you can get it at a discount, but we couldn't find a major reason buyers should prefer it over the alternatives.
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