Hi - great forum with lots of great information....I'm looking forward to looking around!

I found your forum while searching for help, and it doesn't look like anyone has asked yet, so here goes.

I have a Panasonic DMP-BD55, hooked up to a Mitsubishi 65732 HDTV. I currently share family videos online at 720p, but when sharing physical media I've just been burning standard DVDs. With the price drop of Blu Ray burners, I am tempted to buy and burn Blu Rays because I'm tired of watching DVD resolution on my HDTV. Before I take that step, I thought I'd experiment with converting my 720p movies to DivX and tryout the DMP-BD55 with those files to see if the increase in quality is enough to hold off buying a Blu Ray burner for a while yet.

Hoo boy....and Steve Jobs says Blu Ray is a world of hurt! This DivX stuff is maddeningly confusing to a newbie!

Here's what I think I know:
- the BD55 is "DivX" certified, which appears to mean "Home Theater" level (players produced late 2007-2010), and will be limited to 720x576. Newer DivX HD 1080p and DivX Plus HD (1080p) weren't around when the BD55 was made, and I can't tell whether firmware upgrades have added support. My BD55 is currently on version 1.2

- the BD55 supports DivX on DVD-R and CD-R formats (i.e., not DVD+R)

- my 720p movies are in .MOV format

Here's what I've tried:
- I've used the current DivX conversion software, downloaded from the DivX site, to convert the .MOV to .MKV by selecting DivX HD, and burning to CD-R. Sure enough, I received "Unsupported" when inserted into the BD55
- I used the DivX software to "transfer to TV" mode of DivX To Go, which created a VERY small file from the .MKV (wouldn't open the .MOV), but after a 20 minute "transfer time", the CD-R is still blank!?
- I'm now going back to DivX conversion software to convert the .MOV to DivX Home Theater instead of HD. I'll let it run while I sleep this time

Here're my questions:
- given the HUGE file size change between 720p (927,000) and the DivX Home Theater format (87mb), is there really any chance that DivX file will look remotely watchable if I can ever get it playable on the BD55?
- given that the DivX HD file size (258,000) is bigger, would .MKV files look/sound favorable with 720p .mov on the BD55 (the .mkv looks pretty darn decent on my computer)
- do any of the BD55 firmware updates add better DivX support?
- given that a blu ray burner is similar in price to a newer Pano BD model (or other manufacturer), can you comment on current generation DivX formats compared with Blu Ray? - i.e., should I seriously consider a new player with DivX HD 1080p support over a blu ray burner? (I *think* burned Blu Rays would be more likely to be sharable with family and friends, given the difficulty I'm having getting DivX to play on a two year old high end player!)

Thanks much for any help you can provide...I'm sure that the BD55 specs aren't currently spinning around in your head.