Sony BDP S350 1080p Blu ray Disc Player

Experience the next wave of home entertainment with this Blu-ray Disc player, featuring Dolby TrueHD and BD-Live compatibility. Featuring BD-Live compatibility, you can take full advantage of the Bonus View feature of select Blu-ray movies as well as acquire the latest features and updates as they become available. This player also outputs a Full 1080/24p True Cinema picture, plus upscales your existing DVD collection to 1080p when using the HDMI connection. Superior picture quality isn’t the only thing you’ll notice, the BDP-S350 comes with Dolby TrueHD which delivers sound as stunning as the high definition picture itself. Bringing it all together is the icon based Xross Media Bar, which provides simple navigation of the player’s menu system. Quick start-up mode allows operation in less than 6 seconds from when Sony Blu-ray Disc player is powered on. Dolby TrueHD delivers lossless studio master quality audio designed specifically for high definition entertainment like Blu-ray Disc. An incredible sound stage, dynamic range and a stellar Home Theater experience await you with Dolby TrueHD. With up to 7.1 channels of surround sound and audio that is indistinguishable from the original studio version, Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD promises you an extraordinary surround experience. DVD Upscaling via HDMI gets the most out of your existing DVD collection by upscaling standard definition video to near HD quality. Precision Cinema HD upscale uses high bandwidth digital-to-analog conversion and processing to detect image changes at the pixel level, rather than at the level of whole scan lines. Additionally, separate algorithms are used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are free from motion artifacts. Ethernet port provides connectivity to a home broadband connection so you can download network updates.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Terribly SLOW!! Get the PS3.
I did a side by side comparison with the PS3. The PS3 loads disks more than twice as fast. Plus some newer Blu-ray disks wouldn’t even work on this model. The PS3 also has a great system for storing pictures, videos, and music. Don’t waste your money on this…get the PS3 even if you don’s play games.

5 Stars WOW!!!
I can’t compare to other players because I have nothing to compare to but for people wondering whether blu-ray players really are an improvement over regular dvd all I can say is wow, what a picture! Blu-ray is awesome and I highly recommend this player. I also bought an hdmi cable Mediabridge Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable – 6ft – Version 1.3b Category 2 – 1080p – PS3 – Blu-Ray here on Amazon and it is so easy to hook this player up. Awesome!

5 Stars GREAT BF PLAYER
Bought this today and tested it with 5 BDs. Loads fast and has a great picture. Worth every penny I paid on a BF sale. Very small case and the live function works as advertised.

5 Stars Don’t believe the nay-sayers
I bought my BDP-S350 a couple of weeks ago when the price dipped to $219. I’ve been researching Blu-ray players for several months now and I’m glad I waited.

The BDP-S350 is *not* slow like it’s predecessor. It loads BDs and DVDs faster than my previous upconverting Philips player. Does a better job upconverting than the Philips did too.

If you want the best picture for the best price for the best hardware bang-for-your-buck, get the Sony, and upgrade your firmware. It works fast and well.

5 Stars Sony really got it together on this one! VERY RECOMMENDED
I am an early adopter. Back in the late 70s I bought the very first VHS tape recorder/player model offered for sale in the US, a Panasonic that weighed as much as a boat anchor, had no frills, an all mechanical transport and probably put out about as much video quality as a cheap webcam. Price at the time, $1000.00!

Many years later, I bought one of the first DVD player models ever offered for sale in the US, a Panasonic model that cost $750 at the time, when the units were only for sale in California, and there were only seven (7!) titles for sale in DVD format.

With that experience, I thought I would wait a couple of years or so for the Blu-Ray format to get a catalog of titles going, and for the players to work out some early problems and to drop in price. Finally, the Sony BDP-S350 came along, and user comments suggested that Sony seemed to have worked out a lot of Sony’s early Blu-Ray player issues. And, the price finally dropped to where you didn’t feel like a sucker for overpaying for technology that you knew would have aggressive price cuts when Xmas came around.

I have NOT been disappointed! This unit is simply fantastic. The load times are modest and the startup, from standby mode, is really not much greater than many regular DVD players. Blu-Ray playback, and the user interface, is superb, and it is also a superb 1080p upsamlping regular DVD player.

The remote is well laid out and the unit has just been great. I had avoided Sony DVD players, for a lot of reasons. But they really got it together on this one. VERY RECOMMENDED.

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Mediabridge Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable 6ft Version 1 3b Category 2 1080p PS3 Blu Ray

Mediabridge HDMI cables are CERTIFIED by HDMI testing labs to meet or exceed Version 1.3 Category 2 standards, todays most advanced HDMI standard. Please visit the HDMI.org website to learn about the advantages. New Version 1.3b Category 2 standard cables offer the most advanced perfomance to date and are a technological step up from Version 1.2. Offering 16-bit deep color and ultra-high speed 10.2gbps transfer rates, Version 1.3 Category 2 cables will support the most advanced features of todays equipment. Perfect for Playstation PS3 and Blu-Ray equipment. Mediabridge utilizes 28 gauge premium cable and 24K gold plated connectors. This premium HDMI cable will enable Home Theater and/or Gaming equipment to Perform at its Highest Level Possible.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good Stuff!!
I got a new blu-ray player Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player and was having some problems with the picture dropping off. My friend suggested trying a new HDMI Cable and after doing some homework I chose this Mediabridge cable. Ordered it and got it in the mail quick. Easy to plug in and set up and now our movies look like they should! Obviously that other HDMI cable was NOT working properly even though we did pay more $$ for it! Maybe the other HDMI cable was defective but anyway everything is working great now. I also bought a toslink Mediabridge Toslink Cable – 6ft – Optical Digital Audio Cable and component cable Mediabridge Bundled RCA Component Video Cable – 6ft to hook up my cable box. They worked well also. Very happy.

5 Stars Hi quality at a great price. Period.
This cable delivers. It is heavy duty, has the latest technology, and it works. There are some hdmi cables on Amazon that are crap. This one from Mediabridge is the best choice. Or you can spend 7X more money for a monster cable that performs no better than this one. Uh…let me see….

5 Stars Great Purchase
Are you looking for a quality Category 2 HDMI cable that is six feet in length with a black coat? This is it. Stop looking at those other expensive cables because this is all you need. I have two of these running from my cable box and PS3 to my new LCD TV, and they work exactly as they should. Delivered on time, no issues. Go for it!

1 Star This cable performed the worst in my test of three HDMI cables
Tested this product against 2 other hdmi cables and it had the lowest quality.. It washed out the colors and created a softer image. Then it started dropping the video intermittently, to where I would get no signal at all. Stay away.

5 Stars Solid Construction
This cable is very well made. Definitely seems a bit thicker than normal. Version 1.3 is printed right on the jacket. Audio and video are awesome coming out of my Sony BDP-S550 Sony BDP-S550 1080p Blu-ray Player The connectors fit tightly into both my Blu-Ray player and my PS3. The packaging was good.

Overall very happy.

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Samsung BD P2500 1080p Blu ray Disc Player

The ultimate interactive experience is here. The Samsung BD-P2500 is BD-Live 2.0 Ready so you can enjoy special interactive features, download extra content from the internet and more. You’ll also enjoy bold color and crisp details with full 1080p resolution. Movie night just got even more exciting with the highest-quality audio and an incredible picture.Get ready for the ultimate interactive film experience. The Samsung BD-P2500 lets you take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie.You’re in full command with the BD-P2500. Anynet+ delivers streamlined, one-touch control over all your Anynet+ compatible devices such as the TV, AV receiver, and home theater. You can operate all of them with a single remote control. A true “plug and play” product, it comes with a Consumer Electronics Control feature that lets you operate Samsung HDMI products with one remote control.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Firmware included
Yes, you have to update the firmware if you want to watch Netflix. You can either connect online (which you would need to stream movies anyway) or use the included cd. We were up and running in 30 minutes (most of that was download time). We love it.

5 Stars Netflix readiness worth the price of admission
Blu ray compatibility is great, but given the quality of the upcoding of regular dvds on this unit, not as much a sell as you might think. It’s the whole package, that makes the unit worth it, which includes netflix capability. I have watched more streamed movies and other video off of netflix from the unit than bluray discs and am enjoying the flexibility tremendously. The overall quality and performance of the unit is exactly what you would expect from this type of unit. In addition, I bought the unit as the same time as my Samsung 850 series LCD television and the seamless interaction using anynet+ is definitely worth it. Highly recommended.

5 Stars Super Blu Ray Player… but
Great player, but does have a drawback.

First, it did include the most recent firmware (on cd, had to load it) which gave the netflix logo on splash.

But, it is slow to load blu ray discs. Not all that slow, took about 45 seconds to load Hancock, but could be faster.

5 Stars Best bluray player for the money
I decided not to skimp and not buy one of the “cheapo” entry level bluray players after hearing how slow most were and also how most were stripped of inputs and other functions.After doing alot of research, talking with a friend who bought this bluray player, and after trying out several units in the stores themselves, i decided that the Samsung BD-P2500 was the best Bluray player features/quality vs. cost and i’ve been extremely happy with the player since the day i picked it up.Not only is the color,picture, dvd upscaling better than most other bluray players, it blows away the new Sony BD350 AND BD550.

One piece of advice.The BD-P2500 IS NOT for the novice or someone that doesn’t want to spend the extra money(over a bargain/starter bluray player)for a Home Theater quality,profile 2.0 Bluray player.It has ALOT of features that require some learning to get to know how to use(

like the ability to upgrade the firmware with a usb 2.0 memory stick and pc.

4 Stars Sony BD S350 Vs Samsung BD2500
I bought the Sony Blueray S350. I loved it with NO complaints, but then the next day I heard about the Samsung 2500 with streaming NetFlix. I love Netflix, so I packed up the Sony and waited for Amazon to send out UPS to pick it up for return. The same day I ordered the Samsung with standard shipping. Amazon said it was to arrive in like 7-10 days. Im not in a hurry, and heck its free shipping and no tax.

I could not belieive it. The next day UPS shows up and delivers the new Samsung, and slaps on the the label and takes the old Sony. Wholly heck Amazon just gave me FREE overnight shipping with no tax. I couldn’t beleive it. I check my account to make sure it was standard shipping and it was. Way to go amazon. Back to the comparison.

Again nothing wrong with the Sony. It did have rear connection for audio plug that the samsung did not, but the samsung has optical. Even.

The picture quality for Bluerays and SD Dvd look very good on both. I really couldn’t see the difference. The Sony looks a little cooler with the blue colored front, and the samsung looks a tad bit plain, but not a big deal. The load time the sony might be a few seconds faster. The remote on the samsung feels a little cheap, but works perfect. The bottom line is the Netflix option. If you got net flix or want it, there is no comparison. It is so cool to stream movies for free. Now the netflix doesn’t have a million titles, but I found plenty to watch. The Sony does not come with a memory card, and the samsung does have 1 gig built in.

Because of the price difference, go with the sony if you aren’t interested in netflix. Its very good and cheaper by amost $75 bucks. If you think you might want netflix, go with the samsung. As I bonus my 50″ Plasma is a samsung, so the remotes mesh nicely.

One PROBLEM with the Samsung. I rented the Tutors Season 1 from Netflix (the actual SD DVD) and disk 1 and 2 I watched on the Sony. Then disk 3 and 4 I watch on the Samsung, and it would not play. Weird. At first I thought it was a bad disk, but both disk would not play. They would initial load and play the welcome screen, so I was getting picture and sound, but then when I pressed play the movie was black and the sound was intermitten. I thought I had wrong settings, so after about an hour of setting adjustments, I grabbed a SD Dvd from my library. Every one worked perfect. I took the Tutors DVD’s to my wife’s TV, and they both worked great. HUMMM. So far the SONY played everything, and the Samsung played everything accept the Tutors Disk. Makes me a little neverious. And yes I had the lates Firmware update.

One note about Netflix is you need to have internet connection. I had a powerline run to it, but it would only download at a quality 2 of 4 stars. I am going to have to run an actual cable, upgrade to a faster powerline, or put wireless access point to get the full 4 star quality download. No regrets. I highly recommend. If I have any other trouble playing another NetFlix disk, I’m shipping it back.

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Panasonic DMP BD30K 1080p Blu ray Disc Player

The DMP-BD30 is the next generation High Definition 1080p Blu-ray Disc player. It is the first Blu-ray player to be introduced with Final Standard Profile, which adds a variety of new and enhanced features to the Blu-ray arena and one that separates the Panasonic Blu-ray player from the rest of the field. Also unique to the DMP-BD30 is the inclusion of an SD Memory Card slot for playback of High Definition content recorded in the AVCHD format. The SD slot also allows for viewing of digital still images recorded to an SD Memory Card.Final Standard Profile is an advanced function added to the Blu-ray standard, which opens the door to new functions such as Picture-in-Picture (which displays a second image in a sub window) and Audio Mixing (allows the consumer to switch the sound between the main and sub windows).The inclusion of a multi-function SD Card slot is another new addition to the Panasonic Blu-ray player. Coupled with the AVCHD codec, the DMP-BD30 allows for images recorded on a high capacity HD SD card to be outputted directly from the player’s HDMI terminal in their original 1080p form. To further benefit the user, the DMP-BD30 provides an AVCHD Direct Navigator function that makes it easy to search for particular scenes. The player can also play back JPEG still images on an SD card, such as those recorded with a Panasonic Lumix digital camera. The DMP-BD30 converts the images to 1920×1080 resolution, ideal for viewing on a1080p HD Plasma and output them through the HDMI terminal.Like its predecessor, the DMP-DB30 features the EZ-Sync HDAVI Control that allows the consumer to operate their Panasonic home theater system with one remote. With one touch of the EZ-Sync button, all the components turn on, the correct TV input is chosen, the TV’s built-in speakers are muted and the home theater starts playback.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars first blu ray
Does everything i wanted it for. right now it is just hooked to a tv, no surround. works great, easy to set up and use. later it will be hooked to a panasonic tv. would buy again. also compared prices and this dvd player was $[...] MORE at [...]- just fyi.

3 Stars Some important features missing versus DVD players
I will say I am impressed with the audio/video quality of this machine. However, it seems that the more sophisticated user interface features depend upon the disk, not the machine, so some features like stop-resume described in the manual may not (and often don’t) work. Furthermore, basics like resuming playback after switching off power are missing. This is a damn nuisance – each time you switch the power on you have to go through the entire disk initialization (quite slow at 30 seconds), and then through the forced copyright warnings, and then through the chapters to find your previous position – about 1.5 minutes total. The controls also seem to have a slow response (~1 second) in many cases. This is like going back to the stone age after using a recent DVD player.

Furthermore my DVD player has a 5-disk carousel (essential if different family members watch different films), and it can remember the last played position for up to 500 movies. When are they going to make carousel players for blu-ray? It may seem that I am unjustly picking on this player if others lack these same features – but it is my first player, and I can only write as I find.

5 Stars Excellent image, easy to use
Made my choice on this product over a SONY model.

First time set up is really easy — plug in and change a few on-screen menu items, that’s it! Only the audio part took another try to output Dolby 5.1.

Test the machine on BBC’s Planet Earth, really crisp images and vivid colors.

5 Stars My first Blu-Ray
This is my first Blu-Ray player. I purchased it after updating from a 27″ CRT to a 50″ Plasma. I bought this around the first of September from Amazon and I was very pleased with their customer service. Fast shipping on the product and no issues with it working. I chose this player based on reviews from [...]

The menus were really easy to navigate for set-up of first time features. Remote buttons are well labeled. I am most impressed with this player due to it’s short load times. After putting in a movie I am at the main menu usually within 20 seconds. Some movies take a little longer but not much. I was really concerned about this when purchasing the player because I’d read several comments about some players taking minutes to load.

Picture quality and colors are great. This is my first HD television and Blu-Ray player so I cannot compare it to others, but for a first set-up I am more than satisfied. I’ve seen some upconversion of SD material that was really good, and some that was mediocre at best so I think the quality of the source material has a huge impact on upconversion quality.

Recently Panasonic has released the BD-35 so these units are going obsolete. The price of them should fall pretty low soon when the stores get desperate to close them out so keep an eye out.

5 Stars Better than 1080p?
I don’t know sony does it(blue ray).But now I know how they won the HD war.This player was as cheap as the sony and all aspects of it’s operation and function’installation,and set up are simple and quick.Picture is amazing,even compared to 1080p satellite!

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Sony BDP S300 1080p Blu ray Disc Player

When it comes to appreciating the resolution gains of HDTV screens, standard DVD just doesn’t make it. What you need is Blu-Ray high-definition discs. With the Sony BDP-S300, your high-definition home-theater system can output video in ultra-high-def 1080p resolution for extraordinary depth and detail with compatible TVs. Display images at 24 frames per second for your favorite movies. The S300 also has a built-in decoding for Dolby Digital Plus for richer, more dynamic sound. Use Bravia Theatre Sync HDMI-CEC to control your compatible Bravia TV and AV systems with just one remote. See and hear a whole new world of high definition with the incredible BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player. It is also backward compatible and can play DVD and CD discs at their original, respective resolutions. Full HD 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema Video Output Standard DVD Upscaling to 1080p via HDMI connectivity Bravia Theatre Sync HDMI-CEC Cinema Tuned Picture Presets Uncompressed Multi Channel Linear PCM Audio Output Dolby Digital Plus decoding capability to experience surround sound through your home-theater audio system Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 channel Output Multi Channel 192KHz/24bit Audio D/A Converters Analog-to-Digital Converter – 192KHz/24bit Popup Menus for simple control and use Quick Set Up FL Display has selectable Off and Dimmer modes MP3 and JPEG Playback from DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW MP3 Player – Content must be in DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW format / CDR and CDRW Outputs – HDMI Connection, Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr), S-Video, Composite Video, Optical Audio, Coaxial Audio Digital & 2-Channel Analog Audio Dimensions – 17 x 3 1/8 x 14 7/8-inches (430 x 79 x 375mm) Weight – 10 pounds (4.5kg)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars I don’t know what the big fuss is about regarding the BDP-S500
I’ve read many reviews on the Sony BDP-S500 and there’s been a ton of gripe in regards to the speed and load time of the player. I’m not sure what people are used to (or what their expections are) but this DVD loads just as fast as any player I’ve ever used. There is no lag time on this player that others have experienced with this player.

Load time is around 3-5 seconds per disc and once the disc starts up, no problems….maybe Sony updated the software recently.

From a cosmetic standpoint, the player is beautiful…very stylish.

In summary, this may be Sony’s lower end Blu-Ray player but if you’re looking to simply play movies at bluray quality without all the bells and whistles, this is your player….why spend extra to get features you’re never going to use anyways.

5 Stars Great Value!
This is my first Blu-Ray player,I did research this one quite extensively and found the majority of the reviews to be good.I have had no problems at all.

1 Star The Sony Blu-ray Player Gimmick
I was foolish enough to buy into Sony’s Blu-ray player gimmick back in March when they put HD-DVD out of business. The gimmick is that you are supposed to upgrade the firmware on the player everytime a new version comes out. Well this player will not accept new versions from a disc. Everytime I’ve loaded a new firmware version from a disc onto this player it has messed things up and causes the movies I have to freeze up at random points in the movie. What Sony is doing and they know exactly what they are doing is that a year or so from now they will quit making firmware for older model players and if you want to be able to watch newer movies you will have to buy another player. This is the gimmick and Sony knows it. Needless to say my BDPS300 is in the shop for repairs again due to the fact that I loaded firmware version 4.30 on the player from a disc that I got directly from Sony and it messed the player up again. Whatever you do, do not buy a Blu-ray player from Sony. In fact you may just want to stick with a reliable up-converting regular DVD player from another manufacturer and steer clear of the Blu-ray technology all together. If my Blu-ray player breaks down again that’s what I am going to do. I wish that HD-DVD could have found some way to stay in business because I never once had a problem with it but Sony had to have their way and because they have made a good solid reputation as a maker of high quality electronic equipment they were able to convince stores to support their Blu-ray technology and it put Toshiba’s HD-DVD technology which was just as good or even better out of business. Shame on you Sony and also shame on me for jumping the gun on buying into this technology when it is still in its infantcy. Anyways please do not fall for this gimmick. Wait and see how long Blu-ray is going to be around before you buy a player. I would be willing to bet it won’t last long once more and more people become wise to The Sony Blu-ray Player Gimmick.

5 Stars Great Player!!!
I purchased the player on 10/6, shipping was very quick. After I installed the new firmware, it is awesome, still takes a minute or two for the player to load up the movie, but the picture is excellent and the sound is awesome. I looked around before I bought this one, this to me for the price beat everybody.

1 Star SONY BDP-S300 IS A POOR PURCHASE
I purchased the player from Circuit City about 6 months ago and applied several firmware dowloads to see if it would cure the very long load times and the frequent lock-ups. I always purchased SONY products, but they missed the mark on this product.

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