Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
by Sony
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List Price: Our Price: $62.00 You Save: $337.99 (84%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
Customer Review: It's not obsolete, just update the firmware!
Summary: 5 Stars
Not exactly a product review as you already have dozens of them. If you are undecided because of some of the negative things said, let me show you the light. It's blu!
I bought this player with the 2.0 firmware and it was great. Yes, it did take a very long time to load Pirates of the Caribbean - almost 3 full minutes. That is due to the disc heavily using Java (BD-J) for interactivity. I flash update to new firmware in about 10 minutes. See Sony's web site for the firmware and carefully follow the instructions. They will even provide you with the disc.
Keep in mind these things are essentially customized single purpose computers. The firmware is simply reprogramming them to include more functions, become more stable, etc. It is only limited by the existing hardware.
After the update, it still takes 45 seconds to turn on, but that is down from about 1 minute. Pirates of the Caribbean now loads in 1 minute 11 seconds. All my non-BD-J movies now start up in +/- 30 seconds.
BD-J load times may seem outlandish compared to DVD, But remember, future firmware updates can only improve things. We may or may not see further improved load times and that depends on the existing hardware. Any playback issues with movies will always be rectified by new firmware. Sony is showing great support.
In short, this is a second generation player and minor issues do exist. But you won't have to live with them forever. Firmware fixes all, and helps the longevity of your player. Remember that extended load times is normal for some titles, but within acceptable range for this player because it is "The Tank". It's not obsolete, just update the firmware!
Updated Addendum October 2010: The latest 5.50 firmware update further enhances BD-J, and still supports BD-R/RE playback ability. Fastest load times ever for BD-J discs. Some significantly so, others by seconds. Load times for all BD-J movies should improve. Menu selection has never been this smooth and responsive. The newest feature "Adds Dolby® TrueHD Audio decoding functionality". Fixes playback freezing issues with movies like Wall-E. BEST FIRMWARE YET!
Here is my suggested "Load Time Performance Table".
* Non BD-J loading in 35 seconds or less. Excellent.
* BD-J up to 75 seconds. Very Good.
* BD-J 76 to 90 seconds. Good. (Tolerable Threshold)
* BD-J 91 to 100 seconds. Very Fair
* BD-J 101 to 120 seconds. Fair.
* BD-J over 120 seconds. Poor.
* BD-J over 180 seconds. Very Poor.
Customer Review: Perfect after a year.
Summary: 5 Stars
Update: Over one year later, the player never let me down, but did require multiple firmware updates to maintain compatibility with newer titles. Sold player to friend who reports that it is still going strong!
Update: Five months later, I have not experienced any disk incompatibility issues. The first load time on The Day After Tomorrow was staggeringly long. Be patient, the player is not locked up, it is just in a protracted state of deep thought!
I originally configured the video for 720p over component video connected to my 46" Sony Wega, and later via HDMI. The unit performed flawlessly in both configurations. A helpful reader felt compelled to point out that my Sony was an LCD unit not a DLP, because that clearly matters in the context of this review. As an aside, I have some additional text in my pants that I'd love to have edited.
Video performance is clearly state of the art. Casino Royale had a film-like smoothness with vibrant colors that were not oversaturated. NIN Live beside you in Time was a visual tour de force. The staggering lack of artifacting with fog, lights, and spastic motion clearly demonstrate the superiority of H.264 over previous generation codecs. A girl in the audience held up her camera phone to capture a video clip of the show. I could clearly see the performers on the screen of her phone like poor-man's picture in picture! 2001 A Space Odyssey is still my reference disk of choice.
Audio performance is excellent with the proper configuration. First, I tried simply connecting the line level stereo outputs to my B&K using a pair of AudioQuest Diamondback RCA cables. That is how I had connected my DVP-9000ES. In a word; horrible. Next, I tried an AudioQuest Optilink 5 toslink cable. Sweet Action! The D/A converters in the B&K took full advantage of uncompressed PCM soundtracks, and delivered some truly reference quality sound. With receivers that cannot decode DTS Master Audio and the other next-gen codecs, this configuration yields only 640kbps Dolby Digital or 1.5 Mbps DTS on disks not mastered with uncompressed PCM soundtracks. Even that sounds great, so I have no complaints about the audio performance of the device using its digital outputs. Its analog audio output is on par for its price range, but is disappointing compared the amazing picture quality.
This player is easily recommended over the first generation Sony player, if for no other reason that it's ability to play CDs. Ultimately, the BDP-S300 is a fantastic device that illustrates the rapid evolution of the Blu Ray format.
Customer Review: Amazing! Mesmerizing life like pictures and awesome sound quality
Summary: 5 Stars
We have been glued to the TV to the point where we want to increase our subscription to Netfix and get more blu ray movies. (Bummer, and the weather this summer has been fantastic!)
We attached the SONY BDP-S300 to our new SAMSUNG HDTV LNS4061F TV and Onkyo Receiver.
Our first blu ray dvd was Night at the Museum and it blew us away. Then we watched non blu ray dvds and the picture quality was also extremely good - the up convert feature must be working.
Enough on the picture - I can rave for some time. The area I messed up was in the audio setup - to take full advantage of the player and my home theatre I had to do the following:
1. Select System Setup
a) For video Setup I chose (TV Type > 16:9, 4:3 Video Out > Full (Aside: TV manufacturer recommends no more than 2 hours at 4:3 an image may be burned on the screen - the black lines I guess), 24p Output is ON because of my HDMI Cable)
b) Audio Setup (Dolby Digital, DTS - Digital Theater Sound > DTS,DTS Downmix > Lt/Rt - we have a ch5.1 speaker system setup with Dolby Pro Logic (instead of Stereo), Audio(HDMI): Auto
c) The rest I left as per the system defaults ie Language, Parental Control...
Next came the cabling, after some research this is what I did
1. Connect DVD to Receiver using the Digital cable conection - (I just ordered a digital optical cable 3 ft from Amazon for under $2) 3 FT Digital Audio Optical TOSLink Cable Optic 3ft
2. Connect DVD to TV using the HDMI cable, also purchased from Amazon for under $10 - my research showed that the expensive Monster cables for over $70 are not necessary. It either works or it doesn't I have read.
Of course there are options to the above to suit your environment but I think that is the bottom line for optimum performance, ie digital cabling all the way.
Strongly recommend this experience to anyone.
Update: 12/28/2008
I just downloaded and installed firmware version 4.40, it took less than 15 minutes and had no problems - I followed the instructions from sony exactly see: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=BDPS300&upd_id=4141&os_id=7
I have read many of the negative reviews and I must be lucky. I have had a few minor screen freezes and blu-ray disks not working but all were resolved with firmware updates or a replacement disk from Netflix. I check the firmware version for any updates whenever a new blu-ray movie comes out.
Customer Review: Wonderful Blu-Ray Player
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received the Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray disc player. I've plugged it into my Sony KDL-40V2500 40" Bravia V-Series 1080p LCD HDTV, set it up and have watched the movie "Flight Of The Phoenix".
Setting up was quick and straightforward - no problems here. I noticed that this Sony player weighs much less than the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player. The Toshiba definitely has a more substantial feel to it. Both players are about the same size and dimensions - slim and trim, easily fitting into my entertainment stand.
But the proof is in the viewing, and the Sony definitely delivers. I am very impressed with the clarity, sharpness and rich color of the 1080p image. The picture is as good and in some ways better than the Toshiba. The reason I say better is because the Toshiba, great as it is, has a picture that occasionally flickers quite noticeably. There's no flickering of any kind on this Sony - it's rock solid so far. And the picture is beautiful.
One other thing I immediately noticed is how whisper quiet the BDP-S300 is. There is no noticeable fan noise whatsoever. Compare this to the Toshiba HD-XA2 fan, which has a sound resembling the whine of a tiny fighter jet. There is simply no reason to have to put up with a home theater component that adds unwanted noise when you can have the quiet, quiet Sony BDP-S300.
Sony's plastic remote is reasonably good. It's well designed and compliments the Sony HDMI HDTV - the remote controls the TV's basic functions too. No more fumbling around for 2 different remotes. The one area where this remote disappoints is that unlike the black aluminum Toshiba remote, the buttons are not backlit. The Toshiba remote stands head and shoulders above all other remotes - backlighting should be a standard feature on these high end remotes, especially considering how complex they are and that they are likely to be used in a dark room. When I say backlighting, I'm talking about button/label illumination by lamps or LEDs, not those pathetically lame glow in the dark buttons.
The startup and control response times compare favorably with the Toshiba. It takes about 30+ seconds after power on for the Sony to accept a disc, then another 8 seconds to load and play the disc. Response times for scan (fast forward/backward) and other controls seem almost as quick as on those of a regular DVD player.
Overall I am very pleased with the Sony BDP-S300. I just wish there were more high quality Blu-Ray discs available at lower prices.
Customer Review: This Blu-ray player's a great value.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this player for a couple of weeks now and just love it. I have a 60inch 1080p Sony tv and a decent 5.1 home theater-in-a-box sound system.After doing research I bought a (too expensive) "high-speed" monster HDMI cable rated to handle 1080p audio/video. At HDMI.org they do have a spec which says some cables are in fact rated for higher bandwidth usage so I went with the monster cables that specified 1080p support. After hooking it all up, which took about 15min it all started up as the manual said. The initial setup was very straightforward. I had to get into the menus later to make it output 5.1 sound because it auto'd to something else. But other than that no other setup issues. We have DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 coming out now. The color quality is exceptional and images are very sharp. When playing regular DVD's the images aren't as sharp naturally, but the unit does "upconvert" the regular movie to a remarkable large format. The exact size of the resulting upconvert depends on the specific movie disc but most of my collection plays back filling up my entire huge widescreen tv... without getting really pixelated or grainy. There is a "little" slight graininess mind you, after all the video stream wasn't designed to play back at that size. But even so, the quality is great totally watchable without any complaints from anyone we know and we "love" watching movies often. Some Blu-ray movies are produced better than others so some are "sharper" than others but all are incredible and overall sharp. It takes about 30 seconds or so once a disc is inserted for the movie to begin its menuing/playing sequences. The unit loads the movie info into memory during that time I believe. Some movie discs aren't produced to support the Resume functionality where you can watch a movie, hit stop once, turn off the player then at a later time come back and it'll play from where it left off. That's a "per-disc" manufacturing thing. Some discs support it and some don't. This player supports it if the disc does though. The unit is very very quiet. We can't even hear it which is good as I've read about other units being loud. Blu-ray movies will enhance your movie watching pleasure at home for sure. Many movies have tons of extra content not found on regular dvd's. Watching at 1080p is fantastic and any movie lover will be more than happy with this player.