New Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S300 reviewed by Nicholas Larsen
August 28, 2008
I purchased a Sony BDP-S300, and PS3. In the 10 days that I've had this player, it's done a good job on video and audio quality. I'm watching it on a 46" Sony connected through HDMI. I've never had any of the stutters or other audio/video glitches that others have mentioned. I went with this player due to positive reviews and how I feel about the the brand. The BR players are all updatable so it's possible to play the latest movies. However, this player has a VERY weak failure mode and upgrade procedure. This likely makes this required operation out of reach for most people on this device.
I was able to play many DVD that I had already and it does project it very nicely on my new flat screen tv. Very clear picture and very nice sound. Blu-Ray movie displays crystal clear. For those who wonder if it will play homemade Blu-Ray DVDs I can report that I have sucessfully created a Blu-Ray DVD with menus on a 25G Single Layer BD-RE (Rewritable) disk using the LG GGW-H20L burner. One drawback that keeps this unit from being perfect is no ethernet connectability for firmware upgrading. It is my opinion that this player was released prematurely based on its feature set. This player did a great job on the Bluray compatibility & picture quality and the DVD upconversion quality. This player is good as far as disks that work on it but it does not support 48kHz/24-bit HD true sound that some blu-ray disks come with. The sound will pop out of sync with the visual. Before you buy call the manufacturer and ask if they have solved this problem by issuing a firmware (disk to put in the machine to update the harddrive) or not.
Upconversion on this player is excellent, which is very important if you have big library of DVDs. I figured instead of spending $100 or so on upconvert DVD player to work with my new TV, I decided to go directly to Blu-Ray, since the Blu-Ray is now standard of HD DVDs. This player has great Standard disc Upconversion. Overall, I found this player to be competent Blu-ray player and a great upconverting DVD player.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Nicholas Larsen. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Philips BDP7200 reviewed by Lilly Lefa
August 28, 2008
I bought my Philips BDP7200 from Amazon.com. This is my second BD player. I was waiting for the format war to end once it did I read a review Cnet.com on the internet that said you might consider waiting to making the jump to BD until the next generation of players to come out on the market.
This player loads pretty fast From what I heard it is much faster then older previous models. I was upgrading coming from a LG 5 disc up converting DVD player and that thing was slow so I'm very satisfied. The picture isawesome and the audio is great too. I don't even have it connected to a amp that does Dolby Tru-HD or DTS-MA. That will be my next purchase.
There is only one thing that I'm disconcerted with the player has the Pioneer Theater Sync feature. Which works great with my Panasonic amp. But for some reason the DVD remote will only control the volume for the TV not the amp. So I still have to use a second remote for volume on my Sony amp. This makes no sense to me.
We watched Top Gun, Eraser, Terminator, and the Bucket List on BD so far. Batman Begins wasjaw dropping from an audio and picture quality issue. My wife said she had no clue that a DVD could look that good.
I also watched Twister on a SD DVD and that look pretty good too.
The DVD player has a slot in the back for a USB drive and it also has a ethernet port so it can connect to the net for firmware updates and to access bonus features.
The next generation model due out in the fall it will cost more but it decodes all the audio inside the player.
Overall two day in I'm happy with the purchase and I'm happy I waited for this model.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Lilly Lefa. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
George Gerk from Pleasanton has sent in review of Sony ES BDP-S2000ES Blu-ray player.
August 28, 2008
The front faceplate is glossy black and it's completely flat and doesn't have a bezel. The left side is dominated by the disc tray and below that in the corner is a power button with a bright blue LED that illuminates when the player is turned on. Further to the right is an LED display. On the far right are some front-panel controls.
The included remote is average and it gets the job done. The area surrounding the buttons is glossy black--a poor choice since the material proved a magnet for fingerprints. There's a nice centrally located directional pad surrounded by important buttons such as Setup and Menu. Playback controls are located underneath and they are reasonably well-placed excluding the ever-important pause button hidden in the corner.
The audio capabilities of this player are a bit disappointing. There is no onboard decoding available for the newest high-resolution soundtrack formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. This player is capable of sending high-resolution soundtracks to a compatible receiver in bit-stream format which will let you take advantage of the full resolution of these soundtracks. Buyers with new receivers that have Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master decoding can use this feature so most people will be stuck with plain old Dolby Digital and DTS.
If you play a regular dvd in this you will get upconversion (electronic conversion of the 480p video to 1080p video). This is my first Blu-Ray player and it couldn't have been an easier setup. Plugged it in and it was immediately ready for action. The Blu-Ray discs look fantastic as well as the upscaled DVD's. This is a great deal for any avid movie fan.
Rating:
Review was sent in by George Gerk. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Newly released Blu-ray player Philips BDP7200 review sent in by Ben Baucus from San Francisco.
August 28, 2008
I purchased this player with the1.1 firmware and it was great. Yes, it did take a very long time to load Rambo - almost 3 full minutes. That is due to the disc mostly using Java (BD-J) for interactivity. Few days ago I flash updated the firmware to 2.60 in about 16 minutes. See manufacturer's web site for the firmware and carefully follow the instructions. They will even provide you with the disc.
I purchased a 46" HDTV and a Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD Player player along with this Blu-ray Disc Player. I wanted to see the results of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD before investing in more expensive units. After I had updated the firmware to the newest version at the time than even Van Wilder played perfectly. The remote also works great I just wish that it was backlit. There needs to be a ethernet port or some other way to access updates online direct to this player, a wireless method possibly? My Toshiba HD DVD player has the CAT-5 ethernet port and it makes updating (not exactly simple) more flexible. Manufacture's website offers the image (ISO) burn to DVDR method for updating, but this seems unpolished at best. One other thing I immediately noticed is how whisper quiet this player 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.
The remote control seems to be totally out of sync with the unit - making the entire thing very sluggish. Mine failed to work after 5 months of ownership. I had it replaced under warranty with a refurbished one and that one does not work either. 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. There is hard to hear fan noise during dvd playback, which was only audible with the tv turned off. While the movie is playing, I couldn't hear the fan at all. The display on the front is a gray-blue. There are 4 brightness settings (High-Med-Low-Off), which can be accessed with one button on the top right of the remote. Very nice. With the display turned off, this is a very nice viewing experience. There is also an additional display button on the remote, which tells you the TRT of the disc, which chapter you are watching, time remaining in the chapter, and bit rate.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Ben Baucus. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
New Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S300 reviewed by Richard Ruiz
August 27, 2008
I bought a Sony BDP-S300, and PS3. In the 15 days that I've had this player, it's done a marvelous job on video and audio quality. I'm running it on a 46" Sony connected through HDMI. I've never had any of the stutters or other audio/video glitches that others have mentioned. I went with this player due to positive reviews and how I feel about the the brand. The BR players are all updatable so it's possible to play the latest movies. However, this player has a VERY difficult failure mode and upgrade procedure. Since Bluray is still in its infancy (so-to-speak) there aren't many options for players.
I have only had significant problems with one disk that I own and that was "Lord of War". It played the first 3/4 of the movie just fine and then started freezing up every 1-2 minutes making the movie unwatchable. For those who wonder if it will play homemade Blu-Ray DVDs I can report that I have sucessfully created a Blu-Ray DVD with menus on a 25G Single Layer BD-RE (Rewritable) disk using the LG GGW-H20L burner. Other firmware updatres are available but I haven't needed them yet. This player is good as far as disks that work on it but it does not support 48kHz/24-bit HD true sound that other blu-ray disks come with. The sound will pop out of sync with the visual. Before you buy call the manufacturer and ask if they have solved this problem by issuing a firmware (disk to put in the machine to update the harddrive) or not.
Upconversion on this player is pretty good, which is very important if you have vast library of DVDs. I figured instead of spending $100 or so on upconvert DVD player to work with my new TV, I decided to go directly to Blu-Ray, since the Blu-Ray is now standard of HD DVDs. This player has great Standard disc Upconversion. Overall, I found this player to be competent Blu-ray player and a great upconverting DVD player.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Richard Ruiz. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Sony BDP-S500 reviewed by Jim Rankin
August 27, 2008
I obtained my Sony BDP-S500 from Amazon.com. This is my very first BD player. I was waiting for the format war to end once it did I read a review www.buyblurayplayers.com on the internet that said you might consider waiting to making the jump to BD until the next generation of players to come out on the market.
The loading is fairly quick From what I heard it is much faster then older previous models. I was upgrading coming from a Panasonic 5 disc up converting DVD player and that thing was slow so I'm very satisfied. The picture isfine and the audio is great too. I don't even have it connected to a amp that does Dolby Tru-HD or DTS-MA. That will be my next purchase.
There is only one thing that I'm not satisfied with the player has the Sony Theater Sync feature. Which works great with my Sony amp. But for some reason the DVD remote will only control the volume for the TV not the amp. So I still have to use a second remote for volume on my Sony amp. This makes no sense to me.
We watched Troy, Terminator 2, Terminator 3, and Batman Begins on BD so far. Batman Begins wasfantastic from an audio and picture quality issue. My wife said she had no clue that a DVD could look that good.
I also watched 300 on a SD DVD and that look pretty good too.
One of the best features of this player is its size. They were able to reduce the size of the player to just over a 2" height and only 8-3/4" deep.
The next generation model due out in the fall it will cost more but it decodes all the audio inside the player.
Overall nine day in I'm pleased with the purchase and I'm happy I waited for this model.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Jim Rankin. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Theodore Millan from Troy has sent in review of Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
August 27, 2008
The look of this player is a refreshing break from what we see on other Blu-ray players. The dark gray plastic casing has rounded corners rather than the traditional boxy edges. The left side consists of the disc tray and the right side has a nicely sized LED display next to the playback controls. These include handy chapter forward/backward buttons and a resolution toggle which are nice for when the remote goes missing.
The included remote is average for a Blu-ray player. There is a flip-down panel on the bottom of the remote but it's not a nuisance since it only hides some nonessential buttons like a number pad.
This player is currently a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player which means it can access picture-in-picture commentary tracks available on some Blu-ray Discs. It is not a Profile 2.0 player so it cannot access the BD-Live features on certain new Blu-ray Discs. This player can be upgraded in future to be compatible with profile 2.0. This player can output both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in bit stream format which means that people with newer receivers with onboard decoding can still take advantage of DTS-HD Master Audio. The similarly priced Sony PlayStation 3 can decode both formats which means you only need a receiver with HDMI support to take advantage of both formats.
So my conclusion for thos people with older (but good) receivers - this blu-ray player won't save you any money. The best savings would be to pay a little more for a player with 5.1 analog outputs and continue to use your existing receiver.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Theodore Millan. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Newly released Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S301 review sent in by George Broadbent from Algonquin.
August 27, 2008
I obtained this player with the1.0 firmware and it was great. Yes, it did take a very long time to load Predator - almost 3 full minutes. That is due to the disc mostly using Java (BD-J) for interactivity. Few days ago I flash updated the firmware to 2.60 in about 15 minutes. See manufacturer's web site for the firmware and carefully follow the instructions. They will even provide you with the disc.
I purchased a 46" HDTV and a Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD Player player along with this Blu-ray Disc Player. I wanted to see the results of both Blu-Ray and HD DVD before investing in more expensive units. Setting up was quick and straightforward - no problems here. I noticed that this Sony player weighs much less than the Toshiba HD-A20 HD DVD player. There needs to be a ethernet port or some other way to access updates online direct to this player, a wireless method possibly? My Toshiba HD DVD player has the CAT-5 ethernet port and it makes updating (not exactly simple) more flexible. Manufacture's website offers the image (ISO) burn to DVDR method for updating, but this seems unpolished at best. One other thing I immediately noticed is how whisper quiet this player 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.
This player's plastic remote is reasonably good. It's well designed and compliments HDTV - the remote controls the TV's basic functions too. The problem with this player is that it does not output Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA in any way shape or form. There is hard to hear fan noise during dvd playback, which was only detectable with the tv turned off. While the movie is playing, I couldn't hear the fan at all. The display on the front is a gray-blue. There are 4 brightness settings (High-Med-Low-Off), which can be accessed with one button on the top right of the remote. Very convenient. With the display turned off, this is a very nice viewing experience. There is also an additional display button on the remote, which tells you the TRT of the disc, which chapter you are watching, time remaining in the chapter, and bit rate.
Rating:
Review was sent in by George Broadbent. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
New Blu-ray player Panasonic DMP-BD30K reviewed by Eve Hoffman
August 26, 2008
I aquired a Panasonic DMP-BD30K, and PS3. In the 10 days that I've had this player, it's done a marvelous job on video and audio quality. I'm running it on a 40" Samsung connected through HDMI. I've never had any of the stutters or other audio/video glitches that others have mentioned. This player started having hardware/software problems. It would simply quit playing during the middle of the movie The BR players are all updatable so it's possible to play the latest movies. However, this player has a VERY bad failure mode and upgrade procedure. Since Bluray is still in its infancy (so-to-speak) there aren't many options for players.
I was able to play many DVD that I had already and it does project it very nicely on my new flat screen tv. Very clear picture and very nice sound. Blu-Ray movie displays crystal clear. For those who wonder if it will play homemade Blu-Ray DVDs I can report that I have sucessfully created a Blu-Ray DVD with menus on a 25G Single Layer BD-RE (Rewritable) disk using the LG GGW-H20L burner. One drawback that keeps this unit from being perfect is no ethernet connectability for firmware upgrading. It is my opinion that this player was released prematurely based on its feature set. This player did a great job on the Bluray compatibility & picture quality and the DVD upconversion quality. This player is good as far as disks that work on it but it does not support 48kHz/24-bit HD true sound that few blu-ray disks come with. The sound will pop out of sync with the visual. Before you buy call the manufacturer and ask if they have solved this problem by issuing a firmware (disk to put in the machine to update the harddrive) or not.
Upconversion on this player is mediocre, which is very important if you have vast library of DVDs. I figured instead of spending $100 or so on upconvert DVD player to work with my new TV, I decided to go directly to Blu-Ray, since the Blu-Ray is now standard of HD DVDs. The upconversion is wonderful! Best part is I can use optical and take advantage of the new audio codecs. Overall, I found this player to be competent Blu-ray player and a great upconverting DVD player.
Rating:
Review was sent in by Eve Hoffman. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Insignia NS-BRDVD reviewed by George Williams
August 26, 2008
I purchased my Insignia NS-BRDVD from manufacturer's website. This is my very first BD player. I was waiting for the format war to end once it did I read a review bestbuy.com on the internet that said you might consider waiting to making the jump to BD until the next generation of players to come out on the market.
The loading is fairly quick From what I heard it is much faster then last models. I was upgrading coming from a GE 5 disc up converting DVD player and that thing was slow so I'm very satisfied. The video isgood and the audio is great too. I don't even have it connected to a amp that does Dolby Tru-HD or DTS-MA. That will be my next purchase.
There is only one thing that I'm not pleased with the player has the Samsung Theater Sync feature. Which works great with my Pionner amp. But for some reason the DVD remote will only control the volume for the TV not the amp. So I still have to use a second remote for volume on my Sony amp. This makes no sense to me.
We watched Blade Runner, Batman Begins, 300, and the Bucket List on BD so far. Batman Begins wasfantastic from an audio and picture quality issue. My wife said she had no clue that a DVD could look that good.
I also watched Eraser on a SD DVD and that look pretty good too.
One of the best features of this player is its size. They were able to reduce the size of the player to just over a 2" height and only 8-3/4" deep.
The next generation model due out in the fall it will cost more but it decodes all the audio inside the player.
Overall one day in I'm very satisfied with the purchase and I'm happy I waited for this model.
Rating:
Review was sent in by George Williams. Send in your reviews to Admin@buyblurayplayers.com
Latest Reviews
New Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S300 reviewed by Nicholas LarsenI purchased a Sony BDP-S300, and PS3. In the 10 days that I've had this player, it's done a good job on video and audio quality. I'm watching it on a 46" Sony connected through HDMI. I've never had any of the stutters or other audio/video glitches that...
Philips BDP7200 reviewed by Lilly LefaI bought my Philips BDP7200 from Amazon.com. This is my second BD player. I was waiting for the format war to end once it did I read a review Cnet.com on the internet that said you might consider waiting to making the jump to BD until the next generation...
George Gerk from Pleasanton has sent in review of Sony ES BDP-S2000ES Blu-ray player.The front faceplate is glossy black and it's completely flat and doesn't have a bezel. The left side is dominated by the disc tray and below that in the corner is a power button with a bright blue LED that illuminates when the player is turned on. Further...
Latest Headlines
- New Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S300 reviewed by Nicholas Larsen
- Philips BDP7200 reviewed by Lilly Lefa
- George Gerk from Pleasanton has sent in review of Sony ES BDP-S2000ES Blu-ray player.
- Newly released Blu-ray player Philips BDP7200 review sent in by Ben Baucus from San Francisco.
- New Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S300 reviewed by Richard Ruiz
- Sony BDP-S500 reviewed by Jim Rankin
- Theodore Millan from Troy has sent in review of Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
- Newly released Blu-ray player Sony BDP-S301 review sent in by George Broadbent from Algonquin.
- New Blu-ray player Panasonic DMP-BD30K reviewed by Eve Hoffman
- Insignia NS-BRDVD reviewed by George Williams
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