Here are some links with reviews of the Yamaha BD S2900:
About.com:Home Theater
Softpedia
Audioadvisor
Home Cinema Choice
What Hi-Fi
AvReview.co.uk
Many of the reviews listed above criticize the asking prioce, lack of an ethernet port, no 7.1 RCA outs and not being BD 2.0 compliant. But for my needs, it has caught my eye over the typical platics $200-$350 players. Here's why:
1. Build Quality if very good and superior to most of what's out there.
2. I don't need internal decoding as I'll I could bitstream hi-res audio via HDMI to my Yamaha RX-V3800.
3. I have a Yamaha RX-V3800 and a Yamaha DVD S2700 (DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio player) and the BD S2900 would match my setup pretty nice.
4. I have a Canon HF10 HD camcorder that records AVCHD HD video internally. I can easily take HD Video from the camera, transfer it to a SDHC card and then pop it right into the Yamaha BD S2900's slot for intant viewing. Many other BD players support AVCHD, but you have to first burn the data to a disc to watch it. This is really a convenient way to enjoy your AVCHD HD footage right away without having to burn a disk or connect cablee from the camera to TV.
5. Specs claim it does a great job of color reproduction, something I haven't heard mentioned on the reviews of many other players.
6. The going price on ebay is about $699, so this unit can be bought for almost have of the original announced retail price of $1200.
7. I'll soon be buying an 50" Elite Pro-111FD plasma which supports true 24FPS. The Yamaha BD S2900 supports 1080P/24FPS.
Overall, I'll guess the price will drop after CES and the spring. But for now, I'm still interestedin it. Hope this helps.