The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[tek101]

Originally Posted by Reliantcody

I have set it to PCM but the only display that I get on my Yamaha is PCM and it doesn't play through the rear channels at all.......

May be this will explain better...:

you need to connect the player via HDMI to your AVR and set the player to send "PCM" as the audio output format. This assumes that you have a player capable of internally decoding both DTS-MA and/or Dolby True-HD (In this case S300/S301 does have DD True-HD Output Through HDMI ) If you connect in one of these methods it does not matter if your AVR is capable of decoding these sound formats since the decoding is done in the Blu-Ray Player.

[Reliantcody]

Ok I do have it connected via HDMI, and the Sony is outputing as PCM. I still can only display PCM on the front of my Yamaha, and when I select multi channel input on the Yamaha I get now sound......

[Reliantcody]

I do have the speakers setup to 5.1 as well........

[WarrenPS]

Originally Posted by Reliantcody

Ok I do have it connected via HDMI, and the Sony is outputing as PCM. I still can only display PCM on the front of my Yamaha, and when I select multi channel input on the Yamaha I get now sound......

Since the Sony BDP cannot bitstream (it does the decoding and CANNOT send the codec to your receiver for decoding), your receiver will NOT display Dolby True HD because the signal from the BDP is being sent as LPCM. Nevertheless, it is a Dolby True HD signal being heard. Of course, if you do not hear sound coming from all speakers there is something amiss. I do not know what else to suggest.

[camaro]

Originally Posted by jwn77

I just encountered the same problem for the first time while watching Step Brothers. The disk played fine until about the 27 minute mark and then froze and the player automatically turned off. When I turned back on I got the "Can't Play" message. I followed all the troubleshooting steps online and I'm on firmware v4.5 but still nothing. So far I'm still able to run other disks, but from what I hear I can expect this problem to persist.

I called Sony support and I'm out of luck becuase my warranty ran out. They want me to ship my player to a repair shop and pre-pay $150 to get it fixed??? How do I know I need to get my player fixed if I've only experienced the problem one time so far?? I'm getting very frusterated with this player and Sony.

I'm having a similar problem with this player but only so far with 3:10 to Yuma and Face/Off which I got a couple of months apart at Walmart. They both play fine until they get to a certain point in the movies and then freeze and skip to the next sceen. The player does'nt reboot but it gets to the same point every time in the movies and on multiple copies (I tried 4 copies of 3:10 to Yuma before I gave up and got a refund!) and freezes. I tried using the scan feature to back up and watch the sceen it skips but seems to get in a loop and never plays the full sceen. I thought at first on 3:10 that maybe there was a bad batch of them or something and have watched a load of movies in between it and Face/Off without any issues. I'm taking it that this is another issue with the player and not a bad pressing of the movies. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by camaro

I'm having a similar problem with this player but only so far with 3:10 to Yuma and Face/Off which I got a couple of months apart at Walmart. They both play fine until they get to a certain point in the movies and then freeze and skip to the next sceen. The player does'nt reboot but it gets to the same point every time in the movies and on multiple copies (I tried 4 copies of 3:10 to Yuma before I gave up and got a refund!) and freezes. I tried using the scan feature to back up and watch the sceen it skips but seems to get in a loop and never plays the full sceen. I thought at first on 3:10 that maybe there was a bad batch of them or something and have watched a load of movies in between it and Face/Off without any issues. I'm taking it that this is another issue with the player and not a bad pressing of the movies. Has anyone else ran into this issue?

It plays fine on my S300. I really suspect a firmware issue with this. Which firmware version do you have?

[DoctorQ9]

My Fellow Sony BDP-S300 owners -- we keep going round and round with stories of how our players freeze up, play one disk but not the other, and so forth. Sony is playing us for fools. They release one firmware update after another, and the strategy is clear. Buy enough time for the owners to 1) move on to a better player or 2) go beyond the warranty period to avoid costly repairs (paid by Sony).

When Sony released the Playstation 3 it knew what a good Blu-Ray player required. Instead of duplicating this in their standalone players, Sony intentionally released products that could not perform.

Let us join together in a Class Action against Sony. Go to http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com and join me in our fight for justice!

[camaro]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

It plays fine on my S300. I really suspect a firmware issue with this. Which firmware version do you have?

It's on version 0440. I upgraded to that version when I had the issue with 3:10 to Yuma and it did'nt fix the issue. I just tried upgrading to verson 0450 but the player is'nt reading the disk. I'm burning it as an ISO image the same as I did the previous upgrade but no luck so far. I also called customer support at Sony but not much help there. They say they have not heard of this issue but also think it's a firmware issue so they are sending me a cd. If that's not it I can pack up the player, pay postage and have them work on it and send it back. Anyone remember when a warenty actually was a good thing??

[camaro]

I've now upgraded to version 4.50 and still have the same issue with Face/Off. It took 4 calls to Sony and in all around 3 hours of talking about this issue and they think it is a firmware issue with these two title but they are'nt sure They did say there is a known issue with Blue Planet that has an issue like this but the first they had heard of 3:10 to Yuma and Face/Off. This is a weird deal if someone else has a copy of them that works on this model?? It could be just a couple of bad disks from some bad batches but try telling that to Walmart. With their policies now it took 4 tries and a letter to customer service for them to give me a refund on 3:10. It looks like if Sony does'nt come up with a fix then I'm just out of luck with Face/Off. I have to say at this point I'm not impressed with Sony or blu-ray in general with these types of issues.

[Blu-Raider]

Originally Posted by DoctorQ9

My Fellow Sony BDP-S300 owners -- we keep going round and round with stories of how our players freeze up, play one disk but not the other, and so forth. Sony is playing us for fools. They release one firmware update after another, and the strategy is clear. Buy enough time for the owners to 1) move on to a better player or 2) go beyond the warranty period to avoid costly repairs (paid by Sony).

When Sony released the Playstation 3 it knew what a good Blu-Ray player required. Instead of duplicating this in their standalone players, Sony intentionally released products that could not perform.

Let us join together in a Class Action against Sony. Go to http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com and join me in our fight for justice!

Absolutely AMAZING. Sony has made an effort for early adopters of the new Blu format to keep their product viable by continuing to pour research dollars into firmware patches for the 300/301. Now you want to sue them because technology (which by the way is advancing exponentially) has passed by a discontinued product?

Un-freaking-believable. Maybe you can pick up a cheap HD-DVD player on eBay and sue Toshiba while you're at it.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by camaro

It's on version 0440. I upgraded to that version when I had the issue with 3:10 to Yuma and it did'nt fix the issue. I just tried upgrading to verson 0450 but the player is'nt reading the disk. I'm burning it as an ISO image the same as I did the previous upgrade but no luck so far. I also called customer support at Sony but not much help there. They say they have not heard of this issue but also think it's a firmware issue so they are sending me a cd. If that's not it I can pack up the player, pay postage and have them work on it and send it back. Anyone remember when a warenty actually was a good thing??

What a hassle...

I'm completely fed up with burning disks.

They don't install the way the instructions say for the 300. When it's completed, the tray slides out and you just stare at the disk. No message, nothing. I sat last night staring at it for about an hour - this is not the first time I've done updates, but I couldn't believe it. (It's supposed to do this once during the update proces, then turn back on, slide back in, and continue. At the end, it stays in, and has DL OK message. Or so it says on the sheet).

I finally got disgusted, took a chance on turning my 300 into a brick, and took the disk out. Then I turned it on, and lo and behold, I got a message saying, "DL OK".

This mutha....

Worked fine, though. I forget what previous upgrade I had - I think it was 3.80 - and I only did that when Batman Begins froze up and rebooted about a dozen times.

Next unit for me is either the 550 or the new Pioneer, I'm wiring it up to the Web and no more disk upgrades. Makes me loony.

Hope your Sony disk reads OK.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by camaro

I've now upgraded to version 4.50 and still have the same issue with Face/Off. It took 4 calls to Sony and in all around 3 hours of talking about this issue and they think it is a firmware issue with these two title but they are'nt sure They did say there is a known issue with Blue Planet that has an issue like this but the first they had heard of 3:10 to Yuma and Face/Off. This is a weird deal if someone else has a copy of them that works on this model?? It could be just a couple of bad disks from some bad batches but try telling that to Walmart. With their policies now it took 4 tries and a letter to customer service for them to give me a refund on 3:10. It looks like if Sony does'nt come up with a fix then I'm just out of luck with Face/Off. I have to say at this point I'm not impressed with Sony or blu-ray in general with these types of issues.

3:10 has no issues, but I haven't seen Blue Planet or Face-Off on my unit. Your problem is really odd, sounds like it's hardware, not firmware.

[camaro]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

3:10 has no issues, but I haven't seen Blue Planet or Face-Off on my unit. Your problem is really odd, sounds like it's hardware, not firmware.

Yep this is odd I agree! It could be hardware but that would be strange too since it has only done this on my copy of 3:10 and Face/Off and at the exact same spot every time. I tried 4 copies of 3:10 before I gave up on it and each one got to the same spot and does the same thing, freezes then skips to the next sceen. I've tried using the scan on the remote to go back and see if I can at least get the sceen to work that way but it does'nt. It acts like it gets stuck in a loop or something just for one sceen in each of those movies. I've not watched Blue Planet either but at the end of my 3 hour long conversation with Sony the support person mentioned that it had a known issue with freezing and skipping a sceen. Since some copies of 3:10 obviously work it makes me go back to thinking maybe it's a batch of bad disks. I did get both of these movies at Walmart so that makes it kinda odd too. I think out of 60 or so blu-rays I've maybe gotten 7 of them at Walmart and two of them have this issue??

[DoctorQ9]

Originally Posted by Blu-Raider

Absolutely AMAZING. Sony has made an effort for early adopters of the new Blu format to keep their product viable by continuing to pour research dollars into firmware patches for the 300/301. Now you want to sue them because technology (which by the way is advancing exponentially) has passed by a discontinued product?

Un-freaking-believable. Maybe you can pick up a cheap HD-DVD player on eBay and sue Toshiba while you're at it.

You missed the point -- the PS3 predates the 300/301. Sony had to have known that the 300/301s were not up to the task of playing blu-ray disks simply because the PS3 can handle anything thrown at it.

The fact that Sony released standalone players that they knew were deficient -- now that is amazing!

[jwn77]

Originally Posted by seeker_moc

I have had some problems with freezing of this player, but only from BR movies from the Blockbuster mail service. Whenever I got a bluray in the mail from Blockbuster about 50% of them wouldn't play at all. It would say something like "can not play this disk". From the half that would play, about half of them would freeze during playback (75% total failure rate). Even after reloading the disk, it would freeze at the exact same point, or not load at all. These were all near-new scratch free disks. I have never had this problem with any DVD or with a Blu-Ray that I bought or rented from an actual Blockbuster store. I've since switched to Netflix, and have not had a problem since.

I have the same issue. It's seems like 1 out of 5 Blu-Rays from the Blockbuster mail services are duds. I just got Kung Fu Panda through the mail and the kids were all excited to sit down and watch and low and behold I get the "Can't play this disk" error. I've never had a problem with a new Blu-Ray on the S300 so now I'm starting to think there's nothing wrong with my player and everything wrong with the Blockbuster Mail Service.

Has anyone ever gotten any explanations from Blockbuster?

[tron3]

Originally Posted by DoctorQ9

...
The fact that Sony released standalone players that they knew were deficient -- now that is amazing!

The amazing part is you think you can prove that with a class action law suit. Big corporations don't call a lawyer when trouble comes. They have highly skilled attorneys who advise them 24/7. They hear "I'll sue." and scoff.

The real issues are the first and second generation players were launched in a desperate attempt to gain market share from HD DVD which was already out the gate. They wanted another 3 to 5 years to work out the kinks and solidify the firmware. We are seeing the natural progression of what they would normally only see in the lab. The real world problems only added fuel to the fodder.

With that said, they show amazing support on products they stopped producing and are quickly falling out of warranty. Sure, I was upset I couldn't play Wall-e without it freezing. But they finally fixed it. Only cost me a frikken cd and some time to fix it. I much prefer that to paying to have the TANK shipped back and forth, not to mention labor.

There is an old business saying, "Those who fail to innovate, litigate." If you are that disgusted with Sony then maybe you really have a faulty unit. It happens, and unfortunately, it happened to you. If you play your cards right they may outright replace it with a S350 at no cost to you.

Personally, I'm ready to move on to a Panasonic model. Not out of disgust for Sony. Panasonic has firmware updates, too. Panasonic simply has better players. At heart, I have always been a Panasonic man anyways.

[camaro]

I guess since Sony does'nt know though if there are issues with the two titles I'm having problems with I'll see if I can troubleshoot this any further. I just ordered another copy of 3:10 to Yuma, this time from Amazon. That should tell me and Sony if it's a problem with a bad batch of blu-rays or if it's a firmware issue. Sony did think that it is'nt a hardware issue with mine since it's only those two titles and at the exact same spot ever time.

[camaro]

Well looks like this was a bad batch of disks after all. At least for 3:10 to Yuma anyway. I just received a copy from Amazon and it has no issues at all! Have not tried Face/Off yet but have ordered a copy from Amazon of that one as well. Not sure what's up with blu-rays at Walmart but strange out of maybe the only 8 or so I've bought there 2 of them would have the same issue. Think I'll avoid buying any more at Walmart!!

[tek101]

So far i haven't got any "Bad" Bds from Amazon ...."20 or so..."
Stay away from the stores ....so expensive ..

[khaakh]

Originally Posted by jwn77

I have the same issue. It's seems like 1 out of 5 Blu-Rays from the Blockbuster mail services are duds. I just got Kung Fu Panda through the mail and the kids were all excited to sit down and watch and low and behold I get the "Can't play this disk" error. I've never had a problem with a new Blu-Ray on the S300 so now I'm starting to think there's nothing wrong with my player and everything wrong with the Blockbuster Mail Service.

Has anyone ever gotten any explanations from Blockbuster?

I have received close to 120 blu-ray disks from Blockbuster Online so far. I have encountered just one dud so far. Most of the 'Can't Play' messages I got were related to my S301. It plays the 25GB Blu-ray disks just fine. The problem is with the features heavy 50 GB Blu-ray disks. Even the 50 GB discs play sometimes (Dark Knight) but crash while loading or don't play at all mostly. I have confirmed each of the failing discs play on my brothers Panasonic BD30. I contacted Costco, they forwarded me to Sony since the player is now out of warranty, it started to give me trouble 2 weeks after the warranty expired. I thought I just had a bad unit but it seems lots of S301 owners are having the same issues. Sony asked me to ship my player to at my cost and pay a flat labor charge of $142. They could still get back to me and ask for more money to fix it. I opened up the player to take a look at dust inside the player, but the Blu-ray laser diode is inside an internal drive housing and I didn't feel like opening it any further. Surprisingly if I tilt my player right or left, it loads the 50 GB discs sometimes. So much for my woes, but to answer your question, Blockbuster Blu-ray discs are fine, I have just had to wipe them before playing that's all.