The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[THE STUD]

best buy now has this player in stock, I'm gonna go visit them today and see if they have one set up and compare it

[THE STUD]

OH great, just called all 3 best buys in the valley, none of them have the bdp-s300 yet the best buy website claims they do!!! When the heck can i get my hands on othese players? driving me nuts

[jnelson2000]

How embarrasing from Sony in relation to the sluggishness playing POTC movies with the BDP-S300 2.0 firmware.

Looks like the Panasonic is going to get my business. Such a BS answer.

From: Mananzan, John [mailto:John.Mananzan@am.sony.com]
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 2:09 PM
To: Jeff
Subject: E34454560 BDPS300

Jeff,

Per tech specialist and engineers advised regarding the issue is unfortunately, at the moment, it is normal operation for the particular Pirates movie disc. Any firmware updates on our units are only updates for unit functionality and not updates for speed. We were advised that this is an issue with all Pirates discs and were told that the disc requires the player to run the java at its maximum speed only because the disc is trying to run multiple features. Although we are definitely still looking into this, unfortunately at the moment, it is still considered normal operation.

Best regards,



_______________________________

J.P. Mananzan

Tier II/Product Support Specialist
Direct: 858-942-2368
San Diego, CA
ext. 22368

S O N Y
___________________________________

[ndirtdigler69]

i just got this player yesterday i haven't see one of those problems anyone has listed on any of these boards . v2.0 also is already on it.

[THE STUD]

Originally Posted by ndirtdigler69

i just got this player yesterday i haven't see one of those problems anyone has listed on any of these boards . v2.0 also is already on it.

Tell me how u like the player, and if u have a good surround system, please comment on the audio quality of the player!!!!!

[johnmhemp]

Originally Posted by THE STUD

Tell me how u like the player, and if u have a good surround system, please comment on the audio quality of the player!!!!!

Got mine Friday. I have a nice 5.1 system and to my ear the sound is greatly improved. Also, the upscaling feature makes my standard dvd pop out in near HD quality...it is a radical difference. I have 2 minor quibbles...1...because my TV is smaller (32 inch) I am not able to take advantage of the full abilities of the player because of the placement of our furniture (My fault and not the Blu-rays) 2 I would have appreciated a zoom feature on the remote because my tv does 4:3 or 16:9 and won't do the sooming that all my other players do. Although it loses the full screen it made up for my smaller tv. Otherwise I am very happy with the player.

[sportsfan8]

Hello! This is my first post... I got the BDP-S300 yesterday, and it just looks amazing... just couldn't stop watching. I had a tough time picking my first movie, but went with Pirates, and will have to pick up Casino Royale too. Some minor things: since this was my first experience with a Blu-ray player, the load time was a bit longer than expected... but I suspect it's because I'm so used to the speedy times of DVD players. Also, with such a high priced player, I'm always expecting more from Sony's remote controls like back-lit, bigger buttons, etc. The buttons were pretty small. All in all, I'm happy with it and expect to add more to my BD collection.

[severdia]

Just got mine over the weekend. Speed is slightly improved over the BDP-S1. Already came with firmware v2.

Hooked it up and it's great. I have a Sony Bravia XBR3 and an Onkyo receiver (without HDMI) so I have it connected directly to the LCD via HDMI and the optical going out to the receiver. With the built-in Bravia Theatre Sync, I don't have to change inputs. All in all well worth it!

[sportsfan8]

Hey where do you check for firmware version? Thanks.

Nevermind... found the answer here https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=10114

[rsound]

After careful consideration and a lot of reseach I purchased the new Sony Blu Ray player. Normally I would have bought the first generation when it first came out but, this time I resisted. There was way too much confusion and conflicting information about the two formats. I new if I purchased a first generation player a second better, cheaper version would come out. It always happens. I researched the pro's and con's for both formats. Each format had their pro's and con's . I just had to decide which con I could live with. The deciding factor was that Blu Ray had overall more support than HDDVD. With one major studio exclusive to HDDVD I figured I could live with that. I subsribe to Directv's HD package, which includes HBOHD (which premeires exclusive new Universal films, "40 Year Old Virgin", King King, etc.) and for older flims I have Universal HD, so I'm covered.

My only problem with Blu Ray was cost and it seemed like there were a lot of bugs in the units. I waited and waited until a second generation came out, I really wanted a Sony player. So when they announced a new cheaper player was coming out. I decided to get it. I did as much research as I could from reading countless blogs, reviews, articles, there wasn't anymore I could research. I am really pleased with the player. The picture and sound were amazing - even the standard dvd's looked great. The one thing that suprised me is how easy it was to set up. I had it my head it was going to at least half hour to set up. I think it took five minutes.

I purchased Casino Royale, The Departed and Superman Returns prior to purchasing the player. I decided to rent Flags of Our Fathers from Netflix to be the first movie to watch just incase the player didn't work. Call me paranoid. The player performed beautifully - the movie looked and sounded great. Crisp picture and sound with amazing color and detail As for "Flags" it was little on the boring side - not one Eastwoods's best. I will rent "Letters from Iwo Jima", since that was supposed to be the better of the two. I am officially "blu".

[Freud]

I just purchased a Sony BDS-S300; very nice! How can I tell what firmware version it has on it?

[Julman]

I just got my S300 in the mail and the image quality and audio is fantastic. Much better than my PS3. Although I am so unbelievably pissed by the fact that the player does not 'resume playback' on movies when you turn the player off. Almost every kind of technology has this option but not the Sony blu-ray players. ****ing unreal!

[kinglm]

For my BDP-S1, the instructions are: Maybe the same for BDP-S300

Check Current Firmware Version
Power on the television and make sure it is tuned to the inputs to which the BDP-S1 player is connected.

Power on the BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc® player.

If the player starts to play a disc, press the "STOP" button and wait until the blue Sony Blu-ray Disc screen is displayed on the television before proceeding.

On the remote control (RMT-B100A), press the SYSTEM MENU button.

At the "System Menu" screen, use the arrow keys on the remote control to highlight "Setup" and then press the ENTER button.

At the "Setup" screen, use the arrow keys on the remote control to highlight "Video Setup" and then press the ENTER button.

Use the arrow keys on the remote control to highlight "TV Type" and then press the ENTER button.

On the remote control, press "BLUE" button.

The firmware version currently installed on the BDP-S1 will be listed on the television screen. If the version number is 2.00 or higher, it is not necessary to install this firmware update.

[Cortiz]

Although I am so unbelievably pissed by the fact that the player does not 'resume playback' on movies when you turn the player off. Almost every kind of technology has this option but not the Sony blu-ray players. ****ing unreal![/QUOTE]


I was pissed off too my friend. That's why I returned this player and got the Samsung BD-P1200 which has the resume playback option when the player is turned off. It is more expensive but it has this option and also loads a lot faster than the Sony. For example, POTC takes about 2 1/2 minutes to load on the Sony, on the Samsung only takes 45 seconds! Huge difference! I can't believe Sony invented the format and yet, other companies are putting out better players. How ridiculous is that?

Sometimes paying more is worthy!

Note: At the time, there is no players out that can resume playback on movies that has the Java load feature. (there aren't too may titles like that though)

[Jodi]

Hi!
I'm still sifting through all the different BD players that are out there, as well as the different firmware upgrades each one requires.
I'm glad to hear that the Sony S300 is impressing a lot of you.
My question is: I have a Sony BRAVIA KDL-V32XBR2, which only goes up to 720p. Will the S300 be a good enough player for my TV? Is the HDMI input on my TV sufficient (I bought this TV only about 2 months ago).
I do know that the S300 should already have Version 2.0 loaded in and ready to go.
I will also ask my ISF calibrator, Gary, for some advice.

Please respond,
Jodi

[sportsfan8]

Jodi,

I think the question should be, is your TV good enough for the BDP-S300? If you're going to spend $500 on the Blu-ray player, I say get at least a 46" HDTV with 1080p.

[Merrick]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

Although I am so unbelievably pissed by the fact that the player does not 'resume playback' on movies when you turn the player off. Almost every kind of technology has this option but not the Sony blu-ray players. ****ing unreal!

I was pissed off too my friend. That's why I returned this player and got the Samsung BD-P1200 which has the resume playback option when the player is turned off. It is more expensive but it has this option and also loads a lot faster than the Sony. For example, POTC takes about 2 1/2 minutes to load on the Sony, on the Samsung only takes 45 seconds! Huge difference! I can't believe Sony invented the format and yet, other companies are putting out better players. How ridiculous is that?

Sometimes paying more is worthy!

Note: At the time, there is no players out that can resume playback on movies that has the Java load feature. (there aren't too may titles like that though)

I don't know what you guys are talking about. I got my BDP-S300 last week at the same time as my new TiVo Series 3. After an UNBELIEVABLE hassle with my cable company I finally got them to come in to put the cable cards in Saturday. I was watching Narnia (with a pretty amazing upscaled picture, I might add) when the cable guy arrived. I hit the power button on the player, switched the A/V receiver over to the TiVo, and let him go to work. After he left I played with my TiVo for several hours - then remembered I had the DVD in the Blu-ray player. So I powered it up and (after about a 30 second wait) - viola! Narnia took off from the spot I cut it off at. Not even a "resume playing from previous location" message or anything like that.

Can anyone else confirm this? Possibly it's a DVD/Blu-ray thing? Or did you guys have BD-J titles and not realize it? (I haven't confirmed whether or not this rwroks for BD or BD-J titles. I'll try to remember to check.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by Merrick

I don't know what you guys are talking about. I got my BDP-S300 last week at the same time as my new TiVo Series 3. After an UNBELIEVABLE hassle with my cable company I finally got them to come in to put the cable cards in Saturday. I was watching Narnia (with a pretty amazing upscaled picture, I might add) when the cable guy arrived. I hit the power button on the player, switched the A/V receiver over to the TiVo, and let him go to work. After he left I played with my TiVo for several hours - then remembered I had the DVD in the Blu-ray player. So I powered it up and (after about a 30 second wait) - viola! Narnia took off from the spot I cut it off at. Not even a "resume playing from previous location" message or anything like that.

Can anyone else confirm this? Possibly it's a DVD/Blu-ray thing? Or did you guys have BD-J titles and not realize it? (I haven't confirmed whether or not this rwroks for BD or BD-J titles. I'll try to remember to check.

It does works on SD DVD only. It doesn't work on any kind of BD discs including the Java discs.

The long loading time on the Java discs, and specially the POTC discs, is a big turned off if you ask me....

[severdia]

Page 21 of the BDP-S300 manual says:

"Playback starts from the beginning if the title has not been played or the previous stop point if cancelled.

The stop point is cancelled when:
-you change the settings on the player
-you turn off the player
-you press STOP twice
-you open the disc tray
-you finish a search

The player remembers the stop point for one track/title/file only. On a music CD, playback resumes from the beginning of the track."

So, yes, the player DOES remember unless you do one of those things.

[Cortiz]

Originally Posted by severdia

Page 21 of the BDP-S300 manual says:

"Playback starts from the beginning if the title has not been played or the previous stop point if cancelled.

The stop point is cancelled when:
-you change the settings on the player
-you turn off the player
-you press STOP twice
-you open the disc tray
-you finish a search

The player remembers the stop point for one track/title/file only. On a music CD, playback resumes from the beginning of the track."

So, yes, the player DOES remember unless you do one of those things.

Yes it is true, but If you power the unit off, it will not resume playback. With the Panasonic and Samsung, you can power off the unit and it will still resume playback. That is the whole point.