The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[Scorxpion]

Originally Posted by l3jmr

I have a problem with updating to 4.20 on my player. I've been doing it step by step via sony support page and it stoped at step nr.6:
- A series of different messages will appear on the front panel display. This is normal. Do not operate the player during that time.

There were several different msges and the tray has opened but i havent seen the final step yet: "When the firmware update is completed, “DL OK” appears on the player front panel display."

Player just shut itself off with tray still opened, what should i do ?

Remove the CD which contains your firmware update and turn it on again you should be safe because DL ok appeared on your display.Means your player is updated you can check it.

Good Luck

[l3jmr]

I didnt know im supposed to turn it on again once it shuts itself off and i didnt notice the DL OK msg.

I powered it up and DL OK appeared so everything is ok, thanks for a quick reply.

[Scorxpion]

Originally Posted by l3jmr

I didnt know im supposed to turn it on again once it shuts itself off and i didnt notice the DL OK msg.

I powered it up and DL OK appeared so everything is ok, thanks for a quick reply.

once the slot opened means the download it is ok and your player was updated.

good for you everything is working fine

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by l3jmr

I didnt know im supposed to turn it on again once it shuts itself off and i didnt notice the DL OK msg.

I powered it up and DL OK appeared so everything is ok, thanks for a quick reply.

Also make sure that your player reset itself. It's supposed to do that automatically after it first starts up after an FW update. Lately, updates from Sony, at least on my player, haven't been doing that. So I had to manually reset the player.

The player must be reset before the FW update is finalized. Otherwise, you will still be runninng off the older firmware version.

Just a heads up on that.

[polmack2000]

hi all, new to the forum and new user of blu-ray. just bought my first starter blu-ray player bdp-s300 for a bargain price and loving it, got the new firmware updates and all works smoothly and great...just would like to know is there a dedicated site/link on what settings work best. ie the video settings, i seem to prefer using brighter room option as gets sharper picture than on standard setting.still trying to tweak to get best user settings in the memory.
anyway just wanted to say, love the player, all discs seem to work fine and this forum has been handy with the info available.

[tron3]

Polmack,

Set all your audio settings to PCM in order to decode Dolby TrueHD. That is about all I can tell you. It's not the fastest loading tank, but it certainly has gotten MUCH better with firmware. Enjoy.

[J.Cornelius]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Also make sure that your player reset itself. It's supposed to do that automatically after it first starts up after an FW update. Lately, updates from Sony, at least on my player, haven't been doing that. So I had to manually reset the player.

The player must be reset before the FW update is finalized. Otherwise, you will still be runninng off the older firmware version.

Just a heads up on that.

Or you can simply check the player to see what version is displayed, if you see 4.20 you are golden. I would do that before a manual reset.

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by J.Cornelius

Or you can simply check the player to see what version is displayed, if you see 4.20 you are golden. I would do that before a manual reset.

Even though the the version is displayed doesn't mean you are golden. My player displayed the correct version update, but didn't reset automatically after it restarted. The reset takes about 90 sec. and all your settings are set back to factory default. So, the only way to make sure that the player reset, isn't by looking at the version number, is by seeing it do the reset, or after you start your player you find all the settings are back to factory. If not, you have to do it manually.

[cwm]

J got error message "Incompatible Region Number" two times. On the third time it booted up but I had several stops and much difficulty in navigating the site to get it started again.

[cwm]

Originally Posted by chapbr

Finally came to a decision, and ordered the S300. It arrived yesterday, and decided to start by taking a look at the first Planet Earth BD disc, courtesy of Netflix. Was unable to play the disc and got an error stating "incompatible region code".

Has anyone else had this problem? I've seen a few comments on this thread about how good the picture looks on this BD, so it must be working for some people. Could it just be the version that Netflix has in stock? I realize this is the BBC version, but I find it hard to believe that a disc being sold all over the US would not be playable on this machine.

I also had "Incompatible Region Number" message on my Netflix Blu-ray Broken Trail. On third try the DVD did load but I had two freeze-ups and much difficulty in navigating the site to get back on.

[shiller624]

I have a question. I just bought the Incredible Hulk & when I put it in it loads and I can play the extras just fine. But when I hit play it shows for a second and then my blu ray player just shuts off.

This is the first movie I have ever had a problem with playing. I know that I don't have the latest firmware, it this the problem? does anyone know?

thanks

[tek101]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Sony Samsung

Right on the money Dude...

[tek101]

Originally Posted by shiller624

I have a question. I just bought the Incredible Hulk & when I put it in it loads and I can play the extras just fine. But when I hit play it shows for a second and then my blu ray player just shuts off.

This is the first movie I have ever had a problem with playing. I know that I don't have the latest firmware, it this the problem? does anyone know?

thanks

Can you try on other player..?
If It plays fine on other player...I 'd suggest you install new update V4.20.
Never seen player was shut/down by a disc though.....

[Peaky]

Hey Guys, have just been reading the last 15-20 pages. I have yet to buy a blu ray player. My local walmart has the Sony BDP-S300 for $198. Given that I would really use my xbox360 as my gaming machine of choice, is the S300 a good buy, or should I wait and save a bit more money and get the PS3? The PS3 would probably be only used as a buy ray player

Thx in advance

[Meeklo]

I just bought the S300 a couple of weeks ago and for me it was a toss up between it and a PS3. I still have a PS2 and I don't really play video games that much. (I'll pop in Vice City and kill a bunch of people until the military takes me down and that's it.) I decided to go with the S300 and I'm pretty happy with that purchase. It is a bit sluggish when loading but I upgraded the firmware and it's a lot more tolerable now.

So, if you don't play video games that much, save the cash and buy a standalone player. Use the extra cash to buy movies.

[krisjan]

There is a FW update available for the S300 (v 4.3).
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...pl?mdl=BDPS300

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Even though the the version is displayed doesn't mean you are golden. My player displayed the correct version update, but didn't reset automatically after it restarted. The reset takes about 90 sec. and all your settings are set back to factory default. So, the only way to make sure that the player reset, isn't by looking at the version number, is by seeing it do the reset, or after you start your player you find all the settings are back to factory. If not, you have to do it manually.

How do you do a manual reset? Thanks

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

How do you do a manual reset? Thanks

I have never had to do any kind of manual reset after updating FW on the 300. There is no mention of this in Sony's instructions either. Here are the final steps of the update procedure from their web site:

The firmware update is complete when "DL OK" appears on the player front panel display.

WARNING!! Do not operate or power off the player until this message is displayed. Doing so may result in your player being unresponsive and requiring repair.

Remove the update disc from the player.

Power on the BDP-S300 player.
NOTE: It takes about 90 seconds for the player to display pictures on the television when the player is powered on for the first time after installing the update.

Check the firmware version (See "Check Current Firmware Version").
NOTE: If the version number is 4.30, the firmware update was successful.

No reset required/needed.

[J.Cornelius]

Hit the stop button then the power button on the front panel of the player. I concur I do not think you need to do a manual restart to have the firmware take effect, it does not say so on the Sony Website and if your player shows 4.30 I am very confident you have updated your player correctly. Hopefully this will correct any problems with Baraka; was planning on watching this with the Mrs. on Saturday night, as for tonight something scary is in order. Most likely The Thing.

[CBFETT]

I had a question after reading this thread. I have the 300 and have done every single firmware update since I bought it. Well up to 4.20 until I get home from work tonight. Anyway, the only time my personal settings were reset to factory was the first time when I went from factory to 2.30 or something. Every other update didn't reset my settings, but the correct firmware number was displayed. Now I called Sony and they said I was fine. And I did notice that before 4.20 came out I couldn't select Dolby True HD when I put in a BD. I always had to select Plain old Dolby Digital. Now I can select Dolby True HD and notice a huge improvement in the sound. So I guess my question is who is right? Just confused more than anything now.