Sony BDP-BX1 = BDP-S350?

[Yeha-Noha]

I was in Sam' Club today and came across a new player on display, the Sony BDP-BX1 for $378.00.

So I was wondering if this another one of those alias names for the same product used by stores to circumvent price matching schemes.

It was displayed next to the S301 which is selling for $100 less than the BX1. There's no question in my mind that the BX1 is a cheaper build and looks like a toy next to the 2x bigger, heavier S301. I asked an associate if it was the S350, and she said she didn't think so. I still think it is though or very close to it.

The carton says it's BD Live 2.0 which I can careless about. It didn't say anything about requiring a FW update to get it either. Also it comes with a 1.5 meter HDMI cable, but didn't say which version. Other than that, spec for spec, it seems to be the same beast as the S350.

I was going to get the S350 in the near future. But now, the Panny DMP 30, even though it costs $50 more at Walmart, looks better built and more expensive than the BX1. The Samsung 1500 from user opinions seems to be about as buggy as its predecessor. Since the quality is going down on the new entry level players while the prices are still astronomically high, I am even considering keeping my S301 for awhile until the prices dip down to $200 especially before I would buy the cheap looking Sony-BX1.