Samsung BD-1200 or Sony BDP-300?

[msm]

I am about to head over to CC since I want to pick up a new blu-ray player for the bedroom and I was wondering which one you guys think would be the better buy and would last the longest in terms of quality and future updates. Or once again...should I just wait until the fall with the new update?

[Forresttheman]

I would go for the samsung. I have one and it kicks ass.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by msm

I am about to head over to CC since I want to pick up a new blu-ray player for the bedroom and I was wondering which one you guys think would be the better buy and would last the longest in terms of quality and future updates. Or once again...should I just wait until the fall with the new update?

The Sony BDP-S300 has the expanded color (XVYCC) which has a wider color gamut which is only useful when future BLU-RAY discs are released that take advantage of wider color gamut’s or for future BLU-RAY camcorder discs . The one big advantage of the Samsung BD-P1200 is the Ethernet jack which can be used for firmware updates and maybe one day BD-live.
Sony and Samsung will be coming out with new players this fall if you want to wait. You could always buy one BLU-RAY player now and in the fall get another model for the bedroom or second room.

[msm]

Thanks, I ended up getting the Samsung, I might retune it for the sony if I feel it is that much better. The built in ethernet is nice and should be included on all models. So far, I just finished setting it up and updating the firmware. I will tell tomorrow if it is going to be a keeper or not. If not I guess I will get the sony since it is cheaper and can be used in the bedroom later.

[RUR]

The other big advantage to the Samsung is the SD DVD upconversion, which is truly superb. The Sony won't be as good.

[drwatson1234]

I don't know much about the BDP-S300. Although, one thing I've noticed between my Samsung BD-P1000 and my brother's Sony BDP-S1 is the load time. The Samsung BD-P1000 is much quicker starting up and loading menus as compared to the Sony BDP-S1. Also, turning on the BDP-S1 and trying to insert a new disc is a grueling task. I'm not sure if the BDP-S300 has solved some of these timing issues, but I'd be weary of it for that reason. As for reliability, time will only tell if the Samsung or Sony will last longer. Oh well, we'll see...

[jcdDigix]

I got both. The Sammy is faster, but from experience I'd choose Sony (IMO better PQ). The lack of ethernet port is the only disadvantage.

[BTBuck1]

Comming off the BDP-1000 it had two benefits over the sony BDP-S300.

1) slightly faster, not much...but a little.
HOWEVER, the samsung seemed to throw up colored dots(hourglass) on every task you put it to, once the sony loads, thats it...its up and running!

2) The samsung remembers. If press stop, then turn the player off
The samsung picks up where you left off on the movie. The sony does not resume if you power off. It reloads from the beginning. Which isn't terribly taxing, but to some may be a deal breaker.

Here is what I like about the new Sony BDP-S300

1) DD+ decoding capability. Yes, probably not worth mentioning now,
But do you really think Universal is going to "Re-Do" all those HD-DUD encoded movies when they finally pull their heads out of their bums?
Probably not, and I think in late 07/ early 2008 we'll see quite a few DD+ encodes.

2) AVCHD, I eventually plan on doing some camcorder work with this codec,
so this will be handy!

3) TRUE 1080p. not the 1080p>1080i>1080p mess I was getting on the BDP1000. (Note, the BDP-1200 has real 1080p output).

4) x.v. color, uh yeah...this will be cool someday

5) Most likely to be updated to decode TrueHD 5.1 decoding at some point
(or so I hope) since this unit is basically a baby BDP-S1 I am pretty confident once the BDP-S1 remaining stocks sell through at retail we'll be seeing a fw update for the BDP-S300. Possibly even for DTS-HD(not MA, not capable).