Sony S300 needs upgrade for "IronMan"

[Link]

This concerns me having only bought my BDP-S300 6 months ago - I had no interest in 1.1 or 2.0 - I really just wanted an HD picture and better audio. I was under the impression that my player would continue to be able to play movies - just not access bonus content that required a newer model.

I have no interest in purchasing Iron Man, however, chances are, this could continue with future releases. I hope Sony does something about this otherwise they should probably take the model off the market ASAP because it's being sold without making the customer aware of the problem. I don't recall ever reading anything official saying the player might not be able to play new releases but I do remember reading that about bonus content.

Updating my firmware doesn't bother me in the least - it's easy and not a big deal - but I guess it would be to somebody who doesn't understand why this would be necessary. I even read an online review from somebody saying that they felt their product was "out of date" due to having to upgrade their firmware and just returned the product.

[PCiAM]

Originally Posted by Link

This concerns me having only bought my BDP-S300 6 months ago - I had no interest in 1.1 or 2.0 - I really just wanted an HD picture and better audio. I was under the impression that my player would continue to be able to play movies - just not access bonus content that required a newer model.

I have no interest in purchasing Iron Man, however, chances are, this could continue with future releases. I hope Sony does something about this otherwise they should probably take the model off the market ASAP because it's being sold without making the customer aware of the problem. I don't recall ever reading anything official saying the player might not be able to play new releases but I do remember reading that about bonus content.

Updating my firmware doesn't bother me in the least - it's easy and not a big deal - but I guess it would be to somebody who doesn't understand why this would be necessary. I even read an online review from somebody saying that they felt their product was "out of date" due to having to upgrade their firmware and just returned the product.

I agree. I bought the 301 just 2 months ago because all I wanted was for my movies to play in HD. I didn't really care about PIP commentary or anything like that. I don't mind updating the firmware either but the average non-techy consumer is either a) not going to be aware of this b) not feel like bothering with this.

[JasonR]

Every player needs firmware updates.

[TheIgster]

Originally Posted by JasonR

Every player needs firmware updates.

Yes, of course. We have grown accustomed to this being early adopters, but the issue with what many are saying is that adoption will hurt if this sort of thing continues. Maybe the ones to blame are the studios and their releases not being backward compatible with older players?

How many times have you updated your DVD player? I have bought many SD DVD players over the years and never ONCE did I have to update firmware before being able to play a DVD I had bought.

[jimmymiro12]

so I was wondering if anyone got it to work in the sony s301. i will be pissed if i cant get it to play so please help me out.

[Octavio]

I have no intention on buying Iron Man at all, However I am sure that Sony will release a firmware Update ASAP. That should be at least some days "after" Iron Man is "officially" released.

[JasonR]

The OP is running 3.95, not 4.20.

[jimmymiro12]

Originally Posted by Octavio

I have no intention on buying Iron Man at all, However I am sure that Sony will release a firmware Update ASAP. That should be at least some days "after" Iron Man is "officially" released.

just sucks i got it early and i may not be able to play it

[t0nythebeat]

we had the same issue with Heroes Season 2.
our customers weren't able to play it due to upgrades.

but it play just fine on my PS3.
which im guessing is because of the automatic upgrades.

[GORT]

JMO but untill I get Ironman and put it in my 301 I am not going to worry sounds like FUD to me but I could be wrong.

[Teabaggins]

I have yet to update my 300 so this is not good news. I know it's fairly easy to do

[drago3451]

I do not know why people do not upgrade their players as soon as it is available. These updates are being released for a reason and if you stay up on them you will not have a problem with the new releases. It is easy enough to have Sony ship you a copy of the firmware from Sonystyle.com and have it within a few days. This is new tech and they are always improving on it look at the first few releases compared to some of the new releases (much improved video and audio).

[Teabaggins]

Originally Posted by drago3451

I do not know why people do not upgrade their players as soon as it is available. These updates are being released for a reason and if you stay up on them you will not have a problem with the new releases. It is easy enough to have Sony ship you a copy of the firmware from Sonystyle.com and have it within a few days. This is new tech and they are always improving on it look at the first few releases compared to some of the new releases (much improved video and audio).

some people have the "if it ain't broke" approach to such things. I really should update my shit

[mikejet]

Maybe they have a firmware upgrade scheduled for the exact release date of the film on BD. Then they can track who got the film early because they are calling in with complaints!

[jomari]

Originally Posted by TheIgster

Yes, of course. We have grown accustomed to this being early adopters, but the issue with what many are saying is that adoption will hurt if this sort of thing continues. Maybe the ones to blame are the studios and their releases not being backward compatible with older players?

How many times have you updated your DVD player? I have bought many SD DVD players over the years and never ONCE did I have to update firmware before being able to play a DVD I had bought.

why blame the studios and backwards compatibility? considering how technology is, you should already have expected this in the first place.

the reason why you never had to update your dvd player was because it wasnt as advance as things are nowadays.

people want bd live
people want truehd
people want pip functions.
people want free stuff blah blah blah.

how the hell can it reach the consumer without updates then?

we tend to forget the reason why we have these upgrades is because they are trying to grow and correct what needs to be done on their earlier lines. that shows a sense of responsibility on their end, and i applaud them for it.

if they didnt, guess what?!? the masses end up complaining yet AGAIN for something.

sad reality?

damned if you do, damned if you dont.

want everything for nothing. yet not want to understand, dont want to get up, yet dont remember the days they had to stand up to change the channel back in the day.

[hc666]

Isn't there suppose to be a quality control group that makes sure that all movies play on all players?

Pretty sure it was posted here months ago.

[overdrive00]

I am interested in the replacement discs that Paramount sent out to the people that got early review copies.

Has anyone that has had an issue actually recieved a retail copy? Maybe this is something that Paramount has caught and is getting addressed through them and not a firmware issue at all???

[SpikesBluBlooded]

The reason that many of us are having to install firmware updates is simple: we have first-and-second generation machines. The PS3 was the first 2.0 compliant product on the market, and, surprise surprise, it isn't having any of the above problems. The reason? It's ithernet link allows it to automatically download upgrades as needed, without the user being aware.

This is the price for being an early adopter. While I agree that Joe-Six-Pack will not put up with this kind of hassle, he's not buying a BD-player yet, either. The industry is anticipating having 2.0 players on the market, en masse, for this upcoming holiday season. 1.0 and 1.1 players will be deeply discounted, and it will be buyer beware. While retailers should be explaining to consumers the differences in the players their purchasing, a buyer should be asking themselves why one play is substantially cheaper than the other. I also think it would benefit the industry if they put a label on the outside of all 1.0 and 1.1 players advising buyers that a firmware update may be needed to play future releases.

In the end, this will be a blip in the history of Blu-ray, and the masses will never have had the experience, as all players will be 2.0 moving forward. Those of us who have been around a while know that this was caused by having to release the format early to compete with HD DVD, and knowing that, I would rather have gone through firmware updates for Blu-ray than have to had been stuck with "good enough" HD DVD. Just my 2-cents...

[donutman925]

You should have bought a PS3, I have NEVER had any problems with it. Software will only go so far with outdated hardware.

[Teabaggins]