The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[lee08]

guys another question.
it says you have to use hdmi for those new sound formats like true hd and all the bd and hd dvd players have only one hdmi out so if you connect that to a receiver then what connection you use for picture? thanks

[Heart&Soul]

I was wondering the same thing.

[gavin995]

The signal (audio and video) will pass out of your BD player into your A/V receiver through the HDMI cable. Your A/V receiver should have at least one HDMI out to go to your television passing along both the video and audio.

[lee08]

thanks a lot!

[eric_angelus]

Greetings! This is my first post here...forgive me if I am putting up duplicate info...but I tried to do some searching for this topic and did not find anything.
I have the BDP-S300. I have had it just under a month and am loving it so far...I upgraded the firmware to 3.7 the other day. I have had two problems recently and just wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing the same.

Basically I have had two (actually 3) discs freeze up on me.
-I rented The Getaway from Netflix. When I put the disc in, the player gave me a "Can't Play this disc" message. I ejected it, and re-inserted it and it seemed to be fine. Then about an hour into the movie it froze up on me...and then jumped ahead 3 minutes or so. It then frozed again a few minutes later, and stayed frozen. I took the disc out and reported it defective to netflix. When I got the replacement, it froze up as well...not in the exact same place...but close. The first disc looked flawless (free of fingerprints, scratches, etc...the second had that typical netflix look of a disc that has been chewed on abit)
-Today I picked up a used copy of Speed. Once again, I got the "Can't play this disc" message. When I reloaded it, the load time was LONG. Eventually the menu came up...but was having alot of skipping and freezing issues. Then I finally got the movie to play...but once again it did the same thing that The Getaway did, freezing at about an hour in. A few times I was able to scan back and it would play, but then freeze at another point. I got frustrated and took the disc out...and watched the other used disc I bought today (Vacancy, which played fine). I then tried Speed again and had to really fight to get the disc to load (basically the same problem as before...only alot worse...had to try loading it 9 or 10 times before the player would even recognize the disc). It eventually froze again at the same point...and I actually had to unplug the player to get the disc out.

Is anyone else having a problem like this? Is it just bad luck? I thought maybe I should just not be trusting used media, but I have played 13 other discs, 5 of which have been used or rental items...and they all seem fine. But it has me a bit nervous to have 3 out of 16 giving me problems. I am a bit concerned that the Java content is causing the problem and this is just going to be something I am going to have to live with (certain discs just not playing on my player)...or could it be that the player itself has an issue...anyone with any thoughts or advice, please let me know what you think.

[Meerkat]

Originally Posted by eric_angelus

Greetings! This is my first post here...forgive me if I am putting up duplicate info...but I tried to do some searching for this topic and did not find anything.
I have the BDP-S300. I have had it just under a month and am loving it so far...I upgraded the firmware to 3.7 the other day. I have had two problems recently and just wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing the same.

Basically I have had two (actually 3) discs freeze up on me.
-I rented The Getaway from Netflix. When I put the disc in, the player gave me a "Can't Play this disc" message. I ejected it, and re-inserted it and it seemed to be fine. Then about an hour into the movie it froze up on me...and then jumped ahead 3 minutes or so. It then frozed again a few minutes later, and stayed frozen. I took the disc out and reported it defective to netflix. When I got the replacement, it froze up as well...not in the exact same place...but close. The first disc looked flawless (free of fingerprints, scratches, etc...the second had that typical netflix look of a disc that has been chewed on abit)
-Today I picked up a used copy of Speed. Once again, I got the "Can't play this disc" message. When I reloaded it, the load time was LONG. Eventually the menu came up...but was having alot of skipping and freezing issues. Then I finally got the movie to play...but once again it did the same thing that The Getaway did, freezing at about an hour in. A few times I was able to scan back and it would play, but then freeze at another point. I got frustrated and took the disc out...and watched the other used disc I bought today (Vacancy, which played fine). I then tried Speed again and had to really fight to get the disc to load (basically the same problem as before...only alot worse...had to try loading it 9 or 10 times before the player would even recognize the disc). It eventually froze again at the same point...and I actually had to unplug the player to get the disc out.

Is anyone else having a problem like this? Is it just bad luck? I thought maybe I should just not be trusting used media, but I have played 13 other discs, 5 of which have been used or rental items...and they all seem fine. But it has me a bit nervous to have 3 out of 16 giving me problems. I am a bit concerned that the Java content is causing the problem and this is just going to be something I am going to have to live with (certain discs just not playing on my player)...or could it be that the player itself has an issue...anyone with any thoughts or advice, please let me know what you think.

I would say not to trust Netflix or used discs. I have Netflix also, and never had a issue. Far as freeze or skips, my player has never experienced any of these. I recommend basing playback issues on disc that are new or that you know are in undamaged pristine condition. I certainly would not make an assumption that the player is faulty due to rental or used discs.

[eric_angelus]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

I would say not to trust Netflix or used discs. I have Netflix also, and never had a issue. Far as freeze or skips, my player has never experienced any of these. I recommend basing playback issues on disc that are new or that you know are in undamaged pristine condition. I certainly would not make an assumption that the player is faulty due to rental or used discs.

Yeah, thats what I am hoping, it just seems so odd that I would have it happen so much in the last couple of days. Just my bad luck I hope. I prefer that to an actual player issue. Plus, as I have been hunting around for info I did see some reports of issues with Speed. I'm just gonna try and return it, and write The Getaway off as a fluke. Thanks for the tip!

[lee08]

Why the TV flickers when I watch blu-ray? I have no problem with dvd.

[JasonR]

Turn down your sharpness.

[lee08]

thank you so much

[kasjun]

was looking into a bluray player and came here to see if you guys that have players would recomend the bdp-s300 or not. just looking through some of the posts it seems like it has quite a few guys having problems with the speed of operation. what do you think? i have a 37" lg 720p set to use it on.

[Meerkat]

I can give my honest assessment of my S300:

Cons:
1. Slow load times.
2. Does not have any HD decoders. (only ouputs DD and DTS)
3. Profile 1.0, means it basicly will only play the movie and not PIP (1.1) or Interactive features (2.0).

Pros:
1. Player has been very reliable and played every blu disc tryed.
2. Although no HD decoders, DD and DTS sound pretty good.
3. This unit is well built.

If your looking for a basic Profile 1.0 unit, then this is a solid player.

[Sandman416]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

I can give my honest assessment of my S300:

Cons:
1. Slow load times.
2. Does not have any HD decoders. (only ouputs DD and DTS)
3. Profile 1.0, means it basicly will only play the movie and not PIP (1.1) or Interactive features (2.0).

Pros:
1. Player has been very reliable and played every blu disc tryed.
2. Although no HD decoders, DD and DTS sound pretty good.
3. This unit is well built.

If your looking for a basic Profile 1.0 unit, then this is a solid player.

I say the same thing. I like my 301, (same basic unit). However if your audio is an older unit then getting anything fancier won't do any good. I have to admit that when my daughter asked to go to BB tomorrow I thought about looking at the audio.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

I can give my honest assessment of my S300:

Cons:
1. Slow load times.
2. Does not have any HD decoders. (only ouputs DD and DTS)
3. Profile 1.0, means it basicly will only play the movie and not PIP (1.1) or Interactive features (2.0).

Pros:
1. Player has been very reliable and played every blu disc tryed.
2. Although no HD decoders, DD and DTS sound pretty good.
3. This unit is well built.

If your looking for a basic Profile 1.0 unit, then this is a solid player.

I've got Cars and Ratatouille, both of which feature what appear to be extensive use of Picture-in-Picture, and I have the Sony BDP S-300, and they both play fine. The firmware version is 1.4 or 1.6 (don't think I've done the 1.7 upgrade yet).

What am I missing?

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I've got Cars and Ratatouille, both of which feature what appear to be extensive use of Picture-in-Picture, and I have the Sony BDP S-300, and they both play fine. The firmware version is 1.4 or 1.6 (don't think I've done the 1.7 upgrade yet).

What am I missing?

The latest is 3.70, not 1.7. You are missing a little more speed in load times. The real problem is BD-J discs slow the load times. Non BD-J loads under 30 seconds. If they keep tweaking the Java we might see load times of under one minute for most movies. That is not bad considering. The S300 is still a diamond in the rough.

[kasjun]

i want to thank you guys for taking the time to post. not sure what i'm going to do yet. i think i'm going to put out feelers on a few of the other players that i'm interested in. thanks again.

[russtcb]

My wife is not at all into technology and I find her often cursing at the S300. She finds it to be unbearably slow going from powering on just to get the deck to open.

Sometimes I agree.

[vltor]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

I can give my honest assessment of my S300:

Cons:
1. Slow load times.
2. Does not have any HD decoders. (only ouputs DD and DTS)
3. Profile 1.0, means it basicly will only play the movie and not PIP (1.1) or Interactive features (2.0).

Pros:
1. Player has been very reliable and played every blu disc tryed.
2. Although no HD decoders, DD and DTS sound pretty good.
3. This unit is well built.

If your looking for a basic Profile 1.0 unit, then this is a solid player.

I basically concur...
Don't forget that the S300 outputs PCM!
I only wish for the TrueHD & DTS-MA decoding... but then I don't have any BD's that use that (yet).

[tron3]

Originally Posted by russtcb

My wife is not at all into technology and I find her often cursing at the S300. She finds it to be unbearably slow going from powering on just to get the deck to open.

Sometimes I agree.

I'll assume you have the latest firmware. Yes, it still takes 45 seconds to turn on. Yes, POTC still takes 1:40 to start, but that is a far cry of the 3 minutes it took with 2.0. But I forgave the slowness once I saw the picture. Some people are never satisfied.

[russtcb]

Originally Posted by tron3

I'll assume you have the latest firmware. Yes, it still takes 45 seconds to turn on. Yes, POTC still takes 1:40 to start, but that is a far cry of the 3 minutes it took with 2.0. But I forgave the slowness once I saw the picture. Some people are never satisfied.

I don't think expecting a consumer electronics item that you spent more then a few hundred dollars on to function quickly goes in the column of "some people never being satisfied".

You can't be serious. I like blu-ray as much as the next guy here and I wanna support it until the war is over as well. I honestly don't care what speed it started at before, that isn't any of my concern. I'm worried about where I'm at now and if they're gonna fix it in the future.

"Never being satisfied" and calling a spade a spade are two different things.