The Sony BDP-S1 Review Thread

[iceman]

Post reviews and your own personal experiences with the BDP-S1 here

[Jim]

When I saw that my local BestBuy had the Sony in stock, I returned my Phillips and got the Sony.

Nice solid feel to the box itself. And the picture looks great. The only problem I had was I prefer using the optical output to my audio receiver instead of taking everything to the TV in the HDMI cable and then taking the audio back out of the TV and to my audio receiver. To me it just sounds better, a richer sound if it goes directly from the player to the audio receiver with the optical output.

However, I found that when I did that, I got a loud humming sound out of the speakers for about 1 second if I hit the pause button or the skip to next chapter button. And also, there is a 2 - 3 second delay after the video restarted before the sound kicks back in.

I tried taking the sound out of the TV and to the audio receiver and there is no humming sound or any delay between the video restarting and the audio kicking in. But again, it just sounds better if I use the audio cable. I called Sony customer service and after trying a bunch of stuff, we found that in the audio setup, if you change the Dolby Digital, and the DTS to the Downmix PCM option there is no more humming on pausing or skiping to the next chapter. It looks like my sound system is the problem. Just needs to have the older sound options sent instead of the newer ones. Looks like once I get my new HDTV and my Blu-ray player paid off, I might be shoping for a new surround sound system.

[Jim]

Almost forgot, it also plays standard aspect DVD's correctly. The only real problem I had with the Phillips was that on standard aspect DVD's it would stretch it horizontally to fill the screen. Sony plays them correctly.

[krisztoforo]

http://www.iq.sony.com/srvs/DocsConn...=76785&DL=true

[KenThompson]

Picked up my Sony bdp s1 yesterday, It plays beatifully, It has a solid construction and weight to it to suggest quality. Only downside is I paid full price at Best Buy. Just started watching Underworld and the picture is Fab

[SpdDmon]

Originally Posted by Jim

When I saw that my local BestBuy had the Sony in stock, I returned my Phillips and got the Sony.

now i know this is gonna sound really retarded but do you think BB will let me exchange my samsung from a sptember purchase?

[Jim]

Originally Posted by SpdDmon

now i know this is gonna sound really retarded but do you think BB will let me exchange my samsung from a sptember purchase?

Probably depends on when in September. Don't they have a 90 day return policy?

[goodstuff]

30 days

[Vader]

Originally Posted by goodstuff

30 days

60 due to the holidays.

[dwberryman]

Have you tried un-grounding the AVR with a two prong adapter plug? I had hum at one time but when I put the two prong adapter on my AVR the hum was gone. If this doesn't work you may need to put the adaptor on the player...a course of trial and error. All of my components are already grounded through a Monster AVS 2000 power regulator unit so un-grounding one of my components is of no subsequence. Good luck for I now how annoying a "hum" can be.

[rbuzz]

Thanks for the suggestion, but a humm isn't the problem. My player is for all intents and purposes dead. It shows "power on" on the front panel and will do nothing else. I also have a Monster HT Power Center for my player also so I know it is properly grounded. The Sony tech said that from what he understands I am not the only one having this problem and that the engineers are working on a solution. He said that a possible future update might be in the works. All I know is that Sony states in their literature and online that this player will work with r- DVDs and I based my purchase on that information. I was hoping to get a player that would work with all of my DVDs, both my present collection of regular DVD's and my future collection of blu-ray discs. I guess I'll probably have to invest in a second regular DVD player to handle this type of disc and hope that I don't forget and put the wrong disc in and lock up the works. At the very least maybe they can put in a software update that will put out a message that a disc that will not play in the unit when it is inserted and allow you to remove the disc instead of freezing up everything and forcing you to take the player in for service. I can tell you it's no fun when you have just put out almost a thousand dollars on a new DVD player and it won't do anything. The company that I bought the unit from is talking to their Sony rep and is supposed to contact me later today with any suggestions on how to handle this.

[dentalrep]

I have my HDMI cable going to the back of my XBR2 60in SXRD TV and from there I have my audio cables going to my Sony Dream System. I noticed the volume was really low compared to cable shows. What audio settings should I use?



I tested the sound out with the HDMI just going into the TV and it just isn't as loud as cable. I am getting to the 80's in sound for it to be a nice sound.

[rbuzz]

Originally Posted by rbuzz

Thanks for the suggestion, but a humm isn't the problem. My player is for all intents and purposes dead. It shows "power on" on the front panel and will do nothing else. I also have a Monster HT Power Center for my player also so I know it is properly grounded. The Sony tech said that from what he understands I am not the only one having this problem and that the engineers are working on a solution. He said that a possible future update might be in the works. All I know is that Sony states in their literature and online that this player will work with r- DVDs and I based my purchase on that information. I was hoping to get a player that would work with all of my DVDs, both my present collection of regular DVD's and my future collection of blu-ray discs. I guess I'll probably have to invest in a second regular DVD player to handle this type of disc and hope that I don't forget and put the wrong disc in and lock up the works. At the very least maybe they can put in a software update that will put out a message that a disc that will not play in the unit when it is inserted and allow you to remove the disc instead of freezing up everything and forcing you to take the player in for service. I can tell you it's no fun when you have just put out almost a thousand dollars on a new DVD player and it won't do anything. The company that I bought the unit from is talking to their Sony rep and is supposed to contact me later today with any suggestions on how to handle this.

After spending hours and hours on the phone with Sony technicians about a possible solution to my problem with the locked up player I had just about given up. Even if I was able to exchange the unit for a new one, I had no guarantee that the new one would play the DVD r-. The software version installed on my unit was version 1.50 which I thought was the latest version. Today I was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from Sony about the problem with my unit. After checking with the engineers at Sony I was told that my problem was caused by a software problem. Sony has agreed to exchange my unit for a new one with the latest software installed, which by the way is version 1.55. I don't have any details about which problems the newest upgrade addresses, but I hope that it works. I also have to say thanks to Sony for backing up their product. When I do get the newly exchanged unit I will post to let everyone know if it worked.

[Greggles]

Originally Posted by rbuzz

Sony has agreed to exchange my unit for a new one with the latest software installed, which by the way is version 1.55.

I wonder when Sony will post this on their website, which currently has 1.50 as the latest firmware version?

[Kierre]

Sony had only released one firmware update thus far and still have not addressed the BD-R/BD-RE format discs, and I'm thinking that somehow certain writable DVDs are falling in the same boat. Were you using the same brand with each try? Please keep us posted.

[maizj]

I got mine hooked on Sunday and I watched Casino Royale-- Impressive !!!!! I could not believe how great it looks. However, I am still thinking wheter I should have purchased a Playstation 3 instead so that I can watch movies as well as play video games and be able to take full advantage of my HDTV and the Blu-Ray combination. However , I am concerned that the PS3 may not have the same definition and picture clarity as the Sony Player...

[bunkaroo]

Originally Posted by maizj

I got mine hooked on Sunday and I watched Casino Royale-- Impressive !!!!! I could not believe how great it looks. However, I am still thinking wheter I should have purchased a Playstation 3 instead so that I can watch movies as well as play video games and be able to take full advantage of my HDTV and the Blu-Ray combination. However , I am concerned that the PS3 may not have the same definition and picture clarity as the Sony Player...

I wouldn't worry about this. I have a PS3 and a BDP-S1, and when I did A/B testing I see no difference. The settings on the PS3 are a little less straightforward than the BDP-S1 (you have to look in two different places), but the best settings for it are surely posted here and elsewhere.

[MRMOTA]

Guys I need your help. I can get this unit for 399.99 minus 10% today brand new!!! So $360 plus tax out the door. Is it worth this change? How does it stack up to the newer sony and other mfg blu ray players? Aside from slow and not supporting 1.1 and 2.0 profiles any other big issues with it? Not sure but is this HDMI 1.3 compliant. Thanks for the help in advance..

[PS3LUVSBLURAY]

I just got a BDPS1 from my Best BUY Open Item for $100.00. YAY me. I just finished updating it to 3.10, and just now finished watching ratatouille. I LOVE IT!

Just wanted to share.

[kikkomaniac]

http://hdguru.com/?p=23

"the overall outstanding picture performance and quality of construction warrant it a ♥♥♥♥ rating , a best value in its class, the HD Guru says “Buy It”."

great news for hd-dvd