The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Neo

BTW: "Tank" is a good nickname for this player.

If you mean "tank" as in "slow as a tank", you got it right. I bought one in hopes that it would have a big speed improvement over my BDP-S1 - it didn't. It doesn't freeze as much as the BDP-S1 during movies (despite upgrades), but most annoyingly still does on occasion. Regardless of what they have come out with since, Sony has taken a big credibility hit with these players - definitely "beta" versions not yet ready for prime time. I will take my $1300 loss and buy another player (not Sony) during Black Friday.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

If you mean "tank" as in "slow as a tank", you got it right. I bought one in hopes that it would have a big speed improvement over my BDP-S1 - it didn't. It doesn't freeze as much as the BDP-S1 during movies (despite upgrades), but most annoyingly still does on occasion. ....

Well, you notice I didn't call it a racecar. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race. In this case, Sony really seems to have some quality control issues with the player. I live with the slow load times because it is otherwise a solid player for my needs. I'd love to see a 5.0 firmware with all the code compiled into machine code. That would really give us a nice boost.

I can envision a day where this player will see an after market support group with tweaks and repairs. Those old home computers from the 1980's have such groups. Talk about tanks!

To be fair, it isn't the player which all that slow. The Java code slows this down. They say Java is great because it is "portable" yet the system requirements for it are still high. Until faster and cheaper processessors are made just for blu-ray, even the best players will seem a tad pokey compared to DVD. A non-Java BD still loads in under 35 seconds.

PS3 owners, just don't go there.

[got rice]

i've owned mine for close to 2 yrs now and haven't had any issues. My sister on the other hand has one and its a mess. I don' think she's ever updated it though.

Just curious, I want a BDP that bitsreams so what would be a reaonable price to sell my 301? I'll give the buyer a 2 day return period just to make sure it is satifactory.

[azncarbos]

question....can we use the remote from the Sony BDP-S350 model # RMT-B102A to control the BDP-S300?

[Rogue4T]

I know this topic has been covered but still some confusion. I have updated the 300 to ver 4.5 set it to PCM, when it outputs to my Sony STR-DG820 receiver it only seems like 5.1. I know that it is not going to display True HD but the speaker indicators only light up 5.1, I would think that all 7.1 should light up? The move does have 7.1 on it, I put same movie on a Samsung 2550 to a Pioneer receiver both do true hd and the Pioneer lights up true hd and all 7.1.
Thanks

[hardcorefrokid]

Originally Posted by Rogue4T

I know this topic has been covered but still some confusion. I have updated the 300 to ver 4.5 set it to PCM, when it outputs to my Sony STR-DG820 receiver it only seems like 5.1. I know that it is not going to display True HD but the speaker indicators only light up 5.1, I would think that all 7.1 should light up? The move does have 7.1 on it, I put same movie on a Samsung 2550 to a Pioneer receiver both do true hd and the Pioneer lights up true hd and all 7.1.
Thanks

Dumb question: Is it a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD movie?

[Dreedree]

Originally Posted by Rogue4T

I know this topic has been covered but still some confusion. I have updated the 300 to ver 4.5 set it to PCM, when it outputs to my Sony STR-DG820 receiver it only seems like 5.1. I know that it is not going to display True HD but the speaker indicators only light up 5.1, I would think that all 7.1 should light up? The move does have 7.1 on it, I put same movie on a Samsung 2550 to a Pioneer receiver both do true hd and the Pioneer lights up true hd and all 7.1.
Thanks

The S300 only has 5.1 output, unless you use HDMI. If you use HDMI-ouput it is 7.1.
I use this player and I'm very happy with it. I only have 5 speakers and a sub-woofer, so 5.1 is good enough for me.
My YAMAHA-receiver has a special mode called "External Decoder" and accepts 5.1 PCM sound. When i watch a movie and switch to Dolby True-HD, I see (when I press the "Display"-button twice) that the audio-transmission is sometime more than "35 Mbps".

My receiver show only "External Decoder" , but I hear a terrific sound.

With DTS-HD MA it is an entirely different thing, however.
The S300 DOES NOT DECODE DTS HD-MA.
However, it transfers the "DTS-core" to the receiver and it stil sounds way better than any DVD I ever heard.

I hope this gives you any "usefull" information.

[snowball_iv]

So my reciever is a onkyo and it only does hdmi pass through, so i won't be able to get hd sound. So instead of upgrading my reciever, i will have to upgrade my blu ray player to get hd sound? RIght?

[jomari]

Originally Posted by snowball_iv

So my reciever is a onkyo and it only does hdmi pass through, so i won't be able to get hd sound. So instead of upgrading my reciever, i will have to upgrade my blu ray player to get hd sound? RIght?

if possible, id rather upgrade your current receiver, since it only functions as a passthrough in regards to your hdmi connections. a receiver with 'repeating' capabilities can somehow milk a little bit more out of your current s300 player.

[snowball_iv]

But if i just upgrade my receiver, the only hd sound i will be able to get, out of the s300 is Dolby TrueHD, and i still would'nt be able to acheive DTS HD MA. Where as, if i got a new blu ray player that was able to decode all that, i could just send it through already decoded to reciever or send it through 7.1 Analog.

[Nbika]

I bought this blu-ray player in 2007 along with a Sony Bravia 1080P TV.

I have not been able to play the following movies.

Rachel Getting Married wouldn't play at all

Nixon/Frost would boot up until I pressed play, then it would go back to black screen

New in Town, just wouldn't play

I went to the Sony website to see if there was a firmware fix for this, but all of their downloads were only compatible with Microsoft operating systems. I use an iMac.

Anyone know what the problem is??

Nbika

[cartman781]

Originally Posted by Nbika

I bought this blu-ray player in 2007 along with a Sony Bravia 1080P TV.

I have not been able to play the following movies.

Rachel Getting Married wouldn't play at all

Nixon/Frost would boot up until I pressed play, then it would go back to black screen

New in Town, just wouldn't play

I went to the Sony website to see if there was a firmware fix for this, but all of their downloads were only compatible with Microsoft operating systems. I use an iMac.

Anyone know what the problem is??

Nbika

Call Sony, they will send you a firmware disc

[Astalder]

Originally Posted by Dreedree

With DTS-HD MA it is an entirely different thing, however.
The S300 DOES NOT DECODE DTS HD-MA.
However, it transfers the "DTS-core" to the receiver and it stil sounds way better than any DVD I ever heard.

I hope this gives you any "usefull" information.

Thank you for that, finally figured out that I wasn't getting everything from DTS HD MA soundtracks. Took me awhile to notice since I get PCM and TrueHD out of this this thing, but this is enough of a reason to go on and upgrade to a BDP-S360 since more studios are shifting to DTS HD MA.

[snowball_iv]

Originally Posted by Astalder

Thank you for that, finally figured out that I wasn't getting everything from DTS HD MA soundtracks. Took me awhile to notice since I get PCM and TrueHD out of this this thing, but this is enough of a reason to go on and upgrade to a BDP-S360 since more studios are shifting to DTS HD MA.

Ya, i was playing on upgrading my receiver and speakers and all that next. But there is no point unless i am getting all the hd sound i can get, so i just better upgrade my blu ray player first. Now i need to try and sell my blu ray player.

[MasterSandman]

What's the difference between the Sony BDP-S300 and the Sony BDP-S301? I'm looking to do a firmware upgrade on the player that my in-laws have but I can't figure out which model it is. It hasn't had an upgrade at all so it's having issues with most discs.

The manual says both models on it! Would the same upgrade work for either model?

[bluskies]

Originally Posted by MasterSandman

What's the difference between the Sony BDP-S300 and the Sony BDP-S301? I'm looking to do a firmware upgrade on the player that my in-laws have but I can't figure out which model it is. It hasn't had an upgrade at all so it's having issues with most discs.

The manual says both models on it! Would the same upgrade work for either model?

They are the same model. The S301 was Costco's way of naming theirs individually (it came with the HDMI cable in the box). The upgrade will be the same but if you want to be sure, contact Sony directly and tell them you have the Sony S301 and want to get the most recent update disc. They will send it to you for free.

[got rice]

Originally Posted by MasterSandman

What's the difference between the Sony BDP-S300 and the Sony BDP-S301? I'm looking to do a firmware upgrade on the player that my in-laws have but I can't figure out which model it is. It hasn't had an upgrade at all so it's having issues with most discs.

The manual says both models on it! Would the same upgrade work for either model?

Sony-e support folow these steps and you can get the latest update. Make sure you use an IMAGE file.

[Rogue4T]

yes the movie is 7.1, I tried the same movie on my other system samsung dvd and pioneer receiver and it does 7.1 no problem.

[Rogue4T]

Originally Posted by Dreedree

The S300 only has 5.1 output, unless you use HDMI. If you use HDMI-ouput it is 7.1.
I use this player and I'm very happy with it. I only have 5 speakers and a sub-woofer, so 5.1 is good enough for me.
My YAMAHA-receiver has a special mode called "External Decoder" and accepts 5.1 PCM sound. When i watch a movie and switch to Dolby True-HD, I see (when I press the "Display"-button twice) that the audio-transmission is sometime more than "35 Mbps".

My receiver show only "External Decoder" , but I hear a terrific sound.

With DTS-HD MA it is an entirely different thing, however.
The S300 DOES NOT DECODE DTS HD-MA.
However, it transfers the "DTS-core" to the receiver and it stil sounds way better than any DVD I ever heard.

I hope this gives you any "usefull" information.

YES it is connected by HDMI. I have 7.1 speakers connected to the receiver. The move is D True HD 7.1.
I also have a Toshiba HD-DVD hooked up that decodes D True HD and it does show up as such on the Sony receiver.

So even tough I upgraded the firmware of the BDP300, have it set to PCM and use an HDMI cable, movie is 7.1 it only seems to put out 5.1.

any ideas? Thanks

[Rogue4T]

Originally Posted by hardcorefrokid

Dumb question: Is it a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD movie?

Sorry, in a hurry this morning.

Yes movie testing with is 7.1, it works fine on different system.

Thanks