Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray Player (August 2009 review link)

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Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray Player (August 2009 review link)

This Sony BLU-RAY player is an improvement over other standalone Sony players. It still lacks internal memory for BD-LIVE but includes a 1GB Sony micro flash drive. I still prefer the Panasonic BLU-RAY players with front SD card slots. Front SD card slots are easier to access and look better cosmetically over the few players on the market that have front USB slots. The Sony places the micro USB slot in the rear which looks good cosmetically but makes it hard to change out the memory once the player is in a cabinet. This Sony player has legacy 480I S-Video connection that the OPPO and latest Panasonic players lack. According to the review the build quality on the Sony is excellent but for $2,000 it is disappointing that the Sony BDP-S5000ES load times are comparable to the BDP-S350. Also this $2,000 Sony player failed a few 1080I deinterlacing tests. The Sony BDP-S5000ES does not play SACD's or DVD-Audio discs either. The OPPO BDP-83 has better quality video when playing 480I DVD's and BLU-RAY concert videos encoded at 1080I. Plus the OPPO plays DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD's and loads BLU-RAY discs faster compared to the Sony BDP-S5000ES.

Here are some select quotes from the review:

" With the BDP-S5000ES, Sony certainly didn't skimp on build quality. The body has a very sophisticated look and feel, with a machined front face and gold-plated reinforced connectors on the back. All connectors have a solid feel—they aren't the cheap stamped variety found on most budget players. The connectors include a 7.1-channel analog output plus a separate 2-channel analog output. On the digital side, there are TosLink and coaxial digital-audio outputs and, of course, an HDMI 1.3a output. The player also provides component, composite, and S-video outputs."


" Unfortunately, the BDP-S5000ES takes a step backward in this department—it didn't pass our 3:2 or 2:2 deinterlacing tests. This is surprising at this price point, since there are a number of lower-cost players that have no problems with these tests. There are only a few 1080i-encoded Blu-ray discs out there, but it's still important for a player to offer the right video processing to maximize video performance with all discs. Considering the fact that Sony Music releases the majority of 1080i content on the Blu-ray market, it's even more baffling that this player doesn't offer premium-quality video processing."


" I was disappointed by the BDP-S5000ES’ video-processing performance with our standard tests. High-end models from Denon and Pioneer Elite incorporate state-of-the-art processing, and even low-priced designs from Panasonic and other manufacturers offer excellent performance and pass our HD video-processing tests. Hopefully, this is something that Sony will address with future ES models. The video performance here is comparable to standard Sony Blu-ray players that are available for less."

"Conclusion
I’m a bit on the fence when it comes to Sony’s new flagship design. The build quality is impeccable, and the player does a superb job with DVD and Blu-ray playback at 1080p/24. With full interactivity and advanced audio covered, this is a player that will serve the consumer’s basic needs for a long time. And the step-up CD playback performance over analog is commendable. However, at this price point, I think consumers should expect more cutting-edge features like high-end HD video processing and wireless connectivity."

The entire review written by Kris Deering can be read at the following UltimeAVmag.com link
http://www.ultimateavmag.com/hddiscplayers/sony_bdp-s5000es_blu-ray_player/index.html