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Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
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Like a lot of people, my first Blu Ray player was my Playstation 3, which I bought last year. If you don't already have a PS3, that's worth considering instead of a stand alone player, because it doesn't cost much more, handles Blu Rays (and DVDs) well, and of course plays Playstation 3 games.
I even toyed with getting a second one, but decided a stand alone player would be a bit cheaper, and I didn't really need the second Playstation 3. (I've also since bought a Blu Ray drive for my computer, so I can watch Blu Rays on it too.)
Impressions of the s360:
-Audio and video are excellent. I can't notice any difference from my PS3.
-The unit is physically SMALL. It's actually smaller than my two stand alone DVD players (though is the same width as normal stereo components, so fits in fine)
-The unit is very quiet in operation-quieter than my two stand alone DVD players in fact. I don't think I can hear it at all except when it's first starting up, loading up a disc (and that only if the room is dead silent). Interestingly, the disc drive's seek sounds sound IDENTICAL to the drive in my Playstation 3! I'd be shocked if it's not basically the same drive.
-Remote is decent-I mean no remotes aside from Tivo's are particularly good, but this works as well as any other (the oft-noted omission of an eject button is a bit surprising, but not really missed, since you have to get up anyway, and the eject button on the unit is pretty large). (And thankfully unlike the PS3 remote, it's normal infrared, not Bluetooth.)
-Performance is very good. I think it takes SLIGHTLY longer than my PS3/PC to load the fancy interfaces some discs use (some discs replace the normal fast forward/rewind interfaces with their own themed interfaces, and loading that interface adds a few more seconds before the disc's ready-so far I've only run across this on two discs, and it's kind of pointless, but this player DOES seem to handle them just fine). Rewinding/fast forwarding on this isn't quite as smooth as my Playstation 3, but it works as you'd expect a normal DVD player to.
-Power usage is very low-the unit says it draws a *MAX* of 22 watts in operation
-Boot time takes...well I haven't timed it, but I'd guess maybe 15 seconds. To me that's plenty fast, but that can actually be cut by setting the player to use more power when it's "off" (essentially it presumably actually stays on, so it appears to boot faster). Players that claim they have faster boot times are probably just doing that same thing, without giving you the option of actually shutting the unit off.
-It has all the features and ports you'd expect from a unit like this, and has an excellent menu system, that's ripped straight off of the Playstation 3 and Portable (of course once you've set it up with the settings you want, you'll probably never really use the menu again, but it's easier than any DVD player's menus I've ever used).
-Unlike some players, it doesn't have internal memory to store "BD Live" internet features, but it does have a USB port where you can connect a USB memory device to enable those features. I have a spare one lying around, but haven't bothered hooking it up because I never use those features. I mean Blu Ray has some great additions over DVD, like the pop up menus that can adjust settings without going back to the main menu-but the internet features are pretty gimicky to me, and I've never used them. Still, this player does support all of that if you care.
(Also unlike many of this year's players, it lacks support for online services like Netflix's streaming service, etc. I don't use those (I just use Netflix's disc service), and if I did use them I already have other devices that connect to them, but if you check reviews, the s360 is a better BLU RAY PLAYER than those other devices-and I'm buying this to be a good Blu Ray player.
I'm probably forgetting something I'd like to mention, but honestly I could have quit after the first paragraph. If you're like me and just want something that WORKS without hassle, this is a great choice.
I had been worried about firmware updates but so far there have been no reason to update it - so no complaints there. I ordered some bluray discs (despite the ridiculous cost of them) and they are spectacular.
Now for the surprise - my old DVDs are spectacular too. This player makes DVD pictures an order of magnitude better then my old DVD player. The heck with buying bluray discs, I keep buying DVDs for one third the cost. I never expected to buy a bluray player to watch DVDs - but it was worth the purchase just for that.
The player is a bit slow when ejecting and loading, but I hear this is common to all bluray players. The unit was simple to set up and connect. Highly recommend this unit.
Up front I will say there are several things that drew me to this unit. One was the Sony brand (I am a loyal Sony user but I am also not a blind follower). Second was the fact that I also needed a new sound system to handle the quality of the blu ray sound and this Sony blu ray player was a companion to the Sony sound system I wanted to get (the HTSS360). The two look great together with identical black color, faceplate size and design. For both the blu ray player and the sound system for under $500 it was an easy sell.
The one other very important feature this unit had for me was the on-board processing of the True Dolby HD and HD DTS soundtracks. Having the blu ray player itself process these means you do not need to have the HD sound processed by your sound system-you can have these sent through the PCM channel and they are a definite upgrade from the regular 5.1 soundtracks. To explain, it's like the difference between a HDTV that is HDTV 'ready' and one that has a built-in tuner. In this case the receiver or sound system (with the PCM) is 'HD sound ready' and the blu player acts as the tuner. So you do NOT have to have a receiver or sound system that specifically processes HD audio to enjoy it.
This player was simple to set up with the connection of the HDMI cable and the nice-looking, user-friendly, on-screen menu it offers. The on-screen menu is used for a quick set-up and can easily be accessed to make any changes to your settings.
As for performance, the loading time for this unit is much quicker than I expected as a first-time blu user. It takes just a couple of seconds longer than my DVD upconverter but the video and sound quality are worth the wait of 2-3 extra seconds. Other people who have earlier blu models say the loading time on this unit is pretty quick comparatively. As I said, the picture produced and the HD sound are spectacular and make me very happy making the blu upgrade.
Other thoughts:
Yes, as others have mentioned there is no 'eject' button on the remote and it would be nice to have one. Otherwise, the remote has every function on it I would want. I love being able to pull up menus for the discs while the film is in progrss rather than having to stop playback to get to the menu.
It does not have the built-in wi-fi that is now available on other units but firmware updates can be done by connecting an Internet connection (or you can even download updates from Sony's website and update the player with a disc). I almost spent the extra money on the S560 player with the built-in wi-fi but from what I have heard it does not support streaming Netflix (which would have been my main reason for wanting the built-in wi-fi to begin with). I have not seen any BD live content that seems (to me) worth connecting to the Internet for.
So far every disc I have watched (both new releases and older ones) loaded with no problems and played seamlessly.
This unit does indeed upconvert DVDs but I didn't see any improvement over the Sony 5-disc upconverter I already have and plan to continue to use the upconverter for my DVDs and just use the blu player for the blu discs.
I do wish there was a 5-disc changer available but as of yet there is not one to my knowledge. I planned to wait for a 5-disc changer but with blu ray you don't normally have a movie split over two discs as you did with standard DVDs so I decided to go ahead and purchase this blu unit and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and have no reservations in recommending it.
We bought this player for great visuals, and that's why I'm giving it five stars, but we were shocked to learn that there's no resume play on blu-ray discs. This player has an option for going to a chapter or title, but there's no way to display the chapter or title while you're watching, so you don't know which chapter/title to go to. You can view the chapter number by hitting the Track Forward button, but then you're in a different place. You can display how much time has elapsed and then fast forward, but the fast forward is kludgy and you still have to sit through all the legal warnings plus fast forward through the previews.
In terms of convenience, our old VCR and standard DVD player were better; but after seeing these incredible visuals, there's no going back.
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