Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player by Sony
|
Our Price: $399.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $24.99 (click here) Category: Home Theater See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
Digital camera Review: A fine unit
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my second Blu-Ray player, and it is much better than the first, more expensive one. It is much smaller and easier to use and the picture is sharper.Digital camera Review: A good, entry-level Blu-ray player
Summary: 4 Stars
Make no mistake; this Blu-ray player is an entry-level player without the bells-and-whistles and faster loading times of more expensive models, but, within the price range, you can't get a better player. It works right out of the box, with only a few minutes of connection and set-up time. Although it cannot stream Netflix, it does have an ethernet port for BD Live and firmware updates. For the energy-conscious, it has two power settings: one for slower load times but less energy consumption, and one that uses more power to load more quickly. If you've never owned a Blu-ray player before, you're likely find both load times disconcerting; however, if you are upgrading one of the earlier Blu-Ray models, which could be excruciatingly slow, you'll find even the energy-efficient load-times to be acceptable.
Although Blu-ray discs are still more difficult to find and are more costly than regular DVDs, I recommend getting a Blu-ray player to allow the option of playing both, especially if you plan to hook this to a 1080p HD television set. Unless you've seen the difference on a 1080p set between traditional DVD and Blu-ray, you won't believe how much crisper a technology Blu-ray is; even the sound is better when played through a home theater system. On a lower-end 720p TV, Blu-ray still looks better, although obviously you won't get the same eye-popping detail.
The model is sleek-looking, thin, and low-profile, allowing it to slide into a relatively small space, although make sure you leave enough air circulation around it to prevent overheating. When ordering, don't forget that you need a separate HDMI cable. Try AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters) [Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel].
For the price point, this Blu-ray player cannot be beat. UPDATE 12/26/2010: I notice the prices for this model can vary widely. This BluRay player's price should place it in the budget category; if it does not, then you may be paying too much for it.
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Digital camera Review: A great blu-ray player
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this player when I was on vacation in Toronto three weeks ago and it is really great. It is small, fast, decodes all the HD audio codecs (including Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD and DTS-HD MA) and it has profile 2.0 with BD live. I was looking for a good and cheap region A player with all the audio decoding and I found exactly what I was looking for with this player. The picture is really good, even better than the picture from my Playstation 3 and equal to the picture on my region B BDP-S550. This player doesn't have 7.1 analogue RCA outputs but if you have an amp with HDMI you don't need to spend extra money on that.
I have read other people's reviews criticizing the remote and I have to agree with it. It seems very strange that no eject button was on the remote and Home button is too close to the play button. But since the player is fast with the ejecting process and you will learn the remote by heart when you have used it for a while I wouldn't even subtract a star from the rating of the player since is the player itself is so good.
One thing about the setup that I found out was the same as my region B BDP-S550 was that in order to get the DTS-HD and DTS-HD MA sound I had to choose Direct on BD Audio Setting, but this is a minor issue.
This is very highly recommended
Digital camera Review: A great, basic Blu-Ray player
Summary: 5 Stars
There are lots of new Blu-Ray players coming out with advanced features like network streaming of videos. But I've already got an Xbox360 hooked up to my home theater, and several PCs available as well, and all of them can handle any video streaming needs I may have. All I really needed was a Blu-Ray player that would do a really nice job playing Blu-Ray discs and my old DVDs. Thanks to the new players, the price on this one has really dropped, so I pounced.
I had one small glitch hooking it up. My HDTV is an older Sony 34" CRT that handles 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i, but not 1080p. I hooked the Blu-Ray player up through my Onkyo receiver using an HDMI cable, which then handles the connection to the TV. When I told the BDP-S360 to use the HDMI connection, all I got was a black screen. I ended up having to use the composite video cables that come with the player to get a picture, and then told the player to use 720p output. Everything then worked fine. So something in the handshake between the TV, receiver, and player thought 1080p was supported, but once forced to 720p everything was fine.
Disc loading times aren't bad, taking about the same time as booting up my Xbox360 or turning on my 400-disc DVD changer, so I really didn't notice them. The picture, even at only 720p, is FANTASTIC, showing details I just never noticed before and really enhancing the picture. An example here is that with Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (yes, most of my viewing is for the kids), the pixie dust effects on the DVD have a lot more "glow" to them, while on the Blu-Ray they are individual sparks that don't cover the background as much. The detail improvement is really impressive.
Updating the firmware was pretty trivial. With the Xbox360 and a Wii I already have ethernet running to the entertainment center along with a hub, so I just hooked up another cable and it downloaded and upgraded easily.
So far I'm very happy. If you really want video streaming you may need to look elsewhere, or if you need a WiFi network connection, but since I did not need either this was a perfect fit at a very good price.
Digital camera Review: A lot for the cost
Summary: 4 Stars
I am not a heavy DVD player user and have used this player only a few times, but it did everything I expected with no hassle and great results!