Sony BDP-S350... is it worth it?

[manictuco87]

I already have a PS3 as my blu-ray player but I would like to have a stand-alone player in my living room. I want to solely use it for its bitstreaming capabilities since I have an Onkyo tx-sr606 and it decode the lossless codecs. Any one have one? Is it worth it? I really don't care about the BD-live capabilties since my PS3 already has that capability. I'm hoping it will go down to around $300 or less by Christmas time so I can buy myself one as a Christmas present!

[Son of Odin]

Mine just arrived from amazon. It's worth every penny. loaded spidey 3 in less than 30 seconds. fast startup and great PQ. just destroys my samsung 1400. the PS3 type xmb is impressive also.

[steve1971]

Is it worth it? Yes it is! I have had mine for about a week now and so far the player has delievered the goods in so many ways like fast loading time, great sound and excellent picture quality. I cant find one negative thing to say about it except that I will have to upload the BD-Live from Sony when its avalible but I knew that before I bought it so its no big deal really. Otherwise this player rocks like hell and I think you would love it.

Another great product from Sony.

[SNAP]

Originally Posted by steve1971

Is it worth it? Yes it is! I have had mine for about a week now and so far the player has delievered the goods in so many ways like fast loading time, great sound and excellent picture quality. I cant find one negative thing to say about it except that I will have to upload the BD-Live from Sony when its avalible but I knew that before I bought it so its no big deal really. Otherwise this player rocks like hell and I think you would love it.

Another great product from Sony.

Couldnt agree more Steve......Go it Tuesday and I love it. Yes it's small & light but it's built for speed as it loads very quickly. Sold my S300 on ebay for $250.00 and got this baby for $318.00. I have the Onkyo 705 and the SQ & PQ are outstanding. The 705 & this player are made for each other.
The 300 decoded TrueHD thru PCM but not DTS-MA. The 350 pass both these codecs thru bitstream and also internally decodes TrueHD, which IMHO is better sounding than DTS-MA...at least on Close Encounters.

Steve

[manictuco87]

Wow! It seems like everyone loves this player. I will definitely buy it come Christmas time! Christmas can't come soon enough!

[snipsnapsappy]

P.S., the S300 does not decode TrueHD to PCM.

[SatinKzo]

Originally Posted by manictuco87

Wow! It seems like everyone loves this player. I will definitely buy it come Christmas time! Christmas can't come soon enough!

I've only had mine a few hours but so far it's a breath of fresh blu air!

After owning the debacle that was the Samsung 1400, I tried the 1500 (which I sold my BD30 to get) and until a few days ago, it was ok, then the FW update hit (I waited until 2 days ago to load it) and my 1500 went south so fast I got whiplash. I returned it and bought the S350.

All I can say so far is wow, even when my 1500 was working, it wasn't as easy to use as the S350. Also, So far everyone in the family seems to think the S350 PQ is superior to the 1500.

Only thing the 1500 did better was it had a faster load time, but then again, it also put off a crap load of heat and became warm/hot to the touch after a 2 hour movie. S350 does not have this problem.

[SNAP]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

P.S., the S300 does not decode TrueHD to PCM.

It seems to say it does on page 48 of the manual........unless I'm reading it wrong.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...=BDPS300&LOC=3

[bluskiessmingatme]

I have the S300 and love it, but have been thinking about upgrading to the S350 for the 1.1 capabilities (and I guess 2.0 if there really is ever anything worth checking out). One thing I noticed in looking at the online manual for the S350 was that the remote doesn't have the button that is on the S300 that lets YOU tell the machine what you want to output the video at, ranging from 480p up to 1080p, even if it is a standard DVD. I liked that feature.

And then, a day ago, I read in one of these threads here or on blu-ray.com that the S350 doesn't have a slow-motion capability, which is on the S300 from the remote. Someone said it was good trade-off to get something else but I hate to say it but it is a deal breaker for me. There are times I want to see something in slow motion. Not often, but I want it to be there.

I figure Sony got the machine down to $399, the same price the S300 was at, by eliminating some features. I think I will continue with my S300 and see what the S550 will have when it comes out in a few months.

[cliffeman]

I've been reading lots of good things about this player. I'm going to pick it up later on today. With the BB 12% coupon, it'll be 380.50 out the door. Finally gonna replace my Samsung 1400 (that i've had good luck with since day one).

[chris gerhard]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

P.S., the S300 does not decode TrueHD to PCM.

I have read that the BDP-S300 decodes Dolby TrueHD and outputs PCM over HDMI or analog 5.1 and that the ability was added with a firmware update. The master list of players doesn't mention this but I have seen the claim more than once. Do you own the player and know the Dolby TrueHD decoding ability first hand?

Chris

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by chris gerhard

I have read that the BDP-S300 decodes Dolby TrueHD and outputs PCM over HDMI or analog 5.1 and that the ability was added with a firmware update. The master list of players doesn't mention this but I have seen the claim more than once. Do you own the player and know the Dolby TrueHD decoding ability first hand?

Chris

I have also read from a Blu-Ray insider (paidgeek) that the S300 does decode TrueHD internally but it will only pass it via PCM over HDMI. He said this update was unannounced (I am guessing because of the lack of analog output support).

[SNAP]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

I have also read from a Blu-Ray insider (paidgeek) that the S300 does decode TrueHD internally but it will only pass it via PCM over HDMI. He said this update was unannounced (I am guessing because of the lack of analog output support).

Page 48 of the manual says the same thing. It doesnt show up on your receiver display as TrueHD........it shows as on mine as Multich PCM

[Centauri]

All I know is that when I switched between DD and TrueHD on I Am Legend, I definitely heard a difference.

My receiver is non-HD and I have my S300 hooked to it via coaxial.

[manictuco87]

Like I said, I just want to get the 350 solely for bitstreaming the lossless codecs and for the convenience because I have the PS3 in my room and usually bring it to the living to watch blu-rays in surround sound. And for the record, I got a chance to look at the BDP-S350 last night at Sears. I was curious to see if they had it and they did! It looks great and so compact compared to those other big bulky blu-ray players I've seen. I loved it right off the bat. The picture quality look awesome.