Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray Player

This is the second Sony blu-ray player I own,excellent upgrade for all non blu-ray discs, this model had a best buy award in what Hi-Fi magazine, blu-ray discs are so good with this machine you feel you could climb into the scene on the TV screen.
You can't go wrong with this, there is now a newer model available, sound quality linked up to a 5.1 surround sound system is superb, all possible with the numerous inputs & outputs at the rear of the unit.

I liked the sleek look of the Sony BDP-S350 this is why I decided to buy the model, I have been researching blu-ray players for a while and this seemed to be the best for me. I like the simple on screen menus used in this model, also used in the PS3 and PSP so I new straight away how to work it. I have bought a quite expensive gold plated hdmi cable, once set up I couldn't believe the quality of the onscreen picture. Blu-ray dvd's looked fantastic, but also my normal dvds's were upscaled so well the quality was equivalent to that of a blu-ray disc. This player is certainly value for money with great features and an easy remote to understand, I would highly recommend this product.

Boasting a six second start up time this player, although not quite Sony's flagship model boasts many features that many much more expensive machines don't have. Frankly there isn't much more on the higher model that's worth paying the extra for.

With onboard decoding for Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital+, True HD and DTS-HR sound there's only one sound format it doesn't cope with internally - DTS-MA. The good news is that it capable of spitting this out to an external decoder so choose an amp that handles DTS-MA and Bob's your uncle!

The extras on the higher model (BDP-S550) are that it DOES decode DTS-MA internally and it has 7.1 out in analogue form - the S350 only spits out stereo using analogue cables.

To get DD or DTS (5.1) you need to use its built in coaxial or optical ports and the other sound formats can only be sent via HDMI. No big deal if you've got (or are getting) a new AV amp.

Setup is relatively easy. This player (similar to a PC) tries outputting each resolution asking you to confirm if it's displayed properly. If no confirmation it reverts to a lower res. If you're buying 2nd hand or ex-display, you don't have a FULL HD telly & can't see a picture take note of it's reset function (read the manual to find out how).

Picture quality is impressive with sharp images & great depth of contrast. On playing normal DVDs its upscaling capability doesn't disappoint.

Using the latest revision of the HDMI standard (v1.3) means it's upto date on that front too. It also has an ethernet port for connecting to the internet and a USB port so you can plug flash memory into it (available very cheaply now).

These ports mean two things: firstly you can download firmware updates directly from the internet (which you'll need to do to update it to profile 2 - an easy process) and with flash memory installed you can access the BD-live functions on many of the newer discs.

Be careful if buying on Ebay that you're getting a UK (region B) model otherwise you may find many films bought from UK stores won't play.

RRP of these players is £250 and they're now cropping up on Ebay a bit cheaper. At the time of writing it's available at Richer Sounds for £170.

Edit (July 2009). ebay member purelynaturalmel points out that you need top quality leads to get the best from this player. If you're connecting with analogue leads I would agree with this point - but you'll NEVER get the full potential of video or audio using analogue with this format. You need to use HDMI. As these leads are digital it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether you use a £5 HDMI lead or one costing £100. At the end of the day this isn't analogue - it's digital. The "ones" & "zeros" either get to their destination or they don't. Paying extra for gold & oxygen free copper makes no difference and is a waste of your cash.

I looked forward to receiving the sony blu ray player with great anticipation and i was not to be disappointed. It's styling is sleek,slim and almost perfect to look at. It's features are excellent for the price. You can upgrade the firmware via internet connection so its easy to update. Once you have seen a blu ray movie you will not believe the difference of picture quality. This player also upscales your existing dvds to 1080p and again there is a noticable difference. One of the reasons i like this player is because it was quite easy to install onto my tv and is quite easy to use. I would definetely recommend this player to anyone thinking of buying a blu ray player.

Excellent Blu Ray player, high quality sound and brilliant picture play back. And it works with my sony tv remote!!!