Sony BDP-S360 on the way out slowly

[3db]

I think my old Sony is beginning to give up the ghost. I had ordered region free BluRay sets for MadMax and Lethal Weapon and the first BluRay of both series have been giving me problems on start up. I had to either power off the player or eject/reinsert the disc multiple times or both before the player started to read the disc. Once it started playing, it was trouble free however.

Since my Sony was a solid peformer, I'm looking at another Sony...a BDP-S550 which I can get at BestBuy for $130.00 not including taxes. The Canadian Best Buy Specs says its not a region free and only plays region A. Amazon.ca says it is a region free player. Who do I believe?

Update ( I chatted with Sony and they told me that there is no guarentee that it would play all region free discs depending on how they are mastered. ) I've expanded my models to these three;

BDP-S500 for $129.00 (no 4K upscaling)
BDP-S6200 for 129.00 (last years model with 4K upscaling)
BDP-S6500 for $179.00 (This years model with 4K upscaling)


I'm leaning towards the 6200

 

[markw]

I like Sony. I've got two and, depending on your needs, I'd go for the cheapest one that does what I need. Personally, I don't see a need for me to hunt down a region free player since I've never had a disc my units can't play. Nor will I search out discs from another region. I'll just buy locally.

Given the cost of these things, I see them as a commodity. I don't see myself jumping on the 4k bandwagon until the manufacturers settle on a common spec and they start manufacturing to that. By that time, I'll then have a 4k TV and a new receiver to pass everything through and extract the sound.

And, I'll wait until a goodly number of 4k discs becomes available before jumping on anyway.

 

[3db]

I posted the question in Amazon and the players sold ther have been modified to be region free players. I don't need a region free player. I just need the player to play region free BluRays.

 

[markw]

I posted the question in Amazon and the players sold ther have been modified to be region free players. I don't need a region free player. I just need the player to play region free BluRays.

I guess things are different in Canada, eh? Seriously, they don't come "standard"? Are we in the same region or they designed to assume some discs from Britain?

 

[3db]

I guess things are different in Canada, eh? Seriously, they don't come "standard"? Are we in the same region or they designed to assume some discs from Britain?

The units being sold on Amazon.ca have been modified by the seller to be region free. I may have worded my previous post incorrectly. US and Canada are in the same region; region 1 for DVD and region A for BluRays.

 

[markw]

The units being sold on Amazon.ca have been modified by the seller to be region free. I may have worded my previous post incorrectly. US and Canada are in the same region; region 1 for DVD and region A for BluRays.

I'd see if there was a different seller. Any time someone kerfutzes with a factory unit, it opens the potential for problems.

 

[PENG]

I'd see if there was a different seller. Any time someone kerfutzes with a factory unit, it opens the potential for problems.

I think typically you can change it by pressing buttons and stuff following a particular sequence.

 

[KEW]

I think my old Sony is beginning to give up the ghost. I had ordered region free BluRay sets for MadMax and Lethal Weapon and the first BluRay of both series have been giving me problems on start up. I had to either power off the player or eject/reinsert the disc multiple times or both before the player started to read the disc. Once it started playing, it was trouble free however.

If it follow correctly, it was new discs you had trouble with.
Do you have older region Free BD's that used to play fine, but now are problematic?
I ask to make sure you have considered that your Sony may be working perfectly, but the discs may have adopted a new format that is the source of your trouble.
It would suck if you got the 6200 only to find it had the same trouble with the same discs!

 

[3db]

If it follow correctly, it was new discs you had trouble with.
Do you have older region Free BD's that used to play fine, but now are problematic?
I ask to make sure you have considered that your Sony may be working perfectly, but the discs may have adopted a new format that is the source of your trouble.
It would suck if you got the 6200 only to find it had the same trouble with the same discs!

I plan on going into Best Buy with "bad disks" in tow to see if the other players respond the same way. That eill detetmine if the disks are flakey or if the playeris flakey.

 

[3db]

I went to Best Buy have my hair cut with BluRays in tow and the new ones loaded each and every time and 10x faster to boot. Maybe I'll keep the older player as a dedicated CD player only even though all my CDs have been ripped to a hard drive. I don't know yet what I wanna do with old player.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I went to Best Buy have my hair cut with BluRays in tow and the new ones loaded each and every time and 10x faster to boot. Maybe I'll keep the older player as a dedicated CD player only even though all my CDs have been ripped to a hard drive. I don't know yet what I wanna do with old player.

I guess it is your old player. Do you have any issues with CD playback on the old player?

 

[3db]

I guess it is your old player. Do you have any issues with CD playback on the old player?

No issues with CD playback or with most region A blurays (except for long loading times) .

 

[mtrycrafts]

No issues with CD playback or with most region A blurays (except for long loading times) .

Curious and interesting issue. I guess it was fine with these discs when the player was new?

 

[3db]

The only region A disc I have issue with is the latest Total Recall movie where the disc froze or skipped. There is a workaround in place for that. The trouble I'm experience is with eregion free disks that I had ordered from the UK.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The only region A disc I have issue with is the latest Total Recall movie where the disc froze or skipped. There is a workaround in place for that. The trouble I'm experience is with eregion free disks that I had ordered from the UK.

Now I am wondering if one of the software updates to the player may have affected how the player responds to region free discs. I wonder perhaps it was quietly mentioned to player makers but this may not be valid as they work on new players in store. Frustrating when these issues come up, epsecially when you have friends over and there is an issue you didn't know nor expect.

 

[3db]

Now I am wondering if one of the software updates to the player may have affected how the player responds to region free discs. I wonder perhaps it was quietly mentioned to player makers but this may not be valid as they work on new players in store. Frustrating when these issues come up, epsecially when you have friends over and there is an issue you didn't know nor expect.

Its just an excuse to buy something shiny and new . It plays them but it has trouble loading the region free and I'm afraid it will stop loading at one point.