Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Player Review

[admin]

While the Sony BDP-S300 is an entry level Blu-ray player, entry level doesn't necessarily mean cheap. At $500, you're getting a capable high definition video player and that's about it. The unconversion ability of standard DVD's is lackluster at best and it only decodes Dolby Digital Plus. If you already have a capable upconverting DVD player and don't care about the decoding of Dolby TrueHD and the myriad of high definition DTS formats, this may be the Blu-ray player for you.

Discuss "Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray Player Review" here. Read the article.

 

[darien87]

Wow, so it seems that the PS 3 is about the only high def player out right now that's worth a damn. My A3 is slow, and clunky to use, but it seems like the S300 is also.

I don't know what the reviewer is talking about when he says the PS 3 is noisy though. Sure the fan can get loud if you've got the unit in and enclosed cabinet, but I don't remember noticing it at all when I had it an open cabinet. And why do they always complain about not having a backlit remote? So what? I almost always go by feel anyway.

 

[smurphy522]

Not to be considered

Well this player is certainly not going to make my list. I certainly didn't expect Sony to put out this type of player but wonders never cease.

I am leaning towards BD but have not made the decision yet. More or less I think BD has more titles our family would be interested in: younger, animation based stuff. Any other thoughts?

 

[tn001d]

My A3 is slow, and clunky to use, but it seems like the S300 is also.

MY A2 isnt slow at all. Its speed is respectable. I think HD-DVD is here to stay!!

"One shall stand.. one shall fall" - Optimus Prime, only on HD-DVD!!

 

[patnshan]

MY A2 isnt slow at all. Its speed is respectable. I think HD-DVD is here to stay!!

Mine is not slow either.

I'll agree the A2 and A3 are entry level players, but they don't cost anywhere near this supposed entry level BDP! $500 for an entry level player is ludicrous!

Pat

 

[Harrison476]

Agree 100%

I just took my sony 300 back and traded for a samsung. Where were you a month ago! Excellent review, You covered everything, I found while messing arround with this player. The biggest disapointment to me was the sound. to be more specific no trueHD. After messing with the BD-1400 for one night, I,m not sure I made the right move.

Knowledgeable I’m not! Thanks to this site I,m learning. I ordered the HQV test disc (both HD and SD). The Sony player failed few tests but so did the Samsung. For what it’s worth here’s my simple review:

Ease of use-SBP-300
Appearance-SBP-300
Display-SBP-300 , much brighter
Video-Samsung
Audio-? well at least I have trueHD or better have
Remote-Sony
Price-Sony

Sony just missed the sound! V1.3?

For those that can afford it and waiting, your missing out, HD is best entertainment for the money invested, in my opinion.

I would like to hear others opinions

 

[fmw]

I own both the A2 and the S300. The difference in boot time is pretty similar. Perhaps the A2 is a little faster but not much. I also think the players both handle DVD upscaling about the same and both handle it about the same as my Oppo 980. Whether that is good or bad I will leave up to others but I don't think poor upscaling would be a very fair comment to make about the S300 unless you made it about most other players. It would certainly be a fair comment to make about my TV set, however, which does a wretched job of upscaling.

 

[Bryce_H]

hhmmmm....$500 entry-level player or $98 entry-level player

Comparable performance - no brainer - I jumped on the HD-DVD bandwagon

Go A2!

Hey if HD-DVD loses, I'm out $98 (rent from Netflix) and by then Blu-Ray will (may??) drop to a respectable price.

 

[gus6464]

Looks like the Panasonic DMP-BD10AK might be the entry level player to get. It can decode True-HD, DD+, DTS-HD/MA and BB just dropped the price to $499. Plus they also released the DMP-BD30K which can bitstream all the formats as well through the HDMI if you already have a 1.3 receiver like the Onkyo 605.

 

[evan]

sony 300

I have to disagree with the lack luster upconversion . I think the sd upconversion loks great and the load up times are very quick since I did the upgrgrades

 

[dobyblue]

I would disagree with Tom that if you're looking for an entry level Blu-ray player that this is the one for you.

The Samsung BD-P1400 ($399.99 on several sites) has TrueHD decoding and TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio bitstream as well as Reon upscaling.

The upcoming Panasonic DMB-BD30K will feature HDMI 1.3b, PIP (BD Profile 1.1) and dts-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD bitstream out of the box. It's MSRP is $499.95 and will list for $399 or less on most websites. It features Panasonic's new 45nm SoC and is the slimmest player to market and also will be the quietest and lowest in power consumption. The reports from last week's showing of the player at the Blu-ray Event 2007 in LA are that the PQ is stunning.

However for price I expect within the next week or two that the prices on all the profile 1.0 players will be plummeting to clear them out over Christmas and make way for the 1.1 and 2.0 players en route from the current manufacturers as well as Denon, Marantz, Daewoo, Loewe and others.

 

[darien87]

Mine is not slow either.

I'll agree the A2 and A3 are entry level players, but they don't cost anywhere near this supposed entry level BDP! $500 for an entry level player is ludicrous!

Pat

Ok, so you 2 seem to have Toshiba's that are faster than everyone else's?!?! That seems a little weird. The review on the A2 said the same thing that I found when I first used my A3; it takes about 30 seconds from power up just to be able to open the disc tray. Then it's about another 20 seconds before it reads the disc.

So you're saying that yours is faster than this?

My PS 3 boots up in about 10 seconds and loads a Blu-ray disc in about 5. The A3 can't even touch that kind of speed.

 

[Audioholics]

My HD-XA2 is slow as molasses, even with the latest firmware upgrade. I just clocked it (right this second) and it's 41 seconds from the time I hit Open (which also powers up the player from standby) until the tray begins to open.

 

[Tom Andry]

I would disagree with Tom that if you're looking for an entry level Blu-ray player that this is the one for you.

I said one nice thing about the player and you want to take that away? Boy, tough crowd! And I did say "may" not "is".

 

[allargon]

I would disagree with Tom that if you're looking for an entry level Blu-ray player that this is the one for you.

The Samsung BD-P1400 ($399.99 on several sites) has TrueHD decoding and TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio bitstream as well as Reon upscaling.

The upcoming Panasonic DMB-BD30K will feature HDMI 1.3b, PIP (BD Profile 1.1) and dts-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD bitstream out of the box. It's MSRP is $499.95 and will list for $399 or less on most websites. It features Panasonic's new 45nm SoC and is the slimmest player to market and also will be the quietest and lowest in power consumption. The reports from last week's showing of the player at the Blu-ray Event 2007 in LA are that the PQ is stunning.

However for price I expect within the next week or two that the prices on all the profile 1.0 players will be plummeting to clear them out over Christmas and make way for the 1.1 and 2.0 players en route from the current manufacturers as well as Denon, Marantz, Daewoo, Loewe and others.

Does the Samsung actually decode DTS-MA internally or does it just send the bitstream to be decoded by the receiver? AFAIK, no player on the blue or red side decodes DTS-MA internally.

That's good to read about the Sammy and the Panny. The problem is that the Sony is what everyone sees at Wally World and Target. That thing won't exactly fill the average person with confidence.

That Panny at $250 would be a tempting deal. I wouldn't mind picking one up to go purple.

 

[autoboy]

I just picked up a 40GB PS3 for $400 plus spiderman 3 in the box and another 5 free movies. Both CC and BB had them in stock. I didn't even know they were out yet. The new 40GB version is supposed to use only 140W of power, rather than the 60 and 80GB version's 200W. The only downside is there is no PS2 backward compatibility.

I can't hear the fan over my TV's rather loud fan, load times are longer than my Xbox360 HD player, but the 1080p/24 and PCM and bitstream audio options are top notch. This would be a great player, if the remote was not bluetooth, but that is something I can live with.

The PS3 is still the only BD player worth buying right now.

 

[Electone]

I just picked up a 40GB PS3 for $400 plus spiderman 3 in the box and another 5 free movies. Both CC and BB had them in stock. I didn't even know they were out yet. The new 40GB version is supposed to use only 140W of power, rather than the 60 and 80GB version's 200W. The only downside is there is no PS2 backward compatibility.

I can't hear the fan over my TV's rather loud fan, load times are longer than my Xbox360 HD player, but the 1080p/24 and PCM and bitstream audio options are top notch. This would be a great player, if the remote was not bluetooth, but that is something I can live with.

The PS3 is still the only BD player worth buying right now.

Agreed. The PS3 is by far the best BD player available. It has received as much praise for its picture quality as any player out there, plays every disc thrown at it (except HD DVDs and DVD-As), is a music server, gaming machine, internet browser, etc...

Also, it will be receiving a firmware update soon that will enable BD Ver 1.1 and rumor is that 2.0 will be possible as well.

 

[gliz]

BD players are still too expensive,period. Which ever format makes it will depend on the one who can get theirs in the hands of the masses first. HD has the jump as far as I can tell. Regardless I am still not buying either.

 

[dobyblue]

BD players are still too expensive,period. Which ever format makes it will depend on the one who can get theirs in the hands of the masses first. HD has the jump as far as I can tell. Regardless I am still not buying either.

Nope, it will depend on the content. The hardware will follow the software in the long run.

If Warner drops HD DVD next year in an effort to have one successful format that they can start seeing money from like they did with DVD in 2000 when it really took off, there could be 2 million HD DVD players in people's houses and only 800,000 BLu-ray players and Blu-ray will win.

Does the Samsung actually decode DTS-MA internally or does it just send the bitstream to be decoded by the receiver?

Decodes TrueHD and dts-HD High Resolution
Bistreams TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio (dts-MA bitstream requires firmware upgrade)

 

[dobyblue]

I said one nice thing about the player and you want to take that away? Boy, tough crowd! And I did say "may" not "is".

Hey, the thing has great PQ, but as an entry level player there's better.

I think that BD-P1400 could see $299 by Christmas, as could the BDP-S300, Sharp Aquos player and DMP-BD10.

These guys need to clear out these 1.0 Grace Period players to make way for the real Blu-ray players.