 Love it |
| Review Date: October 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Sean Solo, Lexington, KY USA |
I wanted a Blu-ray player for two main reasons, 1) to watch Netflix on my TV, and 2) to watch Star Trek: The Original Series (Enhanced) on Blu-ray. I returned an LG BD 390 because a stupid icon kept popping up every time an "alternate angle"/enhanced scene appeared during an episode. This was many times during each episode. It's only on the screen for a few seconds, but you can't turn it off. Contacted LG and they said you can't turn it off and they weren't planning a firmware update to fix it - unacceptable. So now I have the Sony and I am thrilled. No more icon, and I like the option of turning off other icons like "play" and "pause". I think the load time is fine - fast enough for me. I'm anxious to get the Netflix firmware update to try that out. I don't need a wireless Blu-ray as I have wired my basement to get more reliable video streaming. I am very satisfied with this player.
Update as of 11/11/09 - Netflix enabled! Works beautifully so far. Watched a bit of "The Office". Video quality very good. My TV says it was 1080p - cool. I'm guessing that most of the Netflix content will be standard def., though. I watched a few minutes of Enemy Mine and the quality was OK - about like Netflix is on my computer. I'm getting pretty spoiled by hi-def. video after watching Blu-ray movies. Anyway, Netflix is easy to do. Just add movies to your Watch Instantly queue (on your PC), and they're there on TV. Brilliant. |
Sony BDP-N460: The PS3 Replacement
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| Review Date: October 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Ledbetter, Texas |
This player is everything the PS3 should be, just without the games. The PS3 was a constant annoyance with the Bluetooth remote, poor game choice, and the lack of any service such as Netflix (the PS Network seemed to have a rather limited selection)... So I decided to liquidate the system and get back in the blu-ray player market.
When this unit loads up, you might think that it is a PS3--the menu is almost exactly the same. The relevant difference is the video options. This is where that laundry list of online video service providers is found. What a list! If all this player could do was play Netflix, it might not be such a compelling player--but it does a lot more than that. What convinced me to buy this unit was it's ability to play Amazon On Demand. It seemed ironic to me that this was not originally an advertised feature on Amazon's website. I had to do some research to verify this capability. In fact, it was a deal-maker for me.
If the PS3 did everything this player does, then I would say to pay a little more and enjoy the near-zero load times and wireless--but it doesn't. Not even close. The PS3 is currently locked into Sony's limited first-party services. This player hopefully signals the future for players, by adding every provider available.
Pros:
- Bravia sync (if you have a compatible Sony television)
- TONS of providers
- Load times are nominal
- Firmware updates were quick out of the box
- Excellent up-conversion of DVD titles
- Lights on player are not at all distracting (and can be adjusted)
Cons:
- Even though I am 1080p resolution, the xcross (system) menu looks low-res.
- Netflix is "coming fall 2009", so there will be a wait on that for now
So far this player highly recommended!
UPDATE: As of 11/11/2009, Netflix is now available. Works flawlessly! |
Great Player
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| Review Date: October 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Guy in NYC, New York, NY USA |
| I finally bit the bullet and went blu with this player, my first blu experience. It was extremely easy to set-up out of the box (reminder that you'll need to purchase an HDMI cable separately) and integrate into my system -- and there was no problem networking via a network cable and router into my existing ISP (you'll also need to purchase a network cable separately if you need one). I haven't yet gone wireless so cannot comment on those capabilities. The system upgrade process via the network connection was also easy to set-up and activate. I found the operating manual to be particularly lucid -- rare with most electronics. Immediately downloadable were Youtube content and dozens of other internet channels. It is true that Netflix is tantalizingly "Coming Fall 09" -- but there are hundreds and hundreds of movies already available via download from Amazon, including a huge assortment of HD titles. The overall picture quality has been superb from bluray discs -- and the upconverting on regular DVDs seems significantly better than my existing upconverting DVD player. Loading time is very, very quick -- there have been no stalls or quirks in audio or visuals in loading any of the dozen or so discs that I currently own. As a first time blu ray user, this player has performed flawlessly thus far and it seems to deliver exactly what it promises! |
Sexy, Amazing Entertainment
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| Review Date: November 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: I. Randolph S. Shiner, Del Mar |
| I received the player this afternoon; by this evening, I had hooked the whole thing up to my Denon receiver with 6.1 surround and was not only amazed with the quality of the upconversion of DVDs (Yellow Submarine - perfect) and audio output, though I have no Blu-ray discs yet. What sets this unit apart from any other piece of A/V equipment I have ever dealt with is the nearly complete integration with the internet, though I do wish there were more choices for internet video offered, as for example Hulu and probably some others. Regardless, the setup of the player itself was very simple, the online setup of my Netflix account -- once I did the firmware upgrade that was easy as anything -- as well as the video quality of the movies that are there is all very, very good. Indeed excellent. The setup of my Slacker and Amazon VOD accounts were likewise very simple. While Netflix is not perfect HD, what I sampled tonight is perfectly watchable. I've read elsewhere that people are dissatisfied with the remote. Get over it. It serves its purpose well. The fact that it's missing an eject button only means that you have to insert each disc one at a time, which requires a trip to the player either way, to put it in or take it out. It's not that big a deal and those who quibble about that are just quibbling over nothing. That it "feels cheap" is also ridiculous. It's a remote, for God's sake, not Lenox china. This is an amazing player out of the box and I can't imagine spending 6x the money and being any happier with this purchase. And I hate Sony for all the usual reasons people hate Sony. Albeit a little less after this evening's experience. Good on them. Great machine. Well done. I can't wait for Wall-E in Blu-ray. |
Sony got it right with this one
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| Review Date: December 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: SeS, USofA |
I was about to buy a Roku player for Netflix streaming when I saw this. So, Netflix and more services built into the internet capability, allows for software updates, Bluray native DVD playback - seemed like a good alternative for under $200. Almost too good to be true.
But it's not too good to be true- it's great.
Setup was a breeze - only issue for me was that I had to restart my cable modem in order for the 460 to be recognized. After a few verifications through Sony and netflix, my cue popped up, I was able to log in to Netflix and my instant cue was right there. Tried out both SD and HD content and both streamed smoothly and the HD content looked fantastic. It took about 10 minutes to go from powering on to getting the first streamed content. I didn't even crack the manual.
For those reviewers having issues with internet service playback, I wonder what your bandwidth is? I use comcast, and they recently upgraded their service (was at 6 MBPS and now at 12MBPS - all I had to do was reset my cable modem). Speakeasy speed tests typically show my speed in the 7-10MBPS range. We used to have ATT/bellsouth, and we could only get 2MBPS - if you have "high-speed" service at home, you might want to test that or consider upgrading. I would think that a service that gives you 5MBPS+ would make this thing run smoothly. Less than that and you might get some lag/delay. And I probably should try it at peak neighborhood bandwidth time (occasionally it will drop to 3MBPS), try streaming a HD selection, and see what happens.
Very quiet (some players just hum too much when they are running), the on screen software is almost Apple mac-like in its ease of use, all the setup and options are very clear. Remote is simple and controls volumes and inputs on my Sony TV with no setup (why they didn't put channel up/down on this remote baffles me - if they did, then I could ditch the TV remote-not a big deal). Cool features during DVD playback like a display showing bandwidth use, NPR and streaming radio service, and other internet content I just have no idea what it is. Let's only hope their partnership with these services stays solid and that they are able to expand to others if/when they happen. The load time is very fast, but note that this is an option that you turn off and on. If it's on, it draws more power when it's off to ensure the fast load time. Even with it off, you are looking at 25 seconds. I'd rather have that than know I'm sucking power for 22 hours each day I'm not using the thing.
I've had mixed success with Sony stuff (it's either great or a lemon that you return, it seems), but this is a great product. Highly recommended. Let's hope it is durable and stays solid. Now, if Sony would only come out with this model in a DVD recording version, with a VHS combo unit, and firewire capability, they'd have me buying that too. |
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