Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player

• Blu-ray Disc player with Full HD 1080p output for Blu-ray Discs and upconversion of standard DVD video to 1080p
• BD Live capable for accessing bonus content from BD-Live Blu-ray Discs via Ethernet port connected to your home network
• 24p True Cinema capable lets you watch films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second), Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD
• Outputs: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 1 analog audio (2-channel), 1 digital optical audio, 1 digital coaxial audio, 1 Ethernet
• Includes remote control and composite AV cable, measures 16.9 x 8.1 x 2.2 inches (WxDxH)

I'll start with the bottom line about this player-it just works! If you're looking for a nice, fully functional Blu Ray player that's going to just WORK as you'd expect it to, on anything you throw at it, this is a nice, safe buy. You'll have no problems upgrading from a normal DVD player to it.

Like a lot of people, my first Blu Ray player was my Playstation 3, which I bought last year. If you don't already have a PS3, that's worth considering instead of a stand alone player, because it doesn't cost much more, handles Blu Rays (and DVDs) well, and of course plays Playstation 3 games.

I even toyed with getting a second one, but decided a stand alone player would be a bit cheaper, and I didn't really need the second Playstation 3. (I've also since bought a Blu Ray drive for my computer, so I can watch Blu Rays on it too.)

Impressions of the s360:

-Audio and video are excellent. I can't notice any difference from my PS3.

-The unit is physically SMALL. It's actually smaller than my two stand alone DVD players (though is the same width as normal stereo components, so fits in fine)

-The unit is very quiet in operation-quieter than my two stand alone DVD players in fact. I don't think I can hear it at all except when it's first starting up, loading up a disc (and that only if the room is dead silent). Interestingly, the disc drive's seek sounds sound IDENTICAL to the drive in my Playstation 3! I'd be shocked if it's not basically the same drive.

-Remote is decent-I mean no remotes aside from Tivo's are particularly good, but this works as well as any other (the oft-noted omission of an eject button is a bit surprising, but not really missed, since you have to get up anyway, and the eject button on the unit is pretty large). (And thankfully unlike the PS3 remote, it's normal infrared, not Bluetooth.)

-Performance is very good. I think it takes SLIGHTLY longer than my PS3/PC to load the fancy interfaces some discs use (some discs replace the normal fast forward/rewind interfaces with their own themed interfaces, and loading that interface adds a few more seconds before the disc's ready-so far I've only run across this on two discs, and it's kind of pointless, but this player DOES seem to handle them just fine). Rewinding/fast forwarding on this isn't quite as smooth as my Playstation 3, but it works as you'd expect a normal DVD player to.

-Power usage is very low-the unit says it draws a *MAX* of 22 watts in operation

-Boot time takes...well I haven't timed it, but I'd guess maybe 15 seconds. To me that's plenty fast, but that can actually be cut by setting the player to use more power when it's "off" (essentially it presumably actually stays on, so it appears to boot faster). Players that claim they have faster boot times are probably just doing that same thing, without giving you the option of actually shutting the unit off.

-It has all the features and ports you'd expect from a unit like this, and has an excellent menu system, that's ripped straight off of the Playstation 3 and Portable (of course once you've set it up with the settings you want, you'll probably never really use the menu again, but it's easier than any DVD player's menus I've ever used).

-Unlike some players, it doesn't have internal memory to store "BD Live" internet features, but it does have a USB port where you can connect a USB memory device to enable those features. I have a spare one lying around, but haven't bothered hooking it up because I never use those features. I mean Blu Ray has some great additions over DVD, like the pop up menus that can adjust settings without going back to the main menu-but the internet features are pretty gimicky to me, and I've never used them. Still, this player does support all of that if you care.

(Also unlike many of this year's players, it lacks support for online services like Netflix's streaming service, etc. I don't use those (I just use Netflix's disc service), and if I did use them I already have other devices that connect to them, but if you check reviews, the s360 is a better BLU RAY PLAYER than those other devices-and I'm buying this to be a good Blu Ray player.

I'm probably forgetting something I'd like to mention, but honestly I could have quit after the first paragraph. If you're like me and just want something that WORKS without hassle, this is a great choice.

Buy Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Now

Initial thought:

I recently purchased the Sony bdp-s360 after already owning a PS3, and two Sony bdp-s350's. The difference I have noticed between this player and the previous 350 is the sound quality on the 360 which is much better. The build quality of the 360 is great but so similar to the previous 350 that I can't rate it spectacular. The entire front face covers the disk slot and flips down to open. I immediately noticed how SONY made cut backs like on the remote, "No Eject" button, and also eliminated a few other buttons on the remote. The player is fully functional and will accept signals from a universal remote or previous 350 model remote with all the functionality on it just incase u want to use the eject from remote features, etc. You can always purchase the remotes indicated if you cant live with the 360 remote.

Video Quality:

The bluray playback is Excellent, appears to be identical to the previous 350 model. The DVD upscaling to me is just "O.K.", again looks identical to the 350, so I dont see any visible improvement with the new Precision Drive that Sony is promoting. I have noticed that the dvd video quality is improved if the video output on the player is changed from "Auto" to "480" when playing standard dvd's. The player also plays movies copied to dvd-r disks flawlessly. The 360 has played every disk i've put in it from bluray, to dvd, to movies burned on dvd-r's.

Options/Extras:

This player does not support any NetFlix, Pandora, Amazon, or any other streaming video features. Also, the Player does not have an internal wifi for updates or bd live. If u want internal wifi then you have to wait for the SONY bdp-s560.

Summary:

(Good)

The Sony bdp-s360 is an excellent bluray player if you are looking for a solid great looking player with execellent bluray quality play back and built in Dolby True-HD & DTS Master Audio through hdmi. No lipsync issues, jaggies, or other. It will play everything u throw at it flawlessly including copied dvd's. Add an audio reciever with HD and u have a movie theater in the making!

(Bad)

Standard DVD playback quality is good but not the best. I compared it to my previous Toshiba HD DVD A35 player, also my Xbox 360 and both were superior to the 360 when it came to dvd quality playback. Remote has no eject feature and also missing other minor functions.

(Bottom Line)

The Sony bdp-s360 is a great bluray player, but with all the competition out there that offers more bells & whistles it's hard to recommend it. However, if you are just looking for a solid, great looking player with excellent Bluray video quality, great sound, good dvd upscale quality, and no eject feature on the remote then this player is for you. I personally prefer Sony movie disk players thats why I made the purchase. I WOULD HAVE RATED THIS 5 STARS, BUT IT ONLY GOT 4 STARS DUE TO THE BASIC REMOTE CONTROL WITH LACK OF THE EJECT & MUTE BUTTON(S).

Note: The LCD used for this review was the 52" Samsung A650 120hz.

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I bought my first player a month ago after looking over as many reviews as I could find. After getting home and setting things up, all I had were standard DVD's to play. During playback the picture would drop out to a black screen but the audio would continue. This would last 2-5 seconds and then the picture would return. This would happen continuously during playback every 10 minutes or so. I tried a couple of different DVD's and it did the same on each one.

So, I returned the player and thought maybe I just had a defective unit. I exchanged it for another of the same type. I set this new unit up and by now I had received some Blu Ray DVD's from Netflix to try on the player. The picture and sound were amazing and I did not have any issues with the picture dropping out. This was a couple of weeks ago.

Yesterday I tried watching another regular DVD on this player and guess what...same problem as before, more picture dropouts. So, I returned the unit and will try again with another brand.

If you plan on only watching Blu Ray DVD's this is a great unit. But if you have a collection of regular DVD's I would stay away!

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I just bought this player as an upgrade to my older Samsung BD-P1000 and I must say I am extremely pleased with this player. It was very easy to set up and to operate. I have it connected to my Onkyo TX-SR705 with 7.1 speaker set-up which makes use of the lossless sound decoders. Hearing a movie in DTSHD Master Audio has been a real experience especially on 7.1 soundtracks. My only complaint (which is minor) is that you have to manually operate the tray open and close from the player itself. This is another great Blu-ray player from Sony. I recommend you buy this player.

This was my first purchase into the bluray world and it didn't disappoint but in a totally surprising way. The unit is sturdy, quiet, and runs flawlessly.

I had been worried about firmware updates but so far there have been no reason to update it so no complaints there. I ordered some bluray discs (despite the ridiculous cost of them) and they are spectacular.

Now for the surprise my old DVDs are spectacular too. This player makes DVD pictures an order of magnitude better then my old DVD player. The heck with buying bluray discs, I keep buying DVDs for one third the cost. I never expected to buy a bluray player to watch DVDs but it was worth the purchase just for that.

The player is a bit slow when ejecting and loading, but I hear this is common to all bluray players. The unit was simple to set up and connect. Highly recommend this unit.