Official Sony Bdp-300/301 Owners Thread

[cpcat]

Originally Posted by jr07

One last thing: I only managed to connect the S300 with the spare RCA cables I had lying around in a box. Of course the range goes from a high end monster cable I used to connect my sub woofer with to the most basic red and white one that comes with any audio equipment.

Will using 6 high end and exact same cables make an even better difference?

J

Not likely. This really isn't the place for this debate though. I personally use two sets of the red/white/yellow el cheapo patch cable sets for my 6ch output.

[fjerina]

S300 owners out there...

Would you recommend this player as a lower cost model? I just need a good player for Blu Ray and for upconverting DVD and the higher end sound (TrueHD) is not important to me. Would you recommend the Samsung 1400 instead? Thanks.

[Docray1]

Originally Posted by fjerina

S300 owners out there...

Would you recommend this player as a lower cost model? I just need a good player for Blu Ray and for upconverting DVD and the higher end sound (TrueHD) is not important to me. Would you recommend the Samsung 1400 instead? Thanks.

I have been pretty happy with the S300, but I am an early adopter. Personally, at this point, I'd wait a few months and pick up the Sony S350 which will offer some upgrades and be more future-ready.

[BMAG]

Originally Posted by fjerina

S300 owners out there...

Would you recommend this player as a lower cost model? I just need a good player for Blu Ray and for upconverting DVD and the higher end sound (TrueHD) is not important to me. Would you recommend the Samsung 1400 instead? Thanks.

New-in-box at $399, with better next-gen players on the horizon, I would say NO. However, as a refurb (preferably direct from Sony) at ~$250, then YES. It will give you relatively inexpensive entry to Bluray, and can move to another room when better cheaper players ultimately come along. My refurb from sonystyle.com works great but is not nearly as good at upconverting SD DVDs as my Toshiba HD-A35.

[aviman33]

I purchased my S300 over Xmas for $217 shipped with Sony Card deal. That was a great deal. But $399? That's way too much for this player. It's not Profile 2 and it takes forever to boot up. At this time I would suggest you wait till the Profile 2 players hit the shelves. Then you could either get a great deal on a leftover S300 or wait for the holidays to get a better deal on a Profile 2 player.

Jon

[fjerina]

What do you get with the S301 model that you don't get with the S300?

[Flugel]

You get a 1

[Flugel]

I've been lurking on this board for the last 2 months. I have the 301, and if you can't wait for a better, newer and more capable model, it won't disappoint. Be sure to update to the latest firmware. I may sell mine soon, though.

[buditan]

Originally Posted by fjerina

What do you get with the S301 model that you don't get with the S300?

Includes one HDMI Cable and if purchased from Costco - a 2 year warranty...

[AlanBuck]

Originally Posted by buditan

Includes one HDMI Cable and if purchased from Costco - a 2 year warranty...

Right and Wrong...Cable is included. Warranty is the standard one year from Sony, but you do still have unlimited returns at Costco on items such as this. TV's and a few other specified items such as cameras fall under the recently implemented 2nd year warranty extension at Costco and a 90 day return policy.

[tswon]

The Costco Customer Service person informed me that the BDP-S301 falls into the 90 days category. I have kept this in mine as I'm thinking of returning it before the 90 day period expires.

[AlanBuck]

Originally Posted by tswon

The Costco Customer Service person informed me that the BDP-S301 falls into the 90 days category. I have kept this in mine as I'm thinking of returning it before the 90 day period expires.

They are mistaken..read the signs at the service counter. DVD players are not listed as limited return items. Very few items are. Ask the person to show you how they are coming up with this. That said I wouldn't be suprised if the policy changes to 90 days on ALL their electronics returns in the future. I did return a 18 month old Toshiba HD-A1 a few weeks ago for a full refund. Given that the format is dead, and the darn thing was acting up I decided to give it a try. They cheerfully refunded my $475.00 no questions asked! I told the lady I felt kind of guilty and she said not to worry about it. They guarantee 'satisfaction' on all purchases and if I wasn't satisfied I had every right to return it. Amazing but true. The flip side is I buy everything I can at Costco given the fact that they treat customers right.

[FenderGallagher]

what's in the new 3.90 update ?
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/HAV/BDP/FW/

[aviman33]

Originally Posted by FenderGallagher

what's in the new 3.90 update ?
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/HAV/BDP/FW/

Thanks, I'm downloading it now. Maybe it's tru hd. I would be satisfied if it would just boot faster.
John

[tbui57]

the link is so slow that I am not sure if it is valid. Any one could verify. Thanks

[PauLita]

I have downloaded, but waiting for official approval from Sony...

[aviman33]

Originally Posted by PauLita

I have downloaded, but waiting for official approval from Sony...

I've downloaded it, but I'm currently at work. Will install later.
John

[Peak]

I am so going to update right now!

I don't know if I have anything to come back with when I'm done, other than that it worked i guess. But I'll do it anyway.

Hoping for details on what it does soon...

EDIT: Updated fine. I now have 3.90. Hope it did me any good!

[Donnie Eldridge]

The update will likely appear on the website later on this evening if not tomorrow along with details.

[cpcat]

Wow, I updated to 3.80 just in time for 3.90. Guess I need some more CD-R discs.

[JasonRor]

[georule]

I've got a nickel that says the description includes:

Improves BD-Java compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.

Because every other bloody firmware update for S300 has!

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by georule

I've got a nickel that says the description includes:



Because every other bloody firmware update for S300 has!

Rumour has it that it will also include this statement:

Provides Dolby TRUE-HD decoding (randomly on some units - feelin' lucky, kid?)

[georule]

". . .we know which ones, but we won't tell you. Other than to say it might have something to do with the format of the ser. . . no, no, we've said too much already!"

Sadly, if it knocked 15 seconds off the load time for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, I'd be pitifully grateful. If the fast forward and reverse functions reliably responded within two seconds of pressing their respective buttons on the remote, my joy would know no bounds.

But I'm not holding my breath.

[djos]

Seems to boot a little faster to me but I dont have time to test it properly atm, no new menu items either ... anyway gotta dash to work.

[georule]

Originally Posted by djos

Seems to boot a little faster to me but I dont have time to test it properly atm, no new menu items either ... anyway gotta dash to work.

My v3.90 performance report:

Exec Summary: Nothing to see here.

Details:

Cold boot with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer already in the tray.

Pressing Power On button on remote until Blu-ray logo appears on screen: 45 seconds.

Pressing Power On button on remote until copyright notice for movie appears on screen: 3min 0 seconds.

Exactly the same as v3.80.

Of course, there could be feature improvements somewhere, or compatibility improvements somewhere.

[MackGuyver]

It's official now - it's on their website - though the site lists it as 3.80 on the first page - then 3.90 on the download page itself, and OF COURSE:

This utility updates the BDP-S301 firmware to version 3.90, and provides the following benefits:

Improvements over firmware version 3.80:

Improves BD-Java compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.
Additional improvements over original firmware:

Compatibility with BD-R/RE discs burned by the Click to Disc™ and Click to Disc™ Editor software included with some VAIO® computers
Compatibility with the newly released BD-R/RE format (BDMV).
Improves BD-Java compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.

Sony sucks - yet again!

[bimbamboom]

It would appear that Sony has added Dolby True-HD as well as fixing something with PCM output. I clicked on the Spanish button at the top of the web page and this is what was displayed:

Esta utilidad actualiza el BDP-S300 firmware a la versión 3.90, y ofrece las siguientes ventajas:

Mejoras en la versión del firmware 3.80:

Mejora la compatibilidad con BD-Java para mejorar la interactividad con BD-ROM.
Adicionales mejoras del firmware original:

Compatibilidad con discos BD-R/RE quemados por el Click to Disc™ y Click to Disc™ Editor incluidos con algunas computadoras VAIO®
Añade la función de decodificación Dolby® TrueHD y Dolby® Digital Plus Audio.
Mejora de la compatibilidad de reproducción con ciertos formato de discos BD-ROM.
Mayor capacidad de asistencia al cliente
Compatibilidad con el recién liberado formato BD-R/RE (BDMV).
Corrige la señal de salida de información para audio y muestra cuando el canal de bandas Linear PCM 5.1 se reproducen a través de HDMI.

I don't speak spanish, but there is obviously Dolby True-HD mentioned as well as PCM over HDMI.

[techweb]

Originally Posted by bimbamboom

It would appear that Sony has added Dolby True-HD as well as fixing something with PCM output. I clicked on the Spanish button at the top of the web page and this is what was displayed:

Esta utilidad actualiza el BDP-S300 firmware a la versión 3.90, y ofrece las siguientes ventajas:

Mejoras en la versión del firmware 3.80:

Mejora la compatibilidad con BD-Java para mejorar la interactividad con BD-ROM.
Adicionales mejoras del firmware original:

Compatibilidad con discos BD-R/RE quemados por el Click to Disc™ y Click to Disc™ Editor incluidos con algunas computadoras VAIO®
Añade la función de decodificación Dolby® TrueHD y Dolby® Digital Plus
Audio.
Mejora de la compatibilidad de reproducción con ciertos formato de discos BD-ROM.
Mayor capacidad de asistencia al cliente
Compatibilidad con el recién liberado formato BD-R/RE (BDMV).
Corrige la señal de salida de información para audio y muestra cuando el canal de bandas Linear PCM 5.1 se reproducen a través de HDMI.

I don't speak spanish, but there is obviously Dolby True-HD mentioned as well as PCM over HDMI.

FWIW, Babel Fish translation:

This utility updates the BDP-S300 firmware to version 3,90, and offers the following advantages: Improvements in the version of firmware 3.80: It improves the compatibility with BD-Java to improve the interactivity with BD-ROM. Additional improvements of firmware original: Compatibility with discs BD-R/RE burned by the Click to Disc? and Click to Disc? Publisher including with some computers VAIO® Añade the function of decoding Dolby® TrueHD and Digital Dolby® Audio Extra. Improvement of the compatibility of reproduction with certain disk format BD-ROM. Greater capacity of attendance to the client Compatibility with just released format BD-R/RE (BDMV). It corrects the signal of exit of information for audio and shows when the channel of bands Linear PCM 5,1 reproduces through HDMI.

[JohannFreytag]

I inserted the 3.90 disc, everything went ok per the instructions, the tray did eject but it's been sitting there open and it's been about 35 minutes. I don't see "DL OK" on the display, looks like the player is off. I am leaving it like this some more just in case. Anybody went through something similar?