Sony BDP-S500 and BDPS2000ES Blu-ray players - Page 2

here are pics of the S500 with the door open and closed

Rear pix?

is the door a manual push up/down design or is it automatic (powered)?

"Elevated Standard" translation = our cheaper models are crap & if you want a model that's decently made we are going to force you to pay through the nose for it.

It is powered.

The s300 is an excellent machine. You have no idea what you are talking about.

That's not what I'm saying; that's what Sony is implying in their marketing terminology.

It's the same concept as the cars, They don't say Honda is crap so buy Acura.

Cheers,

I keep reading this type of comment, but I believe there's a chunk of the market who are staying away from existing players because they're too inexpensive.

For example, when I ordered a BDP-S1, I didn't expect anything from it since it was so cheap. I paid significantly more than $1K for my first SD DVD player and for my LD players before that, so surely there had to be major corners cut in a video piece with the MSRP of the BDP-S1.

That's one reason why the Denon 3800 is an important product; it not only will likely be the first 1.1 profile BD player to hit the market, but its price point will also bring in more of the consumers who've been dismissing current BD players as mass-market junk.

For example, if you currently own a Denon 3930CI, why would you believe you'd get reasonable picture and sound quality out of a BD player that sells for less than your current SD DVD player?

Question: If you were an average DVD only consumer with no format bias about to transition to Hi-Def in the near future, and if you had the means to purchase whatever player you wanted, what reason(s) would you have to purchase a Blu-ray Sony BDP-S500 ($700) or a BDP-S2000ES ($1300) over a HD DVD Toshiba HD-XA2 ($600)? Are there legimate reasons why a non-technical consumer would choose to do so?

osage: At this point in the game, unless another big studio falls to either side, I would look for a dual playing unit.

All the HD-DVD players are rebagged Toshiba units which is lame, and the BD side of the fence didn't have anything to attrack the masses as far as price goes. I would seriously look at a dual player, at this point I think I am.... Here are some picks from the show.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...007-index.html

ES Line in most cases with there DVD ES Line and CD ES Line have always been a top of the high end market. Not all there ES stuff is great, but for the most part there pre/pro was very good 9000ES and there CD Players have been built like tanks for years with decent sound to boot.

Also: I sure hope these new units have decent flash memory in them for firmware updates, this would make these new units very appealing. As far catering to the high end market, who wants to spend that much money when you can't play all of your movies in HD.. I for one am leaning towards a decent dual player, unless some thing drastically changes soon...

kucharsk: I would buy a high end player in a heart beat if I new all my movies could be played on the machine...

They look incredible but at $700 & $1300 ouch, the BDA camp needs to focus on more affordable players not high end units..

For a non-technical answer it's pretty much content. HD DVD will not have Sony, Fox, MGM, or Disney for the foreseeable future, if ever. OTOH BD won't have Universal, Dreamworks, or Paramount; probaly for a while (if ever; I think they will; but it'll be a while). As another poster says, the best way to go to get all content is a universal player, of which there are now 2: LG and Samsung; both 999. Each has there own advantages.

Sony, Denon, Pio Elite, Marantz, etc are going more for the high end guy who wants high build quality; and is either willing to wait out the missing content or has or gets a second player for HD DVD. This was an easier decision when Uni was the only missing studio, but the studio support still favors BD.

The other item is playability issues. BD have scratch-resistant coating; and other than some players taking a while to load certain discs for the most part they act like the DVD players people are used to. HD DVD uses a lot of combo discs (two sided), have a fairly high reported incidence of freezes, skips, lockups, etc; don't remember where they were if you stop and start (or so I've read), and have fairly long load times (more so than most BD players except for the Java discs).

HD DVD's only higher end players thus far (beyond XA2) are the just announced Onkyo and Integra units; which are based on the Tosh design with a few extra touches/features added.

The back of the S2000es is the same as the S1. Its basically an S1 with vibration dampning feet, a motorized glass door, a sealed BD drive, upgrades to some other parts and HDMI 1.3 that will ship with High res bitstream output. (of course the S500 will also have high res bitstream output).

Both the S500 and S2000es are very nice looking in person I wanted to add.

Sliding glass door looks cool but that is one more redundant component that will eventually fail. I just wanna know if it will have a faster processor, SACD playback, HQV processing (or something equivalent) and profile 1.1.

Come on Sony! I've owned every Blu-ray player made thus far at one point or another and everyone has an achilles heel. I hope they will eventually release one that I want to keep!

I think they plan on pushing the 300 down (sooner is better than later) and need these new units to offer mid and high end lines. A good move by them. The ES series will get my money if it's not prone to locking up (which the 300 is for sure).

I wonder if the new Sony ES is being build by Pioneer, as was Sony's S1 BD player (i.e, to be based on a Pioneer Elite model)?

Read my message a few posts above.

If I didn't regularly read AVS Forum, I never would have bought a BDP-S1 and instead would have waited to buy a BD player until there was one that I didn't consider mass-market junk on the market. That means Sony ES or Denon or at least something more than $1K MSRP.

If a good SD DVD player is $1499+ (Denon DVD-3930CI or DVD-5910CI), why would I expect to pay less for a BD player? I'd put something priced at $499 in the same category as the cheap Coby DVD players available at the grocery store.

I agree with the last post.I have to tell you,looking at these new players from Toshiba and even Onkyo they look like their built like crap.To much plastic and to thin.But I could be wrong since i have not seen them in person.
Now I keep reading that Blu Ray must get their prices down on the players but Why would a lot of people that have spent $ anywhere from 3000 to 10,000 on a hdtv and good sound system put in a cheaply made hd or blu ray player.

Both of these new sony models are profile 1.0 They will/cannot be upgrade (thats what I was told at their Cedia booth).

And for both units no "real" DTS-HD support! Only the core!

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665228713


http://www.cinemotion.biz/archivos/upload/bdps500.pdf

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/BD/index.html
http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/P...00709/07-0912/

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/09/12...ray-recorders/


Release Nov. 8th! It´s a profile 1.1 player? And it do DTS-HD MA and has DLNA!
But only in Japan!

Why Sony does such a thing! We in US and Europe only get 1.0 Player without DTS-HD MA!!!

Probably these recorders are better Blu-ray players as the S500 and S2000ES!

Some people are willing to pay for a quality unit. If you remember your history, you'll recall Sony kept coming out with $1000 units in its Gen1 and Gen2 DVD player offerings. Both were regarded as the best on the market at the time, and they sold as many copies as the cheaper models.

Sony is out of their frickin minds!...What a waste of electronics!...No MA= NO SALE!...Can get the new Pioneer with MA for 849.99

I willl be curious about load times on both the new Sony's and the Pioneer.

Blu Ray.com is reporting they might be 1.1 compliant by the time their released here.Including Dts Ma.Sounds like bs but who knows.

As was said earlier, they are grace period players.

http://www.emedialive.com/articles/r...leid=11397#iij

It is still expensive because a few people are buying the Blu-ray


You can see most family has at least one standard DVD player vs what...1 of 500-1000 family might have Blu-ray player....

I think the pricing is fair...Particularly for an ES quality player.