Sony 300 is horrible

[mikew]

I recently purchased a Blu-Ray DVD player for $299. It was the Sony XXX-X300 model. It took nearly 3 minutes from the time I attempted to open the DVD drawer until the time that I could actually control the DVD I wanted to insert. This is completely unacceptable. Add to that, the war between studios on releasing movies on different formats, inability to do 1080p without HDMI, and the slim selection of movies and, as a casual consumer, I have to say...it is simply not a good idea to invest in this medium at this time.

I feel that the HD movie channels offered on DirecTV has enough content to get by on until a true format is decided on and works efficiently on a home theater.

I am truly disappointed in Sony's offering. What makes them think they can pull so many dollars from my wallet for such an inferior product? Disk load times are horrendous and waiting to navigate through DVD features is ridiculous. In a day and age where processors and memory are cheap, this beast makes me feel like I'm dealing with technology from the 80's. Those feelings coming from someone who paid $299 for a product with an MSRP of $499.

God bless you early adopters. Hopefully, you speak loud enough with discontent that when I decide to give HD-DVD or BD another chance, I will be wowed by the experience.

 

[DishSubLA]

It is unfortunate you didn't check out CNET's review or other internet sites review of that latest lower priced Sony; they cite exactly the same problems you've experienced. This is Sony's response to the even lower priced HD-DVD players out there. In other words, an inferior product that is supposed to compete with least expensive HD-DVD players that have features that Blu-ray will soon have.

Perhaps you can take the Sony back and invest in Panasonic's latest model that is the only model with the newly required hardware for future Blu-ray features such as Picture-in-Picture. Cnet reports that the Panny can load a disc within about 35 seconds, if I remember correctly. the Panasonic gets a a good review.

 

[vurbano]

I recently purchased a Blu-Ray DVD player for $299. It was the Sony XXX-X300 model. It took nearly 3 minutes from the time I attempted to open the DVD drawer until the time that I could actually control the DVD I wanted to insert. This is completely unacceptable. Add to that, the war between studios on releasing movies on different formats, inability to do 1080p without HDMI, and the slim selection of movies and, as a casual consumer, I have to say...it is simply not a good idea to invest in this medium at this time.

I feel that the HD movie channels offered on DirecTV has enough content to get by on until a true format is decided on and works efficiently on a home theater.

I am truly disappointed in Sony's offering. What makes them think they can pull so many dollars from my wallet for such an inferior product? Disk load times are horrendous and waiting to navigate through DVD features is ridiculous. In a day and age where processors and memory are cheap, this beast makes me feel like I'm dealing with technology from the 80's. Those feelings coming from someone who paid $299 for a product with an MSRP of $499.

God bless you early adopters. Hopefully, you speak loud enough with discontent that when I decide to give HD-DVD or BD another chance, I will be wowed by the experience.

You would be much happier with the PS3

 

[ONUOsFan]

You would be much happier with the PS3

Agreed. It has the fastest startup and load times out there at this point... oh, and you can do a few other things with it, too, if you want to.

I agree with the first response as well, though... all of the things you are complaining about you could have known had you done your homework before spending $300....

Also, I realize the load times are a pain, but if you're not "wowed" by the experience once you got the movie going, it's probably not a good investment for you anyway.

 

[bjdraw]

Enjoy your low bit rate cropped and dumbed down 5.1.

Personally I'll go make some popcorn while I'm waiting for the Blu-ray disc to load.

Also, HD DVDs aren't any better. The latest HD-A30 takes 1 minute and 30 seconds, just to turn on and eject the tray.

 

[KyDave]

I was looking into this player for a friend that was interested. I read some reviews that described exactly what you describe. You might consider a firmware upgrade, maybe they have a new version and have made improvements. See this link for info.

 

[allargon]

Also, HD DVDs aren't any better. The latest HD-A30 takes 1 minute and 30 seconds, just to turn on and eject the tray.

No, the Sony BDP-S300 is the worst standalone HD player out there. The damned thing doesn't even decode Dolby TrueHD or pass bitstream audio. It can't even deinterlace properly. That thing should be $50 not $500 (MSRP) or even $300.

Pioneer and Panasonic make good Blu-Ray standalone players. The S500 isn't that bad. However, the S300 is just horrible!

 

[teamerickson]

Give the Samsung BD-P1400 a look. If it were profile 1.1 it would be better on paper then the panasonic 30.

 

[vurbano]

With the sony CC he could order the 40 gig PS3 from Sony for 299. I would try that. Its very quick playing discs.

 

[mikew]

Thanks for the tip Vurbano. I took the POS back to Circuit City last night. I do have a Sony CC laying around here somewhere...The PS3 route seems the best. I was simply taken by the sale price of the Sony and thought I'd give it a try. At least I was smart enough not to cut off the UPC for the 5 free DVD deal!

 

[JoeSp]

You would be much happier with the PS3

:yikes:yikes:yikes

 

[SpenceJT]

I am secretly delighted to hear that the Sony isn't quite up to snuff! I have no doubt firmware will correct many of the issues, however it just helps to illustrate and reinforce issues being seen on other products as not being all that rare or resultant of any specific manufacturer.

In short, they've all got bugs!

Give the Panasonic 30 some consideration, from what I've heard it is as close to perfect as anything on the market.

I myself have just picked up a Samsung BD-UP5000 "Duo HD" player. Reviews are showing that it has a few warts, not all that different from what is being reported on the Sony 300, but nothing that can't be resolved via firmware.

Blu-ray & HD DVD playback. On board decoding with 7.1 channel analog output. BR 1.1 "ready" (pending firmware that is expected in 1st quarter of 2008).

Cheers,
Spence

 

[vurbano]

:yikes:yikes:yikes

IMO the SOny 300 is crap. ANyone buying anything but a PS3 for BD is #1 overpaying and #2 taking a big risk unless they have studied the thing inside and out. It is the only reasonably priced, low risk BD player out there. The last thing I wanted to do was make a $500- $1000 dollar mistake. Now thats a lot of praise for Sony and the PS3 but its also inexcusable for Sony to put out these dead end loser standalones.