I purchased the BDPS 350 Black Friday and noticed we had no thread on this or the 550 Models... So far no problems whatsoever and it has many more "Bells & Whistles" than my Magnavox player. I upgraded my firmware Saturday with no problems...
Sony BDPS 350 - BDPS 550
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If I would get one soon (not planned) I would go with that one because it has digital coax. You have to spend another $100.00 to get one with the Panny BD55.
I wouldn't use digital coax connection with Blu-ray. The format is capable of producing much better sound than this connection can deliver. If you have a receiver capable of extracting audio from HDMI - that would be your best bet. Otherwise, you should get a player that has 5.1 or 7.1 analog outputs. That would give you much better sound than what you can get over digital coax or over optical toslink.
I bought the BDP-S550 in a recent deal Sony offered at SonyStyle.com. Sign up for their Chase Visa "Rewards" card and get a $150 discount on any purchase over $299, which included both the 350 and 550. There was also free shipping. My net price delivered was $274, and the unit was on my doorstep in 6 days. FedEX tracking was exact and updated frequently. I already paid that off and tossed the card into my safe storage. (I probably won't use it again, but there might be other deals in the future.) That $150 credit deal expired but I'll bet Sony reinstates it before long especially with soft sales projections.
I opted for the S550 over the S350 as the former is Profile 2.0 compliant out of the box and I didn't have to immediately upgrade the FW (see my situation below) and also came with the 1GB memory card needed for on-line interactivity. (I have not installed it yet however.) Otherwise the S350 would probably have been just fine for me. Is the difference worth another $100? Probably not, especially regarding how I'll use the S550. There are other differences like the multichannel audio connections on the S550 that don't matter to me at all in my system.
As I mentioned in another thread, the set-up was rapid and exact. I had already run the HDMI cable (the only connection needed in my system) when I upgraded the receiver, so the connection was immediate. The one-time player set-up was simple and intuitive for the most part given the GUI and instructions. (I had one question that affected the TrueHD response that I asked via Sony eSupport. The answer was almost immediate and fixed the "problem" the first time. One audio setting was unclear in the manual but the answer was hinted at in the footnotes to a table as pointed out by Sony's response.)
I have played a half dozen titles with this player. PQ and AQ are awesome for the most part. I noticed the same "blue artifacts" in Indy 4 reported by others. The audio will automatically come up as TrueHD (as reported by the receiver as the bitstream is detected/decoded) for some titles that have that track. For others TrueHD is not the default and has to be chosen in the disk's set-up screen. My PotC titles don't have TrueHD, but offer instead "lossless DD5.1" that the receiver reports as "Linear PCM 48kHz". Whatever that is, it sounds great! The S550 takes about 30 seconds from loading the disk until the first A/V appears in the TV. There is a "quick start" feature that probably will reduce that by half, but that means leaving the unit in a "warm" status (already booted-up) all the time which I won't do. My only complaint to this point is that the S550 apparently does not have a "frame advance" feature that I am accustomed to in other formats. It will pause and slow advance, but not a single frame at a time, at least not that I have figured out! (If otherwise, please let me know!) Another "complaint" is that the unit is considerably smaller in the depth dimension vs. other equipment I have in the stack, thus I have to place it on top and need to find another location for my ancient top-loading cassette deck. (Can one really complain about small size?)
I have also played one mini DVD recorded in AVCHD (MPEG4) by my HandyCam and that worked flawlessly as well. It was cool hearing that DD5.1SS from the camera! The PQ is affected by the limitations of that particular camera, most notably its low light performance, but for the most part it looks pretty darn good as well.
I don't have HS internet thus I have not tried any of the on-line capabilities. As a result I am still using the FW that was loaded in the unit when I received it. I don't honestly know if there are any updates yet.
I have the Sony BDP into a Sony receiver so the "Bravia Sync" feature is cool. Simply loading a BD disk turns-on the power to the receiver and sets the input to HDMI 5 that I renamed "Blu-Ray". (Unfortunacely my XBR2 Sony TV predates the BS feature so I have to turn it on independently.)
I have no other BD experience, but overall I am quite pleased with the S550's performance, which thus far has been predictable and flawless. It is certainly equal to, and perhaps a bit better than my HD DVD experience. I'll need to do a direct comparison between the two formats to confirm. I think I'll pick up a BD copy of Transformers for that over the holidays.
So far, so good. I'm interested in others' comments as well.
I opted for the S550 over the S350 as the former is Profile 2.0 compliant out of the box and I didn't have to immediately upgrade the FW (see my situation below) and also came with the 1GB memory card needed for on-line interactivity. (I have not installed it yet however.) Otherwise the S350 would probably have been just fine for me. Is the difference worth another $100? Probably not, especially regarding how I'll use the S550. There are other differences like the multichannel audio connections on the S550 that don't matter to me at all in my system.
As I mentioned in another thread, the set-up was rapid and exact. I had already run the HDMI cable (the only connection needed in my system) when I upgraded the receiver, so the connection was immediate. The one-time player set-up was simple and intuitive for the most part given the GUI and instructions. (I had one question that affected the TrueHD response that I asked via Sony eSupport. The answer was almost immediate and fixed the "problem" the first time. One audio setting was unclear in the manual but the answer was hinted at in the footnotes to a table as pointed out by Sony's response.)
I have played a half dozen titles with this player. PQ and AQ are awesome for the most part. I noticed the same "blue artifacts" in Indy 4 reported by others. The audio will automatically come up as TrueHD (as reported by the receiver as the bitstream is detected/decoded) for some titles that have that track. For others TrueHD is not the default and has to be chosen in the disk's set-up screen. My PotC titles don't have TrueHD, but offer instead "lossless DD5.1" that the receiver reports as "Linear PCM 48kHz". Whatever that is, it sounds great! The S550 takes about 30 seconds from loading the disk until the first A/V appears in the TV. There is a "quick start" feature that probably will reduce that by half, but that means leaving the unit in a "warm" status (already booted-up) all the time which I won't do. My only complaint to this point is that the S550 apparently does not have a "frame advance" feature that I am accustomed to in other formats. It will pause and slow advance, but not a single frame at a time, at least not that I have figured out! (If otherwise, please let me know!) Another "complaint" is that the unit is considerably smaller in the depth dimension vs. other equipment I have in the stack, thus I have to place it on top and need to find another location for my ancient top-loading cassette deck. (Can one really complain about small size?)
I have also played one mini DVD recorded in AVCHD (MPEG4) by my HandyCam and that worked flawlessly as well. It was cool hearing that DD5.1SS from the camera! The PQ is affected by the limitations of that particular camera, most notably its low light performance, but for the most part it looks pretty darn good as well.
I don't have HS internet thus I have not tried any of the on-line capabilities. As a result I am still using the FW that was loaded in the unit when I received it. I don't honestly know if there are any updates yet.
I have the Sony BDP into a Sony receiver so the "Bravia Sync" feature is cool. Simply loading a BD disk turns-on the power to the receiver and sets the input to HDMI 5 that I renamed "Blu-Ray". (Unfortunacely my XBR2 Sony TV predates the BS feature so I have to turn it on independently.)
I have no other BD experience, but overall I am quite pleased with the S550's performance, which thus far has been predictable and flawless. It is certainly equal to, and perhaps a bit better than my HD DVD experience. I'll need to do a direct comparison between the two formats to confirm. I think I'll pick up a BD copy of Transformers for that over the holidays.
So far, so good. I'm interested in others' comments as well.
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I also purchased a 350 on Black Friday (actually Thursday @ K-Mart). I've been reading a lot of threads comparing his with the Panasonic BD35, which is now hovering at around the same price as the Sony 350. Most reviews seem to favor the BD35, but it's a mixed bag, because I see a lot of good reviews of the 350. So far I have not watched a BR disc on this thing, because I don't have any!! I'll be renting one from BB tomorrow - I did watch 5th Element DVD to look at upscaling capabilities, and it seems pretty good, similar to my Toshiba HD-DVD.
But beyond that I did set everything up properly (using DTS and DD via my older Kenwood receiver - toslink), and HDMI to the TV using 1080i.
I wish I could compare myself the Panny 35 with the Sony 350... people seem to think the Panny colors are "deeper" but that may be just audio/videophiles who notice small differences.
I paid $179 for the player and got an instant $10 off any BD in stock (Final Countdown) plus $100 worth of rental coupons (2 BD's per week plus 2- 32 oz drinks) and a $30 rebate so for now I will be very happy with the BDP 350 (especially since I moved the Manavox to the BT it will not play BD's)leaving soon to get my 2 rentals for this week 
Btw, I can tell no difference in PQ between the 2 players nor my D-2 still in the HT room...
Btw, I can tell no difference in PQ between the 2 players nor my D-2 still in the HT room...
I picked up the 350 as well, and the digital coax was also a selling point for me. Some of us don't have any other choice, except maybe to buy a new receiver... which I am not doing anytime soon.
The only open digital audio input on my receiver was a digital coax, I think it sounds amazing. I doubt seriously that many people can actually tell the difference with their ears.
Having been around and ran heavy equipment and Firearms (with hearing protection but...) for most of my life, my hearing is not what it once was (have mandated hearing tests every year)... and I think there are many of us in this boat...
Doesn't your Pioneer have 7.1 analog inputs?
Oh, you will be surprised! The difference is striking even with relatively inexpensive speakers.
Just FYI: the digital coax and toslink bitrates are both limited to 640 kbits/s (or even 448 kbit/s in most cases) for Dolby Digital and 768 kbit/s (or is it 754?) for DTS. In comparison, Dolby TrueHD specifications support bitrates up to 18 mbits/sec (on both Blu-ray and HD DVD) and DTS-HD Master Audio supports bitrates of up to 24.5 Mbit/s on a Blu-ray Disc and up to 18.0 Mbit/s for HD DVD.
I re-read your original statement, I misunderstood what you were saying. But ya, my receiver does have 7.1 analog inputs, but I don't think there is a good Blu-Ray player out there that has 7.1 or 5.1 outputs for under $200... is there? Another part of the selling point on the 350 was the great price.
Yeh, that's exactly where I stand. I don't want to bet $100+ that the sound will be that much better.
It all depends on one's needs and priorities. For those who already have a decent A/V receiver and speaker system, but lack the HDMI audio capability that $100 investment might be the cheapest and the easiest way to make a significant improvement in the sound quality without buying a new HDMI-capable receiver, which would cost much more than that.
Blu-ray is not just about better video, but also about much better audio. Why not take full advantage of it?
I can only say that the lack of an HD audio track on Get Smart was VERY evident now that I am used to the advanced HD audio.
It didn't ruin the movie, but it was noticeable that we were only listening to Dolby Digital. Comparatively, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow only has a DD or DTS track, yet the engineers did a great job with those 2 encodes and they sound very good for not being HD audio. So in addition to better potential quality with HD audio, the sound engineer needs to be good too.
Either way, I definately recommend upgrading to take advantage of the sound when money permits (AVR, Speakers, etc).
Not to side track the thread on the Sony players any further...
I had an S350, it was a great player and never gave me any issues. Anyone buying one should be happy.
It didn't ruin the movie, but it was noticeable that we were only listening to Dolby Digital. Comparatively, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow only has a DD or DTS track, yet the engineers did a great job with those 2 encodes and they sound very good for not being HD audio. So in addition to better potential quality with HD audio, the sound engineer needs to be good too.
Either way, I definately recommend upgrading to take advantage of the sound when money permits (AVR, Speakers, etc).
Not to side track the thread on the Sony players any further...
I had an S350, it was a great player and never gave me any issues. Anyone buying one should be happy.
Are you in a position now to make comparison with your Panasonic BP55? I think a lot of us are curious about any discernable differences and why folks chose one over the other. Or perhaps that's another thread...?!?
Honestly, like the Blu-ray PQ of the BD55 just a little bit better, but that might be just psychological.
SD upconversion is better on the BD55 IMO, hands down and since we have quite a few SD movies still, I wanted a nicer upconvertor now that I sold off our Oppo player. It's not some super upconvertor like an XA2 or Oppo 983, but it can hold it's own and one thing I did notice on the S350 that I don't on the BD55 is the S350 seems to have jaggies now and then on lines. My wife never noticed( never cared), but I saw it at times.
I also like the SD card interface for the BD-Live and other features compared to the S350 memory stick/Usb stick port in the back.
Performance wise, they are about the same I think, I never really timed either of them.
I didn't actually need the BD55 over BD35, but for the price that amazon had em going for, I figured why not, I might want the analog outs someday.
Tks for the information! I have an A2 and A35 so I need to make an upconvert comparision as well. Probably neither is as good as your XA2 however. I'd like to see a current generation Panasonic BP in action somewhere, but in my circle I'm the only one with a BD player of any sort, or even HD for that matter! (We be po' folk, and I don't have my priorities right, or so I'm told...!) And I just don't trust the stores. They always seem to have "an agenda"...! Maybe I'll pick one up myself after the holidays and (hopefully!) another round or two of price cuts. After all, one of my 6 HDMI inputs is still vacant. (Priorities again...!)
Honestly, like the Blu-ray PQ of the BD55 just a little bit better, but that might be just psychological.
SD upconversion is better on the BD55 IMO, hands down and since we have quite a few SD movies still, I wanted a nicer upconvertor now that I sold off our Oppo player. It's not some super upconvertor like an XA2 or Oppo 983, but it can hold it's own and one thing I did notice on the S350 that I don't on the BD55 is the S350 seems to have jaggies now and then on lines. My wife never noticed( never cared), but I saw it at times.
I also like the SD card interface for the BD-Live and other features compared to the S350 memory stick/Usb stick port in the back.
Performance wise, they are about the same I think, I never really timed either of them.
I didn't actually need the BD55 over BD35, but for the price that amazon had em going for, I figured why not, I might want the analog outs someday.
Good information - I have the SD350 but I'm seriously thinking of returning it (I have 2 more weeks) if I can get some more information on Panasonic's BD35 performance. So far on every forum I've seen on the web (been doing a lot of reading lately) in every head-to-head comparison of the BD35 to the Sony 350 the BD35 has won out. However, on upscaling some say the 350 does a better job. What I've noticed on the 350 is that there is a flickering/graininess on solid backgrounds (such as the sky, a wall, etc.), but moving images look extremely sharp. I honestly don't remember this with my Toshiba HD DVD A2 but I may hook it up again to compare.
Costco has an $80 rebate on the BD35 coming up that should bring the price to around $199, so I may just purchase it and return the one that my own eyes think is less capable.
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