[TommyVecetti]

Not as good as the Amazon deal.

[Doidy]

only £154.99 with free delivery on Amazon and a 3 free film promo

Sony BDPS350 Blu-ray Disc Player 1080p Full HD: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo



edit: player went back to Argos with no hassle and got money back..just ordered the s350 (price had gone upto £160ish from this morning though) but I have some vouchers for Amazon anyways lol, so for the player, wall-e, hancock and mama mia and free 1 day postage (free trial of amazon prime) it cost me £153ish

[isayisay]

This is back on at £97.86

[gmp]

Well after a few days I'm pretty happy with this for the price and I've been very impressed with audio side as I've never head such good sound and surround effects through our 5.1 system. Handled all discs fine with the exception of T2 when I couldn't resolve lip sync but that could be down to my surround system struggling with DTS soundtrack.

I've briefly tried mine out using Spiderman and Casino Royale and I'm quite impressed with the picture quality at 1080p/24 into my plasma.DVD playback doesn't fare as well but taking the price into consideration I'm happy with it.
My only real gripe is the horrible remote lots of tiny buttons. Why do budget brands produce such unfriendly remotes? The Bush remote is big enough to provide a logical layout with proper sized buttons.

[TommyVecetti]

I watched my first full flick on this, the Blu-ray of lethal Weapon and it seemed to go smoothly.

[Pecker]

I don't know if this has been spotted, but it looks a bit cheaper for the next week.

The price is still £97.86, but at the bottom it says:

"Get a 10% online exclusive discount on this product by entering code ELEC10 on the payment page in the checkout. Discount applies to UK home delivery only. Hurry, ends Wednesday 24th December."

10% of £97.86 is £9.78. Deduct that and you get £88.08.



Steve W

[wildweb UK]

Bought this yesterday. Excellent player - and upscales normal DVDs perfectly. Really clear on Sony Bravia 32".
Very basic player in terms of 'features' but does what it says on the tin. I'd say it's a bargain.
The nearest thing to this is the sony S350. But this is more than £50 cheaper. At this time of year, who's got that extra £50 to spend, for essentially the same thing. It's guaranteed as well.

[chrisy t]

I am taking mine back!! (in preparation for the PCH )

It is a good player - nothing wrong with it. I think I expected too much from the Blu-ray hype! IMO, the only reason Blu-ray should be championed is less picture noise and better audio. Maybe I was expecting the leap from SD to HD to be as amazing as going from b&w to colour!!

Before I bought the Bush, I had a demo in a Pioneer AV shop - I had the same opinion so when Argos were knocking out Blu-ray for £100 I thought I had nothing to lose.

I will stick with my Pioneer DVR which upscales nicely.

[TommyVecetti]

Originally Posted by chrisy t

IMO, the only reason Blu-ray should be championed is less picture noise and better audio. Maybe I was expecting the leap from SD to HD to be as amazing as going from b&w to colour!!

Well it is, on a big screen. What TV do you have?

[IanC14]

Originally Posted by TommyVecetti

Well it is, on a big screen. What TV do you have?

Heck even on smaller screens i can see a difference.

We set up ours with a new 22" screen (present for my mother when she gets out of hospital - no more need to buy films on both DVD and BD ) and it really looked good.

Amusingly the 22" has a higher resolution than the 32" in the living room, so no need to worry about the apparently dodgy scaling chip in the player.

[pault2007]

Originally Posted by IanC14

Heck even on smaller screens i can see a difference.

We set up ours with a new 22" screen (present for my mother when she gets out of hospital - no more need to buy films on both DVD and BD ) and it really looked good.

Amusingly the 22" has a higher resolution than the 32" in the living room, so no need to worry about the apparently dodgy scaling chip in the player.

I've actually got the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive but on my 26" Samsung TV, the picture is a lot better than a DVD (clearer, less grainy, more life-like).

[pault2007]

Originally Posted by TommyVecetti

Not as good as the Amazon deal.

How can it be compared with Tesco's Technika player for £150?

Is the Technika better than the Bush?

[TommyVecetti]

How would I know?

[Doidy]

Originally Posted by pault2007

How can it be compared with Tesco's Technika player for £150?

Is the Technika better than the Bush?

for that price you may as well spend £10 more and get the Sony s350 and that is a profile 2 player

[Nic Rhodes]

why? What did you find wrong with the Technica?

[Dom Robinson]

Originally Posted by Pecker

I don't know if this has been spotted, but it looks a bit cheaper for the next week.

The price is still £97.86, but at the bottom it says:

"Get a 10% online exclusive discount on this product by entering code ELEC10 on the payment page in the checkout. Discount applies to UK home delivery only. Hurry, ends Wednesday 24th December."

10% of £97.86 is £9.78. Deduct that and you get £88.08.



Steve W

Talk about sod's law. Thanks to Argos' bobbins website, when I check stock in my area it tells me these are in stock for delivery (I could collect but then I won't get the discount).

However, when I go through to the trolley checkout... all of a sudden it's out of stock!

I'm thinking if I wait until after Xmas when more sales begin (if that's possible) will more places have Blu-ray players under £100?

[IanC14]

I think i might have found another disc it has trouble with - Futurama Bender's Game. Loads upto the menu, but selecting play just results in a blank screen. Might be a problem with the Video Commentary option, since i had that selected when i first tried it, but i did try without it after wards..

[newTV]

My mate has one and he cant play the US version of Iron Man on Blu Ray I lent him so looks like a firmware update is needed

[Dom Robinson]

Originally Posted by newTV

My mate has one and he cant play the US version of Iron Man I lent him so looks like a firmware update is needed

I've not checked the whole of this thread, but is it not possible to make it region free?

BTW, after a few emails to-ing and fro-ing with Argos, as the player wasn't available for delivery in my area even though they had it in stock at the store, I asked if they'd still somehow offer me the £10 discount off a £100+ purchase (which it would go over with the HDMI cable), since with the credit crunch you'd think companies would be wanting to sell their stock - and you don't get it you don't ask, they said no.

Ah well, there'll be more Blu-ray players under £100 to come in the New Year, I'm sure.

[newTV]

Originally Posted by Dom Robinson

I've not checked the whole of this thread, but is it not possible to make it region free?

BTW, after a few emails to-ing and fro-ing with Argos, as the player wasn't available for delivery in my area even though they had it in stock at the store, I asked if they'd still somehow offer me the £10 discount off a £100+ purchase (which it would go over with the HDMI cable), since with the credit crunch you'd think companies would be wanting to sell their stock - and you don't get it you don't ask, they said no.

Ah well, there'll be more Blu-ray players under £100 to come in the New Year, I'm sure.

Sorry should have said that it is the Blu ray of Iron Man and has no region so it should play it

[Gavincol78]

I got my BD01 just before xmas had to take back a faulty FreesatHD box so just done a swap as I was not impressed with the current FreesatHD lineup of 1 permanent HD channel.

Anyway getting back on topic I have been totally impressed with this player I brought my daughter Ratatouille on Blu-Ray for xmas and everything was spot on. The sounds however exceeded my expectations especially with the inital lightening scenes on setup with zero distortion on all channels.

So far I have watched the following all with the same excellent feeling, Torchwood series 1 disk 1, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (only in 3D at the moment), Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, Eragon, Lucky Number Sleven and Sarah Connor Chronicles disk 1. All played faultlessly and as people say you can not go wrong for under £100.

[m_w_clarke]

Originally Posted by Gavincol78

I got my BD01 just before xmas had to take back a faulty FreesatHD box so just done a swap as I was not impressed with the current FreesatHD lineup of 1 permanent HD channel.

Anyway getting back on topic I have been totally impressed with this player I brought my daughter Ratatouille on Blu-Ray for xmas and everything was spot on. The sounds however exceeded my expectations especially with the inital lightening scenes on setup with zero distortion on all channels.

So far I have watched the following all with the same excellent feeling, Torchwood series 1 disk 1, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (only in 3D at the moment), Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, Eragon, Lucky Number Sleven and Sarah Connor Chronicles disk 1. All played faultlessly and as people say you can not go wrong for under £100.

I havent got one of these players...yet! But was wondering what picture output you had? My TV "only" does 720p/1080i. Having read this forum, 1080i seems to be a but rubbish from this player, but Im wondering what the 720p setting is like (ie the player just chaging the resolution, rather than the picture format from progressive to interlace)

Ta.

[TommyVecetti]

Picture looks fine outputting 1080i/p

[Gavincol78]

My set is made by ONN (for asda) and is 26" on the box and instructions it clearly states 1368x768 and max 1080i but my BD01 auto's to 1080p60 and looks fantastic. Even when it auto's to 1080i on some disks I cannot tell much difference from 720p. If your set is 37"+ then there will be a difference between 1080i and 720p but the general rule of thumb is that if your set can't take 1080p then 720p is the next best option.

Originally Posted by m_w_clarke

I havent got one of these players...yet! But was wondering what picture output you had? My TV "only" does 720p/1080i. Having read this forum, 1080i seems to be a but rubbish from this player, but Im wondering what the 720p setting is like (ie the player just chaging the resolution, rather than the picture format from progressive to interlace)

Ta.

[Rourkey]

Got this player for my brother for christmas, very very impressed with it picture quality is fantastic, remote a bit sluggish mind.

[Gavincol78]

Also what looks crap to 1 persons eyes may look fine to another's especially as every LCD on the market is different even if they are the same size etc. So the only way you can tell if 1080i is ok for you is to try it and if it doesn't work then 720p is the better option as the preferences go

1, 1080p
2, 720p
3, 1080i

And without going into the technicals the main difference between i & p is the fact that 'i' transmits half frames and 'p' transmits full frames.

Originally Posted by m_w_clarke

I havent got one of these players...yet! But was wondering what picture output you had? My TV "only" does 720p/1080i. Having read this forum, 1080i seems to be a but rubbish from this player, but Im wondering what the 720p setting is like (ie the player just chaging the resolution, rather than the picture format from progressive to interlace)

Ta.

[Ian_S]

The remote sensor is set too far back in the player which means unless you're dead infront of the player it struggles to get any signal...

As for PQ, then 720p is where the player starts to show its budget roots. See my posts earlier in the thread for evidence of what starts to happen. I got a nice shiny new 1080p TV recently, so will re-run the same scene when I get a chance at 1080p/24, where I'm expecting those issues to vanish.

So, 720, AND 1080i do not show the player to it's best. Of course, even with the issues shown, it's still probably a better picture than normal DVD, so it's hardly unwatchable.

[TommyVecetti]

I have to say I didn't really encounter any of the issues that you did Ian.

[m_w_clarke]

Originally Posted by Ian_S

The remote sensor is set too far back in the player which means unless you're dead infront of the player it struggles to get any signal...

As for PQ, then 720p is where the player starts to show its budget roots. See my posts earlier in the thread for evidence of what starts to happen. I got a nice shiny new 1080p TV recently, so will re-run the same scene when I get a chance at 1080p/24, where I'm expecting those issues to vanish.

So, 720, AND 1080i do not show the player to it's best. Of course, even with the issues shown, it's still probably a better picture than normal DVD, so it's hardly unwatchable.

Cheers Ian. Thats exactly what I wanted to hear. I expected the 1080p signal to be pretty good (ie just pulling it from the disk). It was how the player did with resizing/restructuring the picture.
By the sounds of it, I may hold onto my cash and look at the Panny BD35.

Thanks again!