Sony BD-S350 or LG BD370?

[Merlin5]

Tbh, it's only for an HD ready 19" samsung, so either might be kinda wasted a bit. The only good reason I'm even considering the LG is because.... I like the silver disc with blue ring of light in the centre of the fascia But I'd be paying 10 squids more for that luxury. Is the picture quality likely to be noticeably better on the LG bearing in mind I don't have 1080p? Should I just stick with the sony? I was VERY impressed by an identical looking LG in tesco (£199, might have been the same model, not sure) running through a £999 40" samsung crystal, but since I have little experience with blueray, maybe a sony, or even a samsung might look just as impressive to me.
I will no doubt still get the sony (next week maybe) but would like further opinions.

LG BD370 at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

[kingfats]

Originally Posted by Merlin5

Tbh, it's only for an HD ready 19" samsung, so either might be kinda wasted a bit. The only good reason I'm even considering the LG is because.... I like the silver disc with blue ring of light in the centre of the fascia But I'd be paying 10 squids more for that luxury. Is the picture quality likely to be noticeably better on the LG bearing in mind I don't have 1080p? Should I just stick with the sony? I was VERY impressed by an identical looking LG in tesco (£199, might have been the same model, not sure) running through a £999 40" samsung crystal, but since I have little experience with blueray, maybe a sony, or even a samsung might look just as impressive to me.
I will no doubt still get the sony (next week maybe) but would like further opinions.

LG BD370 at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

Hi Merlin5.
Not seen the LG yet but have had the Sony for quite awhile now it's behaved perfectly and great little player for the money recommended.
All the best.

[rss]

Hi Merlin,

I picked up a HD370 earlier this week for £140 from Comet (they price matched a local Richer Sounds). I was going to get the Sony or Panasonic 60 but I just felt like trying out another brand for a change.

I can't compare picture quality as I haven't seen the two side by side but I think you'd be impressed with either.

I find the LG very quick to start and load a disc, the menu is nice and simple and looks good. YouTube is fun, whether I use it longer term I don't know but it's nice to have it there.

You can also play stuff from USB drives (although NTFS is not supported I believe so you'll be limited on file size).

I watched Slumdog last night which looked fantastic (great film too).

You can download a multi-region hack for it which is best to do before you update the firmware.

[boxrick]

My friend recently purchased a BD370, as stated above its pretty damn quick at loading plus BR quality is great and its pretty easy to use.

DVD quality is not bad and it gets the job done.

Id say go for the LG

[Merlin5]

Hmm, interesting,... choices, choices. Thanks kingfats, and for the mini reviews guys.

rss, yep, it's good that comet price match. They told me they'd price match the sony at £139.95 when I was at comet couple of weeks back, which is pretty cool of them. But how did you manage to price match the LG for £140? Because the price I see on richer sounds site for the LG is at £149.95 and comets normal price for it is £168.69 reduced from £249.99.

[rss]

Hi Merlin,

I managed to get Richer to go down to £140 over the phone. However traffic was a pig so I nipped into the local Comet on the way, they had the LG for £199 in store and I asked if they would price match Richer to which the manager said yes. She said what price had they given me and I told her £140 which she agreed to straight away without batting an eyelid. They didn't even bother checking.

Not bad, but I wish I had said £100 now!!

The local Curry's is selling off the Sony at £129.

[Merlin5]

Originally Posted by rss

Hi Merlin,

I managed to get Richer to go down to £140 over the phone. However traffic was a pig so I nipped into the local Comet on the way, they had the LG for £199 in store and I asked if they would price match Richer to which the manager said yes. She said what price had they given me and I told her £140 which she agreed to straight away without batting an eyelid. They didn't even bother checking.

Not bad, but I wish I had said £100 now!!

The local Curry's is selling off the Sony at £129.

Well done rss, you're obviously a good negotiator! Which is your local currys if you don't mind telling me, (you could pm me?) is it in london?

I'm actually going to buy the sony now if What Hi-Fi magazine is anything to go by? I flicked through their mag today and checked out their blue ray ratings. They said the LG BD370 doesn't show off the potential of blueray very well and gave it 3 stars out of 5, they think it's mediocre. But they gave the sony BD-S350 5 stars out of 5 and said it was a stunning blueray player.

[rss]

Hi Merlin,

my local store is Cambridge. Don't base your decision on a single magazine, many other reviews of the BD370 are favourable and I am more than impressed with mine.

Take a BR film you know with you and try it out on several machines.

It's just opinion at the end of the day and your own eyes are the best judge!

[Merlin5]

Originally Posted by rss

Hi Merlin,

my local store is Cambridge. Don't base your decision on a single magazine, many other reviews of the BD370 are favourable and I am more than impressed with mine.

Take a BR film you know with you and try it out on several machines.

It's just opinion at the end of the day and your own eyes are the best judge!

That's a good idea. Mind you, I don't have any yet but I can always buy one. Do they allow you to try out a couple of different BR players hooked up to one tv in comet or richer sounds to compare?

[Merlin5]

Just to elaborate further on the what hi fi reviews (*you are right though, proof is seeing as I hope to test them both) I've now found the online reviews from them. Their headline is the same as in the mag:

"LG doesn’t make Blu-rays look as good as it should"

LG BD-370 Blu-ray player review - from the experts at whathifi.com

Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player review Blu-ray player review - from the experts at whathifi.com




What I find interesting is that their main gripe for the LG seems to be lack of definition and detail, a softness to the edges. Now taking LG as a brand in general, when I compared my samsung tv to an LG tv last week side by side, both 19" lcds, I also found that the LG seriously lacked the sharpness of the samsung, even though the paper specs of the LG were higher in resolution, contrast ratio and brightness. So I got a refund for the LG. So I dunno, maybe it's an LG thing, but I will obviously have to go and see for myself.

[boxrick]

Originally Posted by Merlin5

I also found that the LG seriously lacked the sharpness of the samsung, even though the paper specs of the LG were higher in resolution, contrast ratio and brightness. So I got a refund for the LG. So I dunno, maybe it's an LG thing, but I will obviously have to go and see for myself.

If you were viewing standard definition then this kinda speaks for itself.. higher resolution will often cause none 1080p content to look not as "sharp". Higher resolution is not always better in all cases....

As far as these blu ray players go, i really would be gobsmacked if you could tell the difference between blu ray disks when i have looked for it there is truely nothing in it. Bootup speed the LG is a clear winner id say its as fast as my PS3. When it comes to normal dvds the Sony player provides a clearer image and is better at scaling / processing the image.

Not sure about what hifi but they do spout some garbage sometimes i would really never listen to a magazine which can rate 5star HDMI cables

[Merlin5]

Ah ok, good points. Well, looking beyond the aesthetics I like about the LG fascia, I will take a visit to richer sounds next week (when my samsung tv should be returned from samsung for backlight bleed repair) and if there is no discernible difference in picture quality, then I will let either price, or load up speed determine which one to go for. Thanks for all the advice so far!