Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray Player

Boasting a six second start up time this player, although not quite Sony's flagship model boasts many features that many much more expensive machines don't have. Frankly there isn't much more on the higher model that's worth paying the extra for.

With onboard decoding for Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital+, True HD and DTS-HR sound there's only one sound format it doesn't cope with internally - DTS-MA. The good news is that it capable of spitting this out to an external decoder so choose an amp that handles DTS-MA and Bob's your uncle!

The extras on the higher model (BDP-S550) are that it DOES decode DTS-MA internally and it has 7.1 out in analogue form - the S350 only spits out stereo using analogue cables.

To get DD or DTS (5.1) you need to use its built in coaxial or optical ports and the other sound formats can only be sent via HDMI. No big deal if you've got (or are getting) a new AV amp.

Setup is relatively easy. This player (similar to a PC) tries outputting each resolution asking you to confirm if it's displayed properly. If no confirmation it reverts to a lower res. If you're buying 2nd hand or ex-display, you don't have a FULL HD telly & can't see a picture take note of it's reset function (read the manual to find out how).

Picture quality is impressive with sharp images & great depth of contrast. On playing normal DVDs its upscaling capability doesn't disappoint.

Using the latest revision of the HDMI standard (v1.3) means it's upto date on that front too. It also has an ethernet port for connecting to the internet and a USB port so you can plug flash memory into it (available very cheaply now).

These ports mean two things: firstly you can download firmware updates directly from the internet (which you'll need to do to update it to profile 2 - an easy process) and with flash memory installed you can access the BD-live functions on many of the newer discs.

Be careful if buying on Ebay that you're getting a UK (region B) model otherwise you may find many films bought from UK stores won't play.

RRP of these players is £250 and they're now cropping up on Ebay a bit cheaper. At the time of writing it's available at Richer Sounds for £170.

Edit (July 2009). ebay member purelynaturalmel points out that you need top quality leads to get the best from this player. If you're connecting with analogue leads I would agree with this point - but you'll NEVER get the full potential of video or audio using analogue with this format. You need to use HDMI. As these leads are digital it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether you use a £5 HDMI lead or one costing £100. At the end of the day this isn't analogue - it's digital. The "ones" & "zeros" either get to their destination or they don't. Paying extra for gold & oxygen free copper makes no difference and is a waste of your cash.

Last year I decided to buy an HDDVD Player basically because they were much cheaper to buy than Bluray players at that time and there was no difference in playback picture quality, unfortunately 4 months later Sony bought off the biggest film companies with a big wad of cash which left Toshiba no option but to cease production of their excellent HDDVD Players. This initially did'nt have such a bad effect for me as what HDDVD films were still available plummeted in price and I managed to increase my film collection considerably for as little as, in some case £3-00 per disc, which kept me happy for quite a while.
Having said this I realised that for new films I would eventually have to invest in a Bluray Player once the prices had dropped enough.
One thing which has benefitted prospective buyers of this machine is that Sony earlier on this year decided to sell the players as a freeby to anyone buying a new Sony TV. As many buyers of the TVs already had PS3s which play Blurays an extra player was just a waste of space, hence they began appearing in large numbers on ebay.
When I first started looking at the auctions a few weeks ago a lot of the players were making £160-£180 in auctions, which I thought was a bit daft as they were available from Amazon UK at that time for £155 post free.
Since then the auction prices have dropped to prices which are much more of a bargain, the player I won cost me £130 plus postage, so I made a pretty fair saving, the seller was also very prompt with delivery too.
As to the players performance I can't fault it, it starts up far faster than my Toshiba HDDVD player which was always a bit annoyingly slow.
Bluray picture and sound quality is fabulous, matching the Toshiba on both counts. The Bluray is probably a little more vivid colour wise as it has an inbuilt gizmo which tweaks the colour. The Sony is better in one respect, it upscales standard DVDs better than the Toshiba so it has definately been a good buy. Downloading the latest firmware update off Sonys website was easy too. Just have to hope Bluray Disc prices drop as the popularity grows.
A nice little sweetener is the inclusion of 2 free Blueray discs from Sony, Casino Royale and Batman Begins which you receive after you register your player online with Sony, brilliant!!

Awesome, one word says it all. Picture quality is out of this world. Remote / functions are all straight forward and easy to use. You won't believe how good the picture is until you put it pause and look at the image. Upscaling on DVD's make them hard to distinguish from Blue Ray. Great product.

I looked forward to receiving the sony blu ray player with great anticipation and i was not to be disappointed. It's styling is sleek,slim and almost perfect to look at. It's features are excellent for the price. You can upgrade the firmware via internet connection so its easy to update. Once you have seen a blu ray movie you will not believe the difference of picture quality. This player also upscales your existing dvds to 1080p and again there is a noticable difference. One of the reasons i like this player is because it was quite easy to install onto my tv and is quite easy to use. I would definetely recommend this player to anyone thinking of buying a blu ray player.

Great connectivity, awesome picture, easy to use, if you want to see what your HD TV can blue ray is a must.

BUT - you must buy good leads to see the true quality of the product - not provided extra £20-25

Sony BD-S350 Blu-Ray Player probably one of the best value players on the market, upscaling is impressive easy to set up. Only downside is u have to purchase a HDMI cable to make it work properly with HD A+++++++++++

Excellent bluray player. I added 1gb of memory and linked into my internet broadband - updated to latest software immediately. Works very well and high quality. I originally was going for a Samsung but overwhelming favourable reviews for the Sony changed my mind.

Execellent player, the difference is amazing in the picture quality from my old dvd player. I am extremely satisfied with this product it performs beyond my expectations.

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A good blu ray player. No issues with the time it takes to load a disc. Picture quality good. Easy to update the profile via ethernet connection. If you are looking for an entry level blu ray player you can get these for about £140.00 which is good value.

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Fantastic blu ray player especially at the £120 I got it for on good ol' ebay!

Excellent picture and sound quality and works like a dream with Bravia Sync through my tv and av set up.

Main bonus is the huge improvement in boot speed over the BDP-S300.

Highly recommended!

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this is a great player, looks very stylish too.
easy to use and set-up. Its the best value for money item on the market.
1080p full HD quality, i've hooked it up to my 50" plasma n it looks B E A U T I F U L!!

I bought the Sony blu-ray player for my partners birthday I must say it was a real bargin we are both very impressed with the picture quality and additional features that you don't get with normal dvd players,the discs are slightly more expensive but well worth it.The Item was as listed in immaculate condition and arrived next day delivery as said in listing it has already given us both hours or pleasurable entertainment.The only thing left to say is Thanks very much a real snip of a bargin and the seller was first class with communication I would highly reccommend him, Thanks once again.

Excellent purchase price, faultless transaction - through PayPal of course - and overall delighted with my purchase. Who needs to shop when it's available on the end of your fingertips!!!!!! Cheaper, better, quicker! Thank you seller, Ebay and PayPal. ***** to you all!

Slow loading!But plays all dvd,s & up grades to near hd quality a must if you want to up grade on the cheap.

I liked the sleek look of the Sony BDP-S350 this is why I decided to buy the model, I have been researching blu-ray players for a while and this seemed to be the best for me. I like the simple on screen menus used in this model, also used in the PS3 and PSP so I new straight away how to work it. I have bought a quite expensive gold plated hdmi cable, once set up I couldn't believe the quality of the onscreen picture. Blu-ray dvd's looked fantastic, but also my normal dvds's were upscaled so well the quality was equivalent to that of a blu-ray disc. This player is certainly value for money with great features and an easy remote to understand, I would highly recommend this product.

The product speaks for itself in my opinion the best money can buy & makes an excellent companion fof my 42" sony bravia lcd tv..