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.