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More…Any way you look at it, the $300 (as of 2/18/09) Sony BDP-S350 is an excellent Blu-ray player. It's well designed and easy to use. It supports high-end Blu-ray features such as BD-Live. And it produces good-looking images.
Sony BDP-S350
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$299.99 - $494.02 From 3 Vendors Get Best Prices »
| Overall design | Good |
| On-screen menus | Very Good |
| Ease of use | Very Good |
| Responsiveness | Good |
| Remote control | Good |
| Other features | Very Good |
| Documentation | Fair |
| Overall performance | Good: 78 |
| Brightness and contrast | Very Good: 82 |
| Color | Good: 79 |
| Detail | Very Good: 81 |
| DVD video quality | Very Good: 80 |
| Specifications | Very Good |
| HDMI version | HDMI 1.3 |
| 24p output support | Yes |
| Ethernet connection (BD-Live) | Yes |
| Ethernet connection (streaming content across home network) | No |
| USB 2.0 | Yes |
| Additional storage | None |
| Component video output | Yes |
| Blu-ray special features | BD-Live |
| Maximum multichannel surround-sound support | Up to 7.1 channels of audio |
| On-board audio decoding | Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD decoding |
PCWorld Rating, February 1, 2009
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$299.99 - $494.02
From 3 Vendors
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- Lab Tested
- How We Test Blu-Ray »
Pros
Supports BD-Live; nice setup menu
Outputs great-looking images
Cons
Remote is neither programmable nor backlit
Bottom Line
The Sony BDP-S350 is an exceptionally good Blu-ray player that packs in the most important features and delivers pleasing images.
Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc Player
BDP-S350 Review, by Lincoln Spector, PC World February 26, 2009
The judges in our PC World Test Center evaluation graded the BDP-S350 with a mixture of Good and Very Good scores, with the Very Goods seeing a slight edge.
Of all the judges, I was the most pleased with this player. When it upconverted DVDs to 1080p, I thought it provided better color than the Sony PlayStation 3 did. I wasn't quite so impressed with how it handled colors from Blu-ray discs, feeling they were duller compared with what I saw from the PS3 in The Searchers and Mission: Impossible III, and just a tad off in Cars. I thought the BDP-S350 gave better gray and black detail in Good Night and Good Luck, where there was no color at all.
But another judge disagreed, saying that Good Night lost some of the detail in the blacks, and that the reds and greens were a bit off in Cars. Even so, I have to say that the images were pleasing overall; if you don't have another player side by side with it as we had, you're unlikely to notice these things.
So far this is the cheapest player we've seen with BD-Live, which lets you access supplemental content on some discs via the Internet. Like all BD-Live players, the BDP-S350 has USB and ethernet ports. But in this case the ports are limited to their BD-Live capabilities (and firmware updating via ethernet)--no Netflix or multimedia capabilities, here. The USB port is mounted on the back, a bit of an inconvenience considering you have to bring your own USB drive to use the BD-Live functions. Another boon: The BDP-S350 can decode Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus sound tracks. That means you can enjoy the benefits of those sound tracks, even if your amplifier doesn't support the formats.
I have never liked the XrossMediaBar (XMB) menu on current Sony TVs and PlayStations; I find it pretty, but difficult to work with due to the limited amount of options it puts on the screen at one time. But I like the one here, probably because Blu-ray players have inherently simpler menus than TVs or game consoles do. The menu also includes useful explanations as to what the features are for. The remote control is well designed, and it felt comfortable in my hand, although it is neither programmable nor backlit.
Sony's original Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1, was poky at loading and navigating discs. The BDP-S350, now a third-generation player for Sony, is a far cry from that model. The deck is reasonably responsive to commands from the remote; in my tests, it loaded a Blu-ray disc in a respectable 63 seconds. I noted a slight lag when pausing, and a longer one when skipping chapters.
You can find cheaper Blu-ray players on the market, but the Sony BDP-S350 is a strong bet. This model delivers a solid all-around package, and it does so at a price that won't break your wallet.
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: robwalk65
Strengths: Works great. Picture on my TV with and without DVDs has been upgraded even without a 1080 TV. Consumers was right.
Weaknesses: None.
Overall: Would highly recommend IF you can find it. They have been hard to find, but are well worth the search. Nice slim unit that will upgrade your TV picture even without Blu Ray DVDs or the recommended 1080 TV.
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Reviewed by: pprocter
Strengths: Excellent picture (sharpness, color and depth)Smooth operationFast disc loadingSimple setupQuiet
Weaknesses: Confusing remote controlNeeds remote to play
Overall: To tell the truth, I wasn't completely sold on Blu-ray. I'd heard the hype and was interested, but the picture I got out of my standard DVD was plenty good. Man, was I blind!I bought this with permission from K-Mart to return it if I wasn't convinced. I went to the video store and rented a few titles and went home for a week. The hook-up was almost easy (I needed HDMI cables which are NOT included). I noticed the improvement in sharpness during the FBI warning!! It wasn't far into the movie that I also noticed the colors were clearer and deeper and the detail in the shadows, never a strong point with my Epson projector, was quite a bit better. This is not subtle!We watched a couple more Blu-ray discs over the next few days and then poped in a good quality standard DVD (Terminator 3). If anything, the shock of going back to standard def was greater than my first view of Blu-ray. The Sony has been quiet and smooth running. From firts play, it's been perfectly behaved. I've heard that many Blu-ray machines take a long time to load a disc. The Sony takes a few seconds, at most. Longer than Standard DVD, but certainly not a problem. There's a faster mode available, but Sony says it increases the power consumption during the "Off" times. That's not worth the small delay to me.The remote is my biggest beef. I admit it, I'm a slob and often misplace the remote. Unfortunately, the machine won't run without it. Also, it's unlit and has too many similarly shaped buttons. Even after a few weeks, I can't reliably find the common buttons. An irritation, buit not enough to downgrade a wonderful player!
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Reviewed by: rick5287
Strengths: BD LIVE AND FIRMWARE UPDATEABLE GREAT DETAIL AND UPCONVERT
Weaknesses: DISC TRAY OPENING TIME LAG
Overall: GREAT GREAT GREAT!!! BUY THE UNIT NOW THAT THE PRICES SEEM TO HAVE COME DOWN A BIT FROM THE $400 RANGE TO THE UNDER $199 AREA....MOVIES ARE MORE THAN SPECTACULAR AND THE UNIT HAS THE CAPABILITY OF INTERFACING EASILY WITH THE NEWEST IN SOUND SYSTEMS...MY 7.1 SURROUND SOUND IS COMPLETE WITH THIS UNIT FEEDING THE SIGNAL...BLU RAY AND A 52 IN LCD SCREEN AT 1080P, LIFE IS SOOOO GOOD.
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Reviewed by: brudy3
Strengths: This is the greatest Blu-Ray I have ever owned!! Loads fast and is very easy to use, I highly recommend it!!
Weaknesses: None to me! I love everything about it!!
Overall: If you are looking for a great buy and a quality product, search no more!! This is the best and the greatest!! I am going to buy 3 more!! It is much smaller that the 300 and the BD live is great!!
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Reviewed by: dvdirv
Strengths: Great picture, easy set up, small size, remaining time display
Weaknesses: Control panel GUI cannot be turned off
Overall: My previous Blu-ray player was a Sony until late last year when I purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD30 which had all the latest profile upgrades. The biggest problem with the Sony was its slow loading time. With the BDP-S350, this has all changed for the better. Load time have vastly improved and it is a Profile 2.0 player. Picture quality is stunning, but most Blu-ray players display this picture. One of the best features of this player is its size. Sony has been able to reduce the size of the player to just over a 2" height and only 8-3/4" deep. Sony's previous model was nearly 15" deep and just over 3" high. Finally Sony adds a remaining time function to the display. Previous models only had a elapsed and total time display, so you had to do the remaining time in your head. Most Sony DVD players always had this function, but this is a first for their Blu-ray players. Main complaint I have with this unit (a minor one) is that you cannot turn off Sony's GUI control panel (Xross Media Bar) over the desktop pattern--it is always on unless you are playing a disc. I use this player with a front projector and it looks tacky for guests seeing my control panel over the desktop. Sony didn't do this with their DVD players, so why do it with this new technology? About the only time you even need to use the GUI is when you are setting up the unit or add new equipment to the player. All in all, Sony did a great job with this player. It's easy to set up and offers an outstanding picture.
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